Having recently been engaged with several other gentlemen in opening a barrow or tumulus in the parish of Gillingham, Dorset, and known as Langbury Hill, I am desirous to lay the results before your readers, and to ask their opinion relative to the appearances presented. The barrow in question is a long low mound of earth, measuring,- in its present state, about one hundred feet from its eastern to its western extremity, by about thirty feet wide, while the highest part is some six feet above the level of the surrounding field.
Tradition states that it was the burial place of those who were slain in a battle between the Saxons and Danes ; doubtless referring to the battle of Penn, fought in 1016 between Edmund Ironside and Canute, the village of Penn being only a few miles distant, in a northerly direction.
The tradition proceeds to inform us that the blood shed on this occasion flowed as far as to a place still called Slaughter's Gate, and which is distant about a quarter of a mile from the barrow.
This long barrow is now unique in Dorset as being the only long barrow not sited on the chalk downland. Another long barrow, now sadly destroyed, was in existence at Holdenhurst in Bournemouth. The destroyed barrow was excavated by Stuart Piggott in the thirties, this was the first time a mechanical digger is known to have been used in an archaeological dig.
Longbury has been excavated at least three times, in 1802 when skeletons were found, 1855 sherds of a "very rude vessel" and lastly in 1951 - 4 when a secondary burial and a crouched interment were discovered. The finds from this dig are on view in Gillingham museum.
The information on Magic says Longbury is unusual for its low lying and inconspicuous position. It has a broad view to the east though - and it's orientated east-west. It's about 35m long and between 1.5 and 2m high. There were excavations in 1802, 1855 and 1951, and agriculture has also taken its toll - it's a bit battered.
"The results of part excavation suggests that the barrow mound was constructed of soil covered by limestone slabs and capped with soil. The 1802 excavations revealed several skeletons on the original ground surface. In 1855 further skeletons were found just below the turf together with some unidentified pottery. In 1954 a skeleton, thought to be a crouched burial, was found just below the surface in the eroded section of the 1951 excavation."
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