Volunteers help protect burial mounds in South Downs National Park
February 11, 2025
The lumps and bumps of the South Downs are very often hugely important archaeologically, the last remnants in the National Park’s landscape of bygone cultures. Assistant Ranger Oli Tonks writes about a recent volunteer task to help conserve three burial mounds.
Our National Park volunteers were out en masse recently to clear bramble that was smothering three tumuli – or burial mounds – in the western reaches of the National Park.
Found within a stand of hazel, ash and red cedar the tumuli sit in an opening that, with a bit of work, could be a significant glade habitat, allowing rare woodland species to emerge and giving diverse flora a chance to thrive.
Clearing the vegetation allows for the tumuli to be fully appreciated too, making them much more recognisable in the setting.
At the same time clearing the saplings and trees that are establishing on the barrows prevents roots from penetrating and damaging the historic features.
Some patches of bramble were left in the glade, as they are an important habitat in themselves that provide shelter and food for numerous species.
The volunteers, raring to go, cut routes through the thicket of bramble before claiming a tumulus each and beginning the up-and-down brushcutting task to reveal the monuments’ form. We had our keen rakers on hand too, to shift the arisings into compostable heaps at the perimeter of the glade, to remove nutrients from the area but also serving as refuge for invertebrates and small mammals. The hard work and determination of our volunteers meant by the end of the day all three of the tumuli were cleared, awaiting spring to spark life back into the wildflowers wanting to flourish.
We were also very lucky to witness a kestrel taking advantage of all the commotion, with a juvenile hovering above one of our volunteers watching for any mammals that may emerge from the removal of covering bramble, and swooping down at the right moment to seize a meal for itself. Not so lucky for the mouse! (cue The Circle of Life).