Devil’s Humps

The Devil’s Humps on the summit of Bow Hill at Kingley Vale Nature Reserve are fine examples of Bronze Age burial mounds, and are amongst the most visited in the southeast. Barrows of this size and prominence in the landscape may have been reserved for people of high status such as chiefs and priests. The western pair are of a type known as 'bell barrows', where the ditch is separated from the mound by a narrow step, whereas the eastern pair are 'bowl barrows', whose ditches are at the edges of their mounds and take the shape of an upturned bowl. There are a number of other different types of barrows in the vicinity, some hidden in the woods, others reduced by ploughing, all of which indicate the high level of Bronze Age activity in this area. The barrows may be the most familiar archaeological feature at Bow Hill, however there are many more archaeological features which are hidden from the casual observer. The LiDAR survey not only allows us to view these features in greater clarity, it also allows us to view the individual sites in the context of the wider landscape. This will enable further research which will open up a window into how people lived in the ancient landscape