Long barrow 730m south west of Enslow Bridge

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 730m south west of Enslow Bridge survives well and may form one of a larger group of three long barrows located on the western edge of the river Cherwell. The monument will retain evidence of its construction and use, and may contain primary/secondary burials. Environmental evidence in the form of seeds and pollen will also tell us much about the landscape in which it was set. In addition, the relationship between the barrow and similar burial monuments in the area will tell us much about the ritual and burial practises of their Neolithic builders.

Details

The monument includes the buried and upstanding remains of a long barrow located 730m south west of Enslow Bridge, near Bunkers Hill in the parish of Shipton-on-Cherwell and Thrupp. The barrow is situated on level ground along the western edge of the valley of the river Cherwell. The surviving barrow mound is oblong in plan, orientated north to south, and measures approximately 70m long, 25m wide and 0.3m high. The barrow would have been flanked on its eastern and western sides by quarry ditches that would have provided material from which the barrow mound was constructed. These are no longer visible at ground level due to silting and later cultivation, but are believed to survive as a buried feature, approximately 3m wide. The monument is situated in an area which contains a particular concentration of similar burial monuments, including two further long barrows (not included in this scheduling), located 420m to the north west and 400m to the west of the monument.

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:

30873

Legacy System:

RSM

End of official list entry

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