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 present 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 bar rows 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 below the crest of a gentle north-
east facing slope. It survives as a substantial earthwork orientated north-
west/south-east and is broadly rectangular in plan. The barrow mound is flat
topped. It survives to 106m long, 50m wide and stands to a height of c.8m at
the south-east end and 4m at the north-west end. Flanking ditches, from
which material was quarried during the construction of the monument, run
parallel to the south-west and north-east sides of the mound and survive to
a width of c.5m. These have become infilled over the years but survive as a
low earthwork on the north-east side of the mound and as a buried feature to
the south-west. The monument has been partially excavated, both by the Rev.
M Connor in the 19th century and later by Thurnham. No details are known.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
12276
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Books and journals
Legal
This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
End of official list entry
