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Shropshire — News

Three limestone monoliths mark a path to Shropshire's first long barrow in 5,000 years


They were being laid in the grounds of Soulton Hall, Wem, as part of a wider scheme to create the long barrow next year.

The impressive limestone features, each weighing a couple of tonnes, stand approximately 12 feet high and six feet wide, and are the first step in the building of the Soulton Long Barrow by Sacred Stones Ltd and the Ashton family.

The Soulton Long Barrow was granted planning permission earlier this month and will be made entirely by hand using natural limestone, lime mortar and traditional techniques.

Inspired by those built by our prehistoric ancestors, it will house cremation ashes and will provide a much-needed alternative venue for funerals and commemorative experiences.

It is hoped the barrow will act as a focal point for community to celebrate life, free from the constraints imposed by municipal alternatives. The long barrow will also provide a unique backdrop for educational and creative events.

Managing director of Sacred Stones, Toby Angel, said: "These beautiful standing stones are a precursor to what will be an historic build; the first long barrow in the region for 5,000 years. As well as marking the path to the barrow, these monoliths are our statement of intent and commitment to creating a natural, secular barrow in a rural setting where families can come with no time limitations and celebrate life.

"We established the company in response to our own experience of crematoriums and the frustration of spending longer in the car park than at the service. When we saw the public's reaction to the Wiltshire barrow and their engagement with the structure there, it encouraged us to form Sacred Stones. In death, as in life, choice is hugely important and grief needs time without constraint. We know, through testimony, this is what a barrow provides and we are honoured that a few local people have already reserved a space for their ashes here."

Tim Ashton, of Soulton Hall, added: "This is a special day for my family, and the community we serve. It's hugely exciting to be one of the first farmers to build a long barrow in modern times.

"My family have been stewards of this land for a long time; our passionate connection with Soulton is shared by the many people who live and work around us, and by the many that visit each year.

"By committing to the barrow, we amplify the honour it is to engage with the land, and I passionately believe this important structure will serve the community for generations to come."

https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/local-hubs/north-shropshire/wem/2017/09/26/three-limestone-monoliths-mark-a-path-to-shropshires-first-long-barrow-in-5000-years/

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Book your slot now!

http://www.soultonhall.co.uk/page/322/new-barrow.htm

Stonehenge and its Environs — Links

UNESCO Astronomy and World Heritage Portal


Welcome to the integrated web portal for UNESCO’s Astronomy and World Heritage Initiative, supported by the International Working Group on Astronomy and World Heritage and by the International Astronomical Union through its Commission C4 on World Heritage and Astronomy.

We encourage professional users to register and log in in order to view detailed information, for example on preparing a nomination dossier.

UNESCO’s Astronomy and World Heritage Initiative exists to raise awareness of the importance of astronomical heritage worldwide and to facilitate efforts to identify, protect and preserve such heritage for the benefit of humankind, both now and in the future.

Southern England — News

Know Your Place!


Know Your Place project puts three more counties on the map

Announcing the launch of Know Your Place in Wiltshire, Bath & NE Somerset and Gloucestershire

www.kypwest.org.uk

For the first time, historic maps and heritage data of Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, and Bath and North East Somerset are now freely available online in one place, thanks to the latest expansion of Know Your Place West of England.

From Stonehenge to Swindon, Keynsham to the Cotswolds, Salisbury plain to the spa towns of Bath and Cheltenham – you can now discover how these places have transformed over time.

What this means for the West

Now covering more than 4360 square miles, Know Your Place allows you to explore some of the most famous landmarks from the region’s history, from the World Heritage sites at Bath and Avebury, to Wiltshire’s White Horses and the unique landscapes of the Forest of Dean and Severn Estuary that are the focus of other Heritage Lottery Funded projects.

You will also be able to upload and share your own information about the area straight onto Know Your Place helping to build a rich and diverse community map of local heritage for everyone; from school children to family historians, planners to enthusiasts of community heritage.

Don’t just take our word for it

Here is what some of our users in Bristol and South Gloucestershire have said about Know Your Place:

“Be like Doctor Who and travel back in time.”
“If you’re interested in local history you can’t beat this site.”
“I like the thousands of little windows it provides into the past; all based on specific identified places on the map. It is a wonderful tool for local history research.”
“I love the layers of maps; it demonstrates so well how the area has grown and developed.”
“It’s free and infectious once you’re in you become absorbed; brilliant!”
There’s still lots more to do…

But there’s a lot more work to do to publish additional Know Your Place data for these three new counties so watch this space. We are pleased to be collaborating with the following groups:

More than 50 project volunteers are working hard to prepare further historic tithe, enclosure and town maps, which we will add onto Know Your Place over the coming months.

We are also working closely with Historic Environment Record officers to to publish Historic Environment Record (HER) data for Gloucestershire, refine the HER data already available for Wiltshire and B&NES and to share HER data for North Somerset and Somerset in future.

Museums and archives across the region are identifying items from their collections that will begin to be mapped onto Know Your Place once their county is online.

You can now find the following counties on Know Your Place: Bristol, South Gloucestershire, Bath & NE Somerset, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire. As more people use and contribute to Know Your Place, the website will continue to grow, so do keep coming back to watch it evolve.

Exhibition coming soon!

We are also designing an upcoming touring exhibition that will visit 12 venues across the West of England starting in late October 2016, celebrating our rich heritage and helping to raise awareness of the fabulous new resource of Know Your Place.

Ready to explore?

Simply go to the map and click on the county you want to visit. Please note that the areas mapped contain a large amount of data, so loading data may require a little extra time when you first visit.

Lanhill (Long Barrow) — News

Lanhill Display


Chippenham Museum and Heritage Centre, 10 Market Place SN15 3HF, are currently showing a special display on Lanhill Long Barrow, which will run until March 2017.

The display tells the story of the barrow and the many people who have helped shape our understanding of it. The display includes finds, photographs, plus a detailed plan showing the hidden chambers and the extent of quarrying damage.

Chippenham Museum and Heritage Centre is free to explore and opens Monday to Saturday from 10am to 4pm.

Stonehenge Car Park Post Holes — Fieldnotes

Visited Stonehenge for the Autumn Equinox 2016 and had a look for these.
Couldn't find any trace and when I questioned an E.H. bod, he told me they were safely buried for prosperity.
"We know exactly where they are and we intend to reinstate them in due time", I was told.

Bush Barrow (Round Barrow(s)) — Images (click to view fullsize)

<b>Bush Barrow</b>Posted by Chance<b>Bush Barrow</b>Posted by Chance

Arberry Hill (Hillfort) — Miscellaneous

Details of hillfort on Pastscape

(SP 523440) Ancient Earthwork (TI) (on Thenford Hill). (1)
The camp of 'Arberry Hill' is situated by the side of Banbury Lane, somewhat more than a mile N of Thenford village. The earthwork is irregular, but nearly the segment of a circle, extending c 150 yds along the N and W edges of the hill. c 7 yds below is a ledge or lynchet, from which a second declivity runs to the base of the hill. (2)
'Arbury Hill' Thenford, may belong to the Early Iron Age. (3) The ploughed-down remains of what was apparently a sub-circular univallate fort, c 250 m in diameter, can be traced. (4)
The remains of a small contour hillfort situated c 600' a.s.l. in a commanding position. Modern farming and quarrying have destroyed and mutilated most of the work but the extant remains plus air photo evidence substantiate the classification. See annotated 25" survey. The 'ledge or lynchet' (Auth 2) which is also visible on APs is a natural feature and does not form a coherent part of the earthwork. Over the last three years Mr D J Barrett (local amateur archaeologist) has found potsherds at SP 52224392 which are probably IA but have not yet been classified. (5) No change since report of 14 4 70 (6)
Surveyed on 1:2500 MSD. (7)
Iron Age settlement (SP 523440) has been described as a hill fort, but it was probably no more than a lightly defended farmstead. A large area of Neolithic or Bronze Age worked and waste flints has been found in the SE of the site, and scatters of flints including microliths lie outside the enclosure (SP 5234390, 52054385). Iron Age and Roman pottery has come from the E part of the site. The Bronze Age hoard found in the parish [SP 54 SW 7] may be from this site. [RCHM plan].(7)

Raunds Hillfort — Miscellaneous

Details of hillfort on Pastscape

SP 99787222. Thorpe End Iron Age, Saxon and Medieval settlement. Scheduled. The site comprises an Iron Age slight univallate hillfort, and the Thorpe End early Saxon and later Saxon settlement. This site is known as a result of the archaeological survey and excavation carried out as part of the Raunds Area Project. (1)
An Iron Age univallate hillfort and remains of both Saxon and Early Medieval settlements near Thorpe House Farm. The monument lies to the south of Raunds. Remains include ditches, buildings , features and finds revealed through archaeaological survey and excavation. The Iron Age evidence consists of a single ditched enclosure measuring 95 metres by 65 metres containing evidence for a number of circular buildings thereby indicating occupation at some point in this period. From the Saxon to Early Medieval period, 6th century to 1066 AD, the site formed one part of a large settlement. See also the further Anglo-Saxon settlement evidence further to the south west at Thorpe End (TL 07 SW 19).

Hunsbury Hill (Hillfort) — Miscellaneous

Details of hillfort on Pastscape

[Area centred SP 73805835] HILL FORT [OE] (1)
Hunsbury Hill - An IA Hill Fort, occupied from the 4th cent. BC to the 1st cent BC or AD. Excavations for Iron Stone at the end of the 19th cent yielded great quantities of finds now in the Northants and British Museums. Most of the interior was disturbed by this iron-working, but a small area to the SW remains intact. Fortifications [1936], consist of a single, circular rampart and ditch, with a simple entrance to the SE and possible one in the NW. A second ditch, 80 yds away, was found in 1903. The interior of the fort was riddled with 300 or more pits, of varying sizes - six or seven were walled and one possibly contained a crouched skeleton accompanied by an iron chariot tyre, bridle bit and other pieces of iron. Several unattached skulls were found, one with three holes bored in it. Some 150 querns of the heavy bee-hive type establish a 'Type Site' while the quantity of iron objects and slag suggests early iron-stone working. Finds included flint implements, (some barbed and tanged arrowheads), and pottery and other objects of E.I.A. to Roman date. (2-8)
A vast collection of material from Hunsbury is held in Northampton Museum, and incorporates rare objects including the 'Hunsbury Scabbard' (which originated the type). The small finds are of both I.A. 'A' and 'B' cultures, but the latter predominate. Final conclusions indicated an undefended settlement of I.A. 'A'; later defended in I.A. 'A' with defences modified in I.A. 'B'. Sitting on the Jurassic Ridge it is presumed to have lost its importance as a trading centre in the 1st cent AD. The Hill Fort is now farmed within: it consists of bank, ditch and counterscarp. Iron working has lowered the interior, giving the main rampart a false height. The outer ditch (authy 2b) is not visible, either on the ground or on air cover. Resurveyed at 1/2500. (9)
Hill Fort (SP 738583) usually known as Hunsbury stands on the summit of a rounded but prominent hill, on Northampton Sands, at 110m above OD. The surrounding land slopes only gently in all directions, but the position affords extensive views over Northampton and the whole of the upper Nene Valley to the N, NE and NW as well as to the S and E. (10)
Defences - The fort now consists of a roughly elliptical area 1.6 ha. in area, bounded by an inner rampart and central ditch and with an outer rampart on the NW, N and NE sides. Almost the same picture is recorded by Morton (1712, 537) and by Bridges (1791 I 358). It is possible that there was an outer ditch, and one is mentioned as having been found `in the external ironstone diggings' in an account of 1891 (Baker 1891-2, 66), though whether this was an external ditch to the fort is not clear; other lengths of ditch were discovered early in this century to the NW and SW of the fort, about 90 yards from the inner ditch (George 1915-18, 3; OS 2 IN map 1901 edn) On an air photgraph (in NMR) are vague cropmarks just outside the fort on its SE unquarried side. These may represent an outer system of ditches. Elsewhere, if they ever existed, they have been entirely removed by ironstone quarrying. The defences have been sectioned three times. The first was in 1880 when a tramway access was cut through the NW side. Dryden (1885-6, 55) made drawings and a brief note on the exposed faces but these only indicate that the ditch was of U-shape and had been cut to a depth of just over 3m into the underlying ironstone and that the inner rampart stood just under 3m above the external ground surface. The other sections were cut in 1952 by R.J.C Atkinson as part of a small excavation on the site. The results have not been published in full and the following account is based on notes made on a lecture given by Atkinson in 1968 (in NM Records). Two trenches were cut across the inner rampart and ditch on the NE and the SE sides at the points where the outer rampart no longer survivies. The NE cutting revealed that the ditch had originally been about 8m deep and that the rampart behind it was timber-laced. The SE cutting was more informative, shwoing that the original ditch had been recut and the timber-laced rampart had been converted into one of glacis construction. This later rampart had been extended over the back of the ealier one and overlay a pit and post-hole which were not excavated. This evidence has been used to suggest that there was originally an undefended settlement on the site but it is clear that the evidence of settlement - the pit and post-hole - only predates the second phase of the rampart, not the first. Two orientated skeletons buried in the second phase of the rampart were discovered but no evidence of date was recovered.
Entrances - There are three entrances through the ramparts and the same certainly existed before the ironstone quarrying commenced. It is no longer possible to be certain whether any of these are original.
The Interior - Within the defences the original land surfaces probably sloped gently down from the SE to the NW. The ironstone quarrying altered this situation completely for the work commenced to the S of the new entrance and `digging nearly up to the edge of the scarp...gradually wheeled round to the north, working from the entrance as a pivot' (Dryden 1885-6, 55). Between 3m and 5m of material was removed in the operation but, because the ironstone ran out towards the SE, a small area in the SE corner of the interior was left unquarried. Today most of the land within the defences is uneven but the unquarried section is still visible in the SE, its W edge marked by a long scarp up to 2m high. In view of the discoveries made during the quarrying this fragment of the undisturbed interior is of considerable archaeological importance. Considerable amounts of pottery survive, including some fine examples of globular bowls with the distinctive `Hunsbury curvilinear' decoration. Although the presence of vessels decorated with applied cordons, extensive finger-tipping and incised geometric decoration may indicate activity on the site prior to the later (La Tene) Iron Age, the bulk of the pottery probably dates to no earlier than the 5th century BC. In view of the very small quantity of `early' material, and its very wide date range, it seems more reasonable to regard it as broadly contemporary with the later Iron Age pottery from the site rather than as indicative of a substantial phase of pre-La Tene occupation. The absence of Belgic material is, in an area with a high density of Belgic sites, also probably of some chronilogical significance. The earliest Belgic wares in this region appear from the later 1st century BC, and the Hunsbury pottery may, therefore, predate the final decades of the 1st century BC, certainly c.AD 25 at latest. (11)
The RCHM Inventory (Authority 11) includes further description of the earthworks, entrances and finds from the hillfort and surrounding area, RCHM plan and earthwork profiles, and a bibliography of 18th, 19th and 20th century sources up to 1976. (12)
Due to the threat of extensive erosion of the rampart on the north side, an excavation was carried out in 1988 on that area. The investigated area was 29m north of the present entrance on the western side of the hillfort.
The rampart was initially of a box type with its individual compartments filled in with marl and sandstone rubble which would have limestone wall also acting as a walkway. There is little doubt that this structure was eventually destroyed by fire. The only pottery and animal bones came from the original ground surface and this limestone wall.
Sandstone blocks spanned a position on a line with the front post revealed during the 1952 excavation. It is possible that posts at the front were set in a stone revetment although no slabs survived in slots.
The position of a series of transverse timbers was indicated by burning, standing stones, and channels of reddish brown loam which had apparently filtered down or tumbled into the voids left by decated timber.
The upper fill of the box rampart probably represents a seperate phase of construction (figs.9 and 10). Eventually the back of the rampart collapsed above the limestone layer. In some places there is evidence for rebuilding of the structure after the burning event. The finds:- 30 sherds only of pottery, all in a shelly fabric with comparable dating for the early-middle Iron Age. (13) (SP 738583). Hunsbury. Listed in gazetteer as a univallate hillfort covering 1.7ha. (14) Additional reference with plan. (15)

Rainsborough Camp (Hillfort) — Miscellaneous

Details of hillfort on Pastscape

(SP 526348) Rainsborough Camp (LB) (1) Excavations of Rainsborough camp during 1961-5 revealed the following. A bivallate IA fort, the inner bank standing about 10ft above the interior, with a drop of about 15ft into the inner ditch; the second bank is very much lowered by ploughing, but still reaches a height of about 4ft on the S side, where a hedge line has protected it; the outer ditch is not visible on the surface except on the W, when it carries a higher growth of weeds.
?6th/5thc BC postholes and scatter of occupation debris before construction of the first rampart.
5thc BC double rampart and ditch with an inturned entrance on the west, having two stone-lined C-shaped guardrooms set into the inturns. The inner rampart being stone faced.
?Early 4thc BC period of occupation; inner ditch cleaned out followed by deliberate burning of fort.
?Late 2nd c BC double bank ditch, simple inner entrance, perhaps unfinished.
?Late 1st c AD RB pottery of this date found in outer ditch indicating occupation.
?Late 4th c AD stone foundations of a 10ft square RB building, (the floor of which contained 20 coins, ranging in date from the 3rd to 4th c AD were set upon the filled-in inner ditch near the inner entrance causeway.
In the 18thc the inner bank was heightened and inner ditch deepened; walling put round the summit of the inner bank for landscape gardening. Finds of early IA sherds dating from 6th to 2ndc BC, together with a bronze ring. (2)
"Numerous Roman coins have been turned up here of late in the process of agricultural cultivation". (3)
A plateau fort under permanent pasture and in fair condition despite many minor mutilations to the ramparts. See 1:2500
survey revised. The feature shown on Auth 2's plan and marked barrow is landscaping. (4) Nothing visible on air photographs. (5) No change to report of 10 2 70. Survey transferred to 1:2500 MSD. (6)
Hill Fort (SP 526348). The possibility that the fort was the centre of a large Iron Age estate which remained intact into the medieval period has been suggested. [RCHM plan and profile]. (7-8) SP 526 348. Rainsborough. Listed in gazetteer as a multivallate hillfort covering 2.5ha. (9) Rainsborough or Charlton Camp. Additional reference with plan. (10)

Lower Thorpe (Round Barrow(s)) — Miscellaneous

Details of barrow on Pastscape

SP 53704546. Discovered during field investigation. A mound under pasture with a maximum diameter of 20.0m and a height of 0.7m; a surrounding slight non-surveyable ditch is visible - particularly on the east flank. Located on the crest of a spur about 160.0 a.s.l., its isolated position (no access roads/tracks are visible on OS air photographs (a), and general appearance suggest it to be a bowl barrow rather than a mill mound. CRO maps consulted; no informative information.
Surveyed on 1:2500 MSD. (1) Windmill Mound (SP 53704546) in the N of the parish, on Upper Lias Clay at 145 m. above OD. It is surrounded by ridge-and-furrow, but as it has been ploughed over in recent times (local inf) it is no longer possible to be certain whether the ridges pass under or around the mound. The field in which it stands was known as Windmill Ground in 1806. It has been interpreted elsewhere as a round barrow, but is more likely to be a windmill mound. (2)

Longman's Hill (Long Barrow) — Miscellaneous

Details of barrow on Pastscape

(SP 7508 6774). Tumulus (NR) ('Longman's Hill' (NAT) printed adjacent). (1)
...The hill called Longman's Hill, being of an oblong shape about ten yards wide and not encompassed with a ditch. (2)
The remains of a tumulus called on Eyre's map of the County 'Lyman's Hill'. Upon cutting through it some years ago to widen the road skeletons were found. (3)
There is every reason to regard this as a genuine Long Barrow, probably of the unchambered type. Oblong, about 100 ft in length, about 30 ft wide, 7-8 ft high at the east end and 5-6 ft at the west. A farmer is said to have removed a quantity of bones from the east end and among the earth bones were found. (4)
Fourteen urns containing ashes and bones and portions of fused glass were recovered in 1882 from an area about 90 yards in length by 10 yards in width in a field adjoining Brampton Lane in Pitsford. Half of the urns were plain and half decorated, pieces of 'brass' were also recovered. (Dryden's note is headed 'A Roman Tumulus a Pitsford'. Otherwise he make no reference to a tumulus but simply describes and sketches the objects found. He does not refer to Longman's (or Lyman's) Hill by name, but his siting description, the oblong dimensions, and the lack of other barrows in the vicinity make it virtually certain that this was the place. His sketches show one plain and one decorated Saxon Urn, two pieces of glass (one apparently most of a claw beaker) and a split socket spear head some 15 inches long). (5)
An oblong moumd, surveyed at 1/2500. It has been much disturbed by road and gardens and in its present form (preserved by the Local Council with a plaque saying it is a Bronze Age barrow) is unclassifiable without excavation. As it was oblong when Morton wrote, that presumably was its original shape, but I do not think it was a Long Barrow, and all the finds suggest that it was concerned with a Saxon Cemetery and nothing else. (6) No change. (7) RCHM plan and additional references. (8)

The Larches (Dyke) — Miscellaneous

Details of earthworks on Pastscape

(SP 6317 5657) to SP 6328 5680) EARTHWORKS (LB) (1)
On the N side of the road to Stowe, where it bends to the NE, is an entrenchment in a foss cover. It consists of a double trenched foss, c 6" deep. (2) "In the Earl of Danby's time (c 1600) there were two parks at Stowe, contiguous with each other, well stocked with deer, which upon the complaint of the tenants have since been converted to another use". (The double ditch could well be the remains of a deer leap). (3) Although scheduled under secular works and sites (a) this feature is not an antiquity. The earthworks comprise three parallel banks apparently made up of soil and spoil. This is a typical result of a particular kind of surface quarrying which involves clearing a relatively small working area spread over a broad front. Similar workings on a larger industrial scale are to be seen in this county east of Corby. Published survey cancelled.(a) (4) RCHM rejects interpretation of the linear earthworks (centred SP 6325 5670) as a result of quarrying, or that they are 19th century military works for cannon associated with Weedon Barracks, or a medieval warren. A more acceptable explanation is that they are part of a linear boundary of prehistoric date, possibly reused at a later date as part of a deer park boundary (SP 65 NW 29). [RCHM plan and profile]. Air photographs show that the feature continued N.E. for at least 180m (5)

Boughton (Round Barrow(s)) — Miscellaneous

Details of barrow on Pastscape

(SP 74716589) Tumulus (AT) (1)
Photograph of the barrow (?) exhibited in Northampton Museum. (2) Probably a barrow, situated in an arable field. In fair condition, it is tree covered and has been disturbed on top where an excavation was attempted by a student who encountered roots and abandoned the project. No ditch is evident. See annotated 25" survey. (3)
Barrow,pits and ditches(centred SP 74756585),E and SE of Boughton Grange on Northampton Sand at 106m above OD. The mound, which stands on the N edge of the field, is tree covered, and an attempted excavation shortly before 1968 was not completed because of the roots. The mound is 2.2m high and 15m in diam. and no ditch is visible. Two pits or ditches were found in the face of the ironstone quarry in the same field in 1973. From one of these came a sherd of a Neolithic or Bronze Age vessel with a pronounced shoulder-ridge and finger-nail decoration on the collar (SP 74746569). Several worked flints have been found in the same field;air photographs in NMR.(4)

Barrow Hill (Sulgrave) (Round Barrow(s)) — Miscellaneous

Details of barrow on Pastscape

[SP 55934716) Tumulus (LB) Barrow Hill. (1)
There is a barrow below Barrow Hill, one mile N of Sulgrave, on the S side of Banbury Lane. (2)
A bowl barrow located on the crest of Barrow Hill, with a good outlook to the S. It is some 22.0m diameter, and 2.0m high on the N.side, but mutilation by rabbits, etc, has badly distorted its profile on the S.side. On the N.side there is a slight trace of ditch in the lusher vegetation at the base of the mound. AM survey 1:2500. (3)
Mound (SP 5594716) may be the site of a medieval windmill. (4)

Barrowhill (Round Barrow(s)) — Miscellaneous

Details of barrows on Pastscape

"Barrowhill in the parish of Kings-swinford. Two uniform barrows all rock". (1)
"Early Burial Mound or Low. Barrowhill east of Pensnett Churchyard. Circular. Diameter 99ft, 30ft high. Altitude 500ft". (2)
No trace of these barrows was seen in perambulation of Barrow Hill, centred at SO 91608960. The hill has been extensively quarried. (3) Plot (1) refers to two barrows at Barrow Hill, whose height is below 400 feet. VCH (2) refers to one barrow, east of Pensnett churchyard, at 500 feet altitude.
Eight hundred metres east of the church is Low Town at 526 feet, now fully developed with housing and instury, centred at SO 92458910. (4) It would seem that two separate sites are indicated.

Rushall Hall Barrow (Round Barrow(s)) — Miscellaneous

Details of barrow on Pastscape

(SP 02539992) Tumulus (NR). (1)
Some years ago, a trench 22 ins deep was dug on the top of the tumulus at Rushall Hall. Many fragments of human bones together with "a few Saxon coins" were found. (2)
The centre of the barrow was dug to a depth of 3ft by Mr Bird in c 1955. The bowl of an 18th century clay-pipe fragments of black glazed pottery, possibly 18th century, and an indeterminate fragment of bone were found (a). This oval mound is 16.0m E-W by 13.5m N-S and 2.2m high, with no visible ditch, and overgrown by trees and shrubs. There are slight indications of Mr Bird's digging. An engraving of 1845, in Mr Bird's possession, shows the mound lower and more bowl-shaped than the present steep-sided, conical profile. (3) No change. Published 1:1250 survey revised. (4) No change to field reports of 27 5 58 and 19 8 74. Revised 1:1250 AM survey still correct. MSD revised. (5)

Catshill (Round Barrow(s)) — Miscellaneous

Details of barrow on Pastscape

Between Shire Oak and Frog-hall is a barrow called Catt's Hill. (1) Cat's Hill on Ogley Hay - two barrows. (2)
Catshill, Cutteslowe or Catteslowe - the tumulus there was cut through when the canal was made; it was much defaced with a few scrubby oaks now upon it. The mound forms the boundary of the manors of Walsall, Ogley Hall and Little Wyrley, and stands near the foot of the western slope of Shire Oak Hill. (3)
SK 05020496 - at the junction of the parish boundaries of Walsall Wood, Shire Oak and Ogley Hay there are the traces of a possible barrow.
On the south-east side of a hedgerow at this point is a slight mound, c. 18.0 m. in diameter and 0.8 m. high, with no visible ditch. It is under grass. There is no trace of it on the other side of the hedgerow where it has probably been destroyed by a path. The position answers part of the descriptions given by the literary authority but it has, obviously not been cut through by the canal. No other traces of a barrow were seen along the canal or in the area. (4)
SK 05150481. Mound. Site now built over but bump remains in hedge alongside canal. Mound disfigured when canal cut. (5)
The S quadrant of a round barrow remains at SK 05010495 as described by F1. Surveyed at 1:1250.
No traces of a barrow were found alongside the canal. At Gould's siting is a large spoil heap which would have buried any
previous mound as described by Gould. (6) No change since reports of 27.5.58 and 14.8.74. (7)

Castle Old Fort (Hillfort) — Miscellaneous

Details of hill-fort on Pastscape

[SK 0620 0330] FORT [OE] (Spearheads and Arrowheads found). (1)
Castle Old Fort, Shenstone is classified as a hill-fort. It is egg-shaped in plan; its extreme inner length c.171 yds. width, 138 yds. The inner rampart is fairly complete and there was apparently an outer bank and ditch. The north-west defences have been destroyed together with the entrance that was probably here. [See AO/55/111/1 for a photo-reproduction of the plan]. (2) Two entrances on the south-east and north-west. A barbed flint arrowhead, Roman pottery and coins of Otto, Domitian, and Nero have been found here. (3)
Castle Old Fort is an ovoid, univallate hill-fort occupying the south-eastern end of a ridge. The defences comprise a bank and ditch with counterscarp bank. They have been destroyed by quarrying at the north-western quadrant and mutilated elsewhere by carriage drives and ornamental gardening to the house which now occupies the interior. No trace of any entrances was seen. No further information on the 17th c. finds was gained. A 25" survey has been made. (4) No change - survey of 1958 correct. (5) No change since reports of 21.4.58 and 9.9.74. (6) Listed by Challis and Harding as a univallate hillfort, of 3.5 acres, now mutilated and destroyed. (7)
SK 062 033. Castle Ring Old Fort. Listed in gazetteer as a univallate hillfort covering 1.5ha. (8)
The hillfort, centred at SK 0620 0330, was surveyed at 1:1000 by RCHME in 1988. Much of the original defences of the hillfort of Castle Old Fort survive (as described by Authority 4), but are in poor condition. The main ditch is traceable around the entire circuit with the exception of the NW and SE corners of the fort where extensive quarrying has virtually destroyed the ramparts. An outer bank is visible in places, but this is quite diffuse - to the north it has clearly been over-ploughed with narrow ridge and furrow. It is possible that a broad external bank to the SW of the fort is not directly associated with the ramparts and may instead represent a cultivation headland. Narrow ridge and furrow also covers much of the fort interior on an east-west orientation, and this has affected the preservation of the inner rampart. Down the west side the ridge and furrow appear to overlie the inner rampart, whilst at the east the inner scarp has been sharpened by ploughing; a low bank toward the southern end is probably associated with later cultivation rather than with the original defences. The fort has internal measurements of 170m north to south and 130m transversely. The remains of a simple in-turned entrance are visible in the rampart in the SE of the fort. This entrance remained in use until the construction of The Castle Fort house, at which time the gap was closed. A second blocked gap is discernable in the SW rampart; this appears to have been in use until at least 1923 (9a). A former track way associated with the SE entrance is still discernable as a narrow terrace extending from the breach in the rampart in a NW direction for a distance of around 90m. No evidence of a former entrance in the NW of the fort was found, and a breach in the centre of the N rampart does not appear to be original. Numerous track ways now dissect the fort interior, principally a means of access to a reconstructed house within the fort (SK 00 SE 12). Full RCHME survey information, including a detailed report, is available in the NMR Archive. (9)

Aldridge Mound (Artificial Mound) — Miscellaneous

Details of mound on Pastscape

At the back of Aldridge church is a small tumulus. (1) A mound north of Aldridge church is supposed to be the burial place of a chief. (2) SK 06140101 - this mound is shown but not described on OS 6", 1913-38. It is 28.0 m. in average diameter and 2.2 m. high with traces of a ditch on the east and west. It has been mutilated by quarrying. It falls on high ground on the northern crest of an east-west ridge, at the edge of a playing-field. It is accepted locally as a barrow and is probably the feature referred to by the 19th c. literary references. Certain identification of the mound as a barrow is not possible in its present condition. (3) Mound situated in field known as Windmill Flat suggesting it is a mill mound. (4) Surveyed at 1/2500. (5) No change since reports of 8.10.58 and 16.8.74. 1:2500 survey still correct. (6)
Windmill field appears in undated extracts from medieval court rolls compiled for a 17th century brief. (7a) Many other 17th century references to Windmill field in deeds etc. (7)

Wychbury Hill (Hillfort) — Miscellaneous

Details of hill-fort on Pastscape

(SO 91908180) Wychbury Hill (TI) Camp (NR).
Wychbury Camp is a contour, multi-vallate hill-fort with complex defences enclosing 7 1/4 acres and an annexe of 5 1/2 acres on the south.
The entrances on the north-east and south-west sides of the fort are formed by incurved ramparts, the latter being approached by a wide track bounded by ditches. An excavation by E B Marten in 1884 produced two small bronze rings, since lost, but one of which was identified as an Early Iron Age terret by the British Museum.
Several Roman coins in adjacent fields may indicate Romano-British occupation. (Coin hoard also found nearby-see SO 98 SW 5).
The hill-fort has been badly damaged by tracks. Published survey (1:2500, 1923-4) has been revised.
Iron Age field system, Wychbury Hill. Wychbury Ring, an Iron Age bivallate hillfort, measures internally 250.0m east-west by 150.0m transversely.
The inner rampart is from 16.0m to 20.0m in width and up to 2.6m in height internally. It drops 6.0 to 8.0m to the foot of the inner ditch which is up to 10.0m in width and 1.7m in depth. The outer rampart is best preserved on the south side where it is 10.0m in width and rises from 2.0 to 3.0m from the outer ditch. The latter averages 10.0m in width and is up to 1.2m in depth. On the north side the inner ditch is silted up and the outer bank reduced to a lynchet-like slope. There are no traces of the outer ditch on the north west and north sides. The ramparts are boldly inturned at the entrances of the east and south west. The track with ditches leading to the latter entrance, referred to by Cantrill(2), is modern.
The 'annexe', also referred to by Cantrill, is non-existent. An old hollow-way, some 2.0m deep, 80.0m south of the hillfort, has been mistaken for outworks. A perambulation of the arable slopes below wooded Wychbury Hill produced no traces of an Iron Age field system. Several fields on the north east and south east sides contain traces of rig and furrow and in one field in particular, centred at SO 92158197, it is better preserved than elsewhere and the baulks, separating areas of rig running in differing directions, might have been mistaken for an Iron Age system when viewed from the hill-fort. (Aston (5))
Published 1:2500 survey 1969 revised.

Avebury & the Marlborough Downs (Region) — News

The summer solstice 2016 at Avebury


The summer solstice is always very busy at Avebury – this year is likely to be no exception. If you are coming to mark midsummer at Avebury, do plan well in advance. Please consider coming for a shorter time so you don’t need to stay overnight and use public transport if at all possible.

Planning your visit during the solstice - Go online for full details

Solstice this year will be sunrise on Tuesday 21 June.

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/avebury/features/the-summer-solstice-at-avebury

Moss Hill (Long Barrow) — Miscellaneous

Details of long barrow on Pastscape

Neolithic long barrow excavated in 1852; skeletons and a Roman coin found. The long barrow can no longer be located on the ground or on aerial photographs.
SU 336 843. A small long (probably oval) mound on Moss Hill, Sparsholt, excavated by Martin Atkins in 1852. It contained a "straight setting of sarsens" at the broad end, one of which impinged on a skeleton. Three other skeletons were found `huddled together'. Case suggests a small chambered long barrow or a pillow mound; he was unable to locate the site which may now be inside the wood which has been enlarged. A coin in the Atkins bequest in the British Museum described as "Bronze coin, 3rd brass, from Long Barrow", may come from this site (3). (1-3) This mound could not be located on the ground, nor is it visible on R.A.F air photographs. Atkins excavation report seems to make it quite clear that this is not a pillow mound. (4) Other reference. (5) The Neolithic long barow described by the previous authorities could not be identified on any of the available aerial photographs consulted during a survey of the area. (6)

Hawk Stone (Standing Stone / Menhir) — Miscellaneous

Details of stone on Pastscape

A single prehistoric standing stone known as the Hawk Stone on a natural crest on Spelsbury Down, 900 metres west of Spelsburydown Farm. The single oolitic limestone monolith is believed to stand in its original position. Although it has been suggested that the monument might be all that remains of a portal dolmen (a rare type of burial chamber), there are no surviving associated orthostats or other evidence available at present to support this claim. The stone measures approximately 1 metre by 0.9 metres at its base and tapers to 0.9 metres at the apex which is 2.3 metres above the present ground level. It stands upright and to remain balanced must have at least one third of its total length buried below ground level. A concave hollow in its upper face is known to have been worn over time by people rubbing it for luck, although it may originally have been natural in origin. Scheduled.

Stonor Park (Stone Circle) — Miscellaneous

Details of stones on Pastscape

Stone circle situated in Stonor Park, near Stonor House. It has been moved from its original site.
1. [SU 7433 8916] "A Folly here which the owner believed may have been made from a Stone Circle. (1)
SU 7432 8913 (A) A stone circle composed of sarsens and pudding stones which, from the evidence of a photograph of c. 1873,
formerly stood at SU 7428 8917 (B). The owner, Maj. S. Stonor believes, however, that this is not the original site. (2)

Ladihame Corner Long Barrow — Miscellaneous

Details of long barrow on Pastscape

Long barrow, in South 'Lawn pollards' common, near Hensgrove Copse (destroyed). (Name South Lawn SP 291138) (a). (1)
There is what appears to be a long narrow barrow or two long barrows touching with a lower part in the middle, at Ladihame Corner. (Name SP 293136). (2) At SP 29331387 there is a stony mound 75.0m long, orientated NW-SE (310o-130o), 20.0m wide, and 0.5m high, except at the ends. The ends are spread to a width of 25.0m and surmounted by a mound 13.0m in diameter which at the NW end is 1.1m high and at the SE end 0.9m high. At the SE end on the W side are traces of a ditch 0.4m deep which does not go round the end. The ditch appears to go round the NW end. There are no large stones suggesting chambers. The dumb-bell plan may result from excavation but there is no evidence that the end mounds have been trenched. A woodland ride or trackway, 12.0m wide, is depicted on the OS 25" 1919, crossing midway along the long axis which may account for the flattened central part though here there is a cross trench. It appears to be a long barrow, though rather mutilated, and has been surveyed at 1:2500 on PFD. (3)

Round Hill Long Barrow — Miscellaneous

Details of long barrow on Pastscape

'A barrow called 'Round Hill' on the north side of the lane leading from Bloxham to Milton, 72ft. in length and 12ft. high, was partially destroyed in 1867 and a skull found.' (Name 'Round Hill' not recorded on any OS. publications).(1) (1-2)
'Long barrow SP 442350 had its lower end flattened when road was made but the main end is untouched in a field on N. of road. When the ditch was cleaned a piece of closely packed small small stoned walling was visible in the middle' (Nothing visible on available A/P's). (3) This area was surveyed from aerial photographs as part of the SE Warwickshire and Cotswolds HLS NMP project. No sign of the long barrow was visible at this location on any of the available aerial photographs dating back to 1946 (4).

Ditchley Park Long Barrow — Miscellaneous

Details of long barrow on Pastscape

SP38042219 A Long barrow was recorded at this location 250m s of Ellen's Lodge in Shilcott Wood on the Ditchley Park Estate. The Long barrow is probably of Neolithic date. (1)

Shipton-Under-Wychwood Long barrow — Miscellaneous

Details of long barrow on Pastscape

(SP 2975 1745) 'Barrow, whether long or round doubtful. Found OGSC 21 4 30'. (1)
Long barrow, much reduced by ploughing, appears to be 57m long, aligned E-W with broader area, 30m across, at the eastern end
and at least 1m high. Small slabs of coarse limestone have been ploughed up from the periphery of the mound. Slight depressions each side may indicate quarry ditches. First noted by Crawford. There seems no doubt it was a long barrow. (SP 2975 1745). (2) The remains of a long barrow, reduced and spread by the plough, situated at SP 29731739, within a pasture field which falls away to the east and south. The barrow is orientated NE-SW, with the higher end to the NE. It has a length of 60.0m and a maximum width of 27.0m. The height increases from 0.3m to 1.0m at the NE. There are no visible remains of side ditches. Surveyed at 1:2500 transferred from AM to PFD. (3)

Lyneham Longbarrow (Long Barrow) — Miscellaneous

Details of long barrow on Pastscape

Neolithic long barrow and a standing stone. The barrow and stone are aligned south west-north east along a ridge with gives them a dominant position within the local landscape overlooking valleys to the north west and south east. The long barrow mound measures 32 metres in length and stands up to 1.75 metres high at its 19 metre wide north east end. At its tail, or south west end, it tapers away to ground level and measures just 4 metres wide. In 1894 a part excavation located two chambers on the south east side of the mound and at least one of these contained bone fragments, pottery and charcoal. Also found were two Anglo-Saxon burials which had been cut into the top of the existing mound. Unusually there was no evidence of flanking quarry ditches which are commonly found either side of long barrow mounds. Immediately north east, at a distance of 9 metres from the barrow mound, stands a single monolith, which was broken in 1923 but reset in its original location in 1924. This stands 1.8 metres high. There is no surviving evidence of other standing stones in the area and it is probable that the mound originally extended a further 9 metres to the location of the stone where a facade of standing stones would have stood. Scheduled.

Enstone Long Barrow — Miscellaneous

Details of long barrow on Pastscape

SP 35702502. "Definite long barrow but destroyed. Five oolite slabs,said to have been in 'box-like' formation, moved by bulldozer in late 1960s after farmer had repeatedly struck them with the plough. May still be useful information buried. Market gardening on site means there are no useful cropmarks." (1 - 2)

The Hoar Stone (Chambered Tomb) — Miscellaneous

Details of long barrow on Pastscape

(3779 2375) Hoar Stone (NAT) Burial Chamber (NR). (1) A rectangular chamber consisting of three orthostats opening to the east, the southern orthostat is 9 ft high while the western and northern are 5 ft and 3 ft high respectively. To the east of the chamber are three prostrate megaliths which probably once formed part of the chamber. There is no trace of a barrow at present but Rudge describes the chamber as standing on a barrow 3 ft high (a). (2) Crawford quotes a full description from Dryden and includes his plan (see illustration) and notes that pottery, apparently Roman was found in a small excavation between the fallen stones. (3) In 1956, during excavations connected with a reservoir constructed near the Hoar Stone, a ditch more than 10 ft wide with sloping sides and about 3 ft deep was seen at G (see plan) running SW. This may conceivably have belonged to the monument and been part of a quarry-ditch of a small long barrow running NE to SW. The burial chamber would then lie on its SE flank toward its NE end. (4) The stones are disposed as described by Daniel and as he notes, the barrow has not survived. The site is hemmed in by a plantation and the reservoir is now grassed over. Published 1:2500 survey revised. See LS plan and photo. In care of DOE. (5)

Leafield Barrow (Round Barrow(s)) — Miscellaneous

Details of Leafield barrow on Pastscape

(SP 31611541) Leafield Barrow (NAT) Tumulus (NR) (1) Leafield barrow. A round barrow, north of the village, 320ft in circumference, 11ft 6ins high on west end and 8ft on east. Grass-grown and planted with trees, it has the appearance of having been opened. (2) The mound stands in permanent pasture on the highest point of a low hill. It is egg-shaped with the large end towards the north west and has a flattened and disturbed top on which can be seen a low lateral bank that is probably recent. No traces of a ditch can be seen. An OS trig pillar stands on top and the north east side has been encroached upon by a reservoir. Certainly a substantial feature, but it cannot be said categorically to be a barrow. Published 1:2500 survey revised. (3) (SP 31601541) Leafield Barrow (NAT) (4) SP 316155. Leafield Barrow, round barrow, scheduled. (5) SP 31611540. Round barrow, c. 25m in diameter and 4m high, listed. (6) The motte, located on a small hill, measures 38 metres across and is 4 metres high. It has a flat oval summit and there is a square feature with an internal depression which has been interpreted as being the remains of a stone keep, similar to that at the nearby motte and bailey castle in Ascott d'Oyley. The motte is in the centre of a series of earthworks including medieval ridge and furrow cropmarks and the possible remains of a bailey. There is no evidence of a ditch around the base of the motte and the eastern side has been damaged by the building of a reservoir. Please note that the site has been identified as a motte castle whereas before it was believed to be a Bronze Age barrow. The previous sources all cite it as a barrow. (7) The Oxfordshire Historic Environment Record contains the same information stated in sources 1-7 but includes additional references and a number of photographs of the site. (8)

Crawley (Long Barrow) — Miscellaneous

Details of long barrow on Pastscape

(SP 33711129) Long Barrow (NR). (1) Crawley. The remaining half of a long barrow, 107 ft long and 83 ft wide, was excavated by Akerman with two men for one day in 1857. Three skeletons were found lying east and west. At the waist of one of them was a small bronze buckle less than one inch in diameter. (2) Anglo-Saxon and now in the Ashmolean Museum (4). Crawford states, "The burials found by Akerman were clearly secondary interments of the Saxon period. There is no doubt that this is a genuine Long Barrow". (3) Later excavation in 1864 found skeletons and a few sherds of RB pottery, (5) now lost (6). Human remains and Roman coins have been found in the fields to the south and east. (2-6) Of the two terraces published on 25" only the west one survives; the other having been ploughed out and at present under cabbages. No remains are to be seen in the grass field south of the hedge. There is now nothing on the ground that can be identified as the remains of a long barrow. (7)

Waterman's Lodge Barrow (Round Barrow(s)) — Miscellaneous

Details of barrow on Pastscape

SP 334182. An unrecorded round barrow (not visible on air-photos, RAF, 1947 and 1961). (1)
Oxford Museum with the same authorities note this site at SP 33341813. Perambulation located the mound at SP 33341810. Egg-shaped rather than round, with the thicker end to the south-west and no ditch. A forest ride abuts this south-west end but does not seem to have eroded it. Possibly a very short long barrow but its orientation is peculiar. Surveyed at 1:2500. (2)
SP 33341813. A mound, c. 14m in diameter and c. 2m high at Waterman's Lodge, listed as a round barrow. (3)

Slatepits Copse Long Barrow — Miscellaneous

Details of long barrow on Pastscape

(SP 32891651) Long Barrow (NR) (1) Remains of Long Barrow rediscovered Oct 24th 1922. It lies 66 paces east of main north-south ride, at a point 240 paces south of point of intersection of the rides. It is 97ft long (taped) and about 6ft high (estimated). Oriented approximately east to west). At the eastern end are three large stones at right angles:- 'A' = 3ft 10ins actual height, 6ft 8ins wide, 1ins thick and 2ft 9ins vert height. 'C' appears to be 4ft 7ins wide, and is certainly 2ft 6ins, it is standing upright but partially covered. 'B' leans eastwards and is either a fallen lintel or upright of a chamber; 'A' and 'C' are 4ft 10ins apart. Digging west of chamber only and that evidently only superficial; well worth preservation and eventual excavation. Much black earth to south of mound. (2) Slate pits Copse: Long Barrow. (3) Located at SP 32901652, this barrow is much as described above. The cist is still clearly visivble and stone 'B' is almost certainly a leaning upright. The dark earth is at present covered by dense seasonal undergrowth. Resurveyed at 1:2500. (4) SP 330165. Slate pits Copse long barrow, scheduled. (5)

Churchill Copse Long Barrow — Miscellaneous

Details of long barrow on Pastscape

(SP 33191688) Long Barrow in Churchill Copse (note name) is a long barrow though a short one (24 paces). Its position is incorrectly shown in the VCH, from which it was plotted here (since corrected). It stands on north side of the long and straight riding (east-west), 115 paces west of the north-south riding. It has been dug all along the middle and across the middle; no ditches or big stones. Maximum height about 3ft 4ins; oriented east to west. (1)
This barrow is at SP 33171685 but is otherwise as described above. Surveyed at 1:2500. (2)
(SP 33171685) Long Barrow (NR) (3)

Well Ground Long Barrow — Miscellaneous

Details of long barrow on Pastscape

SP 3141 1852. A long barrow on Well Ground, SE of Ascott-under-Wychwood village was discovered by John Campbell in October 1976 and surveyed in April 1977 (see illustration card). It sits on a spur facing NW and jutting into Evenlode Valley. The
mound is about 55-60m across with ditch most clearly visible to the north. Plough damage has almost totally destroyed any signs of the west end of the mound. (1)
The long barrow has been the subject of previous archaeological field investigation. The remains of an extant mound and quarry ditches were first described and surveyed by bond and Campbell in 1976/7. Subsequently the barrow was inspected by Brown in 1978, who further notes the presence of a mound, 60m long and 25m wide, with extant quarry ditches, but describes that extensive plough damage had virtually removed the western end of the barrow. It would appear that the continued ploughing of the barrow has now removed any above ground evidence of the mound and to have infilled its associated quarry ditches. It is further uncertain as to the extent of disturbance that has been caused to below ground archaeological deposits as a result of cultivation. (2)

Bladon Camp (Hillfort) — Miscellaneous

Details of hillfort on Pastscape

(SP 457138) Round Castle [NAT] Camp [NR] (1) Round Castle: a probable Iron Age hill fort of oval shape covering an area of about 2 1/2 acres. It had two lines of banks and ditches, but subsequent embanking and ditching make it impossible to be
exact about them, or about the position of its entrance. (2) The outer bank is slight, but the inner bank, of which only
a portion remains, measures 5ft in height from the bottom of the ditch. (3)
The remaining features of this probably originally bivallate enclosure are an almost complete internal bank with a recently
recut ditch and incomplete outerwork consisting again of a recut ditch but with a substantial scarp to the inside. These recent ditches pose a problem in that they virtually obliterate, or render difficult to identify, the extent of the original ditches; for this reason they are not, except where certainly part of the earthwork, shown on the survey. A further difficult in identification is caused by digging and surface quarrying around the west and north sides of the earthworks. As a result of material dumped in linear mounds it is impossible from visual inspection to ascertain which, if any, represent the alignments of the original banks.The site falls on the summit of a slight rise and though probably an IA fort the name "hillfort" in this instance is a misnomer. Divorced survey at 1:2500. (4)
SP 4570 1399. Salvage excavation of a section through the rampart showed it was constructed of clay with sand dump line, faced by thin stone walls 6m apart. Burning had taken place at the front of the ramparts. Early Iron Age pottery was obtained from the old ground surface. (5)
SP 45681380. The remains of a small multivallate hillfort known as Bladon camp. The hillfort defences include two concentric oval ramparts with outer ditches, enclosing an area up to 200 metres by 180 metres. Both ramparts are of stone rubble construction, partly levelled. The ditches have become partly infilled over time. The original entrances are not clearly defined but were probably located to the north western and south eastern sides of the site. A partial excavation was undertaken in 1988 and Early Iron Age pottery was recovered from the bottom of the ditch. Scheduled. (6)

Ascott Under Wychwood Barrow (Long Barrow) — Miscellaneous

Details of long barrow on Pastscape

[SP 3001 1755] Mound shown but not described. (1) Excavations are expected to be completed this year on the site of a Neolithic long barrow near Ascott-under-Wychwood, soon to disappear under a road-widening scheme on the B.4437. Chalbury/Burford road. Starting in 1965, work by the Oxford City and County Museum on behalf of the Ministry of Public
Building and Works has revealed that the barrow seals a number of distinguishable phases of activity. Such a well-stratified
sequence has not been obtained from any site involving a long barrow in the country before, and samples taken for radio-carbon dating from each of the phases should provide an important reference date for many other British sites.
The earliest phase of activity is Mesolithic, suggested by finds of flint tools and other stone implements; these may date
to before 3,500 B.C., and are an important addition to our knowledge of the Mesolithic period in this part of England,
before the establishment of agricultural communities. The next phase is early Neolithic, with occupation on the site
demonstrated by pottery, stone and flint tools, and areas of burning, some possibly hearths, one of which was associated with
what may have been some kind of cooking pit. To this phase also may belong a series of post-holes, but more areas need to be
examined in detail before any definite structure can be identified. The pottery of this phase is as early and as finely
made as any in the British Neolithic, and comprises a most important assemblage.
The early Neolithic phase does not seem to have been immediately followed by the construction of the barrow itself, and there are indications that the site was under cultivation for a time. During this period, enough time elapsed for a soil profile to develop, and this is yielding valuable information about agricultural activity, vegetation and climate in Neolithic times. The most important discovery within the barrow last year was that of at least five discrete, burial deposits, three of which were contained inside stone cists defined by large stones, arranged in an unusual manner across the long axis of the barrow towards its narrower, western end. Provisional totals have reached a minimum of twenty individuals, many represented only by a few bones-a feature which is consistent in tombs of the same period in this country and which is generally attributed to a practice involving the burial or exposure of corpses elsewhere before final interment in the barrow. Preliminary examination of the remains has shown that their deposition took place when the bones were partially, and in some cases completely, free of tissue attachments.
Three of the cists contained undisturbed burial deposits. One cist did not contain burials and there is no reason to suggest
that it had originally done so. The provisional minimum total of largely disarticulated and incomplete inhumations includes two further burial deposits placed against the outer stone of the outer cist on each side of the mound, one being a single
inhumation. Adults and juveniles were recorded from each of the other burial deposits. One cist contained in addition, some
cremated bones. A number of anatomical anomalies have been recognised and a leaf shaped flint arrowhead was found solidly
embedded in the lower part of the spine of one individual. Grave goods comprised one leaf shaped arrowhead, and an incomplete
undecorated Neolithic bowl. The main periods of interest on the site may range from before 3,000 B.C. to 2,000 B.C., but samples recovered for Carbon 14 dating should provide absolute dates for critical phases. (2)
Ascott-under-Wychwood [SP 300 176]. In a final season the remainder of the long barrow was removed and the recording of
its external and internal structure was completed. Preliminary C14 results indicate a date of construction early in the 3rd
millenium B.C. The area between the two pairs of cists located in 1968 on either side of the long axis of the barrow was taken up by rubble packing; there was no central cist. On top of the packing, however, was an unaccompanied deposit of disarticulated bones. Mechanical stripping on the north side of the barrow mound revealed a line of quarry pits some IIm outside the outer wall. Irregular in plan and surface dimensions, these quarries had been dug to a depth of c. 8 ft 6 in. to 10 ft through extremely variable subsoil and had been severely undercut in places. Finds included flint flakes and antler picks, but no pottery. Any evidence for comparable quarry pits on the south side of the mound had been removed by nineteenth-century quarrying and the line of the present road. A combination of environmental and other evidence indicates
several pre-barrow phases including woodland clearance, occupation, possible cultivation and, finally, undisturbed grassland. More small hollows and other features were discovered, but no convincing pre-barrow structures were identified.
In the Roman period sections of the barrow revetment had been robbed out. In the area between the Neolithic quarry pits and
the north side of the mound, were numerous shallow quarries (probably for lime) of the first century A.D. These were sealed
by several ploughsoils of the Late Roman period. (Mr. D. Benson, Oxford City and County Museum). (3)
The barrow has been completely cleared and its site is marked by a patch of rough stony pasture. The anticipated road widening has not yet taken place. (4)
The soil profile beneath the Ascott under Wychwood long barrow is the most intensively studied local sequence and the environmental record stretches back to the early post-glacial times. At first the area had a light woodland cover that gave way to more closed woodland in the 4th millenium BC, and was then cleared in the early 3rd millenium BC. After a brief period as a settlement, the site became grassland until about 2,800 BC, when the barrow was built. A radiocarbon date suggests that the tomb was erected after 2943 +- 70 BC. (5)

Fifield (Long Barrow) — Miscellaneous

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).

Curn Barrow (Long Barrow) — Miscellaneous

Details of barrow on Pastscape

[SU 5202 8348] Tumulus [O.E.] (1) Curn Barrow, Blewbury. A long barrow Lat. 51 32' 51" Long. 1 14' 59" a hundred and thirty feet long oriented due east and west. It appears to have been under plough which would account for its low elevation and absence of ditches. There are no signs of it being disturbed. (2) This mound was excavated by H.H. Coghlan and C.F.B. Marshall in 1935 who formed no trace of ditches, portholes or pottery. The age and purpose of the mound was not determined, but it is probably of recent date. (3) This mound has been completely destroyed by the construction of racehorse gallops. (4)
SU 5201 8351 O.G.S. Crawford, 1921: notes long barrow, 135ft. x 60ft., 3ft. high. Not certainly a long barrow - field investigation, A.Upson, 1977. (5) This feature is visible on aerial photographs. The cropmark shows two ditches flanking a mound, resembling a long barrow. However a similar cropmark has been made to the northeast by modern rifle butts, and this feature may also be a modern feature associated with Churn Rifle Range, located 400m to the southeast. (6)

The Hoar Stone (Steeple Barton) (Chambered Tomb) — Miscellaneous

Details of long barrow on Pastscape

(SP 45782412) Hoar Stone (NR) (1) A large, flat irregularly shaped sandstone boulder known locally as the Hoar Stone (a), is surrounded by five fir trees at the end of an avenue of beech trees. It measures 3.2m long E-W by 2.7m wide and is 0.8m thick. It has the appearance of a Burial Chamber capstone, but as it is slightly embedded in the ground and there is no trace of a surrounding mound there is no supporting evidence for this supposition. Published survey (25") revised. See G.P.(a) (2)

The Hoar Stone II (Chambered Tomb) — Miscellaneous

Details of long barrow on Pastscape

(SP 46432474) Hoar Stone (NR) (Remains of) (1) 'A long barrow with some broken stones at its east end: these broken stones are probably the remains of a burial chamber'. (2) Listed under chambered tombs and described as a long mound (at least 50 ft), E/W, with a heap of smashed stone at the east. A 19th century reference speaks of 'two side-pieces and a lintel', possibly either a simple terminal chamber or a blind entrance. (The name Hoar Stone cannot be confirmed). (3)
'The Hoar Stone, formerly called Maiden's Bower, about which there were superstitions, so that it was deliberately broken up. Mr Hall, owner of Barton Abbey, had the pieces collected into a heap'. (4)
At SP 46422474 there is a low, nearly circular mound some 11.0m N-S by 9.5m E-W and 0.5m high. Its centre consists of a mass of broken sandstone, which is presumably the remains of the Hoar Stone or burial chamber. A vague, unsurveyable ground swelling stretches away to the NW, and may represent the site of the lond mound mentioned by Daniel (2) and Powell (3). Mr Hall (4) is no longer at Barton Abbey, the site is known locally as Hoar Stone, and the only feature hereabouts with a name resembling 'Maiden's Bower' is the wood centred at SP 461235 (a). Published survey (25') revised. (5)

Avebury & the Marlborough Downs (Region) — News

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The Badger Stone (Cup and Ring Marks / Rock Art) — Miscellaneous

Details of stone on Pastscape

Bronze Age cup and ring marked rock (in situ). A block of gritstone 12 ft. long, 7ft 6ins broad by 4ft high, on it being carved nearly 50 cups, 16 of which are surrounded with single concentric rings. At the westend.. are a group, 3 cups with double rings and radial grooves. At the other end... is a curious pattern.. somewhat resembling the 'swastika'... This is one of the few instances of cup and ring marks occuring on a vertical surface.
[SE 1105 4605] Badger Stone [O.E.] (Cup and Ring marked) (1) A block of gritstone 12 ft. long, 7ft 6ins broad by 4ft high, on
it being carved nearly 50 cups, 16 of which are surrounded with single concentric rings. At the westend.. are a group, 3 cups
with double rings and radial grooves. At the other end... is a curious pattern.. somewhat resembling the 'swastika'... This is one of the few instances of cup and ring marks occuring on a vertical surface.....(a)Sim.inf.(b&c) (2-4)
See GP AO/61/320/8 for Illustration. (5) SE 1107 4605. Carved rock known as the Badger Stone. Scheduled RSM No 25367. (6)

Black Beck Hole (Cup and Ring Marks / Rock Art) — Miscellaneous

Details of stone on Pastscape

Bronze Age cup marked stone (in situ).
SE 0973 4652. Rock with three cup marks 150m SW of Black Beck Hole.
Scheduled RSM No 25389. A carved gritstone rock, almost covered in vegetation. The visible part measures 1.5m x 0.25m x 0.5m. The carving consists of three to five deep cups on the east vertical face. (1)

Weary Hill Stone (Cup and Ring Marks / Rock Art) — Miscellaneous

Details of stones on Pastscape

Two Bronze Age cup and ring marked rocks (in situ).
[SE 1072 4649]- cup and ring marked rock. (1)
A small rock situated at SE 10764649 with six cup markings on its surface. Each cup is surrounded by a single ring. See GP AO.64.93.6. (2)
SE 1076 4649. Cup & ring marked rock between Spicey Gill & the Ilkley-Keighley road. Scheduled RSM No 25399. A carved gritstone rock measuring 0.85m x 0.73m x 0.38m. The carving consists of ten cups, three with single rings, with grooves running down from them.
SE 1100 4645. Carved rock 100m NE of eastern Grainings Head Quarry. Scheduled RSM No 25368. A partly overgrown carved gritstone rock measuring 1.1m x 0.8m x 0.33m where visible. The carving consists of nine or ten cups. (3)

Silver Well Cottage Stones (Cup and Ring Marks / Rock Art) — Miscellaneous

Details of stones on Pastscape

Group of four Bronze Age cup and ring marked stones (in situ).
[SE 1061 4658] Cup and Ring marked Rock [T.I.] (1)
A small gritstone boulder, marked with ten cups, varying in diameter from 2 to 3 ins, one of them being surrounded by a
single ring. Situated on Weary Hill, to the W. of the road, and between it and the boundary wall of Silver Well Farm. (2)
See AO/61/320/5 for this boulder. Another bearing six linked cups, is situated at SE 1047 4663. See GP AO/61/320/6 for illustration. (3)
SE 1061 4658. Cup and ring marked rock between Keighley Gate and Silver Well Cottage. Scheduled RSM No 25361.
SE 1047 4663. Cup marked rock 39m SE of entrance to Silver Well Cottage. Scheduled RSM No 25394. A carved gritstone rock measuring 3m x 1.9m x 0.9m. The carving consists of eight definite and five possible cups.
SE 1048 4662. Carved rock SE of entrance to Silver Well Cottage. Scheduled RSM No 25395. A carved gritstone rock measuring
1.35m x 1.1m x 0.85m. The carving consists of three cups on the east edge, one possible cup on the south side and one possible cup on the west face, near the bottom.
SE 1048 4668. Cup marked rock E of entrance to Silver Well Cottage. Scheduled RSM No 25396. A partly covered carved gritstone rock measuring 1.3m x 0.8m x 0.2m where visible. The carving consists of a single cup near the SE corner. (4)
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Hail and Welcome

Chance was born in Ratae in the year of the Rat, and grew up in the territory of the Corieltauvi.

Now living days walk west of Wale-dich (Avebury), on the border between the Atrebates, the Durotriges and the Dobunni.

Practical experience of excavation on Neolithic, Bronze-age, Roman sites.

Interested in the various tribes, how they divided their land, their agricultural calendar, common beliefs and ritual systems.

Often attends the tribal meetings held at Avebury and Stonehenge.

Contact - Chippychance on UTube
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