Long barrow in Barrow Copse

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. Despite some damage, due to afforestation and partial excavation in the 19th century, the Barrow Copse monument is important as it survives well and has potential for the recovery of archaeological remains. It is one of several long barrows and other contemporary monuments occurring in the immediate area giving an indication of the intensity with which it was settled during the Neolithic period.

Details

The monument includes a long barrow set above the floor of a dry valley in an area of gently undulating chalk downland. The barrow mound is ovate and orientated east-west. It is 40m long, 27m wide and stands to a maximum height of 3.5m. Flanking the barrow mound to the north and south are ditches from which the material used to form the mound was quarried during the construction of the monument. These survive as earthworks 8m wide and 1m deep. The barrow mound was partially excavated by antiquarians in 1880, although no details of the work are known. A hollow towards the centre of the barrow mound indicates the site of the excavation.

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:

12243

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine in Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine: Volume 42, (), 366-7
Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine in Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine: Volume 61, (), 98
Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine in Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine: Volume 79, (), 18

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.

Print the official list entry