Long Barrow on Windover Hill

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 example on Windover Hill survives well and retains high archaeological potential, there being no records of diggings which might have disturbed the remains in the past. Also of note is the proximity of this example with the similar monument called Hunters' Burgh, 800m to the NE.

Details

The Long Barrow is situated on gently-sloping ground near the crest of Windover Hill 100m from the head of the much more recent `Long Man of Wilmington' chalk figure. From a distance, however, the monument appears on the skyline. It is oriented NE-SW, but neither of the ends appears higher or broader than the other. The most distinctive feature of the monument is the elongated earthen mound measuring some 68m in length and 12-13m in width. The mound has been divided into 2 uneven parts by a former trackway which gives the false impression of a separate knoll at the NE end. At its highest point the mound survives to a height of nearly 2m above the level of the surrounding ground. Less obvious but nevertheless discernible are a pair of flanking ditches parallel with the mound from which chalk and earth were quarried with which to create the mound. These may be seen as slight hollows in which differently coloured vegetation grows from that which covers the mound and surrounding area. No records of any excavation at the monument survive but an accurate survey was completed earlier this century. This survey clearly indicates that the monument is of a type characteristic of the Neolithic period.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

12773

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
Darvill, T., MPP Single Monument Class Descriptions - Long Barrows, (1989)
TQ 50 SW 33,

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