Long barrow 50m north-east of Down Farm

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 from the densest and one of the most important concentrations of monuments of this type in the country. This example is important as it is one of a rare cluster of similar barrows and, with no evidence of formal excavation, it has considerable archaeological potential.

Details

The monument includes a long barrow situated on level ground towards the corner of an arable field. The barrow mound is orientated SE-NW and is ovate in plan with maximum dimensions of 34m long and 28m wide at the centre where it rises to a height of c.1m. Flanking quarry ditches adjoin the mound on its north and south sides. These survive to a depth of 0.2m and are 7.5m wide. The mound is visible from three other long barrows, two are 600m to the SW and another 1km to the SE.

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:

12102

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

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

End of official list entry

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