Home
Listing
Search the List

Enrich the List

Apply for Listing

What is Listing?

Listing Guidance
Listing

Find out about listed buildings and other protected sites, and search the National Heritage List for England (NHLE).

Find out about listing

The Old Blacksmith’s Shop The Old Blacksmith's Shop, Wiltshire © Historic England DP276780
Advice
Advice Finder

Heritage at Risk

Your Home

Technical Guidance

Planning

Caring for Heritage

Constructive Conservation

Heritage Protection Guide

Coronavirus Support & Advice
Advice

See our extensive range of expert advice to help you care for and protect historic places.

Get our advice

Tubwell Row Darlington, since 2001 improvements to Darlington Town Centre have sought to celebrate its architecture and create a pedestrian heart with an inclusive shopping and civic area © Historic England
Research
Our Research Strategy and Agenda

Research Methods

Current Research

Research Results

Support & Collaboration

Inclusive Heritage

Latest Research

Heritage Counts
Research

Discover and use our high-quality applied research to support the protection and management of the historic environment.

Discover our research

Testing vertical aerial photography methods at British Camp on the Malvern Hills. Read about our latest aerial investigation methods © Historic England Archive. (S3282_V_0651)
Images & Books
Find Photos

Search All Publications

Buy Books

The Historic England Archive
Images & Books

Historic England holds an extensive range of publications and historic collections in its public archive covering the historic environment.

Browse our collections

A portrait of John Laing outside Bournemouth train station, during a staff outing of Laing's London office. Photographed 30 May 1953 © Historic England Archive. John Laing Photographic Collection. JLP01/08/008844
Services & Skills
Education

Grants

Our Planning Services

Training & Skills

Archive Services

Heritage Action Zones
Services & Skills

Find out about services offered by Historic England for funding, planning, education and research, as well as training and skill development.

Learn about our services

New Heritage Partnership Agreement Signed at King's Cross Station © Historic England
Get Involved
High Street Culture

Everyday Heritage

Support Us

Volunteer in Heritage

Protect Your Heritage

Visit Your Heritage

Help Write History
Get Involved

Explore the many ways you can help to support the incredibly rich and varied heritage.

Get involved in heritage

Brixton Windmill - Friends of Brixton Windmill. Shortlisted for ‘Best Rescue of an Industrial Building or Site’ Angel Award in 2012 © Historic England
What's New
News

In Your Area

Historic England Blog

Latest Research

Heritage Online Debate

Statements

Stay up to Date

Coronavirus Support & Advice
What's New

Read about our current news, projects and campaigns nationally and in your area.

Catch up with what's new

Sandra Kazlauskaite interviewing a Youth Club group at Grantham Community Centre. © Emm Nunn
Sign in
Manage my account

Sign out

Asthall Barrow: an Anglo-Saxon burial mound 100m SSW of Barrow Farm

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1008414
Date first listed:: 16-May-1934

User submitted image — Your photos and comments are welcome This photo may not represent the current condition of the site
View all

Location

Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.

This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.

What is the National Heritage List for England?

The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.

The list includes:

Find out more about listing

Historic England Archive

Search over 1 million photographs and drawings from the 1850s to the present day using our images archive.

Find Photos

Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1008414
Date first listed:: 16-May-1934
Date of most recent amendment:: 22-Nov-1994

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County:: Oxfordshire
District:: West Oxfordshire (District Authority)
Parish:: Asthall
National Grid Reference:: SP 28992 10105

Reasons for Designation

A hlaew is a burial monument of Anglo-Saxon or Viking date and comprising a hemispherical mound of earth and redeposited bedrock constructed over a primary burial or burials. These were usually inhumations, buried in a grave cut into the subsoil beneath the mound, but cremations placed on the old ground surface beneath the mound have also been found. Hlaews may occur in pairs or in small groups; a few have accompanying flat graves. Constructed during the pagan Saxon and Viking periods for individuals of high rank, they served as visible and ostentatious markers of their social position. Some were associated with territorial claims and appear to have been specifically located to mark boundaries. They often contain objects which give information on the range of technological skill and trading contacts of the period. Only between 50 and 60 hlaews have been positively identified in England. As a rare monument class all positively identified examples are considered worthy of preservation.

The Asthall Barrow is one of the best preserved examples of a type of burial mound of which there are about ten examples in West Oxfordshire. Despite partial excavation and recent animal burrowing it will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to its construction and the landscape in which it was built. The survival of part of its original drystone retaining wall is an unusual feature.

Details

The monument includes an Anglo-Saxon hlaew or burial mound situated on a north-facing slope, 100m south of Barrow Farm. The barrow mound was constructed within a drystone wall, 0.5m thick and up to 1.5m high, which has since been repaired. The mound, including its revetment wall, measures 17m in diameter and stands up to 2m high. The barrow was partially excavated by G S Bowles in 1923 and found to contain Saxon pottery and a primary cremation burial. The mound was found to have been constructed at ground level with material for its construction brought to the site. There was no evidence for an associated quarry ditch. The drystone wall surrounding the mound is believed to contain original stonework and is included in the scheduling.

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.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:: 21797
Legacy System:: RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Leeds, E T, 'Antiquity' in Asthal Saxon Barrow, , Vol. Vol. IV, (1924)
Other
PRN 1492, C.A.O., Asthal Barrow, (1985)
Record 17, Mudd, A, Asthall Barrow, Asthall, (1984)

Legal

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.