Druid Stoke burial chamber

Summary

A megalithic chamber tomb of the Cotswold-Severn type dating from the Neolithic period.

Reasons for Designation

The Druid Stoke burial chamber in Stoke Bishop, Bristol is scheduled for the following principal reasons:

* Period: the monument dates from the Neolithic, a period in which relatively few monuments of any type have been recognised;

* Rarity: a very rare example of a megalithic chamber tomb of the Cotswold-Severn type;

* Documentation: antiquarian documentation, alongside archaeological survey and excavation in the 1980s, has enhanced our understanding of the monument;

* Survival: although there have been losses, the collapsed stones of its burial chamber are extant with the archaeological remains providing evidence for its form as an example of a Cotswold-Severn type of megalithic chamber tomb. The recovery of a human toe bone of the C3 BC, suggesting some reuse of the monument, adds to its importance;

* Potential: the monument will retain archaeological potential to inform our understanding of the burial chamber’s date, form of construction, how it was used, and the environmental character of the landscape in which it was built.

History

Megalithic chamber tombs, often dating to early in the Neolithic period (around 3500 BC) occur in those parts of England where large stones and boulders are naturally available. The large stones (megaliths) were placed in certain arrangements or settings that invariably formed a kind of chamber and which often contained human bones. It has therefore been widely assumed that their purpose was for burial, but they may equally have served other functions such as shrines or repositories for the remains of bodies disposed of elsewhere. These stone-lined tombs were covered with linear mounds of earth, or other soft materials such as chalk and clay, or were sometimes covered with small stones, referred to as cairns. These mounds have sometimes been destroyed leaving the chamber exposed. Exposed chambers were often referred to as cromlechs by C18 and C19 antiquarians.

The chambered tomb at Stoke Bishop in Bristol, known as the Druid Stoke burial chamber, has been interpreted as a regionally distinctive Cotswold-Severn type. This type of long barrow is found in the countryside flanking the River Severn and is characterised by a trapezoidal plan with an in-turned entrance at the wider end. They had a carefully constructed mound that usually covered a passage and one or more chambers, although occasionally, the entrance was false with the real passage and chambers found in the sides of the mound.

The earliest written record for the monument is the 28 November 1811 when Reverend John Skinner described it as ‘the capstone of a demolished cromlech . . .’. Based on Skinner’s information the site was published as a ‘Druidical remnant of antiquity’ by Samuel Seyer in 1821. It is marked as ‘stones’ on the 1830 Ordnance Survey (OS) map, where it forms part of the estate of the late-C18 or early-C19 Druid Stoke House (Grade II, List entry number: 1282301). It is labelled as ‘Druidical Stones’ on the 1885, 1903, and 1916 OS maps. In 1904 the land of Druid Stoke House estate was sold for residential development and the burial chamber now largely sits within the garden of ‘Cromlech’, 59 Druid Hill, which was built in 1907. The southern extent of the monument, including part of the forecourt at the east end, is now within the plot of the late-C20 property, 57a Druid Hill. The mound is thought to have been removed by ploughing in the Romano-British period.

The monument was first excavated in 1913 and interpreted as a table stone supported on four upright posts; no finds were recorded. It was reinterpreted as a burial chamber in the mid-20 (see Grinsell, 1979), and following a geophysical survey in 1982, the site was excavated again in 1983. No evidence was found for an entrance passage, suggesting that it had a transepted burial chamber rather than the two lateral chambers suggested by Grinsell.

The soil beneath the surviving mound rubble produced a mollusc assemblage suggesting woodland conditions at or prior to the time of the chambered tomb’s construction. A human toe bone recovered within the mound area, close to the burial chamber, has been radiocarbon dated to 2889 to 2460 BC, but there is no further evidence to indicate that the chambered tomb was reused at a later date.

Details

PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS: the remains of an exposed megalithic chamber tomb dating from the Neolithic period. It is situated on a ridge above a small valley that slopes down to the River Trym to the north-east and to the River Avon to the east.

DETAILS: the trapezoidal mound is orientated on an approximately east to west axis. The mound is no longer visible above ground, but the 1983 excavation identified a thin layer of limestone rubble that was interpreted as the remains of the mound. No evidence was found for associated quarry ditches. At the east end of the mound was an in-turned entrance, possibly false, and a forecourt area. The lack of evidence for an entrance passage suggests that the burial chamber situated at the east terminal of the mound is likely to have been a transepted chamber. Above ground level are two groups of collapsed stones that formed the burial chamber. The northern group includes a capstone measuring 1.9m by 1.4m, while the southern group of stones has a capstone measuring 3m by 1.7m and 0.7m thick supported by one upright slab of much smaller dimensions. A human toe bone of the C3 BC and three sherds of Romano-British pottery were recovered from the monument during the 1983 excavation.

EXTENT OF SCHEDULING: the monument includes the above and below ground remains of the chambered tomb, including two groups of collapsed stones. The area of protection has been drawn to follow the understood extent of the trapezoidal-shaped mound when constructed and to include the forecourt area to the east end. Any archaeological remains beneath both Cromlech, 59 Druid Hill, and 57a Druid Hill, which were not removed as part of their construction, are considered to be too fragmentary to be included in the scheduled area. A 1m boundary around both houses where drainage channels have been laid is also not included.

EXCLUSIONS: the modern hard-standing surfaces and the boundary walls are excluded from the scheduling, but the ground beneath these surfaces is included.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

BS 28

Legacy System:

RSM - OCN

Sources

Books and journals
Seyer, S, Memoirs, Historical and Topographical, of Bristol, Vol 1, (1821), 103
Smith, GH, Evaluation work at Druid Stoke megalithic monument, Stoke Bishop, Bristol, 1983 in Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, Vol. 107, (1989), 27-37
Grinsell, LV, The Druid Stoke Megalithic Monument in Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, Vol. 97, (1979), 119-121
Pritchard, JE, Bristol Archaeological Notes for 1906 in Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, Vol. 30, (1907), 153
Proceedings at the Annual Spring Meeting at Bristol in Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, Vol. 34, (1911), 7
Proceedings at the Annual Summer Meeting at Ross in Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, Vol. 35, (1912), 160
Were, F, Report on the Excavation at Druid Stoke in Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, Vol. 36, (1913), 217-219

Websites
Know your Place Bristol: Historic Mapping and Monuments records for the Druid Stoke burial chamber, accessed https://maps.bristol.gov.uk/kyp/?edition= from 23 July 2024

Other
Ordnance Survey, Gloucestershire (Surveyed 1879 – 1882; Published 1885)
Ordnance Survey, Gloucestershire (Revised 1901; Published 1903)
Ordnance Survey, Gloucestershire (Revised 1912; Published 1916)
Ordnance Survey, Gloucestershire (Revised 1936; Published 1938)
Ordnance Survey (1830)

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