Ash Hill long barrow in Swinhope Park

Summary

Neolithic long barrow in Swinhope Park which survives as a substantial earthwork aligned roughly north-east to south-west.

Reasons for Designation

The Ash Hill long barrow in Swinhope Park is scheduled for the following principal reasons:

* Survival: the long barrow survives as a substantial earthwork;

* Potential: for the buried archaeological deposits which retain considerable potential to provide evidence relating to social organisation and demographics, cultural associations, human development, disease, diet, and death rituals. Buried environmental evidence can also provide information about the landscape in which the barrows were constructed;

* Period: as one of very few monument types dating to the early prehistoric, it is highly representative of the period. The significance of the monument is enhanced by the spatial relationship with the Bronze Age round barrow adding chronological depth to the site;

* Rarity: as an example of a monument type which is rare nationally and one of very few monument types to offer insight into the lives and deaths of early prehistoric communities in this country.

History

Long barrows and chambered tombs are the main forms of Neolithic funerary monument, constructed from before 3800 BC with new monuments continuing to be built throughout the 4th millennium BC. Where they are precisely dated it appears their primary use for burial rarely lasted longer than about 100 years. Generally comprising long, linear earthen mounds or stone cairns, often flanked by ditches, they can appear as distinctive features in the landscape. They measure up to about 100m in length, 35m in width and 4m in height, and are sometimes trapezoidal or oval in plan. Earthen long barrows are found mostly in southern and eastern England and are usually unchambered, although some examples have been found to contain timber mortuary structures. Regional variation in construction is generally a reflection of locally available resources. Megalithic or stone chambered tombs are most common in Scotland and Wales but are also found in those parts of England with ready access to the large stones and boulders from which they are constructed, especially the Cotswolds, the South-West and Kent. There are around 540 long barrows recorded nationally.

Long barrows of the Lincolnshire Wolds have been identified as a distinct regional grouping of monuments in which the flanking ditches are continued around the ends of the barrow mound, either continuously or broken by a single causeway towards one end. A small number survive as earthworks but the majority are known from crop marks and soil marks where no or very low mounds are evident on the surface. Not all Lincolnshire long barrows had mounds and our current understanding of Neolithic mortuary practices in this part of the country is that the large barrow mound was in fact the final phase of construction which was not reached by all monuments. Previously many of the sites where only the ditched enclosure is known have been interpreted as a barrow where the mound has been degraded or removed by subsequent agricultural activity. In some cases the ditched enclosure (mortuary enclosure) represents a monument which never developed a mound.

Ash Hill long barrow was first scheduled in August 1934. In 1986 limited archaeological investigations were carried out which provided further understanding of the long barrow and the scheduling was amended in January 1996.

Details

PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS

A Neolithic long barrow which survives as a substantial earthwork aligned roughly north-east – south-west measuring approximately 42m long by 17m wide at the northern end, narrowing to 10m at the south. The mound is around 2.25m high at the north, sloping gently away to the south. 

The barrow is located on level ground near to the crest of the hill on the west side of the valley overlooking Waithe Beck at a height of 79m AOD (the crest of the hill lies at 80.9m AOD). It is around 2km to the north of Binbrook and 500m south-west of Swinhope Hall.

Buildings and roadways relating to Second World War activity are present to the north, south and east of the barrow with open fields to the west.

DESCRIPTION

Ash Hill long barrow is visible as an upstanding mound which appears under tree cover on aerial photography (AP). The northernmost end of the barrow mound has a steep incline leading to a flat surface. The eastern and western sides appear spread and uneven in comparison with the more uniformly sloping sides further south on the monument. The steepness of the incline suggests possible truncation of the barrow mound. This may have happened during the Second World War when major construction took place in the vicinity of the barrow.

Further to the south-west along the crest of the barrow there is a slight rise to a more uniform height that extends along the majority of the mound. The southernmost end of the barrow slopes gradually to the remnants of a Second World War structure lying 1m from the end of the mapped mound. The top of the barrow mound is rounded.

The barrow slopes gradually to the west, where the scheduled area meets the field, and to the east, where it reaches a metalled road surface which lies 3m from the mapped edge of the barrow mound. The road falls within the scheduled area, but its metalled surface is excluded from the scheduling.

Ash Hill long barrow survives as a substantial earthwork only minimally disturbed by archaeological investigations in 1986, which demonstrated the existence of a ditch from which material for the mound was quarried. The ditch measures around 1.5m deep, varying in width from 1m - 4m. Finds from the ditch included worked flint, Neolithic pottery and animal bone. A bone sample was radiocarbon dated to 3945 - 3690 BC, confirming the barrow's construction in the Early Neolithic period. An oval pit measuring approximately 52cm by 42cm, roughly 11cm deep was discovered around 3.5m west of the western edge of the quarry ditch. This pit was found to contain Neolithic and Beaker pottery sherds together with a quantity of worked flint. Roman pottery was also discovered in the upper fills of the quarry ditch. An intrusive burial of human remains had been made at the north western end of the mound. These remains were radiocarbon dated to the C10 or C11 AD, indicating deposition during the Anglo-Scandinavian period. 

The 1986 archaeological investigations provide valuable information regarding the construction and dating of the mound and the quarry ditch. The pit deposit discovered in the buried ground surface beyond the quarry ditch together with Roman pottery found in the upper fills of the ditch demonstrates that the monument continued to be a focus of attention and activity after its main phase of use, and the discovery and dating of the skeletons from the inserted burial at the north end provides evidence that the barrow retained significance as late as the period of Danish occupation. These limited archaeological interventions clearly demonstrate the high archaeological potential of the monument.

Ash Hill long barrow lies about 1km to the north-west of two other long barrows on Hoe Hill which are the subject of separate schedulings. The association of Ash Hill long barrow with other similar monuments in the vicinity is of particular significance, posing wider questions about the nature of Neolithic settlement in the area. These monuments, together with those at Thorganby and Ash Holt, Cuxwold, form a group associated with the valley of the Waithe Beck.

EXTENT OF SCHEDULING

Modern tracks and surfaces are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath them is included.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

27854

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
D, Field, Earthen Long Barrows, The Earliest Monuments in the British Isles, (2006)
Woodward, A, British Barrows A Matter of Life and Death, (2000)
J, Last, Beyond the Grave, New Perspectives on Barrows, (2007)
Jones,, D, Long Barrows and Neolithic Elongated Enclosures in Lincolnshire: An Analysis of the Air Photographic Evidence. in Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, Vol. 64, (1998), pp83-114
Phillips,, P, Archaeology and Landscape Studies in North Lincolnshire in BAR, Vol. Vol. 208(i), (1989), .

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