Summary
A Neolithic long barrow and two Bronze Age round barrows.
Reasons for Designation
The Neolithic long barrow and two associated Bronze Age round barrows 250m east of Fordington House Farm, are scheduled for the following principal reasons:
* Survival: as a Prehistoric long barrow confirmed to survive from geophysical survey and visible as a clearly defined crop mark and earthwork;
* Potential: for the buried 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, the long barrow is highly representative of the Neolithic. The significance of the monument is further enhanced by the spatial relationship with the Bronze Age round barrows 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 us insights into the lives and deaths of early prehistoric communities in this country. The dimensions of this long barrow are worthy of note since it represents the longest of the class yet identified in Lincolnshire.
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.
Round barrows are funerary monuments dating from the Late Neolithic period to the Late Bronze Age, with most examples belonging to the period 2400-1500 BC. They were constructed as earthen or rubble mounds, sometimes ditched, which covered single or multiple burials. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape and their considerable variation of form and longevity as a monument type provide important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisations amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.
The Neolithic long barrow east of Fordington House Farm was first identified in 1976 and survives as cropmarks and soilmarks which is well documented by aerial photography (AP). It has been confirmed by limited excavation and a geophysical survey in 1989 which further demonstrated its form and extent. The long barrow was scheduled in 1996 when it was recorded as a good example of this class of monument.
Two Bronze Age round barrows were subsequently identified on the site. The first barrow, 250m east of Fordington House Farm, is visible as cropmarks and soilmarks and can be seen in AP from 2012. It was also recorded in a geophysical survey undertaken in October 2017.
A second Bronze Age round barrow lies approximately 300m north-east of Fordington House Farm and is visible as cropmarks and soilmarks first recorded from AP in 2012. It is around 130m to the north-west of the Neolithic long barrow and within the same field.
The geophysical survey carried out in 2017 also covered a possible smaller long barrow to the north of the scheduled long barrow. Following research it is now thought that this is likely to be a geological feature and does not represent the remains of a long barrow. It is not therefore included in the scheduling.
Details
PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS: A Neolithic long barrow aligned east-west which survives as a low mound flanked by ditches. The remains of two Bronze Age round barrows defined by ring ditches survive as cropmarks to the west and north-west of the long barrow. The monument lies approximately 250m to the east of Fordington House Farm. It sits just below the brow of the hill on the south-west facing slope of the side of a narrow valley overlooking an un-named tributary that, along with others, runs to feed the River Lymn. The monument sits at approximately 85m AOD.
DESCRIPTION: The long barrow is aligned east-west and measures in the region of 134m in length, tapering from 30m across at the eastern end to 18m across at the west with the ditches measuring up to 4m wide. A small quarry bisects the barrow separating the western quarter from the rest of the barrow. The dimensions of the long barrow are worthy of note since it represents the longest of the class yet identified in Lincolnshire. The faint cropmarks seen on APs indicate the remains of a long earthen mound flanked by two irregular side ditches. There is an indication of the barrow mound both on APs as a compacted feature and from Digital Elevation Model (DEM) images. Cropmarks seen in AP show the western end may be open ended whilst there is a possible trace of the ditches curving around the eastern end. A geophysical survey revealed that both ends of the long barrow were obscured by magnetic interference, making it difficult to determine if the enclosure ditch is complete or it has a gap for an entrance. A section of the monument, towards the western end, has been disturbed by chalk quarrying and this provided an opportunity for limited archaeological evaluation in 1989. Sampling for radiocarbon dating confirmed that the monument was constructed in the Neolithic period.
The Bronze Age round barrow to the west of the long barrow is visible on AP, and from this the outer circuit of the ditch has been measured as around a 12m diameter. The barrow has been ploughed level so that only the outer circuit of the ditch is visible. The geophysical survey report identifies the ring ditch of a round barrow which is less regular than the cropmarks suggest and measures 20m by 15m with the western portion not visible. The absence of a complete circuit could be due to low magnetic contrast within some of the ditch fills, very shallow ditches or truncation by ploughing.
A second Bronze Age round barrow, to the north-west of the long barrow, is also visible as cropmarks from AP. The round barrow has an internal diameter of 15m and has been ploughed level so that only the outer circuit of the ditch is visible. A pit is located to the south of the barrow which is approximately 4m in diameter and almost touches the outer circuit ditch.
Although degraded by ploughing, valuable archaeological deposits will be preserved on the buried ground surface and in the fills of the ditch. These will provide rare information concerning the dating and construction of the monument and the sequence of mortuary practices at the site. The same deposits may also retain environmental evidence illustrating the nature of the contemporary landscape in which the monument was set.
The monument is one of a number of Neolithic long barrows, known as the Skendleby group, associated with the valley of a tributary of the River Lymn and with the prehistoric trackway now formalised as the Bluestone Heath Road. The road itself is thought to have originated as a prehistoric trackway and is, at this point, overlain by the course of a Roman road. This chosen location poses wider questions concerning both the ritual significance of the area and the patterns of Neolithic settlement in the landscape.
