Long barrow south of Ballard's 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 cultivation of the site, much of the Ballard's Copse barrow survives comparatively well and has potential for the recovery of archaeological remains. The significance of the monument is enhanced by the fact that numerous other barrow mounds survive in the area as well as additional evidence for contemporary settlement. Such evidence provides a clear indication of the extent to which the area was settled during the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods.

Details

The monument includes a long barrow set just below the crest of a south-west facing slope in an area of gently undulating chalk downland. The barrow mound is orientated ENE-WSW and survives to a height of 1.2m. It measures 27m long and is 23m wide. Flanking ditches, from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument, run parallel to the north and south sides of the barrow mound. These have been infilled over the years and now survive as buried features c.3m wide.

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:

12245

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
SU27SE 101, Wilts SMR SU27SE 101,

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