Long barrow immediately north of Blenheim House, 310m south west of Putson Cross

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.

Despite reduction in its height through cultivation, partial excavation and disturbance through modern services to houses, the long barrow immediately north of Blenheim House, 310m south west of Putson Cross, will contain archaeological and environmental information relating to the construction and use of the monument and its landscape. It is unusual for this part of Devon, being the only remaining monument of this type known west of West Dorset.

Details

This monument includes a Neolithic long barrow situated on the southern side of the valley of the River Lowman. The monument survives as an elongated oval mound aligned east-west, which is widest at the eastern end. It measures approximately 92m long, 18m wide at the east tapering to 11m wide at the west and is up to 0.9m high. The flanking quarry ditch is partially visible on the northern side, extends round the eastern end and to the south, and is elsewhere preserved as a buried feature which measures up to 10m wide. Partial excavation has shown that this ditch measures up to 3.2m deep. The long mound and its ditch extends through the gardens and grounds of three separate properties. The land boundaries which cross the monument, together with patios, paths, other garden features, standing buildings, and a septic tank are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath these features is included.

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:

32230

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SS91SE15, (1992)

End of official list entry

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