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.
Details
The monument includes a long barrow orientated northwest to southeast and
situated on level ground 600m east north east of Brimble Pit Pool. The barrow
mound is 30m long by 11m wide and c.2.5m high at its highest point. Although
no longer visible at ground level two parallel ditches, from which material
was quarried during the construction of the monument, lie on either side of
the mound to the northeast and southwest. These ditches have become infilled
over the years but survive as buried features c.3m wide.
The barrow was partially excavated in 1816 by B M Skinner although no details
are known. Following a contour survey of the mound in April 1928, the barrow
was again partially excavated by E K Tratman and D Morton. A hearth with a
central cist or stone box 56.4cm by 35.8cm in size was reported approximately
7.3m from the southeast end. This was thought to have contained a burial
contemporary with the construction of the monument and possibly unburnt,
accompanied by a burnt burial of which a few fragments remained. A pit 76cm
in diameter and filled with stones was placed centrally in the barrow mound.
Finds of two human molar teeth, some fragments of burnt bone, a piece of a
human arm bone and a flint knife were reported lying slightly above the pit.
A second hearth 1.5m by 1.8m was reported 4.6m from the northwest end. Finds
of charcoal were associated with this feature.
Structural details of the mound construction which were recorded by the
excavation included remains of a stone revetment wall along the long sides of
the barrow mound. The finds and photographic record of the later excavation
were destroyed in World War II.
A drystone wall lies over the quarry ditch on the southern side. The wall is
excluded from the scheduling, however the ground beneath it is included.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
13843
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Books and journals Other
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 Culture, Media and Sport.
End of official list entry
