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 examples of
long barrows and long cairns, their counterparts in the uplands, are recorded
nationally. 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 the earthwork and buried remains of a Neolithic long
barrow, situated on a south facing slope below Moccas Park, and above the
River Dore. The barrow is on a slight ridge in the corner of a pasture field,
which slopes gently eastwards into a shallow dry valley. The remains include
an earthen mound of sub-rectangular form, c.26m long and up to 12m wide. The
mound is orientated WNW-ESE, and is c.2m high with a flat top. Its profile is
irregular at the eastern end due to the presence of three mature ash trees
around which animal scrapes have formed, resulting in gently sloping sides and
a squared end. The roots from a tree on the southern edge are visible across
the surface of the mound, their deeper penetration probably prohibited by a
burial chamber within. The western end is slightly narrower and steeper sided,
and curves somewhat to the north, perhaps following the line of the burial
chamber or passage beneath. A shallow depression on the north side may be the
result of early investigation of the mound. Two depressions on the southern
side appear to have been caused by animals sheltering against two of the ash
trees. The edges of what appear to be substantial stones are visible in the
bare earth of these hollows, and in the erosion scars around the trees, which
also show the mound material to be generally stony. This construction material
will have been quarried from ditches flanking the long sides of the monument,
which are now infilled and no longer visible on the surface. Approximately 8m
from the east end of the mound a slab protrudes at an angle from the ground,
and may be in its original position. The chambered tomb of Arthur's Stone is
situated c.2km north west of the monument, and is the subject of a separate
scheduling.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
27495
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
