Bill Hill Ancient Monument
Bill Hill rises dramatically from the grassland off Downshire Way. Its setting, at the heart of Bracknell, is unique and from the trees cloaking the hilltop you gain a fascinating perspective on the town’s high rise offices and apartment blocks.
With the ever expanding urban development closing in from all directions, the site offers a curious blend of ancient and new. From the entrance to Bill Hill you can follow the clear trail up to the summit where several other well-used paths allow you to stroll amid the trees and enjoy the scene.
Landscape Value
Bill Hill is a very prominent landmark which can be seen from many areas of Bracknell. One of the most distinctive characteristics of this site are the tall beech trees which grow on top of the hill. Probably planted at the end of the last century to provide a specific landscape character, these trees give Bill Hill a special character. While some older trees are being removed for safety reasons, young ones are being planted to ensure that the woodland of this important landscape is safeguarded.
Archaeological Value
At the top of the hill, on its eastern side, is a circular mound of earth, hollowed out in the centre. It is partly this feature that gives Bill Hill such great curiosity value. This the remains of a Bronze Age tumulus or round barrow, and example of one of the most common of Britain’s prehistoric monuments. Round barrows are found all over Britain and were used from the Neolithic period (c2200 BC) right through thr Bronze Age (c1000 BC) and again in the Anglo Saxon period. They were used as burial mounds and may cover individual or multiple burials. These barrows may also have been used for cremations.
A great many round barrows have been partly or completely levelled by subsequent land use, although they can often still be detected as distinctive markings on the ground on aerial photographs. In addition, many tumuli were disturbed by the early barrow diggers of the late 18th and 19th centuries. The hollow in the top of Bill Hill barrow may well have been the result of an early unrecorded excavation of this sort.
Barrow Construction
Since the early part of this century, barrows have been investigated on a more scientific basis. We now know that what appear to be simple monuments are often quite elaborate. Careful examination of a barrow can tell us a great deal about its method of construction. For example it may have had two or even three ditches corresponding with different construction phases, and each accompanied by burials. Often round barrows were reused at a later date. The later or secondary burials were often inserted I the mound or outside it to the south east. Under some barrows the traces of the funeral pyre for cremation have been identified.
The Bill Hill barrow is surrounded by a ditch, now largely filled in, which would have provided the construction material for the mound. Elsewhere barrows were constructed in locally available materials, such as turves or stone.
For more information about Bill Hill and other aspects of our heritage, please use the link on the left-hand side of this page go to the Heritage Leaflets page.
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