Monument record 0029400000 - ABOVE WHITELEAF CROSS

Summary

Neolithic to Bronze Age bowl barrow recorded in earthwork and geophysical surveys, later re-used as a windmill mound.

Protected Status/Designation

  • Archaeological Notification Area: Chalk cross, prehistoric barrows and World War I practice trenches on Whiteleaf Hill (DBC9581)
  • Scheduled Monument 1009355: A BOWL BARROW ON WHITELEAF HILL, 90M NORTH OF WHITELEAF CROSS (DBC7101)

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Type and Period (3)

  • BOWL BARROW? (Early Neolithic to Late Bronze Age - 4000 BC to 701 BC)
  • WINDMILL MOUND (Medieval to Post-Medieval - 1066 AD? to 1798 AD?)
  • (Alternate Type) POND BARROW? (Bronze Age - 2350 BC? to 701 BC?)

Description

Dimensions - Length 1600cm, Width 1300cm, Height 50cm.
Plan Form - Oval.
Remains of tumulus (B1-2).
At NGR (B3).
Not located (B4).
Flattened oval mound: ditch represented by narrow levelled area 1m wide around base. Slight traces of 2m wide external bank on N & E. Cross-shaped trench cut into mound centre: Scott's excavation (see CASS 00296) has altered original form. Survey (B6-7).
Condition survey 2000 (B8).
Geophysical surveys carried out by Bartlett-Clark Consultancy in September 2002 and June 2003 identified ditch-like anomalies, possibly from the barrow ditch although irregular and incomplete. See detailed report (B10).
Barrow has the appearance of pond barrow, but cross-shaped depression may indicate a windmill base (B12).

A probable windmill mound on Whiteleaf Hill survives as an earthwork 18m in diameter and 0.5m high. The remains of a ditch up to 3m wide and 0.3m deep are visible on the north and south sides. At the centre of the mound is a cross-shaped depression. In the absence of (recorded) excavation, the possibility remains that this feature may originally have been a round barrow which was subsequently utilised as a windmill mound (B13-14).
This record includes National Record of the Historic Environment Information provided by Historic England on 4 June 2025 licensed under the Open Government Licence (B15).

Sources (18)

  • ---SBC17415 Aerial Photograph: 06/03/92. BCM A16/1/21. SP\822039. Yes.
  • ---SBC29485 Aerial Photograph: Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England) (RCHME). Undated. Historic England oblique aerial photograph NMR SP8204/3-4. SP8204.
  • <1>SBC20466 Bibliographic reference: Royal Commision on Historical Monuments. 1912. Historical Monuments in Buckinghamshire Volume 1. Volume 1. p263.
  • <2>SBC6246 Bibliographic reference: J F Head. 1955. Early Man in South Buckinghamshire. p162.
  • <3>SBC10400 Map: Ordnance Survey. 1960. OS 1960 6-INCH MAP. 1:10,560.
  • <4>SBC13985 Scheduling record: English Heritage. 1992. SCHEDULING LISTS OF INSPECTORATE OF ANCIENT MONUMENTS.
  • <5>SBC988 Unpublished document: Buckinghamshire County Museum. 1970. BCM ACCESSIONS REGISTER 1970.
  • <6>SBC5069 Bibliographic reference: FARLEY M E MAY 1991 FIELD VISIT.
  • <7>SBC16786 Article in serial: Julia Wise. 1991. 'A Survey of Prehistoric and Later Earthworks on Whiteleaf Hill', in Recs of Bucks 33 PP108-113. Vol 33.
  • <8>SBC19447 Unpublished document: Kidd S. 2000. Whiteleaf Hill site visit and condition report.
  • <9>SBC19161 Unpublished document: Michael Farley Archaeology. 2000. Whiteleaf Local Nature Reserve, Princes Risborough.
  • <9>SBC25936 Unpublished document: Michael Farley Archaeology. 2000. Whiteleaf Local Nature Reserve: Texts for Interpretation of the Archaeology and History of the Site.
  • <10>SBC22176 Unpublished document: Bartlett-Clark Consultancy. 2004. Whiteleaf Hill, Princes Risborough: Report on Archaeogeophysical Surveys 2002-3.
  • <11>SBC23046 Article in serial: Gill Hey, Caroline Dennis & Andrew Mayes. 2007. 'Archaeological Investigations on Whiteleaf Hill, Princes Risborough, 2002-6', in Records of Bucks 47 pp1-80. Vol 47, Part 2.
  • <12>SBC4451 Article in serial: James Dyer. 1959. 'Barrows of the Chilterns', in Archaeological Jounal 116 pp1-24. Vol 116. p24.
  • <13>SBC29088 Verbal communication: A S Phillips. 1970. Field Investigators Comments - F1 ASP 14-MAY-70.
  • <14>SBC29486 Verbal communication: Andrew Miller. 1994. Pers Comm, 26th April 1994, from NMR aerial photos (RCHME AP Primary Recording Project).
  • <15>SBC27441 Digital archive: Historic England. National Record of the Historic Environment (NRHE).

Location

Grid reference SP 82194 04086 (point)
Civil Parish PRINCES RISBOROUGH, Wycombe, Buckinghamshire

Finds (0)

Related Monuments/Buildings (1)

Related Events/Activities (6)

  • Event - Survey: Condition survey (EBC15939)
  • Event - Survey: Geophysical survey (EBC16513)
  • Event - Survey: Historical and archaeological study of Whiteleaf Local Nature Reserve (EBC17910)
  • Event - Survey: Site visit (EBC1384)
  • Event - Survey: Site visit (EBC14057)
  • Event - Survey: Topographic earthwork survey (EBC11093)

Record last edited

May 6 2026 6:08PM

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