Lees Court Excavations 2025; A mound in Badlesmere Park Wood: was it a barrow?

As a continuation of the ongoing Kent Archaeological Society Lees Court Landscape Study, examination of LiDAR coverage for the area of Badlesmere Park Wood, situated on a ridge about 1km to the south-east of Badlesmere parish church, identified an upstanding mound which was possibly an early barrow.

The site occupies a relatively isolated position towards the eastern edge of the wood, over 300m from the nearest road. The mound is not marked on any map and was otherwise unknown to Estate staff. Inspection on the ground in 2024 identified a distinct mound standing to some height, densely covered in trees, bushes and brambles, but cut across by a public bridleway.

[fg]jpg||Image[/fg]

[fg]jpg|The mound before excavation|Image[/fg]

No round barrows are officially recorded in the vicinity, although one has recently been identified in Holly Grove, about 350m to the north-east, and the general appearance of the present mound strongly suggested that it represented another such monument, previously unrecognised. Clearance of the covering vegetation in the spring of 2025 soon revealed the complete structure, confirming that it was roughly circular in outline, rather than oval as originally suspected. Damaged by woodland trackways, the mound could be seen to be about 30 metres across, standing up to 2m high.

In May 2025 a KAS team was assembled to undertake evaluation trenching at the site, aimed at determining something of the nature and date of the mound without carrying out extensive excavations. Between two and eighteen volunteers laboured on site for more than forty days during some exceptionally hot late spring weather. Shaded by the leaves of the covering oak trees and spurred on by a good supply of biscuits, a considerable amount was achieved in this time.

[fg]jpg|The central slot under excavation|Image[/fg]

Four trenches were cut around the edges of the mound in an effort to recover dating evidence and understand something of its construction. These main trenches were supplemented by outlying test-pits intended to confirm the local geological sequence. No attempt to fully excavate the mound was made, preservation of the standing, potentially prehistoric, structure taking precedence.

The trenching established that the mound was composed of dumps of soil, clay and flints but there was no evidence for any encircling ditch. Over one thousand pieces of prehistoric flintwork were recovered from the area of the mound, but much of this would seem to represent older, residual material unintentionally scooped up with the soil and natural flints used in the mound’s construction. Clear dating evidence for the mound itself was disappointingly sparse.

[fg]jpg|Part of a Neolithic leaf-shaped arrowhead recovered during the excavations|Image[/fg]

The generally smoothed, weathered appearance confirms that the mound is of considerable age and this is reinforced by the presence of several mature oak trees growing upon it. The mound is also cut across by woodland trackways laid out during the formal replanting of Badlesmere Park Wood sometime during the mid–late nineteenth century.

[fg]jpg||Image[/fg]

[fg]jpg|Sheltered under the stunning tree cover of Badlesmere Park Wood The mound with the site tent in the distance.|Image[/fg]

[fg]jpg|The incredible team of volunteers on a well-earned break|Image[/fg]

From all this, it may be safely assumed that the mound is at least two hundred years old. Every indication is that the mound is, in fact, much older and that it does represent a prehistoric round barrow, but confirmatory evidence is lacking. Without rather more extensive (and destructive) excavation, particularly into the central core, the exact period of the Badlesmere Park Wood mound cannot be positively determined on present evidence.

As ever, this year’s excavation was undertaken with the enthusiastic encouragement and support of Lady Sondes and the Lees Court Estate. Estate Administrator Elizabeth Roberts arranged much practical support and assistance on the ground, making the whole project thoroughly enjoyable in a very quiet location.

Our site volunteers showed impressive commitment, determination and good humour throughout, even though the long-promised Bronze Age cremation urns never actually materialised. The writer extends his sincere thanks to everyone concerned.