Images

Image of South Wonston North Long Barrow by UncleRob

This photo is looking up from the gate on the bridleway at SU467368. The site of the barrows is on the skyline at centre. Yup, there’s not much to see.

Image credit: Copyright waived UncleRob

Articles

South Wonston North Long Barrow

This poor old thing has been obliterated by ploughing. To find the site I had to refer a lot to the Royal Commission on Historic Monuments’ excellent “Long Barrows in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight” (1979, ISBN 0117008370). They make it pretty clear that this long barrow, and its neighbouring round barrow, have been ploughed out of existence, and deliberate efforts were made at some point to flatten it and disperse the chalk across the field. Aerial photos to this day show the ditches but there is nothing to see on the ground. It is on top of a ridge and I started walking round the outside of the field to get up to it but was put off by nearby shotguns. I can’t recommend anyone bothers to visit it but I felt it ought to be recorded here as part of the South Wonston group and testament to how much ancient heritage is already lost.

Miscellaneous

South Wonston North Long Barrow
Long Barrow

Details of barrows on Pastscape

‘A’ SU47003675. Bowl barrow, 21.0m in diameter, 0.3m high.
‘B’ SU 47063671. Comprises two shapeless, contiguous mounds with maximum height of 0.4m. According to Mr Grey, the tenant farmer, this feature has always taken this form though now much reduced by the plough. Probably twin bowl barrows, but AP’s do not help (RAF AP’s CPE/UK) 1842/4190-1) except to show they overlie lynchets of a Celtic field system.
During the last war the barrows were dug by an officer and men from HMS Ariel but nothing apparently was found. Discovered during field investigation: surveyed at 1:2500.
SU 471367. Bowl barrow. A shapeless mound 0.4m. high, possibly a twin barrow.
SU 472368. Possible long barrow indicated by two very clear parallel ditches on air photographs. Nothing visible on the surface. SU 47063671. Long barrow visible on the ground as two ill-defined mounds, greatly reduced by ploughing. The mound is rectangular in plan, about 52.0m long and 0.5m. high.
Long barrow partially excavated in 1986, and dimensions of flanking ditches recorded. A series of ‘quarries’ and an RB cremation burial also located. A rectangular hollow at the summit of the barrow is probably a relic of war-time excavations (see auth 1) SU 47043672. Earthwork and buried remains of a long barrow and a bowl barrow. The bowl barrow was incorporated into a later prehistoric field system and acts as a boundary marker at the top corner of two fields. Scheduled.

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