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 set on the crest of a NW-facing slope in
an area of undulating chalk downland. It survives as a substantial
earthwork, broadly rectangular in plan and orientated north-south. The
barrow mound is 54m long, 24m wide and varies in height between 3m at the
north end and 4m at the chambered south end. The chamber has been partly
excavated and consequently appears as a hollowed area containing four large
sarsen blocks. A further hollow runs the length of the mound along the top
of the monument. This may represent the earliest disturbance of the site
which is believed to have been in the 18th century. Flanking the mound are
ditches, from which material was quarried during the construction of the
monument. These run parallel to the east and west sides of the mound. The
eastern ditch survives to 8m wide and 0.5m deep. The western ditch has been
largely infilled over the years but can still be traced on the surface as a
low earthwork.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
12275
Legacy System:
RSM
End of official list entry
