Croydon APA 1.1: Croham Hurst Round Barrow
The Archaeological Priority Area covers an area at the summit of Croham Hurst which is a ridge that projects from the North Downs. The APA covers Croham Hurst Round Barrow and five hut structures which are thought to be prehistoric, one of which was excavated in 1969. The APA is classed as Tier 1 because the barrow is a Scheduled Monument and the hut structures could be regarded as undesignated assets equivalent to a Scheduled Monument.
The round barrow was not identified until the 1940s and was scheduled in 1951. It has an approximate diameter of 11m and is 0.4m high making it somewhat small and difficult to discern within the landscape. It is a bowl barrow which is the most common type of round barrow, most of which were constructed in the late Neolithic or Bronze Age periods (the majority date from 2200BC-1500BC).
A scraper was found in an animal burrow in the side of the barrow which appeared to date from the early Bronze Age. Barrows were often located in prominent positions, such as the Croham Hurst example which is located at the highest point of the hill. Since its identification it has never been thoroughly investigated and it is unknown how many burials are in or around it. Such barrows normally had surrounding ditches created after the earth was extracted to deposit over the burials but no such ditch surrounding the Croham Hurst barrow has been positively identified.
However, it is possible that such a ditch has been filled in since the barrow’s creation. Later burials could be inserted into the mound or placed around it. Five sub rectangular enclosures, which are thought to represent former huts, are present to the south-west of the round barrow and appear on the surface as a series of banks.
In the late 19th century a collection of approximately 140 flints was found in this area and in 1968 and 1969 these enclosures were examined more thoroughly. One of the huts was excavated and it was found that the banks that were visible on the surface were formed of pebbles and sandy soil and were the remains of turf walls. There was an entrance at the eastern end of the hut and six post holes which would have supported a roof were also uncovered.
An earlier hut was found underneath the western side of the hut which also had post holes and a pit which may have been a storage pit or a fire pit. The walls of this earlier hut contained the same material as the walls of the excavated hut and another hut that was partially excavated also had similar walls. It therefore appears that all the huts belonged to the same period.
A large amount of flint was also recovered during the excavation some of which had been worked into tools such as axes, scrapers, awls, burins and arrowheads although the majority of flint fragments appeared to be waste flakes. More than 2400 flints had been subjected to fire, possibly for cooking purposes. Dating the settlement proved to be problematic because apart from the structures and the flints no other material that could be dated was recovered.
The form of the hut structures, the types of flint tools and the absence of any pottery led to the site being tentatively dated to the late Mesolithic period. It is possible that the flints and structures were not contemporaneous and the people working the extracted flint may have lived elsewhere. It is therefore unclear if any form of settlement was present on Croham Hurst when the barrow was created.
A sample of charcoal from the fire pit found in one of the excavated huts was sent for radiocarbon dating and gave a result of the early 9th century AD during the Anglo-Saxon period. This is problematic since no other Saxon material has been found on Croham Hurst and the hut structures and flints do not appear to date from the Saxon period. It is possible that the charcoal sample had been contaminated in some way which led to an erroneous result. Nevertheless the 9th century date cannot be ignored when considering the potential age of the settlement.
The site is significant because of the barrow and potential late Mesolithic settlement. Many prehistoric finds have been made across the North Downs in Croydon but few prehistoric settlements have been positively identified. Known late Mesolithic settlement sites are extremely rare in England so if the Croham Hurst site was confirmed to belong to that period it would be a particularly important example.
The Anglo-Saxon radiocarbon date is problematic because it does not corroborate with the evidence that was gained from the excavations in the 1960s and has therefore been doubted. However, if the settlement was Anglo-Saxon it is still an important example of a small Saxon settlement that could be judged equivalent to a Scheduled Monument. Bronze Age barrows are relatively rare in London and only 20-30 examples are known so the one at Croham Hurst is important.
It demonstrates the burial practices of the period and possibly the social importance of the occupants. We know little about the barrow but any invasive excavation would damage the site. It may not have had any sort of relationship with the nearby settlement, which may have been abandoned by the time the barrow was
25 constructed, but together they are both important examples of their types and justify the APA’s Tier 1 status.
References
Extracts from the Bulletins of 1968, P. L. Drewett, Surrey Archaeological Collections, Vol. 66, 1968
The excavation of a prehistoric settlement site and other field work on Croham Hurst Croydon 1968-69, P. L. Drewett,
Proceedings of the Croydon Natural History and Scientific Society, 14, 1969 Recent Work on Croham Hurst, P. L. Drewett, London Archaeologist, Vol. 1, No. 6, 1970
The Excavation of a Turf -Walled Structure and other Fieldwork on Croham Hurst, Croydon, 1968/69, P. L. Drewett, Surrey Archaeological Collections, Vol. 67, 1970
Guide to Local Antiquities, M. Farley, The Bourne Society, 1973
A newly-discovered Round Barrow on Croham Hurst near Croydon, B. Hope-Taylor, Surrey Archaeological Collections, Vol. 49 1946
Source: https://www.croydon.gov.uk/sites/default/files/articles/downloads/archaeological-priority-pt2.pdf
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