Details

The monument is situated approximately 600m east of Mill Hill Farm and
includes the buried remains of two barrows and a henge which have been
identified from aerial photographs.
The henge is roughly circular in plan with an overall diameter of 42m. The
interior is enclosed by a ditch, approximately 4m wide. The ditch is visible
as a cropmark on aerial photographs which show that the cut and fill will
survive as buried features below the present ploughsoil. In the northern
part of the henge, a linear feature which runs parallel with the ditch has
also been identified from aerial photographs and this may represent the buried
remains of an inner ditch. There are further intermittent traces of this
feature in the south western and south eastern parts of the site. A gap in the
ditch probably represents a causeway across the south eastern section.
To the south east of the henge are the buried remains of two bowl barrows, the
defining ditches of which are also visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs.
The barrows are aligned north west-south east. The barrow situated 5m from the
henge is sub-circular in plan with a maximum diameter of 16m, while that
located approximately 40m to the south east of the henge is 22m in diameter.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Henges are ritual or ceremonial centres which date to the Late Neolithic
period (2800-2000 BC). They were constructed as roughly circular or oval-
shaped enclosures comprising a flat area over 20m in diameter enclosed by a
ditch and external bank. One, two or four entrances provided access to the
interior of the monument, which may have contained a variety of features
including timber or stone circles, post or stone alignments, pits, burials or
central mounds. Finds from the ditches and interiors of henges provide
important evidence for the chronological development of the sites, the types
of activity that occurred within them and the nature of the environment in
which they were constructed. Henges occur throughout England with the
exception of south-eastern counties and the Welsh Marches. They are generally
situated on low ground, often close to springs and water-courses. Henges are
rare nationally with about 80 known examples. As one of the few types of
identified Neolithic structures and in view of their comparative rarity, all
henges are considered to be of national importance.

Henges are a particularly rare category of site in the central Midlands, where
only a handful have been identified. All of them have now been reduced to crop
mark sites visible on aerial photographs.
The site of the henge to the east of Mill Hill Farm survives as a
well-defined cropmark. The archaeological deposits which form the fill of the
buried ditches will survive intact and will provide information about the
function of the monument and, more generally, evidence of the society which
built and used it. The site gains additional interest from its close
relationship with at least two barrows, now also surviving as cropmarks; which
may provide evidence for the continuing use of the site in the Bronze Age and
later.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Bowl barrow (1025/1/0), (1992)
Henge (1025/1/0), (1992)

Source: Historic England