Long barrow in Round Clump

Reasons for Designation

Long barrows were constructed as earthen or drystone mounds with flanking ditches and acted as funerary monuments during the early neolithic period (3000-2400bc). They represent the burial places of Britain's early farming communities and, as such, are amongst the oldest field monuments surviving visibly in the landscape. Where investigated, long barrows appear to have been used for communal burial, often with only partial human remains 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, unless very severely damaged, are considered to be nationally important. The 180 long barrows of Hampshire, Wiltshire and Dorset form the densest and one of the most important concentrations of monuments of this type in the country. This example is regarded as important as it survives well and, with no evidence of formal excavation, the site has considerable archaeological potential.

Details

The monument includes a well-preserved long barrow, surviving as an earthwork within Round Clump plantation. It is set on a gently sloping spur and is orientated SE-NW. The barrow mound is roughly rectangular in plan and survives to a length of 44m along its level top, and 72m in length overall. The mound is 32.5m wide and stands to a height of 3.4m above surrounding ground. A quarry ditch encircles the mound on all but its SE side. This averages between 8.5m wide at the NW end and 12m wide on the NE and SW sides. It survives to a depth of 1.6m.

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:

12113

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Smith, I F, Long Barrows in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, (1979), 58-9

End of official list entry

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