Reasons for Designation
Long barrows were constructed as earthen or drystone mounds with flanking
ditches and acted as funerary monuments during the Early and Middle Neolithic
periods (3400-2400 BC). They represent the burial places of Britain's early
farming communities and, as such, are amongst the oldest field monuments
surviving visibly in the present landscape. Where investigated, long barrows
appear to have been used for communal burial, often with only parts of the
human remains having been selected for interment. Certain sites provide
evidence for several phases of funerary monument preceding the barrow and,
consequently, it is probable that long barrows acted as important ritual sites
for local communities over a considerable period of time. Some 500 long
barrows are recorded in England. As one of the few types of Neolithic
structure to survive as earthworks, and due to their comparative rarity, their
considerable age and their longevity as a monument type, all long barrows are
considered to be nationally important.
Despite partial excavation, the Gatcombe long barrow survives well and is
known to contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to the
monument and the landscape in which it was constructed. This barrow is a good
example representing a group of long barrows commonly referred to as the
Cotswold Severn group, named after the area in which they occur. The barrow is
unusual in that it has its burial chambers arranged laterally around the edges
of the mound, unlike some of the other long barrows known in the region which
have a central gallery with side chambers attached within the centre of the
monument.
Details
The monument includes a long barrow situated on level ground 400m east of
Gatcombe Farm. It overlooks a valley to the south and west and is set in the
Cotswold Hills.
The barrow, which is sometimes known as the Gatcombe Lodge long barrow, has a
mound composed of small stones, is trapezoidal in plan, and orientated north
east to south west with maximum dimensions of 62m in length and 25m in width.
The long barrow has a height of c.2m at the eastern end and 1.5m at the
western end. Flanking the mound on each side is a ditch from which material
was quarried during the construction of the monument. These have become
infilled over the years, but survive as buried features c.5m wide.
The long barrow was partially excavated by S Lyons in 1870 and was found to
have a forecourt or recess which was flanked by extensions of the barrow
mound. Within this was a `false entrance' or blocked doorway set into the
mound, but which could not have provided physical access into the monument.
Within the blocking associated with the `false entrance', a human skull,
animal bones and potsherds were found. The mound was also found to have a
dry stone revetment wall and this is thought to have enclosed the entire
barrow mound. The revetment wall remains visible as a stoney outcrop on the
southern side of the monument.
In 1871 workmen discovered a burial chamber on the north eastern side of the
monument about 9.75m from the false entrance. The chamber was composed of
drystone walling and had five upright slabs, with an entrance defined by two
additional upright slabs and a large slab as a roof; it was found to contain
an inhumation burial. This chamber remains visible as a group of three large
stones protruding from a deep depression on the north eastern side of the
monument.
This monument forms one of at least three long barrows which occur as a
dispersed group in the vicinity.
MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.
