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.
The long barrow 550m NNE of Eyford Hill Farm survives well and is known
from partial excavation to contain archaeological and environmental
evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was
constructed. This monument forms one of a wider group generally referred
to as the Cotswold Severn type, named after the area in which they occur.
Round barrow cemeteries date to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They
comprise closely spaced groups of up to 30 round barrows - rubble or
earthen mounds covering single or multiple burials. Most cemeteries
developed over a considerable period of time, often many centuries, and in
some cases acted as a focus for burials as late as the early medieval
period. They exhibit considerable diversity of burial rite, plan and form,
frequently including several different types of round barrow, occasionally
associated with earlier long barrows. Where large scale investigation has
been undertaken around them,contemporary or later 'flat' burials between
the barrow mounds have often been revealed. Round barrow cemeteries occur
across much of lowland Britain, with a marked concentration in Wessex. In
some cases they are clustered around other important contemporary
monuments such as henges. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a
major historic element in the modern landscape, whilst their diversity and
longevity as a monument type provide important information on the beliefs
and social organisation amongst early prehistoric communities. They are
particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion
of surviving or partly-surviving examples are considered worthy of
protection.
The four bowl barrows 550m NNE of Eyford Hill Farm survive comparatively
well as a part of the wider round barrow cemetery. The barrows will
contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to the monument
and the landscape in which they were constructed.
Details
The monument includes a long barrow and four bowl barrows. The bowl
barrows form part of a wider round barrow cemetery. The barrows are
situated on a south facing slope overlooking a dry valley to the south in
an area of the Cotswold Hills.
The long barrow, sometimes known as the Eyford Hill long barrow, has a
mound constructed of small stones orientated from north east to south
west. The mound has a maximum length of 47m, a maximum width of 20m and a
maximum height of 0.8m. Partial excavation of the barrow by Royce,
Rolleston and Greenwell in 1874, found it to be enclosed by a dry stone
wall, and at the north eastern end there was an open area or forecourt
flanked by extensions of the mound on either side; four lateral or side
chambers were also identified. A chamber on the north western side near to
the north eastern end of the mound contained the remains of a human adult
and child together with animal bones. A chamber on the north western side
near to the south western end of the mound contained the remains of nine
human adults, one child and a bead made of shale from Kimmeridge in
Dorset. A cist from near to the centre of the south western end of the
mound contained the remains of an adult human male and female, four
children and a dog. Sherds of Beaker ware were recorded from above the
cist and are now in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Another cist was
identified on the southern side of the mound near to the south western
corner in which the remains of an adolescent human and fragments of a
Neolithic bowl were recovered. A further burial of a child with a
Neolithic bowl and shale bead was identified just outside of the southern
boundary wall near to the eastern end of the barrow. These finds are now
held at the British Museum, London.
This long barrow is one of two known in the locality. Both long barrows
are intervisible and are situated within comparable positions on adjacent
hillsides on either side of an intervening dry valley.
The four bowl barrows, sometimes known as the Eyford Hill round barrows,
occur in two groups and are situated to the north east and north west of
the earlier long barrow. They vary between 15m and 22m in diameter and are
between 0.15m and 0.25m high. All four mounds are composed of small stones
and each is surrounded by a ditch from which material was quarried during
their construction. These have become infilled over the years, but survive
as buried features approximately 2m wide.
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.
