Greenwich Park & saxon burials in general | Forum

pure joy May 26, 2003 12:48:52

Does anyone have any info about either

(a) The burial mounds in Greenwich Park, London (marked on Explorer Explorer map as 'Tumuli' at TQ388772)? I visited last week and it is quite a stunning site on top of the hill, with a substantial scattering of small-ish round barrows (some very obvious, some merely remaining as tiny humps and grass marks). The park info board says it is a saxon burial ground. The web has proved relatively fruitless. A few references but no actual evidence as to why they are believed to be saxon rather than anything else. A timeline on a website mentions: 49 - 350 Roman Settlement in Greenwich Park / 550 - 750 Saxon Settlement in Greenwich Park, and that the name Greenwich is of Anglo-Saxon origin.

(b) Saxon burials in general? The more info I found on the internet the more likely it seems that the Greenwich Park cemetery could be saxon in form (i.e. burial in small round barrows seems to be common). If this is saxon then does it mean we have to be very careful when finding a barrow cemetery and thinking it is probably Bronze Age??

gm May 26, 2003 17:26:55

Replying to pure joy

i read somewhere (could have been archi, could have been something completely different) that the saxon cemetary in greenwich park was on the site of an iron age mound. couldn't quite work that out cos i've not heard of burial sites being reused like that before. was it a common practice? nice location tho.

pure joy Jan 8, 2004 13:05:06

Replying to pure joy

just to add something to part a The English Heritage website info on the London section of the Landscape Investigation Team says.....

"English Heritage's Landscape Investigation Team carries out research through 'field survey', and field survey needs.... um ... fields! As a result, we have undertaken relatively little research in London (or other major urban areas). In the past, we have examined Central London's Royal Parks, which had previously been almost overlooked by archaeologists. Our investigations encountered everthing (sic) from a pagan Anglo-Saxon cemetery in Greenwich Park....."