Colnpen long barrow

Summary

Long barrow 420m north west of Colnpen Barn.

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 examples of long barrows and long cairns, their counterparts in the uplands, are recorded nationally. 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.

The long barrow 420m north west of Colnpen Barn survives well and will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to its construction, longevity, territorial significance, social organisation, funerary and ritual practices and overall landscape context.

History

See Details.

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 7 July 2015. The record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

This monument includes a long barrow situated on the upper north west facing slopes of a wide ridge overlooking the valley of the River Coln. The long barrow survives as a rectangular mound measuring up to 76m long, 20m wide and 2.7m high with its side ditches preserved as entirely buried features. Orthostats reportedly visible in the 1940’s are no longer evident.

Other archaeological remains in the vicinity are the subject of separate schedulings.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

GC 9

Legacy System:

RSM - OCN

Sources

Other
PastScape 327151

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