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Fifield

Long Barrow

Also known as:
  • Monument No. 332315

Nearest Town:Chipping Norton (13km NE)
OS Ref (GB):   SP216186 / Sheet: 163
Latitude:51° 51' 54.22" N
Longitude:   1° 41' 10.59" W

Added by Rhiannon


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Details of long barrow on Pastscape

(SP2177 1877) Long Barrow (NR) (1) (SP2172 1868) A long barrow on the RAF Training School airfield of Little Rissington, excavated in 1934 by Mr Hauting, was 160 ft long, 80 ft wide, 7 ft high and aligned E-W.
The western end of the barrow formerly extended across a lane forming the county boundary into Gloucestershire. The centre
had been dug previously along the axis of the barrow to remove a passage and central chamber. Mr Hauting dug two trenches across the widest part of the mound finding slight remains of what he believed had been a burial chamber at the side. One of the two sherds he found, but which has been lost, was said to have been of Beaker ware but the other, now in Gloucester City Museum, may have belonged to a Bronze Age overhanging rim cinerary urn. A brick bomb shelter was built into the barrow during the 1939-45 war. (2) Visible on APs. (3)
The remains of a long-barrow, situated on level ground at SP 21701866, and orientated NE-SW with the higher end to the NE. The SW end and much of the NW side of the barrow is missing, the ground being occupied by airfield land and trackway, formerly a public road. In its present state the barrow measures 48.0m in length and 28.0m in greatest width. The height increases from 0.5m to 1.8m on the NE. There are no visible remains of side ditches. An old excavation trench can be seen along the axis from the NE end for a distance of 23.0m, The bomb shelter has apparently been removed but a small brick structure remains in the NW side. The barrow is densely covered with bushes. AM survey at 1:2500: transferred to PFD. (4)
Scheduled as 'Long barrow' (5) A Neolithic long barrow is visible as an earthwork on aerial photographs. The site is centred on SP 2169 1865 and comprises a wedge shaped earthwork mound which measures 50 metres long and between 18 and 25 metres wide. A Second World War air raid shelter (SP 21 NW 22 / UID: 1402004) has been constructed against the northern side of the barrow, using material taken from the north-western corner of the site. This site has been mapped as part of the Cotswold Hills National Mapping Programme (7).
Chance Posted by Chance
22nd May 2016ce

This sounds like another contender for the 'don't mind me' category. The long barrow was built in the Neolithic on a slight NE-SW ridge, with its front end facing the north east. But the landscape has been considerably messed with since - it now sits amongst the Little Rissington airfield, built in WW2 - but the barrow is still up to 1.8m high.

Its record on 'Magic' says some stones can be seen protruding through the ground - the barrow was partly excavated in the 1930s and it was found that a stone passage ran c.20m into the barrow from its entrance, ending in a small chamber. Other excavations found another chamber in the side of the barrow.

During World War II, someone saw fit to build a brick bomb shelter into the north west side of the mound. Perhaps we should be charitable and see it as an interesting reuse of the barrow. Maybe.
Rhiannon Posted by Rhiannon
6th July 2004ce
Edited 6th July 2004ce