Neolithic long barrow and Iron Age enclosure north of Grebby Hall

Summary

A Neolithic long barrow defined by a trapezoidal ditched enclosure and a possible Iron Age sub-rectangular ditched enclosure to the north-west end of the barrow.

Reasons for Designation

The long barrow and Iron Age enclosure north of Grebby Hall are scheduled for the following principal reasons:

* Survival: as the buried remains of a prehistoric long barrow and Iron Age enclosure visible as a clearly defined crop mark;
* 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;
* Diversity: for the possible Iron Age enclosure which lies in close proximity to the long barrow;
* Period: as one of very few monument types dating to the early prehistoric, the long barrow is highly representative of the period. The significance of the monument is enhanced by the spatial relationship with the Iron Age sub-rectangular ditched enclosure adding chronological depth to the site;
* Rarity: as an example of a monument type (long barrow) 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.

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.

The long barrow north of Grebby Hall was first scheduled in February 1996. The mapped depiction of the barrow was, at that time, plotted approximately 70m south-west of the current location. Transcription of more recent aerial photographs using modern rectification methods has enabled the barrow to be mapped more accurately and the scheduled area was amended on that basis in 2024.

To the north-east corner of the long barrow and mapped as part of the scheduled area, is a sub-rectangular enclosure of possible Iron Age date although no detailed archaeological investigation of this feature has yet been carried out.

Details

PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS: A Neolithic long barrow defined by a trapezoidal ditched enclosure and a possible Iron Age sub-rectangular ditched enclosure to the north-west end of the barrow.

The barrow lies at a height of 68m AOD and is located to the north of the A158, approximately 500m to the south-east of Skendleby. Both the barrow and enclosure are located close to the crest of a hill below the summit of a low plateau between two wide, shallow river valleys. The western river drains into the river Lymn, and that to the east is a tributary of The Beck.

DESCRIPTION: The cropmark remains of the long barrow are evident on aerial photographs as a trapezoidal ditched enclosure aligned north-west to south-east measuring approximately 57m in length. It is 23m wide at the south-eastern end, tapering to 16m across at the north-western end. In the mid-late C20 aerial photographs show a chalky mound material visible in the southern half of the monument but Lidar from 2001 indicates no discernable mound survives today. The cropmark representing the surrounding ditch has rounded corners and its circuit is unbroken, a form which is thought to indicate an example of a simpler type of this monument class. The enclosed area would have been the focus for mortuary activities including the exposure of human remains, and structures and deposits relating to this activity will survive as buried features.

The buried remains of the long barrow will retain rare and valuable archaeological deposits on the buried ground surface and in the fills of the ditch. These will provide important information concerning the dating and construction of the barrow, and the sequence of mortuary ritual at the site. Environmental evidence preserved in the same contexts will illustrate the appearance of the landscape in which the monument was set.

To the north-east of the Neolithic long barrow is a large sub-rectangular ditched enclosure, possibly Iron Age in date, visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs. Other cropmarks in the vicinity include ditches, which appear to be aligned with the north-west end of the barrow.

The monument is situated less than 3km south of both the Skendleby group of long barrows and the Deadmen's Graves barrows and may be an outlying example of a wider group associated with the River Lymn.

EXTENT OF SCHEDULING: The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. The scheduling includes a 5 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:

27888

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Jones, D, Long Barrows and Neolithic Elongated Enclosures in Lincolnshire: An Analysis of the Air Photographic Evidence. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 64, 1998, pp83-114, (1998)
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)
A, Burl, The Stonehenge People, (1989)

End of official list entry

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