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.
Details
The monument includes a long barrow, surviving as a low earthwork and
set in an area of undulating chalk downland. The barrow mound is
orientated ENE-WSW and survives to a length of 97m. It has a maximum
width of 20m at the NE end and 10m at the SW end. Two ditches, from
which mound material was quarried, flank the mound. Although no longer
visible at ground level, these survive as buried features to a width
of 5m. The site survives to a maximum height of 1m in the hedgerow and
gardens west of West Hill Road North. East of the road, in an area
heavily ploughed over several years, the mound survives to 0.4m high.
The road itself is excluded from the scheduling although the area
beneath the road surface is included.
Although never formally excavated, two finds have been recorded from
the site. A flint scraper was recovered from the SW end of the mound
and a small axe made of greenstone from Great Langdale in the Lake
District, was found in a garden NW of the road.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
12082
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Books and journals Other
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
