Tumulus (destroyed): OS Grid Reference – TQ 192 735
Also Known as:
- Oliver’s Mount
Archaeology & History
Oliver’s Mound was highlighted as early as 1746 on John Roque’s map of the Country Near Ten Miles Round (London) as still standing. One hundred and fifty years later, when the Ordnance Survey lads came to map the area, it had gone. We don’t know exactly when it was demolished, so Historic England (not necessarily a good measure of accuracy) tell us its demise occurred “between 1760 and 1868”, so giving themselves at least some degree of safety!
As we can see in Mr Roque’s old map, an avenue of trees led up to the barrow. This avenue will have been created when Richmond Park and its gardens were laid out.
The round barrow was most likely Bronze Age in origin. The historian and folklorist Walter John (1093) reported that in 1834, three skeletons were found at a depth of a yard beneath the surface.
Folklore
Traditional tells that the name of this barrow comes from when the religious extremist, Oliver Cromwell, and his men, set up camp here. A slight variant tells that Cromwell stood here to watch a skirmish.
References:
- Cundall, H.M., Bygone Richmond, Bodley Head: London, 1925
- Grinsell, Leslie V., The Ancient Burial Mounds of England, Metheun: London 1936.
- Johnson, Walter, Neolithic Man in North-East Surrey, Elliot Stock: London 1903.
- Johnson, Walter, Folk Memory, Clarendon: Oxford 1908.
© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian