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 long barrow situated on the edge of a slight spur
with the ground sloping away to the north and east. The long barrow has a
mound 56m long, orientated ESE-WNW, and has a maximum width of 36m. It has
a maximum height of 1.2m at the east end and slopes gently down towards the
west. The mound has been considerably rounded by cultivation but in a 1947
aerial photograph appears trapezoidal in plan, with the wider end at the
east.
Although no longer visible on the surface, quarry ditches will flank either
side of the mound and will survive as buried features 3m wide.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
29786
Legacy System:
RSM
End of official list entry
