Long barrow 250m east of Boyton Field 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 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 Boyton Field Barn barrow survives comparatively well and has potential for the recovery of archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to the period in which the monument was constructed. The importance of the site is enhanced by the fact that other long barrows survive in the area giving an indication of the nature and intensity of occupation during the Neolithic period.

Details

The monument includes a long barrow set on the crest of a hill in an area of undulating chalk downland and with extensive views of the Wylye valley to the north and east. The barrow mound is ovoid in shape and orientated east-west. It is 50m long, 20m wide and stands 2m high when viewed from the north. The central area of the barrow mound has been partially excavated in the past although no details are known. Although no longer visible at ground level flanking ditches, from which material was quarried during construction of the monument, run parallel to the north and south sides of the mound. These have become infilled over the years but survive as buried features c.3m wide. The ditch north of the barrow mound lies beneath a metalled track, the surface of which is excluded from the scheduling although the ground beneath is included. The monument may be the `Maeden Beorge' described in a charter of AD968.

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:

12339

Legacy System:

RSM

End of official list entry

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