Monument record 0037800000 - NW CORNER OF W WYCOMBE PARK

Dimensions - Width 20m, Length 30m, Height 3.8m.
Plan Form - Oval.
Noted as a round barrow (B3).
Doubtful barrow. In valley bottom, grass covered & tree planted. Location possibly precludes being a garden gazebo mount. Position at NW extremity suggests a boundary mark. Wycombe Park noted for follies of which this may be one (B4).
Background research and detailed earthwork survey carried out by English Heritage between April 2000 and June 2001 suggests that the mound may be a prehistoric barrow or an 18th century 'eyecatcher' within the parkland. See report for detailed discussion (B5-B7).


Mound, possibly a tumulus or boundary mound, at the west corner of West Wycombe Park (B8).

SU 826946 A round barrow planted with trees. (Nothing visible on available air photographs). (B9)

SU 82619453. A doubtful barrow. Situated in a valley bottom, this grass covered and tree planted mound measures approximately 20 metres east-west by 30 metres north-south and is about 3.8 metres high. It has a flat undisturbed top. Its western margin has been cut by a modern road. The location possibly precludes it being a gazebo mount, but being at the northwest extremity of Wycombe Park a boundary mound is strongly suggested. However, Wycombe Park is noted for its follies of which this may be one. Surveyed at 1:2500. (B10)

This large, conical mound has a basal diameter of 22 metres, stands to a height of 3 metres and is covered in dense vegetation. The summit is not particularly level though scarps attest to some form of activity here. The mound is now clear of trees but the presence of two large tree stumps suggest that the avenue once lead directly across it. There are large quantities of flint and fragments of hand-made brick within the mound fabric, and it is currently used as a general dump.

The mound may be a prehistoric barrow but examples of this type of monument placed on or close to valley floors are rare. This feature does sit upon a low plinth, however, which would presumably avoid the effects of flooding or use water to effectively isolate the burial. It is possible that the mound is an eye-catcher or prospect mound associated with one of the 18th or 19th century garden layouts, affording views across the valley to ornamental scarps on the southern slopes of Church Hill or seen from the Broadwalk to the east. The mound is not shown on early cartographic sources, however, so this remains a conjectural interpretation.

The mound was recorded during a survey by English Heritage of the West Wycombe Estate in 2000-2001. A plan and full report are available in the NMR archive. (B7 comments)

NRHE Insert 1998, Update 2001 and 2004 (B11).