The Saxon Barrow Cemetery is an ancient burial ground and scheduled monument, which dates back nearly 1500 years.
It is located at Croom's Hill, south of The Avenue and west of the Meridian Line. With at least 31 upstanding burial mounds, the quality of the surviving archaeology is of national importance. We have appointed our first in-house archaeologist, working in consultation with Historic England to reveal the fascinating history of ancient Greenwich.
In the late 18th century, early archaeologists (called antiquarians) found glass beads, textiles, as well as a shield boss and spear. This suggests the burial mounds were pagan, rather than Christian graves. There were probably about 40 mounds originally, although many are now hard to see.
Origins of the path
The path was likely to have originally been a small track known as a ‘desire line’ that was ‘formalised’ by the Victorians in the 1860s – first with a gravel surface and later, tarmac. The path runs from Croom’s Hill Gate towards the Observatory and evidence tells us a metal fence was in place, running along each side of it in 1899.
Path removal project
Our experts carefully peeled back and remove the tarmac, providing a chance to learn more about the park’s past.
Our archaeological project at the barrows had two key objectives:
- To monitor the removal of the tarmac path and check for any exposed archaeology
- To dig a series of evaluation trenches, in consultation with Historic England, to explore the buried archaeology further
This path is now permanently closed to the public, the tarmac will not be replaced and the original grassland will be reinstated. Removal of the path will enable us to protect the park’s valuable and rare acid-grassland which provides crucial habitats for pollinators such as butterflies and mining bees. There will continue to be public access to this area, and there is a parallel tarmac path to the south, which we are signposting people to, however we would ask people to ‘tread lightly’ and respect the valuable natural landscape hosted at this nationally important monument.
Update to the project in winter 2021: What have we learnt?
Our resident archaeologist Andrew Mayfield talks us through the learnings made when sifting through the layers underneath the former Victorian path - uncovering a deeper understanding of Victorian lifestyle as well as clues to prehistoric heritage.
Following the removal of the path and research to understand what lay beneath, we have now concluded this research and have filled in the exposed site with soil.
The archaeological work has answered several questions about the site but posed a wealth of new ones! We think we understand the way in which the Saxons prepared the ground, and how the mounds were constructed. Layers in the mounds suggests they were built up over time and may hint at maintenance work carried out by people at the time – possibly in the same way you might pay for a grave to be tended.
We have not recovered any Saxon finds to help refine the dating of the site further, but we are hopeful that archival research may provide clues to what happened to the material from the badly-executed dig in the 1780s. Any surviving finds from that dig should be in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. We have recorded the five trenches we dug on the site, using photography and hand-drawn plans and sections. The volunteer team did an amazing job backfilling the soil that was taken out following the removal of the tarmac path …in a far more effective fashion than the antiquarian James Douglas and his workmen in the 18th century! We will begin restoring the site’s valuable acid grassland landscape in the Spring.
Over the winter months, we will be processing the information we have gathered from project work to further understand the history and archaeology of this amazing site.
Project progress
1. Overview
An overview of the project and what we aim to achieve, in autumn 2021 before work began.
2. Test digs
Test digs were carried out before commencing work to remove the path and explore the archaeology beneath it.
3. Work begins
Follow the project after work began to remove the path and learn about the archaeology underneath
4. Path removal
In October 2021 the path was carefully removed from its location across the cemetery.
5. Archaeology
Work to understand the archaeology of the site below the path began in earnest.
6. Visualising history
Click to view an interactive model of the project so far. For a larger, full-screen, view click here.
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The work to remove the path, reinstate the rare acid grassland and research the monument’s history is funded through Greenwich Park Revealed – an £8m project to protect, restore, reveal and share the park’s nature and heritage for everyone. The project is supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and The National Lottery Community Fund. To get involved and find out more please email greenwichparkrevealed@royalparks.org.uk |
