Ancient Monuments

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Long Barrow 800m north-west of Paradise

A Scheduled Monument in Bishopstone, Wiltshire

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Coordinates

Latitude: 50.9963 / 50°59'46"N

Longitude: -1.8889 / 1°53'20"W

OS Eastings: 407891.2675

OS Northings: 121886.8611

OS Grid: SU078218

Mapcode National: GBR 40R.H83

Mapcode Global: FRA 66XG.ZYM

Entry Name: Long Barrow 800m north-west of Paradise

Scheduled Date: 11 October 1990

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1012512

English Heritage Legacy ID: 12103

County: Wiltshire

Civil Parish: Bishopstone

Traditional County: Wiltshire

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Wiltshire

Church of England Parish: Martin All Saints

Church of England Diocese: Salisbury

Details

The monument includes a long barrow surviving as a low earthwork in an arable
field and situated on an exposed hilltop. The barrow mound is orientated ENE-
WSW and tapers in plan with the broader end facing east. It has been partly
disturbed by the construction of a reservoir at its centre. The mound has
maximum dimensions of 56m long by 20m wide at the east end and 8.5m wide at
the west end. It stands to a maximum height of 0.5m. Flanking quarry ditches
run parallel to the mound on the north and south sides. These show as areas
of dark earth and survive to a width of between 5 and 7.5m.
The area of the reservoir and pipeline, both above and below ground, is
excluded from the monument.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Long barrows were constructed as earthen or drystone mounds with flanking
ditches and acted as funerary monuments during the Early and Middle Neolithic
periods (3400-2400 BC). They represent the burial places of Britain's early
farming communities and, as such, are amongst the oldest field monuments
surviving visibly in the present landscape. Where investigated, long barrows
appear to have been used for communal burial, often with only parts of the
human remains having been selected for interment. Certain sites provide
evidence for several phases of funerary monument preceding the barrow and,
consequently, it is probable that long barrows acted as important ritual sites
for local communities over a considerable period of time. Some 500 long
barrows are recorded in England. As one of the few types of Neolithic
structure to survive as earthworks, and due to their comparative rarity, their
considerable age and their longevity as a monument type, all long barrows are
considered to be nationally important.

The 180 long barrows of Hampshire, Wiltshire and Dorset form the densest and
one of the most important concentrations of monuments of this type in the
country. This example is regarded as important as, despite some damage, it
survives comparatively well and, with no evidence of formal excavation, the
site has considerable archaeological potential.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Smith, I F , Long Barrows in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, (1979)
Other
Schofield, A J, (1989)

Source: Historic England

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