Summary
The buried remains of a Neolithic long barrow surmounted by the buried remains of a Bronze Age round barrow.
Reasons for Designation
The remains of a Neolithic long barrow overlain by the remains of a Bronze Age round barrow, both surviving as buried features, are scheduled for the following principal reasons:
* Survival: the buried remains of a prehistoric round barrow and earlier long barrow, both confirmed to survive from geophysical survey, and visible as clearly defined crop marks;
* Potential: the buried deposits will retain considerable archaeological potential to provide evidence relating to social organisation and demographics, cultural associations, human development, disease, diet, and death rituals. Buried environmental evidence can also inform us about the landscape in which the monuments were constructed;
* Period: as one of very few monument types dating to the early prehistoric era, they are highly representative of the period, with the long barrow also being a characteristic feature of the landscape in the Lincolnshire Wolds;
* Rarity: long barrows are rare nationally and both barrows are one of very few monument types to offer us insights into the lives and deaths of early prehistoric communities in this country;
* Group value: the monuments form part of a wider grouping, including the long barrow 530m west of Moor Farm (NHLE 1013917), 1.5km to the north-east; the long barrow 800m south-west of Kirmond Top (NHLE 1017879), 2km to the north-north-west; and the long barrow south-east of Ludford Grange (NHLE 1477528), 2.8km to the north-east-east; along with the bowl barrow 100m south-west of Gally Hill Farm (NHLE 1013891), 812m to the south-east, all of which are scheduled. As a group, they are considered to be particularly valuable for the study of demography, settlement patterns and communication routes for this area of the Lincolnshire Wolds and for its wider study.
History
Barrows, sometimes described as tumuli on early Ordnance Survey (OS) maps, are mounds of earth and/or stone (stone examples are often called cairns) of various shapes and sizes that are characteristic earthwork monuments of the prehistoric periods. Barrows were amongst the earliest of monuments recognised by antiquarians who dug into many during the C18 and C19 in the mistaken belief that they contained treasures. In fact, rich grave goods are rare and when excavated most barrows contain a few relatively mundane objects. Human burials were sometimes encountered and consequently these mounds were often considered to be the burial places of prominent people. There was a focus on this burial aspect throughout the C20 but, increasingly, the complexity of the features beneath the mound rendered any simple explanation of function inappropriate.
Long barrows and chambered tombs are the main forms of Neolithic funerary monument, constructed from before 3800 BC with new monuments continuing to be built throughout the 4th millennium BC. Where they are precisely dated it appears their primary use for burial rarely lasted longer than about 100 years. Generally comprising long, linear earthen mounds or stone cairns, often flanked by ditches, they can appear as distinctive features in the landscape. They measure up to about 100m in length, 35m in width and 4m in height, and are sometimes trapezoidal or oval in plan. Earthen long barrows are found mostly in southern and eastern England and are usually unchambered, although some examples have been found to contain timber mortuary structures. Regional variation in construction is generally a reflection of locally available resources. Megalithic or stone chambered tombs are most common in Scotland and Wales, but are also found in those parts of England with ready access to the large stones and boulders from which they are constructed, especially the Cotswolds, the South-West and Kent. There are around 540 long barrows recorded nationally.
Long barrows of the Lincolnshire Wolds have been identified as a distinct regional grouping of monuments in which the flanking ditches are continued around the ends of the barrow mound, either continuously or broken by a single causeway towards one end. A small number survive as earthworks but the majority are known from crop marks and soil marks where no or very low mounds are evident on the surface. Not all Lincolnshire long barrows had mounds and our current understanding of Neolithic mortuary practices in this part of the country is that the large barrow mound was in fact the final phase of construction which was not reached by all monuments. Previously many of the sites where only the ditched enclosure is known have been interpreted as a barrow where the mound has been degraded or removed by subsequent agricultural activity. In some cases, the ditched enclosure (mortuary enclosure) represents a monument which never developed a mound.
Round barrows have a considerable pedigree with origins dating to before 5,000 years ago (3000 BC), and which cover similar complex sequences of activity to that of long barrows. Size varies quite dramatically from examples of only 5m or 6m across to those that take on monumental proportions of over 50m diameter and 6m in height. The main period of round barrow construction occurred between about 4,000 and 3,500 years ago (2000-1500 BC). Subtleties on the surface only rarely allow different forms to be distinguished and most occur as simple amorphous swellings. Nonetheless, most barrow mounds have been damaged and large numbers have been partly or completely levelled by agriculture, which make those surviving as earthworks all the more important. Barrows remain one of the main sources of information about life in the prehistoric periods.
Although the Neolithic long barrow and overlying Bronze Age round barrow lying some 370m south-west of Boucherette Farm, North Willingham, have been degraded by ploughing, the buried remains of their enclosure ditches were identified from aerial photographs taken in 1955 and 1977 as part of the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England’s Lincolnshire Cropmark Long Barrows Project, which was undertaken between 1992 and 1997 to produce an overview of the long barrow and long mortuary type cropmark enclosures recorded in the northern half of Lincolnshire. The buried remains of the two barrows were confirmed in 2018 when they were subject to a geophysical survey as part of the Lincolnshire Long Barrows Assessment Project; a project in which all known long barrows in Lincolnshire were reassessed by Archaeological Project Services and Heritage Lincolnshire on behalf of Historic England.
Details
PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS: the buried remains of a Neolithic long barrow surmounted by the buried remains of a Bronze Age bowl barrow located around 370m south-west of Boucherette Farm, North Willingham. They lie just below the crest of a hill at 141m OD, on a west-facing slope overlooking a valley of a tributary of the River Rase to the south.
DESCRIPTION: although the barrow mounds have been degraded by ploughing and are no longer visible on the ground, their encircling ditches are preserved beneath the present ground surface and can be clearly seen from the air as cropmarks and soilmarks visible on aerial photographs taken in 1992 and 1997. A geophysical survey undertaken in 2016 further confirmed their extent and form.
The Neolithic long barrow is aligned east to west and is defined by a ditched trapeziform enclosure with convex terminals measuring 35m long by 19m wide. Aerial photographs initially suggested that the ditch had openings at its east and west end, but the geophysical survey has confirmed that it forms a complete circuit. The width of the ditch varies, due to spreading of the fills, but may average around 2.1m wide.
The long barrow is surmounted by a later Bronze Age round barrow and may have re-used some of its mound material in its construction. It has a diameter of 25m and is defined by a single ditch measuring around 1.6m wide. A break in the ditch at the east end measures around 5.3m wide.
Valuable archaeological deposits will be preserved on the buried ground surface and in the fills of the ditches. These will provide rare information concerning the dating and construction of the monuments and the sequence of mortuary practices at the site. The same deposits will also retain environmental evidence illustrating the nature of the landscape in which the monuments were set.
Soilmarks of former ridge and furrow cultivation extends across the site.
EXTENT OF SCHEDULING: the scheduled area is shown on the accompanying map extract and is designed to protect both the buried remains of the Neolithic long barrow and the Bronze Age round barrow. The scheduling includes a 5m boundary around the barrows, which is considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.
