Long barrow 260m north west of Cross Lodge

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.

The long barrow north west of Cross Lodge is a well preserved example of this class of monument, and early attempts to level it have not affected the survival of a range of archaeological evidence. The barrow mound will retain details of its method of construction, which may include post holes for timber revetments within, or palisades around, the mound. Within the mound, the rare survival of human burials can make a contribution to our understanding of the demography of the Neolithic period. Changes in technology and burial practice may be evident if the monument was in use for a prolonged period. The buried ground surface beneath the mound will preserve environmental evidence for the landscape in which the barrow was constructed, as will the fills of the flanking ditches. The ditches themselves will preserve evidence for their original design and any modifications over time. Cross Lodge long barrow dates from a period for which earthwork survivals are rare in Herefordshire, and will contribute to our understanding of the social organisation and burial practices of the county's Neolithic population. Its association with the nearby chambered tomb of Arthur's Stone, and the promontory fort on Dorstone Hill at which evidence for Neolithic occupation has been found, enhances the interest of the individual monuments.

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.

The barrow is fenced off on three sides, with a hedged field boundary to the south. The fences and hedge are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath them is included.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 2 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:

27495

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, Barrows in England and Wales, (1979)
Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club in Barrow near Peterchurch, Vol. 34(1), (1952), 31

Other
Went, Chris, (1995)
H&W SMR, (1991)

End of official list entry