Long barrow 250m east of Polebridge Farm

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 long barrows are recorded in England. 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 180 long barrows of Hampshire, Wiltshire and Dorset form the densest and one of the most significant concentrations of monuments of this type in the country. The Polebridge Farm barrow survives comparatively well and has potential for the recovery of archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to the period in which the monument was constructed. The importance of the site is enhanced by the fact that other long barrows survive in the area giving an indication of the scale and intensity with which the area was occupied during the Neolithic period.

Details

The monument includes a long barrow set on level ground just above the floor of the Wylye Valley. The barrow bound is ovate in plan and is orientated SW-NE. It has dimensions of 50m long and 20m wide and stands to a height of 1.5m. Flanking the NW and SE sides of the barrow mound, though no longer visible at ground level, are ditches from which material was quarried during construction of the monument. These have become infilled over the years but survive as buried features c.3m wide. The concrete base for a water trough which stands towards the south end of the barrow mound is excluded from the scheduling although the ground beneath 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:

12348

Legacy System:

RSM

End of official list entry

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