Hengiform barrow and associated ring ditch south of Burdocks
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Scheduled Monument
- List Entry Number:
- 1014394
- Date first listed:
- 15-Dec-1989
Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Scheduled Monument
- List Entry Number:
- 1014394
- Date first listed:
- 15-Dec-1989
- Date of most recent amendment:
- 17-Nov-1995
Location
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Gloucestershire
- District:
- Cotswold (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Fairford
- National Grid Reference:
- SP 14443 00193
Reasons for Designation
The Upper Thames gravels are remarkable for the abundant evidence of extensive prehistoric settlement and burial sites. Hengiform barrows are fairly common in other areas of the Upper Thames Valley but the Fairford example is the only one known as far west as Gloucestershire and is therefore considered to be of importance. The barrow survives in a moderate condition as a low but well defined earthwork. No other barrows are known to survive as earthworks on the Upper Thames gravels in Gloucestershire and Wiltshire and, as such, the barrow is very rare. The hengiform barrow has a good range of features and high potential for the survival of archaeological remains. Its significance is enhanced by its association with the nearby and perhaps contemporary Bronze Age ring ditch.
Details
The monument includes a hengiform barrow and an associated ring ditch, both of which are identified as burial structures of the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC) The hengiform barrow is so named because it resembles in form an earlier type of monument called a henge which has enclosing ditches and banks broken by one or more causeways or entrances. The Fairford hengiform barrow consists of a slightly elongated low mound 30m by 40m in diameter and standing 0.5m high. The mound is surrounded by a central ring ditch, itself enclosed by two penannular ditches. The outer ditches are broken to the north west, hence its description as hengiform. The monument also includes a circular cropmark located immediately to the north east of the hengiform barrow. No visible earthwork survives. However, the ring ditch is apparent on the aerial photographs next to, and running under the uncultivated field boundary. The ring ditch is believed to have surrounded a Bronze Age burial mound, the above ground parts of which have been destroyed.
MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 11505
- Legacy System:
- RSM
Sources
Other
NMR SP 1400:2, (1976)
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.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 02-Jul-2026 at 15:17:26.
Download a full scale map (PDF)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.