Chance

Brightwell Heath, barrow cemetery (TM 242444) 4.75 miles E. of Ipswich. 1 mile NW of Brightwell (A 1093).
This cemetery is unevenly scattered along the N side of a narrow E/W plantation. Originally there were at least 8 mounds. The survivors are beside and SW of the Devil’s Ring (map ref. above).
This has a diam. of 120 ft. and consists of a low central mound surrounded by a ditch with an outer bank an enlarged
saucer-barrow. The bank is still 3 to 4 ft. high.
NW there are 2 bowl-barrows, the larger 110 ft. in diam. and 7 ft. high. the other 60 ft. in diam. and 6 ft. high.
To the SW there were 3 bowl-barrows, destroyed after excavation.
Further SW, at the W end of the plantation, there is a bowl-barrow 70 ft. in diam. and 6 ft. high.
Unfortunately, since this account was written in 1960, all except one of these barrows have been destroyed by ploughing. The survivor, crowned with fir trees, is beside the road across Foxhall Heath. It is still 3 ft. high.
Nothing is known of the contents of these mounds. Date. c. 1700-1400 BC.

Guide to prehistoric England – Nicholas Thomas 1976

The largest round barrow on Salisbury Plain. This Bell Barrow was opened by Hoare on more than one occasion but all he reported finding was charcoal and no interment. The Barrow has a sloping raised berm.

No.40, in point of size, may be called the monarch of the plain, being evidently the largest barrow upon it; and its history still remains veiled in obscurity. The first time we opened it by a very large section, and examined well the floor ; but though we perceived symptoms of cremation, in charred wood &c. we could not discover the primary interment. Nor were our subsequent researches more favourable, and we still remain in ignorance. Perhaps some future antiquary may be more fortunate; and such is the caprice of ancient sepulchre, that the deposit may be found near the top, as in the instance of our flint barrow at Kingston Deverill, (p.47).

The Ancient History of Wiltshire Vol 1, Hoare, Sir R.C. 1812 – Page 164

A Bronze Age bowl barrow, listed by Grinsell as Wilsford 43, and part of the Lake Group of barrows recorded as SU 14 SW 51.

The barrow allegedly acquired its name in the early 18th century after French “prophets” set up their standard on it and preached to local people (circa 1710).

Excavated in the early 19th century by Colt Hoare, who found a primary cremation in what he described as a wooden box in a large cist. Accompanying the cremation were a bronze dagger and a perforated whetstone-pendant.

The barrow is extant as a mutilated mound 1.5 metres high.

Marks seen from the air near Dorchester, Oxon

For some years past observation has been made and photographs taken from the air of the marks which appear in the crops near Dorchester and it is now possible to give a fairly complete survey of them.
These marks, the appearance of which is dependent on the suitability of the crop and weather conditions. appear generally as lines, rings or dots of a darker green in the crops and are due to ancient disturbance of the subsoil. If at some time a ditch or pit penetrating the subsoil has been dug in a field and later has been levelled, the filling will be of a different nature to the soil it replaces and have a beneficial effect on that part of the crop which grows directly over it. By means of these marks the position of buried works can he located. Attention was first drawn to crop marks near Dorchester by the discovery by two officers of the Royal Air Force of the great rings to the north of the village. At the same time marks were seen on and near the Minchin Recreation Ground and on Bishop’s Court Farm.
Since 1933 I have watched this area in all seasons of the year and have taken many photographs of it from the air. From year to year as crop conditions changed more marks have been visible in the same field as the great rings. Several small circles lie at the northern end of this field, three of them with interrupted ditches, apparently similar to those discovered in then Neolithic settlement at Abingdon. Near the Dorchester-Abingdon Road there is a small square enclosure which apparently contained a round barrow, and there is a slight mound on the ground at this spot. A similar square enclosure on Limlow Hill, Litlington. Cambs., contained a round barrow. Other circles, apparently showing the ditches of levelled round harrows lie near the great rings, one inside their annulus, and two small square enclosures lie a little farther to the south. The great rings themselves are not truly circular and each has two entrances, one towards the north and one towards the south. The purpose of the nearly straight parallel lines which pass to the east of the great rings is as yet unexplained. Several other similar pairs of lines, some forming square ended enclosures, have been found within a few miles of Dorchester.
These lines are continuous so far as it has been possible to trace them, with the exception of a small break towards the northern end of the field and a wider break farther south. This latter gap is partly filled by a double circle.
The rectangular enclosure at Benson has a similar break, and the same type of enclosure at Sutton Courtenay has one of the lines crossing a circle, but no break appears in the lines.
In the other examples these enclosures have been seen to have square ends to the parallel lines, but at Dorchester it has not been possible to trace their extremities. Their extension to the North West is covered by a grass field and as grass does not readily produce crop-marks no signs of them can be seen in that direction. In a south-easterly direction they extend into a field near Queensford mill and appear to end there, but a rather mixed collection of other lines occurs and confuses the issue. It may be found possible to trace them further in this direction. If they did so extend they would lead to a point on the Thame from which another pair of parallel lines leads towards a large enclosure near Warborough. The junction of this second pair with the enclosure was obscured by ploughing when this photograph was taken, and only a portion of one side of the enclosure appears in the lower right hand corner of the photograph.
The lines are truly straight and parallel but more closely spaced than those associated with the great rings. Although they lead direct to the enclosure and have been traced no farther, there is no break in the enclosure at the point of contact. There is, however, an entrance to the enclosure towards its south-east corner.
The double circle within the enclosure is apparently the site of a round barrow which has been almost entirely levelled. Its outer ring is approximately 100 ft. in diameter and l0 ft. wide. Westwards of this can be seen a triple circle with a wide outer ring within which there is a broken ring of dots, then a smaller continuous circle and centrally a dot. This does not seem to show the site of any of the common types of round barrow and, whilst it may be rash to anticipate the results to be obtained from excavation, one may make the suggestion that these marks may show the site of a timber circle.
Leading from it towards the Thame is a right-angled line, probably evidence of a ditch which drained the outer circular ditch. Close by there is an elongated D-shaped enclosure which has a marked resemblance to another found in Allen’s gravel-pit to the north of Dorchester, in the ditches of which were found quantities of Iron Age pottery.
The circle to the south of the `timber circle’ is probably that of a round barrow and the disturbed area in which it lies may show the activities of gravel-diggers in fairly recent times. Other cases have been noted at Radley and Langford near Lechlade, where the digging of gravel has ceased when the ditch of a barrow has been encountered. The diggers finding the increased depth of topsoil and being unaware that this extra depth of overburden is only of narrow extent, cease digging in that direction and thus the remains of barrows are saved from destruction. Another small square, similar to those near the great rings, lies near the parallel lines. The area between the Dyke Hills and the Thames is a mass of marks. There are several bold enclosures with fairly straight sides, other less well-defined straight-sided enclosures, many circles both continuous and with gaps, and a multitude of dots. These marks seem to be characteristic of an lron Age settlement of considerable extent and density of population, but from the way in which the marks are intermixed they would seem to indicate works extending over a considerable period of time. Apart from two small circles near the Thame and a single squarish enclosure to the south-west of Dorchester one other site remains, the large rectangular enclosure, with a small rectangle within it, which lies close to a bend of the Thame. This would seem to be of later date than the other marks since a stone coffin was found thereabouts.
Thus far can air-photography carry us; further photographs in future years may help to clear up, or increase, the problems already presented, but the ultimate solution rests with those on the ground. There can be few areas which present such a wealth of early remains of a variety to suit the tastes of archaeologists no matter what period they may favour.

G. W. G. Allen. – Oxoniensia – 1938

Details of site on Pastscape

A Neolithic cursus at Dorchester on Thames, largely known as cropmarks and partly excavated in 1947-52 and 1981. The cursus ditches were first recorded as cropmarks in 1927 (Crawford 1927) and again in the 1930s before being tentatively included in the first discussions of “cursus” monuments in the late 1930s and 1940s. Much of its course has been destroyed by gravel quarrying and the construction of the Dorchester bypass. Excavations between 1947 and 1952 focused on the northern part of the cursus and in particular on the monuments beside and within it (see Atkinson et al 1951; Whittle et al 1992), while work in 1981 in advance of the Dorchester bypass included some work at the southeastern end (see Whittle et al 1981). The significance of the cursus and the broad sequence of monument construction and use have been discussed on numerous occasions, most notably by Bradley and Chambers (1988), Whitle et al (1992) and Loveday (1999) while the dating of the cursus itself is considered by Barclay and Bayliss (1999). Whittle et al described the complex as displaying “arguably the greatest diversity of monuments and the longest sequence of development of all the Upper Thames complexes. More widely it can be compared with concentrations of monuments in Wessex”. Note that Atkinson numbered the monuments examined in 1947-1952 with Roman numerals (the cursus is Site III) while those excavated in 1981 were asigned numbers 1 to 4. The only potential confusion arises in dealing with site I and site 1. The cursus comprised two broadly parallel ditches circa 60 metres apart, running for at least 1600 metres in a more-or-less northwest-southeast direction. The cursus and its associated complex of monuments (see associated records) run across the neck of a strip of land defined by a bend in the River Thames and a tributary, the Thame. No northwest terminal has been identified, although Atkinson has noted some indistinct cropmarks (in Whittle et al 1992, p159) which might at least account for the alignment of the cursus. At the southeast end, there appears to have been no formal terminal. Instead, the cursus incorporated an earlier D-Shaped enclosure (“Site 1” – SU 59 SE 163) although Loveday (1999) has argued that this enclosure did not actually exist. The cursus at this end appears to taper slightly. It is presumed that the southern ditch abuts the enclosure ditch, while the northern cursus ditch appears to run parallel with and to the north of the enclosure ditch. Although cropmarks continue to the southeast on both sides of the Thame, there is nothing that could be regarded as a continuation of the cursus. Whittle et al did note the presence of a concentration of flint surviving as a surface scatter in the area between the southeastern end of the cursus and the Thame. Several interruptions of varying lengths are visible along both ditches of the cursus. The cursus also changes direction slightly along its course. The north ditch changes alignment once and the south ditch twice, although these changes in direction do not coincide. Bradley and Chambers (1988) suggested that the monuments preceding the cursus where aligned on the minor moonrise around the time of midsummer sunset, while the northwestern segment of the cursus represented a shift in alignment towards midsummer sunset itself, and suggested that this might be representative of a general shift in beliefs focused on the moon to a greater concern with the sun. The problems with this interpretation are the fact that they noted only one change in alignment of the cursus overall, while it is also clear that half of the cursus actually retained the alignment of the earlier monuments. In addition to Site 1, the cursus is also pre-dated by the long enclosure known as SIte VIII (SU 59 NE 4). Bradley and Chambers suggested that some other monuments may also pre-date it, though Whittle et al suggest otherwise on the basis of dating evidence. The southern cursus actually cuts across the “Site VIII” enclosure, the cursus ditch passing through the enclosure’s southeast entrance causeway (at which point the cursus ditch is also interrupted by a causeway). The best dating evidence for the cursus comes from this area. A polished flint axe came from the primary fill, a lozenge shaped flint arrowhead came from the bottom of the secondary silting, and sherds of both Ebbsfleet Ware and Beaker were reported from the upper fills. An antler from the primary fill has been dated to 3380-2920 BC (calibrated), though whether this genuinely dates the cursus construction is open to debate. However, dating evidence recovered from earlier and later monuments in the complex supports a broad 2nd half of the 4th millennium BC date, in line with cursus monuments generally. Excavations of the cursus ditch have generally been narrow cuttings or small stretches of ditch, although a reasonable length within Site VIII was examined. Surviving section drawings show the southern cursus ditch to have been cut up to 2.4m wide and 1.2m deep into the gravel. The surviving sections show a symmetrical silting pattern, although Atkinson refered to evidence for the presence of an internal bank. The ditches appear to have silted up naturally. Whittle et al suggested that certain aspects of the cursus layout – for example the open ends, the changes in alignment, the gaps along the ditches – hinted at episodic construction, perhaps in several stages. Atkinson noted an artifical interruption in the southern ditch caused by deliberate backfilling of the ditch. While this might support the idea of episodic activity, the location of this artificial causeway is not located. In contrast, Loveday argues that the cursus should be regarded “as the product of a single act” (5b, 8-12)

The Cursus West ditch passes through the probable Long Barrow at “Site VIII” (SU 571955) and is secondary to it. A quantity of Ebbsfleet or Peterborough pottery was found in the middle filling of the Cursus ditch at this point. (1)
The East ditch of the Cursus was later than the enclosure and earlier than the “droveway” at “SiteIX” (SU 570958), which yielded Abingdon Neo. pottery. (2)
Two causeways across W. ditch, one natural and one artificial, found near “Sites V & VI” but no dating material, during 1947. (3)
The Cursus, as shewn on A.P.s. extends from SU 5690 9585 to SU 5781 9509 with a possible extension to SU 5815 9481. (4)
Information as in T.I. A polished flint axe and a a leaf-shaped arrowhead were found in the primary silting of the ditch, and pottery of Ebbsfleet type in the upper silting. (5)
Excavations in advance of the Dorchester by pass examined the south-eastern terminal. A flint arrowhead was the only datable artefact found. A central entrance was found at the terminus. (6)

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SOURCE TEXT
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(1) Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society Oxoniensia [RJC Atkinson. Archaeological Notes] 13, 1948 Page(s)66
(2) Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society Oxoniensia [RJC Atkinson. Archaeological Notes] 13, 1948 Page(s)67
(3) Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society Oxoniensia [Archaeological Notes] 11-12, 1947 Page(s)164
(4) Field Investigators Comments F1 DT 01-AUG-51
(4a) Aerial photograph – O.G.S.Crawford’s Air Photos.
(5) Field Investigators Comments F2 FAH 18-SEP-52
(5b) by R J C Atkinson, C M Piggott and N K Sandars 1951 Excavations at Dorchester, Oxon: first report. Sites I, II, IV, V and VI, with a chapter on henge monuments Page(s)60-3
(6) edited by Andrew Pike 1992 South Midlands Archaeology [Newsletter of the CBA South Midlands Group 9] Council for British Archaeology Group 9: South Midlands archaeology newsletterno 1 (1971) – 12, 1982 Page(s)144-5
(7) RCHME/EH Aerial Photographers Comment Fiona Small/12-MAY-1994/RCHME: Thames Valley NMP
(8) Oxford journal of archaeology Bradley R, Chambers R. A New Study of the Cursus Complex at Dorchester on Thammes. 7, 1988 Page(s)271-89
(9) Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society – Whittle A et al. Excavations in the Neolithic and Bronze Age Complex at Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, 1947-1952 and 1981. 58, 1992 Page(s)143-201
(10) A Barclay, J Harding (eds) 1999 Pathways and Ceremonies: the cursus monuments of Britain and Ireland Barclay A, Bayliss A. Cursus monuments and the radiocarbon problem. Page(s)11-30
(11) A Barclay, J Harding (eds) 1999 Pathways and Ceremonies: the cursus monuments of Britain and Ireland Loveday, R. Dorchester-on-Thames – ritual complex or ritual landscape? Page(s)49-63
(12) Antiquity Publications Limited Antiquity – Crawford, OGS. Air-Photographs near Dorchester, Oxon 1, 1927 Page(s)469-474

Col. A. L. Fox — On the Threatened Destruction of the British Earthworks near Dorchester, Oxfordshire.
Special Meeting, June 21st, 1870.
[Held in the Theatre of the Royal United Service Institution, Whitehall Yard, by the permission of the Council of the Institution.] Professor Huxley, LL.D., F.R.S., President, in the Chair.
The following paper was read by the author;—
XXXVII. On the threatened destruction of the British Earthworks near Dorchester, Oxfordshire. By Col. A. Lane Fox, Hon. Sec. Ethn. Soc.

Although the subject is not in any way connected with the paper that is to be read this evening (Mr. Forbes’s paper on the Aymaras), yet, knowing the interest which is taken by this Society in the preservation of our prehistoric antiquities, I venture to think that a few words in reference to the Dykes at Dorchester in Oxfordshire may not be without interest to the Meeting, owing to the report which has appeared in the papers since our last meeting, relative to the threatened destruction of these works by the owner of the property on which they stand. The ancient fortifications of this place consist of two distinct works—one on the south and the other on the north bank of the Thames. The former (on the south side) occupies the more eastern of two conspicuous hills, each of which is topped by a clump of trees, known as the Wittenham Clumps. This work is about a quarter of a mile to the south of the river-bank, and three miles to the north-east of Didcot Station on the Great Western Railway. The entrenchment, like that of most British camps, follows the outline of the hill, running round it in the most suitable position for defence. It commands an extensive view of the country for miles round; but the interior of the camp is itself commanded within 150 yards by the adjoining hill to the north-west. It is of an irregular oval form, about 400 paces across from S.E. to N.W. The defences consist of a ditch, about five paces wide at the outer in consequence of the natural slope of the hill. The inner rampart, if it ever existed, has been destroyed by cultivation; but it is not improbable, from the great command which the inner side of the ditch has over the opposite side, that the defence may originally have been confined to an escarpment surmounted by a stockade or some other defensive obstacle on that side. This mode of defence appears not infrequently to have been adopted by the ancient Britons in cases where the ground itself afforded the necessary command of the exterior. There is an entrance on the north-west salient angle which is swept by a knoll on the inner side of the ditch. Another entrance on the north-west leads in the direction of the ancient ford on the Isis. All these are characteristics of a British earthwork. The interior of the camp is terraced on the north side; but these terraces are evidently the result of cultivation in modern times. I found no sufficient evidence of the fabrication of flints in this work; but I picked up in the interior a fragment of a polished celt and a sea-shore quartzite pebble rubbed to an edge at one end. Pebbles similarly rubbed at one end are not uncommon amongst the relics of the prehistoric age. I exhibit a precisely similar implement which I found amongst the debris of a barrow on the Yorkshire Wolds.
Passing over the Thames, to the north side, we come to the Dykes, the threatened destruction of which is reported in the newspapers. They consist of a nearly straight line of entrenchments, about 900 yards in length, and composed of double banks and ditches, which cuts off a promontory formed by the bend of the river, and encloses an area of about three-quarters of a mile in length by a quarter of a mile in breadth. The principal ditch, about 57 feet in width, is situated between the two banks. There is a smaller ditch on the outer or north side. The outer or northern bank appears to have been the highest, which is probably to he accounted for by its being placed between the two ditches, and having received the materials excavated from both. This was well shown in the section of a fresh cutting made through the bank, in which the lines of the successive deposits could be traced. This section also showed that the banks are covered with a thickness of from 8 to 12 inches of vegetable soil, entirely devoid of stones or pebbles of any kind, and which must, in all probability, have accumulated from the decay of the grass on the banks. The length of time necessary for the formation of so great a thickness of vegetable soil must have been considerable. There are at present three openings through the dykes. About 200 yards of the right flank of the dyke is thrown back in the direction of the junction of the Thame stream with the Isis. From this point the river assumes the name of the Thames River. On carefully searching the ground which had been excavated from the banks on the left flank, and the cultivated ground in the interior of the camp, I found abundant evidence of the fabrication of flint implements [a number of cores, flakes, and chips from this spot were exhibited to the Society}; but I did not succeed in finding any flint tool, with the exception of one fragment of a well-chipped spear-head. I also found on the dykes several pieces of pottery of undoubtedly British production, and a fragment of wheel-made pottery of later date.
In the year 1836 an oval bronze shield, 14 by 13 inches in diameter, was discovered in the bed of the Isis, about 150 yards to the rear of the left flank of the dyke, beneath an accumulation of recent drift. {A drawing of this shield was exhibited, of the actual size.]The original is in the British Museum, and is described in vol. xxxviii. of the ^Archseologia’.
Mr. Clutterbuck, the rector of Long Wittenham, and the writer of an article on this place in the ‘Archoeologia’ is of opinion, from the position of this discovery, that the river still runs in its original course, and no doubt this is the case to a considerable extent; but there is, I think, evidence that the river has slightly altered its course since the dykes were erected. From the curve which the river makes at this point it might naturally be expected that it would leave the dykes on the north, and work its way southward; but it was no doubt checked by the higher ground on the south. The sketch plan exhibited to the Meeting shows, however, that the flanks of the dyke do not reach the present bank of the river, and that a space of thirty paces intervenes on the left flank, while on the right the dyke stops seventy paces short of the Thame stream. It is improbable that the defenders should have neglected to secure their flanks by causing them to abut upon the banks of the river as they existed at the time of its construction. The position of the portion of the dyke which is thrown back on the right flank also shows the Thame stream must have extended more to the westward, probably up to the line now marked by a small ditch. From the nearest point of this original line the dyke is drawn straight across to the Isis; but the meadow-ground below Dorchester, on the right bank of the Thame stream, must have been covered with water, though probably shallow and fordable; and it was in order to command this ground that an epaulement was thrown back on the right flank; but the abrupt termination of the work at seventy paces distance from the present stream shows that deep water must have existed to the westward of the present stream.
I found no trace of Roman tiles or pottery, nor can I learn that any thing Roman has been discovered on the site of the camp, though no doubt Dorchester itself was at one time a Roman station. This circumstance, coupled with the discovery of a bronze shield and the evidence of flint cores and debris (all of which must have been imported, as this is not a flint-producing district), appears to me conclusive in determining the fortifications to be of British construction. Viewing the position of the two works, and the position of the ancient ford between them, it may safely be assumed that they were connected in the defence of this locality, and were the work of the same people.
The ancient Britons never constructed their camps upon low ground. Sinodun Hill was no doubt the principal stronghold; and the Dorchester dykes on the low ground to the north of the river were thrown up to cover the passage of the river at the ford, and secure a communication with the left bank. About 200 yards of the left flank of the Dorchester dykes have now been levelled, or rather reduced for cultivation; a portion of this, however, was done by the former owner. I called upon Mr. Latham, the present owner, by whom the work of demolition is now being continued. After some conversation I elicited from him a promise that the levelling should be discontinued for the present; but I could obtain no assurance that it would not be continued at some future time. This is much to be regretted, as the ramparts are now in a good state of preservation. Traces of the work, however, will still be seen in those parts which have been lowered for cultivation.

The Journal of the Ethnological Society 1870, Page 412 to 415

A mound composed of earth and flints, covered by old trees, cut along the spine of Granham Hill, by an old parish boundary. No side ditches are evident, therefore it is only possibly a long barrow. The mound has is registered Nar Card 043 and information taken from A Private 6” Map, Marked up By Owen Meyrick of the Ordnance Survey. The site also gets a listing on the Wiltshire SMR No. SU16NE648.

G. vii. a.
This square mile contains a stone circle, of considerable dimensions, though imperfect and formed of very small sarsens, but which I believe to have been in some way connected with Abury. Though it appears to have been mentioned by Stukeley one hundred and forty years ago, it had been long since buried, and completely forgotten till I was fortunate enough to discover it by digging in the year 1877.
I was led to the discovery by the suspicious look of certain stones, which, though scattered in no regular form, appeared as if they might have once stood erect, in some sort of order, on the segment of a large circle. I had often stopped to examine them as I wandered over that part of the downs; till at last previous suspicions ripened into conviction, as closer observation revealed sundry other stones just showing above ground, and there also seemed to be faint indications of a trench, all pointing, with more or less accuracy, to the supposed circle.
Not to dwell upon the details of the investigation, which, however, were of singular interest to me, the result was that (with the permission of both owner and occupier of the land, and assisted by Mr. William Long) I probed the ground in every direction, and uncovered the turf wherever a stone was found : and on our first day’s work we unearthed no less than twenty-two sarsen stones, all forming part of the circle, and lying from two to twelve inches below the surface. These stones were all of small size, some of them very small,1 but that they were placed by the hand of man in the positions they now occupy, in many cases nearly touching one another, and that they formed part of a large circle or oblong, admits, I think, of no doubt. I say part of a circle, because, though the northern, southern, and eastern segments are tolerably well defined, I could find scarcely a single stone on what should be the western segment to complete the circle. That the area thus enclosed is not insignificant will appear from the diameter (in length, or from north to south, 261 feet; and in breadth, or from east to west, 216 feet). Again, its position (due south of Silbury, and within full view of it, as well as of the Sanctuary on Overton Hill, and with Abury immediately behind Silbury, due north of it, from which also Silbury is equidistant) seems to intimate that it may have had some connection with the great temple.
W. Stukeley mentions, in the following passage from page 46 of Abury Described, “Upon the heath south of Silbury Hill was a very large oblong work like a long barrow, made only of stones pitch’d in the ground; no tumulus. Mr. Smith before-mentioned told me his cousin took the stones away [then] fourteen years ago, to make mere stones withal. I take it to have been an Archdruid’s, tho’ humble, yet magnificent: being 350 feet or 200 cubits long.”
Sir R. Hoare, who, it is evident, did not know its exact locality, merely remarks on page 96 of Ancient Wilts, North, that ” Stukeley mentions on a heath south of Silbury Hill, a large oblong work made only of stones pitched on end, but no sepulchral mound.”
Subsequently, however, in speaking of ” Religious Circles,” he says on page 108: “In many parts of our county we find circles enclosed by a slight vallum of earth, some having an entrance, and others none: they are usually placed on elevated ground, and in commanding situations. On exploring their area, we dig up black earth with the fragments of bones, probably the victims of sacrifice: they are generally found to be placed near to some British settlement, and in some instances I have found them within it, and forming a part thereof, as in modern days the Church is considered as a feature of the village, and a necessary appendage. Such is the case within the lines of the British works on Huish Hill, in North Wilts.”
So says Sir R. Hoare, though I must confess that I cannot ascertain the existence of any similar circle of diminutive stones either on Huish Hill, or anywhere else in North Wilts: though in Denmark such circles are not uncommon, and often of very trifling dimensions, with a diameter of 20 to 25 or 30 feet, and oftentimes diverging into other (frequently strange and irregular) shapes, and composed of small stones. There is an admirable exemplification of such diminutive stone circles, oblongs, triangles, and other forms, in the Plan of the Promontory of Hjorte-hammers. But what may have been the intention of these Danish circles and squares and triangles, abundant though they are on the coast of Jutland, I do not think the Danish antiquaries have ever determined.
Nor were the members of the Wiltshire Archaeological Society, with Sir John Lubbock at their head, who visited this stone circle south of Silbury in 1879, able to form any opinion as to its object; nor could the able antiquaries of the British Archaeological Association, who visited it in 1880, give any decided verdict on the point: indeed they, not unnaturally, shrank from committing themselves by any off-hand expression of opinion: though all appeared to consider it as of great interest, and as worthy of very careful examination, more especially in its supposed connection with Abury and other allied relics of antiquity near.

From “Guide to the British and Roman Antiquities of the North Wiltshire Downs” by Revd. A. C. Smith, M.A. – 1884, Page 177 to 178 SECTION XII. G.H.I, YII., YIII.

The site of possible Neolithic long barrow, shown on a Crawford aerial photograph and the Ordnance Survey Map of 1843.

Barrow is now reduced to a soilmark.

It is orientated NNW-SSE, with a break on the south side of the ditch.

A Neolithic Long Barrow is visible as a parchmark on an aerial photograph.

This may be the long barrow seen by O G S Crawford and recorded by Grinsell as being on the E side of Lockeridge?

A Neolithic long barrow was discovered in 1995 by the Royal Commission on the Historical Honuments for England.

Sources
D/SU15371/23 English Heritage
Wiltshire SMR No. SU16NW133

Site of a chambered Neolithic long barrow, which was opened by Lukis and Smith in 1861.

The remains of a skeleton with a stone muller, sherds, bone implements, and burnt human bones were found.

A now destroyed Neolithic Long Barrow which was drawn by William Stukeley on his visit to the Avebury area in 1723.

The Long Barrow was aligned NW-SE and situated at NW side of a large enclosure.

The site was also visited by Sir R.C. Hoare.

Dolaucothi Gold Mines

Although know for it’s advanced Roman mining methods, this site, and it’s surrounding water courses were almost certainly exploited during the Bronze Age. Any evidence for Bronze Age open cast mining or tunnelling would have been obliterated by the later Roman workings.

The Dolaucothi Gold Mines (grid reference SN662403), also known as the Ogofau Gold Mine, are Roman surface and deep mines located in the valley of the River Cothi, near Pumsaint, Carmarthenshire, Wales. The gold mines are located within the Dolaucothi Estate which is now owned by the National Trust.

They are the only mines for Welsh gold outside those of the Dolgellau gold-belt, and are a Scheduled Ancient Monument. They are also the only known Roman gold mines in Britain, although it does not exclude the likelihood that they exploited other known sources in Devon, North Wales and Scotland for example. The site is important for showing advanced Roman technology.

Roman mining methods
Archaeology suggests that gold extraction on this site may have started sometime in the Bronze Age, possibly by washing of the gold-bearing gravels of the river Cothi, the most elementary type of gold prospecting.

Sextus Julius Frontinus was sent into Roman Britain in 74 AD to succeed Quintus Petillius Cerialis as governor of that island. He subdued the Silures, Demetae and other hostile tribes of Roman Wales, establishing a new base at Caerleon for Legio II Augusta and a network of smaller Roman forts fifteen to twenty kilometres apart for his Roman auxiliary units. During his tenure, he probably established the fort at Pumsaint in west Wales, largely to exploit the gold deposits at Dolaucothi. Frontinus later restored the Aqueducts of Rome.

That gold occurred here is shown by the discovery of a hoard of gold ornaments in the 18th century. Objects found included a wheel brooch and snake bracelets, so named because they were soft enough to be coiled around the arm for display. All the objects are now held in the British Museum, and displayed in the Romano-British gallery. A sample of gold ore was found at the site by Henry de la Beche in 1844, confirming the presence of gold.

Evidence from the fortification (known as Luentinum from details given by Ptolemy) and its associated settlement show that the Roman army occupied the fort during the 1st and 2nd centuries AD (from circa AD 78 until around AD 125). However, coarse ware and Samian ware pottery recovered from a reservoir (Melin-y-Milwyr) within the mine complex show that activity at the mines continued until the late 3rd century at least. Since Ptolemy’s map dates to about 150 AD, it is likely that it continued being worked until the end of the 3rd century if not beyond. The Romans made extensive use of water carried by several aqueducts and leats, the longest of which is about 7 miles from its source in a gorge of the river, to prospect for the gold veins hidden beneath the soil on the hillsides above the modern village of Pumsaint. Small streams on Mynydd Mallaen, the Annell and Gwenlais, were used initially to provide water for prospecting, and there are several large tanks for holding the water still visible above an isolated opencast pit carved in the side of the hill north of the main site. The larger aqueduct from the Cothi crosses this opencast, proving the opencast to be earlier.

Following the Roman departure from Britain in the 5th century, the mine lay abandoned for centuries. There was a revival in the 19th century and attempts to make successful ventures at the site in the early 20th century, but they were abandoned before the First World War. In the 1930s a shaft was sunk to 430 feet in an attempt to locate new seams. Falling into disrepair and unsafe due to flooding at its lower levels, the mine finally closed in 1938. It was during this period that ancient underground workings were found, and the fragment of the dewatering mill discovered within. The extensive surface remains, especially the traces of hydraulic mining, were to be discovered only in the 1970s by intensive fieldwork and surveying.

Between 1975 and 2000 the lease to the underground workings at Dolaucothi was held by Cardiff University. Students from the School of Engineering were largely responsible for the renovation of the underground workings that were made safe for tourists. The mine was extensively used as a training mine for Mining Engineering and Exploration Geology students under the supervision of Drs. Alun Issac, Alwyn Annels and Peter Brabham. Students from the School of Earth Sciences carried out an active gold exploration programme using surface and underground diamond drilling techniques, geochemical soil sampling and geophysics.Geological exploration was carried out by students using both surface and underground drilling methods. The ore processing waste tailings dam was also sampled, mapped geophysically and assessed for its Gold potential. The mine was extensively mapped and a library of Dolaucothi data is still held at the School of Earth & Ocean Sciences at Cardiff University. Cardiff University finally gave up the lease to the underground workings in 2000 due to the closure of its BSc Mining Engineering degree course. Photographs of surface and underground activities from the Cardiff University archives can be found from the links below.

Although there is yet no comparable site in Britain, it is likely that field work will locate other mines, simply by tracing the remains of aqueducts and reservoirs, and often, if not usually, aided by aerial photography. Physical remains like tanks and aqueducts are often recognised by the shadows cast by the structures in oblique lighting conditions. Thus Tank A was first seen in early morning light when the sun’s rays cast an oblique light across the hill (Allt Cwmhenog) on which the structure is situated.

National Trust
The United Kingdom’s National Trust has owned and run the Dolaucothi gold mine and Dolaucothi Estate since 1941 when it was bequeathed by descendants of the Johnes family who had owned the mine and large surrounding estate since the late 16th century. Manchester and Cardiff Universities were active in exploring the extensive remains in the 1960s and 70s and Lampeter University is now closely involved with the archaeology of the site.

The National Trust organises guided tours for visitors, showing them the mine and the Roman archaeology.

Source Wikipedia – en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolaucothi_Gold_Mines