Chance

Details of barrow on Pastscape

‘Bul Barrow’, a ditched bowl barrow, 18 paces diameter and 4ft high with a hollow centre. A sharpened bone of a deer ‘from Bull Barrow’ (a) may equally refer to the Bull Barrow in Holt parish (see SU 00 SE 1). (2) As described in Authy 2 although gorse and bramble-covered. The top of the barrow is entirely scooped out and there is a spoil heap adjoining the mound on the north-west. (3) The barrow called Bulbarrow in Woolland parish was formerly a beacon, and in 1625 the hundreds of Redlane, Brownshull, Sturminster Newton and Buckland were obliged to find watchmen. (4)

Details of site on Pastscape

Remains previously thought to be a causeway were investigated by the The Poole Harbour Heritage Project. Two stone structures were uncovered 70 metres apart: one was 160 metres long and 8-10 metres wide running out from Cleavel Point on the mainland, the other 55 metres long projecting out from Green Island. Investigations suggested that the stone structures were in fact the remains of two harbour piers. Timbers recovered from the mainland pier have been radiocarbon dated to circa 300 BC (Iron Age), making it the oldest constructed port in North West Europe, and matching the radiocarbon date on the Poole Harbour log boat.

Monument No. 457515

Details of log boat on Pastscape

A log boat was dredged from Poole Harbour, east of Brownsea Island in 1964. Two large fragments of the boat were discovered, and it was reconstructed to provide a vessel of just over 10 metres in length and 1.52 metres in width. The wood has been radiocarbon dated to circa 300 cal BC, giving it a firm Iron Age date. It is believed that the boat is associated with two nearby Iron Age jetties, nationally significant and thought to relate to cross-continental trading which took place on Green Island in Poole Harbour.
The boat was submerged in a tank for approximately 30 years after its discovery. When Poole Museum was moved to a new site a programme of conservation was entered into regarding the boat. British Sugar Company provided a sucrose solution, something which had proved effective in the past at stabilising oak samples.
The conservation programme is now successfully completed and the logboat is on permanent display in Poole Museum.

Details of barrows on Pastscape

Tumulus (NR) (Three times) (A – SY 93078481 : B – SY 9307 8465 : C – SY 92988449). (1) Three Bowl Barrows. (2)
‘A’ is a rather poorly shaped bowl barrow with diameter of 17.0m and a height of 1.5m with no surrounding ditch. Heather covered with no apparent signs of mutilation. ‘B’ has a diameter of 22.0m and a max height of 2.4m. and has no surrounding ditch. A hollow in the top has a diameter of 3.0m and is 0.4m deep. A small portion at the Eastern base has been cut away.
A heather and gorse covered Bowl Barrow. ‘C’ Is a badly mutilated bowl barrow. A trench in the East measures 4.0m long and 1.8m wide and appears to have been cut for soil extractions and not excavation. It is badly pitted all over and now serves as a rubbish dump. The barrow has a diameter of 16.5m and is 1.4m high and has no surrounding ditch.

Details of barrows on Pastscape

A group of 18 Bronze Age bowl barrows (and one Neolithic long barrow, recorded separately as SY 98 SE 14) on Ailwood Down. The barrows form a fairly compact cluster within an area also containing a number of pit-like depressions. These latter may represent quarrying or could alternatively be natural features. The barrows vary in size, and only a few definitely have surrounding ditches. In one case the ditch is interrupted by four causeways. Only one episode of excavation is known (during the 19th century), one of the barrows containing a cremation. See descriptive text for details about each barrow. The cemetery was last visited by RCHME in 1986. All barrows in the group are scheduled.

Details of barrow on Pastscape

A Neolithic long barrow on Ailwood Down, immediately adjacent to the round barrow group SY 98 SE 5. The barrow is extant as an earthwork mound 32 metres long and up to 12 metres wide. It is 0.5 metres high on the uphill northern side, and 2 metres high on the downhill southern side. It is orientated roughly northwest-southeast. During RCHME field investigation in 1986 a narrow shallow ditch was evident around the eastern part of the mound but could not be traced around the western part. Previously, slight depressions had been noted on the east, south and western sides. One of the round barrows appears to impinge on the ditch. Scheduled.

Details of Stone circle on Pastscape

Stone circle located at the foot of Nine Barrow Down. RCHME field investigation in the mid-20th century noted that the surviving stones formed an arc which, if originally part of a complete circle, would have been about 80 feet in diameter. At the time, 12 stones stood on or near their original setting. 5 stood to a height of 2 to 3.75 feet, while the other seven were prone. Some of these latter had clearly been moved. Nine other stones were noted piled together some 80 feet to the east. In 1957, JB Calkin referred to two parallel rows of stones, about 9 feet apart and located circa half a mile west of the circle, but apparently aligned a little to the north of it. He suggested that they may have formed a processional way leading to the circle. RCHME field investigation in 1986 noted that only 10 of the stones belonging to Rempstone Circle were still visible. The field investigator added that “nothing of the supposed stone row(s) survives”.

Details of barrows on Pastscape

(’A’, ‘B’,’C’ – Centred SZ 007820) Tumuli (NR) (1)
Three bell barrows, ‘A’ – SZ 00678200; ‘B’-SZ 00728196; ‘C’-SZ 00718193, on Godlingston Heath (see illustration card for measurements and profile of each barrow). A possible bowl barrow, ‘D’-SZ 00698199, Impinges on the ditch of bell barrow ‘A‘
‘A’-(33) – SZ 00688200. Bell (?)barrow, unusually irregular- shaped probably due to its position on a small natural knoll. The diameter is 52ft and 4 1/2ft high with irregular berm 25ft wide on the north; 15ft wide on the south and almost absent on the east. The ditch is 14th wide and 6 inches to 2ft deep on the west, but absent on the south where its line is interrupted by barrow ‘D’.

Details of barrow on Pastscape

(SZ 01818210) Fishing Barrow (Tumulus) (NR) (1) A very large bell barrow with a well marked ditch, narrow berm almost overspread. (2) Inside ditch to inside ditch this barrow has a diameter of 32.0m. The completely encircling ditch has been an average width of 3.5m. and an average depth of 0.7m. The height from the top of the mound to the bottom of the ditch is 3.2.m. on the south quadrant. It is heavily overgrown with gorse and heather except for the top which is flat and serves as a golfing tee. It is surmounted by a flagstaff.

Details of barrow on Pastscape

(SZ 02238132) Tumulus (NR) (1)
A turf covered bowl barrow, 23.0m. diameter and 1.9m high in the west. There are evident traces of a ditch in the eastern quadrant which are only slight elsewhere. Square hollow on top. (2)
SZ 02238132. Ulwell Barrow, ditched bowl barrow, 74ft diameter and 6ft high with ditch 12ft wide, on the west end of Ballard Down. There is an excavation hollow in top and the barrow is cut by a hedge-bank on the north. On the south qhere crossed by the parish boundary is a collapsed obelisk dated 1892 (shown) on OS 6”). Excavated by Austen in 1857 who found a primary contracted inhumation, the skull surrounded by flat stones, in a chalk-cut grave 8ft x 5ft, associated with a handled cup of fine red ware; antler fragments occurred in the grave filling. Near the centre of the mound were disarticulated inhumation with urn fragments and, slightly higher, a cremation under a flat stone with more urn fragments. In the top of the mound were Iron Age and/or Romano British debris and many flint chippings. (3,4) The obelisk which stands on the south slope of the barrow was reerected in 1972 and stands to its full height. (Not an antiquity) 4/89 Surveyed at 1:2500. (6) Both inhumations were made, the intrusive one being Anglo-Saxon. (7)

Details of barrow on Pastscape

(SZ 04608203) King Barrow (Tumulus) (NR) (1) Bowl Barrow, covered with trees ploughed to edge. 13 paces diameter x 3 1/2ft high. (2) This area is so heavily overgrown with brambles, thornbushes and netttles as to be impenetrable. It was possible to ascertain that the barrow has not been levelled. (3) SZ 04618202. King Barrow, bowl barrow, 43ft diameter and 4ft high situated on top of natural knoll. (4)

Details of barrow on Pastscape

King’s Barrow, bowl (?) (SY 92048572). Now in a garden and covered with trees and shrubs. Diam. uncertain, ht. about 5 1/2ft. In 1767 said to be 100ft in diam. 12ft high and apparently constructed of turves. In centre on sandy buried surface was primary inhumation (probably Wessex culture) without skull, wrapped in stiched animal skins, within a hollowed oak tree coffin 10ft long by 4ft wide by 3ft deep orientated NW-SE. Attached to one skin was ‘gold lace’ 4ins. by 2 1/2 ins. with ‘bits of wire’ in it. Near the SE end of the coffin was a small cup, now lost, 2ins high, and decorated with incised lines. Though described as of oak, it was more probably made of Kimmeridge shale. (Salisbury Journal 9th March 1767; Gentleman’s Magazine XXVII (1767), 53-4 Hutchins I, 100, 563; W. A. M. XLIV (1928), 101-5 ad 111-17; PPS xv (1949), 101-6).(2)

Details of barrow on Pastscape

A bowl barrow known as Thorn Barrow, situated on a high upland ridge overlooking the valley of a tributary of the River Wolf. The barrow survives as an oval mound which measures 49.5 metres north to south and 42.9 metres east to west and is up to 1.6 metres high. The surrounding quarry ditch is preserved as a buried feature which measures up to 5 metres wide. The profile of the mound is very uneven, and is slightly lower in the south western quadrant. There is also evidence of old excavations in the form of an oval depression in the summit on the north eastern side. Scheduled.

Details of the long barrow on Pastscape

Long barrow (SY 60438836) lies on Sheep Down, about 580 ft above OD, on the side of a long arable slope falling north-east from Black Down. On a bearing of 124x, it is 174 ft long, 70 ft wide at the north-west end and 88 ft at the south-east, where it rises to its maximum height of 6 ft. It was probably incorporated in a ‘Celtic” field lay-out (SY68 NW 36); plough soil is piled against the south side and a lynchet meets the east end at right angles from the south. The whole has been heavily ploughed in recent times. (2,3) SY 60438835. Long barrow, generally as described by RCHM (2); overall length 54.0m. and maximum height 2.0m. Now under permanent grass but ploughed in the past, no visible evidence of side ditches remains. The lynchet at the E end has been ploughed out. Re-surveyed at 1:2500 on M.S.D. (4)
The long barrow on Sheep Down lies at the head of a dry valley which runs NE into the South Winterbourne valley. The site comprises a substantial rectangular mound, orientated NW-SE and 55m long. The mound tapers in width from the southeast end (34m) to the northwest end (26m). The mound is highest at the southeast (3m) and drops to 2m high at the northwest, with a step down roughly half way along the mound. The field has evidently been ploughed in the recent past, although it was not enclosed until 1863 (Winterbourne Steepleton Enclosure Award and Map, DRO Inclosure 81) (5).
The site was surveyed using differential GPS and EDM at a scale of 1: 500 as part of a survey of the long barrows on the South Dorset Ridgeway carried out by English Heritage and the Ridgeway Survey Group (6).
The geophysical surveys carried out by the EH Geophysics Team and the Ridgeway Survey Group on Sheep Down showed some rather surprising results (7). Both the magnetometry and the resistivity surveys failed to locate the presence of buried flanking ditches. The resistivity survey showed a high resistance, curvilinear response around the base of the barrow mound, indicating the presence of a retaining wall. There was also an area of increased resistance across the mound, with an area of high resistance towards the southeast end, perhaps indicating the presence of a collapsed stone chamber. The geophysical survey suggests that the long barrow on Sheep Down was originally a chambered long barrow, like the Grey Mare and Her Colts to the south (SY 58 NE 19). The absence of flanking ditches is problematic. It may be the result of the local geology: the barrow lies on an area of pebbly and sandy clay (Older Head, British Geological Survey, sheet 326). The mound material may have been obtained locally from the sand and clay deposits just to the north, where there are extensive quarries.

Details of the barrow cemetery on Pastscape

(`A` – SY 59988976; `B` – SY 60008977) Tumuli (NR) (`C` – SY 60038979; `D` – SY 60188993; `E` – SY 60478995)
Tumulus (NR) (three times). (`F` – SY 60439004) Long Barrow (NR). (1)

Group of barrows at Longlands, including one possible bell, four in a rough alignment south west-north east along spine of spur, with possible long barrow at north east end. The three south west barrows are just above the 500 ft contour and the others above 400 ft. All damaged. Near foot of steep slope to north immediately south of the main road three further barrows at 60449020, 60519025 and 60559018 are shown on OS (1811) but there is now no sign of them.
`A` Bowl in Dry Wood, now only irregular rise about 9 ins high.
`B` Bowl 25 yds north east of `A`, also in Dry Wood. Diam 48 ft, ht 3 1/2 ft.
`C` Ditched bowl 40 yds north east of `B`. Mound about 65 ft diam and 1 1/2 ft high, within oval ditch about 150 ft (north west-south east) by 90 ft (VAP CPE/UK 1934, 5098). Almost ploughed out.
`D` Bowl 220 yds north east to `C`. Diam 52 ft, ht 14 ft though base steepened by ploughing.
`E` Bell 307 yds east north east of `D`. Diam about 94 ft, ht 5 ft, with ditch about 105 ft in diam, separated from mound by narrow berm (VAP CPE/UK 1934, 5092).
`F` Oval barrow, long barrow (?) is sited about 450 ft above OD on a gentle north east facing slope just below the crest of a broad ridge. It has been much ploughed and is now only about1 1/2 ft high and measures 70 ft (east-west) by 40 ft. Under plough it showed only earth and flints as in the surrounding field. (2-3)

Details of the barrow on Pastscape

(SY 77908785) Tinker’s Barrow (NR). (1)
Tinkers’ Barrow, ditched bowl (SY 77918785). In plantation on top of S slope. Diameter 44ft, height 4ft, with ditch 9ft wide.
Large excavation on top. (2,3) Tinker’s Barrow (name in local use). A bowl-barrow, diameter 13.5m, height 1.2m, a silted outer ditch 3.3m wide and 0.3m deep. Covered by dense rhododendrons.

Details of the barrow on Pastscape

(SY 79148747) Tadnoll Barrow (NR). (1)
Tadnoll Barrow, bowl (?) (SY 79148747). On slight knoll in heathland and cut by parish boundary with Moreton, E of which road has destroyed two-thirds of site. Diam about 56 ft, ht about 5 ft; around, and 3 ft from it on W, is a probable tree-clump enclosure, about 75 ft in diameter. (2,3) Tadnoll Barrow (name not confirmed) a severely mutilated probable bowl barrow, is generally as described by RCHM (2).
The probable tree-clump enclosure survives on the east and west sides of the road, as a broad bank 4.5m wide and 0.5m high, with an outer ditch 2.0m wide and 0.3m deep, about 30.0m in overall diameter. A clump of mature conifers covers the site.

Details of the barrow on Pastscape

A Bronze Age bowl barrow, later utilised as a tree clump mound, situated 350 metres north of Highlands Farm.
Scheduled Monument 238160 Oxfordshire Parish of Brightwell-cun-Sotwell SU 59 SE 54 Location SU 5748 9184 The barrow mound survives, despite part reduction by cultivation, as an upstanding earthwork measuring 30 metres in diameter and standing up to 0.3 metres high. The mound is surrounded by a quarry ditch from which material was obtained during its construction. This has become infilled over the years and now lies beneath the edge of the spread mound. This ditch will survive as a buried feature to its original width of 3 metres. The barrow is believed to have been reused as a tree clump mound between 1800-1840 and it still has a ring of mature beech trees around it. During ploughing the surrounding field has produced Iron Age and early Roman pottery sherds although the nature of the activity and its relationship to the barrow is not fully understood. There are cropmarks of two other single ditched round barrows to the west of Brightwell Barrow. One is calculated at 29m dia. and can be seen on air photos at SU 5744 9179 and the other, of 26m Dia. at SU 5754 9187
‘A’ [SU 5761 9190] Brightwell Barrow [T.U.] (1) Brightwell Barrow a circular mound, 20 paces in diameter and 1 1/2 feet high, tree-covered, at Sinodun Hills, Brightwell. It has been surrounded by two tree rings, one perhaps c. 1800, the other in 1843. Opened by Dr. H. Watts in 1923, E.I.A. pottery (in British Museum) and animal bones found. No human remains detected (2). ‘B’[SU 5744 9179] Barrow (3a). (2-3) ‘A’ is a circular tree covered mound 0.3m. high. Although rather small and ploughed down, it is almost certainly a barrow and is ideally situated on the top of a hill. No trace of the tree rings survive, or of barrow ‘B’ which is under young crops. Published survey (1/2500) revised. (4) Excavations across the site of the circular crop mark in a. above, by Dr.s Watts and Girling in 1938 showed no evidence of disturbance below ground level and nothing was visible above ground. Subsequent enquiries ascertained that a corn rick had been standing on this spot prior to the air photograph being taken by Major Allen. (5) (SU 57449179). The barrow is visible on air photographs. (6)
Cropmark remains of two single ditched round barrows at SU 5744 9179 and SU 5754 9187 mapped at 1:10,000 scale as part of the RCHME: Thames Valley NMP. The former barrow has a diameter of 29m and corresponds with barrow (B) referred to in sources 2 & 3 above. The second barrow lies 100m to the east and has a diameter of 26m. Both lie to the west of the site of the tree covered Brightwell Barrow. (Morph No. TG.377.10.1-2). (7)

Details of the barrow on Pastscape

(Approximately SX 02836310) Black Barrow (NAT) (1)
‘Black Barrow’ is one of five barrows shown on the Tithe Map (see also SX 06 SW 9 and 18). (2)
A slight elevation (in field number 1512 on OS 25”) is said to now mark its position. (3)
It is presumably the “Black Barrow, diameter 60ft recorded by Thomas on the N side of the new turnpike road, about 1 1/2 mile SW of the (Lanivet) church”. (4)

Details of the barrow on Pastscape

(SY 77918414) Tumulus (NR) (1) Lord’s Barrow, a round (bowl?) barrow 58ft diameter x 7ft high, situated on the crest of a ridge 400 ft above OD. Excavated and much damaged. A probable barrow of? bowl-type at SY 77918415 situated in the hedge line on the parish boundary is about 36ft diameter x 1 1/2ft high. (2,3)
A: SY 77778412 Lord’s Barrow (name not confirmed) is truncated on the east by road. Its present diameter is 22.0m. and its
height 3.2m There is no visible ditch.
B: SY 77918414. The remains of a barrow, almost destroyed, now part of a hedgebank. It measures 11.0m. by 4.0m., with a height of 0.8m. No visible ditch.

Details of the barrow on Pastscape

(SY 7241 9463). Robin’s Barrow (Tumulus) (NR). (1) Tumulus located and surveyed. (2) SY 7241 9462. Robin’s Barrow, a bowl barrow 14 paces diameter and 1ft high, apparently almost entirely removed for a water tank since 1939. (3) SY 7241 9463. Robin’s Barrow, a bowl barrow formerly 47ft diameter and 4 1/2 ft high, has been severely mutilated by the insertion of a water tank, and its outline is very irregular. (4)

Details of the barrow on Pastscape

(SY 74948841) Huck Barrow (NR) (1)
Huck Barrow, a ditch bowl barrow on an almost level site, is 52ft in diameter by 8ft high with a ditch about 10ft wide. It has been damaged, and is covered by trees. (2,3)

Details of the barrows on Pastscape

Three Bronze Age bowl barrows on Duddle Heath. The barrows are between 17m and 25m in diameter and 1.25m-1.6m high. The two most northerly barrows have a hollow in the centre. This possibly marks the sot of the excavations in 1887. This found a cremation burial and three bucket urns containing cremations. The southern most barrow also has a hollow but this probably marks the site of a military observation post. Remains of ditches are visible at various points 2m wide and 0.25m deep. Scheduled.

Details of the enclosure on Pastscape

A large, 3 sided earthwork enclosure, open to the south, and originally consisting of a bank with exterior ditch, enclosing circa 8 hectares. Only a length of the western side survives as earthworks, the remainder having been ploughed flat. Excavations in 1958 included an unsuccessful attempt to locate a presumed fourth side on the south. One cutting on the eastern side identified a small ditch running parallel to the main ditch. This smaller ditch contained postholes, and appears to have held a palisade. It was traced north and south from the excavation trench, in the latter case running beyond the southern limit of the enclosure. A cutting through the extant earthworks on the western side recovered late Neolithic and early Bronze Age pottery from beneath the bank, hinting at an early date for the enclosure. This was subsequently supported by an RCHME suggestion that disc barrow Wilsford 45b (SU 14 SW 478) overlay the enclosure earthworks. An excavation through the western side in 1983 again found Beaker sherds on the ground surface beneath the bank, and a quantity of Neolithic and early Bronze Age pottery (including Peterborough Ware and Beaker sherds) in the buried soil. Thus an early Bronze Age date seems possible for the construction of the enclosure, while it is also clear that the earthworks formed a focal element in the later Bronze Age linear ditch system on Wilsford Down (see SU 14 SW 127, 128, 129, 502). The enclosure is visible as an earthwork and a cropmark on aerial photographs. Analysis of lidar data suggests a possible slight banked feature running from SU11254030 – SU11404028. It is not clear from the data whether this feature actually joins up with the eastern edge of the Kite enclosure and because it runs parallel to the earthwork bank to the south (SU14SW 707) it may be related to this.

Details of the Hillfort on Pastscape

Hembury Castle is a small 5 acre plateau, now cultivated. The south and east sides of the hill have very steep natural slopes; on the north wide is a 10 ft deep bank and ditch. In the ditches were quantities of charred wood, and a mound, formerly southwest of the interior, was found to contain numerous skeletons, supposedly from the Civil War. (2-3)
Hembury Castle (name confirmed) is situated on a north-east spur at approximately 132.9.0m OD. The sub-oval univallate enclosure is 210.0m by 125.0m overall with no obvious entrance. The rampart has been almost entirely levelled and the most prominent feature is the ditch, 1.2m deep, with a counter scarp bank 0.8 high, in places replaced by a hedge. It is being gradually destroyed by ploughing, though currently under pasture; the southern part is now encroached upon by farm buildings.
The earthwork is typical of the larger Iron Age defended settlements.

Details of the Hillfort on Pastscape

An early Iron Age Camp, Hembury Castle is a contour-following hillfort. It is formed by a double rampart which extends for the whole of the perimeter though much of the inner slope of the inner rampart has been destroyed. The outer rampart of counterscarp bank is weakest on the north-east where natural slopes afford some protection. A number of small causeways occur in the deep medial ditch. These are not modern and may represent the limits of sections of work during the original construction or subsequent deepening which may have taken place during a possible Medieval phase of occupation (see SX 76 NW 7). The original entrance appears to be on the south-east and is of simple type. Three other breaks in the defences, on the
south-east, north, and west, are of much later date and carry footpaths in modern use.

Details of the Causewayed Enclosure on Pastscape

The remains of a Neolithic causewayed enclosure overlain by an Iron Age hillfort on Hembury Hill. Excavations in 1930-5 by Dorothy Liddell first revealed evidence for Neolithic use of the spur. An arc comprising 8 ditch segments was uncovered, emerging from beneath the later ramparts immediately to the south of the hillfort’s western entrance and running east across the interior before gently curving south and disappearing below the ramparts on the eastern side. A further Neolithic ditch was found in the area of the hillfort’s north east entrance, suggesting the possibility of a second enclosure circuit. An area of Neolithic activity, represented by a scatter of pits, post holes and artefacts was also examined at the southern tip of the spur within the later ramparts. The substantial Neolithic pottery assemblage recovered in 1930-5 made this the type site for Hembury Ware; later broadened to the South-Western style. Evidence for attack was also present in the ditches, with burnt deposits and a number of arrowheads.

Details of the Hillfort on Pastscape

The earthwork remains of an Iron Age multivallate hillfort overlying the remains of a Neolithic causewayed enclosure (see ST 10 SW 28). Excavations were undertaken between 1930 and 1935 by Dorothy Liddell, and again between 1980 and 1983 by Malcolm Todd. The hillfort itself appears to date primarily to the later Iron Age. Liddell’s excavations concentrated on the western and north-eastern entrances and their associated gate structures. Excavations by Todd in 1980-83 re-appraised some of her work, as well as looking at areas in the interior. Todd also identified structures and finds indicating a short-lived Roman military presence within the hillfort in the mid to late 1st century AD. Two parallel earthworks cross the hillfort interior west-east, close to the western entrance. Their construction appears to postdate the hillfort ramparts, although unequivocal dating evidence for their construction is lacking. According to Todd, they belong to “the Late Iron Age or later”. The site was included in RCHME’s Industry and Enclosure in the Neolithic. A brief site visit was undertaken but as all the extant earthworks are Iron Age or later, no further survey work was undertaken. Scheduled.

Details of the barrow on Pastscape

A small Bronze Age bowl barrow and two Anglo-Saxon hlaews (burial mounds), aligned south west to north east, and situated 70 metres south of the White Horse and circa 100 metres north east of Uffington Castle on Whitehorse Hill, an area that is in the Guardianship of the Secretary of State. The barrows lie on the top of the hill and overlook a Neolithic long barrow and Romano British cemetery (monument record number 229274) circa 60 metres to the west.

The Bronze Age barrow mound measures 11 metres in diameter and stands up to 0.15 metres high. Surrounding the mound is an infilled quarry ditch which is visible as a slight depression to the north and west of the barrow. The mound has been cut by later Roman features from which artefacts, including metal work, have been recovered.

The two Anglo-Saxon hlaews are difficult to locate at ground level but they have been plotted by a geophysical survey as being circa 11 metres apart and each having a diameter of 9 metres. Scheduled.

Details of the long barrow on Pastscape

A Neolithic long barrow situated on a north west facing slope, 70 metres north of Uffington Castle on Whitehorse Hill, an area in the care of the Secretary of State. The barrow also forms the focus for a later Romano-British inhumation cemetery.

The barrow has a mound aligned south west to north east which measures 25 metres long and 12 metres across at its widest point, with the widest end facing the north east. It stands up to 0.3 metres high and was originally flanked by two quarry ditches which have become infilled over the years.

A circular depression on the centre of the barrow represents an excavation shaft dug in 1857, from which a cremation in a large coarse urn was recovered. This excavation also demonstrated that the mound formed the focus for 46 skeletons buried in 42 graves; five individuals had coins in their mouths which dated them to the late Roman period.

Partial re-excavation and geophysical surveys undertaken in June 1993 have proved that the majority of Roman burials remain in situ and that the cemetery extends an unknown distance around the long barrow and its ditch. The excavation has also demonstrated that many of the skeletons lack skulls. Scheduled.

Very interesting item on St. John’s stone included here. Pastscape say’s that the area around the stone got used as the city’s rubbish tip before being redeveloped for housing.
The article also mentions “part of St. John’s Stone now sit inside St. Luke’s Church in Stocking Farm, Leicester”. I also note that “there were alter stones at Barkby on Ridgeway, in Markfield on Alterstone Lane and in Parker Drive, off Blackbird Road”.“There was also something in Enderby, she said, an old mistletoe bush worshipped by the druids.”

thiswasleicestershire.co.uk/2012/11/the-humber-stone-st-johns-stone.html

thiswasleicestershire.co.uk/2012/11/one-myth-closed-but-more-humber-stone.html

Details of one of the barrows on Pastscape

A Bronze Age bowl barrow, listed by Grinsell as Bromham 1. Located immediately outside the earthworks of Oliver’s Castle (SU 06 SW 11), it was examined in 1907 by BH Cunnington, with little being found. In 1928, rabbits exposed an inverted pottery vessel covering a cremation, among the bones of which was a bronze dagger. These finds clearly represent a secondary burial, located on the extreme edge of the mound. The 1907 trench had found no signs of a primary burial.

Details of the Hillfort on Pastscape

Earthwork remains of a hillfort or promontory fort defined by single line of bank and ditch enclosing a spur of the downs, but excluding the southwestern tip of the spur, on which are located two round barrows (SU 06 SW 44). Examination of the barrows in 1977 suggests that they may well have been included within the enclosure at some stage in its history. Excavations were undertaken in 1907, and comprised sections through the rampart, an examination of the entrance and trenching of the interior. Finds show evidence for pre-hillfort activity of Bronze Age date, including features described as “hearths”. Pottery finds suggest an early Iron Age date for the earthworks, while evidence, primarily in the form of potsherds, suggests some kind of Roman activity. Little evidence was found for any intensive occupation of the interior.

Details of stone on Pastscape

(SK 6241 0709) Humber Stone (OE). (1)
The Holy Stone near Humberstone. Up to 100 years ago this stone stood well above ground, though it is now covered with soil.
Traditionally associated with fairies and a place to be avoided after dark. (2) The Humber Stone is a cluster of large stones almost level with the surface of the ground and forming a small island in a cultivated field. (3) Two portions can be seen in a grassy patch avoided by the plough. (4) Humber Stone: No longer extant with the site is being developed as an industrial estate – as reported by OS field reviser. (5)

Details of stone on Pastscape

(SK 5779 0644) St John’s Stone (NR)
The stone is, so far as is known, a natural feature. It can be presumed therefore that it still exists in its original position. However the area is now used as a refuse tip and no part of the stone is visible.

The area has now been considerably developed and no trace now remains of this stone.

No further information was obtained as to its archaeological significance.

Details of Long Barrow on Pastscape

A Neolithic long barrow, surveyed by RCHME as part of a project focusing on the earthworks of Salisbury Plain Training Area. It is extant as an earthwork mound 55 metres long and up to 21 metres wide, and orientated east-west. Maximum height is 3 metres. A ledge at the western end can be traced around the sides of the mound where it becomes a break in the slope. The lower part of the mound can be seen as a raised rectangular platform, with a slightly shorter trapezoidal mound 40 metres in length lying on top. The flanking ditches are still visible on the surface, that on the north being 1.5 metres deep and 8 to 9 metres wide. Listed by Grinsell as Figheldean 27. The earthwork remains of this barrow were mapped from aerial photographs as part of the RCHME: Salisbury Plain Training Area NMP project, and subsequently revised for the English Heritage Stonehenge WHS Mapping Project.

Details of Long Barrow on Pastscape

A Neolithic long barrow, listed by Grinsell as Durrington 24. The barrow, surveyed in the 1980s by RCHME, is situated on the slopes of Durrington Down, among the buildings and grounds of Larkhill Camp. The mound is 45 metres long and 16 metres wide, and shows some damage from ploughing and military activity. The mound is orientated southeast-northwest, and only the flanking ditch on the north side remains visible. There is no record of an excavation. The barrow currently lies just outside the boundary of Stonehenge World Heritage Site.

Details of Long Barrow on Pastscape

A Neolithic long barrow survives as earthworks at the south-western end of the Winterbourne Stoke Crossroads round barrow cemetery (Monument Number 219525). It comprises a long mound, up to 3m high, 83.7m long and 26.9m wide, which extends south-west / north-east and is flanked to either side by ditches. The mound has the appearance of two conjoined round barrows, but this is the result of extensive damage by excavation, animal burrowing and quarrying for chalk in the early 20th century. The long barrow was excavated by Thurnam in 1863, who found a primary inhumation and six secondary burials. The barrow was listed as Winterbourne Stoke Down 1 by Hoare (1812), and as Winterbourne Stoke 1 by Goddard (1913), Cunnington (1914), and Grinsell (1957). The long barrow was mapped from aerial photographs at a scale of 1:10,000 as part of the RCHME: Salisbury Plain Training Area NMP and the English Heritage Stonehenge WHS Mapping project. The long barrow was surveyed at a scale of 1:1000 in August 2009 as part of English Heritage’s Stonehenge WHS Landscape Project.

Details of Barrow cemetery on Pastscape

[A SK 86642790 B SK 86702783] Tumuli [OE] (1)
“On the south side [of King Lud’s Entrenchments] near the East end of two barrows: one close to the ditch is 86 yds round and about 8 ft high; the other at the distance of 60 or 70 yds is 96 yds round and apparently the same height.” This latter barrow was opened by the first Duke of Rutland who found it ‘full of bones’. Two hollow places near the top have not been completely filled in. (2)
‘Two heaps to the SE of the E end [of King Lud’s Entrenchments] are called Tumuli on the Ordnance Survey map: one of these
lately excavated proved only to be a rubbish heap’. (3)

‘A’ Round Barrow, almost destroyed; diameter 22 paces; height 1ft.
‘B’ Round Barrow ruthlessly destroyed; not filled in. A large number of large stones are showing in centre. Diameter 32 paces; height 4’6” – 5’.
‘C’ [SK 8679 2775] Doubtful Round Barrow full of rabbit holes and almost flat; dark earth at centre; diameter 15 paces; height 1ft.
‘D’ Round Barrow 26 paces in diameter; height 6 ft; small depression on top; slopes to the north; carries a number of pine
trees. [SK 86752794]. (4)
`E’ [SK 86682787] A small barrow here. (5)

On 21st September, 1860, Thomas Bateman opened two barrows at Saltby. The first excavated is that nearest ‘King Luds Entrenchment‘
(A). Fragments of an urn of “coarse Celtic Pottery” a human skeleton and the bones of a dog and other animals were found. At a depth of 5ft on the natural surface, evidence of a large fire was found and among the charcoal, a tarsal ox bone. The second barrow (B) yielded only animal bones. Discolouration of the natural surface indicated a fire but all traces of charcoal had been removed before the barrow was constructed. (6)

The barrow ‘A’ SP 86632789 has been completely destroyed.
The barrow ‘B’ SP 86692782 remains but is much spread.
The barrow ‘C’ SP 86782775 has been destroyed.
The barrow ‘D’ SP 86752793 is in good condition 1.7m high.
Surveyed at 1:2500.
Several other barrows were seen as low spread mounds of stone in arable land at SP 86442808, 86612804, 86732808 and 86772807.
Also two large areas of scattered stone with indications of barrows were noted centred to SP 86402815 and SP 86602810. No traces of E, the barrow noted by Dare (5) was seen – destroyed by war-time buildings. (7)

At Saltby more barrows have been located forming a dispersed cemetery along the northern edge of the former Saltby Heath. There are now six certain barrows and six possible barrows located. (8)

SK 8670 2783 Barrow ‘B’ was excavated by Leic. Archaeological Unit from August to November 1978. It proved to be a composite earth and stone barrow. Five phases were distinguished; 1. pre-Barrow buried soil, 2. primary Funerary monument (earth with stone kerb), 4. completion of mound construction limestone capping, ditch and satellite burials and a secondary central burial, 5. later activity. Radiocarbon dating suggested tree clearance in 3220 + or – 90 B.C. The primary burial was dated 1550 + or – 70 B.C., the satellites 1380 + or – 90 B.C. and 1400 + or – 90 B.C. and a secondary burial 1490 + or – 70 B.C. In all six definite cremation burials were recovered and the remains of a possible seventh were found in the ring ditch. Two complete collared urns were recovered along with over 90 sherds of other pots including Beaker sherds. (9)

The barrow B, recorded by Authority 9 was seen as a cropmark and mapped from poor quality air photographs; it has a diameter of approximately 20m. The remaining barrows could not be identified. Centred at:-SK 8668 2783 (Morph No. LI.780.4.1) This description is based on data from the RCHME MORPH2 database. (10)
King Lud’s Intrenchments (see SK 82 NE 1) and two adjoining tumuli – SK 8664 2790. Monument No. 90656 formerly LE 46b. Barrow. Descheduled.
SK 8670 2783. Monument No. 90655 formerly LE 46c. Barrow. Descheduled. (11)

Details of site on Pastscape

[SK 8583 2799 to SK 8662 2795] King Lud’s Entrenchments (NR) [SK 8685 2793] The Tent [NR] (1)
‘William, Earl of Bologne, Mortaigne and Warren, who died in 1160 gave 40 acres of land at Saltby to the Abbey of Croxton and all the waste lands at the three dykes.’ ‘On the boundaries of Saltby and Croxton is a rampart called King Lud’s Intrenchments, extending from East to West for nearly 3/4 mile, consisting of a double ditch and several pits or hollows, one deeper than ordinary, into which they say, were stone stairs.’ ‘From the West it descends a gentle valley which it crosses near the East and terminates on rising ground at a pit called The Tent [’F’] where tradition says King Lud was killed. From ditch to ditch it is 7 yds broad, and in other places not more than 4 yards. Where the plough and spade have spared it, it is 6 ft high’. (2)
King Lud’s Entrenchments. (Miscellaneous Earthwork – Class X). A line of entrenchments 3,050 ft long, lies due east and west; it occupies ground slightly higher than its southern prospect, in which direction the land gradually falls. The extreme west consists of a double fosse and single vallum, but it has been weakened in recent years; the most perfect section is one-third of its distance from the west, here are a triple vallum and double fosse; From the north side the vallum is 4ft high and 10 ft wide, the first fosse is 8 ft deep, the second vallum, of the same height, is 15ft wide, the second fosse 6 ft deep, and the outer vallum, 11ft wide, is 4ft above the exterior level. The eastern third of the entrenchments has almost perished.
The Tent is a deep pear-shaped excavation, perhaps a dwelling or a guardroom; the entrance is at the north-west, close to the vallum, at which point was also an entrance through the lines. A bank is around the curve of the north-east side, from which the hollow is 26ft deep. (3)
King Lud’s Entrenchments have no special command of the neighbourhood; about 450ft above sea level, with land to the immediate north rather higher. The earthwork which consists of two ramparts and two ditches may have extended a few hundred feet further to the East; its purpose is uncertain, but it does not appear to have formed a boundary dike. It is now [1913]
planted with trees. (4)
A double-ditched dyke; traces of the work begin on the north edge of Egypt Plantation, a little to the east of The Tent. It gets stronger till near the west of Cooper’s Plantation the ditches are as much as 3 ft deep and then it tails off to vanish
before it reaches the road north of Saltby. The parish boundaries to the east and west look very much as though the work had once been much longer. (5)
Scheduled Monuments in Leicestershire. King Lud’s Entrenchments. Saxon. A boundary of Frontier earthwork double-ditched. [No period is allocated to this earthwork in the Ministry of Works scheduled list]. (6)
Possible traces of a continuation of this feature are visible from SK 8452 2756 to SK 8421 2755. (7)
The three dykes mentioned by Authority 2, consist of ‘King Lud’s Intrenchment’ and the ‘Foulding Dykes’.

Nichols states:- “Half a mile nearer Sproxton (From King Lud’s Intrenchment) a single ditch with a mound on each side crosses the road almost at right angles, the extent of which seems not more than 200 yards, and a quarter of a mile further is another running in the same direction for 3/4 mile. These two are called the Foulding Dykes .... the three entrenchments taken together (are called) the Three Dykes”. (8)
The Foulding Dykes were not located; it is likely that they were destroyed by the construction of the airfield as was the eastern end of King Lud’s. The remaining portions of the intrenchment are probably in much the same condition as they were in Nichols time; it is of a weak nature and was probably not defensive, more a boundary work. The bank to the south carries the footings of a stone wall, probably a later addition.
The reference to its existence pre-1160 in an area of waste land makes it vitually certain to be of Anglo-Saxon date, possibly the boundaries of a petty kingdom. Published survey 25” revised.
“The Tent” is a disused quarry of no archaeological import. (9)
The linear earthwork recorded by Authorities 1-9 was partially visible on vertical photography of various dates, but for much of its length it is obscured by tree cover; the Tent could not be identified for the same reason. (Morph No. LI.780.3.1)
The Foulding Dykes, mentioned by Authority 9, were not positively identified, but two separate linear features, running east-west, and lying between King Lud’s Entrenchments and Sproxton village were seen as cropmarks and are separately recorded as SK 82 NE 22 and SK 82 NE 48. This description is based on data from the RCHME MORPH2 database.(10)

SK 8584 2798 – SK 8718 2784. King Lud’s Intrenchments and adjacent barrow.
Earthworks exist in Cooper’s Plantation for a distance of 750m and include three parallel banks separated by two ditches. The ditches are up to 1.5m deep and an average of 8m wide and the banks up to 0.5m high. An excavation section of the ditches has shown that the southern ditch is `V’-shaped in profile and the northern ditch `U’-shaped. There are also slight earthworks in Egypt Plantation comprising a single bank, to the north of a disused quarry, is up to 0.75m high and 8m with slight remains of a ditch on its northern side. Both earthworks have been modified by wartime airfield activity.
On the eastern side the entrenchments join the prehistoric trackway known as Sewstern Lane (LINEAR 77). The earthworks have long been considered as of Saxon origin, specifically identified with Ludeca of Mercia, but recent aerial photographic work has suggested that the monument may be part of an extensive prehistoric boundary system extending from Northamptonshire to the Humber and termed `the Jurassic spine’.
Associated with the linear monument is a Bronze Age barrow cemetery (SK 82 NE 2), of which one barrow is known to survive and is included in the scheduling [although not recorded under SK 82 NE 2]. The barrow measures about 25m in diameter and 1.5m high with no visible surrounding ditch. A hollow in the centre is the result of an excavation by Bateman in 1860 (but see SK 82 NE 2).
Scheduled (RSM) No. 17107. (11)

Details of barrow on Pastscape

SK 588 123 Peek and Parsons note an irregular ring shaped ditch diameter 120 feet which they presume to be a Bronze Age barrow ditch. (1)

Details of Causewayed Enclosure on Pastscape

A Neolithic causewayed enclosure identified in the summer of 1999 following geophysical survey in the area of a flint scatter near Husbands Bosworth. The site comprises two closely-spaced concentric circuits of interrupted ditch enclosing an area of circa 1.5 hectares. Trial trenching has recovered late Neolithic pottery and flint from the upper levels of the ditches. There is some suggestion of an internal bank, while post holes between the two ditch circuits have been tentatively interpreted as some kind of revetment for the bank.

Details of barrow 1 on Pastscape

SK 6059 1286 Two Early Bronze Age ring ditches were photographed from the air and subsequently excavated prior to quarrying in 1976. One was a small ring ditch of c 16 metres diameter while the second, a double ring ditch, was 35 metres and 51 metres and in diameter. The smaller barrow appears to have contained an inhumation burial, which did not survive the acid soil. To one side of this was a small cremation burial of 11 burials, 3 in large collared urns. The larger barrow contained at least 5 burials, the primary burial being a crouched inhumation with grave goods consisting of a food vessel, a pygmy cup, a plano-convex flint knife, a broken flint knife, a small stone vessel and a stone knife. Another burial pit containing a collared urn but no skeleton was cut into the top of the primary burial. Other burials in the barrow were cremations. (1)

Details of barrow 2 on Pastscape

Platts Lane: archaeological watching brief and excavation prior to gravel extraction (1999) revealed the denuded remains of a Bronze Age round barrow. To the South West lay evidence of a round house of Iron Age date. A series of later burials cut into the barrow which held seven groups of Early Medieval Anglo-Saxon ironwork, mainly spearheads. Other material from the mound included a complete Roman pottery vessel and a glass bead and Bronze Age/Iron Age pottery. To the East a small rectilinear enclosure, a post alignment, field systems and a palaeochannel were recorded.

Details of site on Pastscape

SP 576849 Recent re-examination of a cropmark on J Pickering’s aerial photographs (NMR SP 5784/4-10) has led to the identification of what appears to be a long mortuary enclosure or a plough razed long barrow. The crop mark is lozenge-shaped, is orientated northeast/southwest and has dimensions of c. 15 x 80 metres. No certain break or entrance causeway is visible in the ditch which appears to be regular and no more than c. 2 metres wide. There is nothing visible on the ground.

Details of barrow on Pastscape

Misterton with Walcote 3: SP 5607 8389

Earthen bowl barrow 1.5 miles east of Lutterworth situated largely within a cultivated field but also partly within a domestic garden. The barrow is roughly 40m in diameter and 1m high and aerial photography shows a surrounding ditch. A prehistoric flint implement was found during fieldwalking adjacent to the site.
A second barrow lies to the south but does not survive well and is not included in the scheduling.
Scheduled (RSM) No 17086.

Details of barrow on Pastscape

Misterton with Walcote 2: SP 562 839

The Lutterworth Fieldwork Group have located a Bronze Age barrow at this NGR. It shows up well on aerial photographs taken by J Pickering but is only discernable on the ground as a shallow rise in the field surface.

Details of barrow on Pastscape

Misterton with Walcote 1: SP 560 838

The Lutterworth Fieldwork Group have discovered a Bronze Age round barrow. It lies partly in a garden and partly in a field. It stands about a metre high. A fine plano-convex knife of early Bronze Age date was recovered from close to barrow.

Details of barrows on Pastscape

Within 500 yards of the 1865 discoveries [beaker etc., see SP 68 SW 3] is an artifical mound, doubtless a barrow of the same period. it is said that another mound was levelled at the time the Rugby and Stamford Railway was made its contents dispersed. (Cf SP 68 SW 1) (1) [SP 6240 8449] A mound, between the road and railway, [pointed out on ground] is said locally to be an antiquity (a) (2) A bowl barrow, approx. 20.0m. in diameter and approx. 1.5m high. The field and mound are under a crop of young wheat and, inaccessible. The barrow occupies the summit of a knoll in an undulating area. No evidence of a second barrow was seen along the nearby railway in the area indicated centred at SP 6270 8433. (3) Located and surveyed on field document. (4) No change. The barrow has been much spread by the plough and is correct as shown on OS 25” 1961. (5)
The published barrow is now described as being destroyed by the OS Field Examiner. (6)

Details of burial on Pastscape

[Marginal] Portion of an ancient British urn of hour-glass form, found with some human bones, 3 ft. below the surface, on land at North Kilworth where gravel was being dug for railway purposes, in August 1865. The urn would probably be 7 in. high, with a diameter of 5 in., the exterior scored and lined in patterns In form, the sherd which was exhibited at the Annual Meeting of the Society in 1866, would closely resemble vessels figured in Wrights ‘The Celt, the Roman, and the Saxon’ (numbers 4 & 5, p.67) [which are examples of a beaker and an urn of B.A. type]. A similar vessel, discovered entire, in the winter of 1864-5, was destroyed by workmen employed in getting out gravel. [For barrow(s) said to be ‘of the same period’ see SP 68 SW 20.] (1)
[Area centred SP 62108413] A large, overgrown and disused, gravel-pit, between the road and the railway [indicated on ground] is known as ‘The Ballast Hole’ and the source from which the adjacent railway was constructed. (2)
Nothing of significance was seen in the area of the pit. The beaker, of ‘A’ type, reconstructed, is now displayed in Leicester Museum, Accn. No.215/1953. It was given by the British Museum, having been acquired from a London dealer in 1938(b). (3)