King Barrow: a long barrow 100m north of Bishopstrow House

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.

The 180 long barrows of Hampshire, Wiltshire and Dorset form the densest and one of the most significant concentrations of monuments of this type in the country. The long barrow at Bishopstrow House survives well as an outstanding example of its class despite partial excavation on two separate occasions. The site therefore has potential for the recovery of further archaeological remains as well as environmental evidence relating to the surrounding landscape at the time the monument was constructed. The importance of the site is enhanced by the survival of numerous Bronze Age burial monuments in the immediate area. Combined, these give an indication of how settlement of the area continued between the 5th and 2nd millennia BC.

Details

The monument includes a long barrow set on a local promontory in the valley of the River Wylye. The barrow mound is 70m long, 22m wide and c.3m high. It is orientated NNW-SSE and is ovoid in plan. Although no longer visible at ground level ditches, from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument, flank the mound to the east and west. These have become infilled over the years but survive as buried features c.5m wide. The site has been partially excavated on two occasions, by Colt-Hoare and Cunnington. Finds have included a cremation burial and numerous later burials. Part of the mound was removed in the 19th century leaving a scar at the northern end of the monument.

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:

12294

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine in Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine, Vol. 49, (1958)

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