Long barrow 370m south-south-east of Castle Farm

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 long barrow 370m south-south-east of Castle Farm survives comparatively well and, despite localised disturbance, contains archaeological and environmental evidence relating both to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed. The monument is a rare example of a long barrow in an area which otherwise contains a concentration of later burial monuments.

Details

The monument includes a long barrow orientated northeast to southwest and situated on sloping ground 370m south-south-east of Castle Farm. It is visible as a barrow mound 30m long by 14m wide and c.1.5m high at its highest point. An irregular hollow c.1m deep, possibly caused by previous excavation, crosses the barrow mound from north to south. 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 barrow mound to the north-west and south-east. These ditches have become infilled over the years but survive as buried features c.3m wide. A fence which crosses the quarry ditch on the south side of the mound is excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath it is included.

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:

13885

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Tratman, E K, University of Bristol Speleological Society in Barrow Catalogue, ()
Tratman, E K, Proceedings of the Univ of Bristol Speleological Society in Fieldwork, Vol. Vol 5(3), (1946), p. 159
Grinsell, L, Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeology and Natural Hist Soc in Somerset Barrows Part II, Vol. Vol 115, (1971), 84-98

Other
23248, (1991)

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