Pole's Wood South Long Barrow View all content for Pole's Wood South

Details of long barrow on Pastscape (SP 16732637) Long Barrow (NR) A Severn-Cotswold type long barrow, 173 feet long, 52 feet wide and 8 1/2 feet high orientated NE-SW, excavated by Greenwell and Rolleston in 1874. Excavation of the rounded east end revealed the wall enclosing the barrow, 5 feet high in the east and the 'horns' but no megalithic portal. Large upright flagstones, with large stones arranged against them sloping in a roof-shaped fashion on either side, formed the centre of the mound, probably for the whole length. Transverse dry stone walls in one instance formed a passage. A chamber, 24 feet from the west end on the north side of the barrow contained the remains of nine bodies, animal bones and two small pieces of plain pottery. The passage, which may have opened out to the exterior of the barrow, escaped rifling and an almost perfect skeleton of a man and those of a woman and child were found. Over the north horn burials of a later date were found and also a Neolithic 'B' bowl now in the British Museum. Three Saxon burials, two saucer brooches, one of which is in the Royce collection at Stow-on-the-Wold, the other with an iron knife in the Ashmolean Museum and an amber bead were found near the surface about 18 feet from the re-entering angle of the 'horned' east end. A spindle-whorl was found 4 feet below the ground near the Saxon burials. (2-6) A tree-covered long barrow 58m long, 20m wide (at its widest point) and up to 3.0m high. The barrow, higher and wider at its E end, shows no trace of either the revetment or the portal horns seen by Greenwell and Rolleston in 1874. The central area of the barrow is much disturbed with an exposed cist at its NW extent. No trace of side ditches, the barrow stands on high ground in arable farmland and is ploughed to its margin on all sides. Revised 1:2500. (7) Beaker pottery has been found in a secondary context at Poles Wood South long Barrow. (8) The earthwork remains of the Neolithic long barrow described by the previous authorities were seen as an elongated mound centred at SP 1676 2636 on aerial photographs taken in 1963. The site was mapped from these photographs as part of the English Heritage: Gloucestershire NMP project. (10)

Posted by Chance 10th June 2014ce

Comments (0)
You must be logged in to add a comment