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 a Neolithic long barrow, known as Chettle Long Barrow,
located at the top of an east facing slope in the north east corner of
Eastbury Park on the boundary with Tarrant Gunville. The barrow mound is 58m
long and 22m wide, orientated north west to south east and is wider and higher
at the south east end. The mound has a maximum height of 3m. An oval hollow
recorded in the arable field on the north east side of the mound which is
50m long, by 14.5m wide and 0.6m deep, probably represents a flanking ditch. A
shallower hollow was also reported along the south west side. These ditches
will survive as buried features. Numerous human bones were found when an
unspecified part of the barrow was removed to make a grotto before 1767. The
parish boundary runs along the top of the mound.
Excluded from the scheduling are all fence posts and the telegraph pole
although the ground beneath is included.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
27368
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Books and journals
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
