Ancient Monuments

History on the Ground

This site is entirely user-supported. See how you can help.

Long barrow 580m south-west of Woodcott Church

A Scheduled Monument in Litchfield and Woodcott, Hampshire

We don't have any photos of this monument yet. Why don't you be the first to send us one?

Upload Photo »

Approximate Location Map
Large Map »

If Google Street View is available, the image is from the best available vantage point looking, if possible, towards the location of the monument. Where it is not available, the satellite view is shown instead.

Coordinates

Latitude: 51.2879 / 51°17'16"N

Longitude: -1.3871 / 1°23'13"W

OS Eastings: 442840.20488

OS Northings: 154488.24395

OS Grid: SU428544

Mapcode National: GBR 837.45G

Mapcode Global: VHC2F.XW2K

Entry Name: Long barrow 580m south-west of Woodcott Church

Scheduled Date: 9 October 1981

Last Amended: 18 January 1991

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1012922

English Heritage Legacy ID: 12084

County: Hampshire

Civil Parish: Litchfield and Woodcott

Traditional County: Hampshire

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Hampshire

Church of England Parish: Woodcott St James

Church of England Diocese: Winchester

Details

The monument includes a long barrow 580m SW of Woodcott Church and situated
just off the crest of a west-facing slope. The mound survives as an earthwork
orientated NE-SW and of rectangular plan. The barrow mound is 70m long and
20m wide and survives to a height of 1.5m. Flanking ditches, from which mound
material was quarried, are situated to either side of the mound. These
survive to a width of 12.5m, the southern ditch preserved as an earthwork
where it is bounded by a steep lynchet running parallel with the mound, and
the northern ditch as a buried feature, having been infilled over the years.

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 significant concentrations of monuments of this type in the
country. The Woodcott Church barrow is particularly important as it survives
well and, with no evidence of formal excavation, has considerable
archaeological potential.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Smith, I F , Long Barrows in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, (1979)

Source: Historic England

Other nearby scheduled monuments

AncientMonuments.uk is an independent online resource and is not associated with any government department. All government data published here is used under licence. Please do not contact AncientMonuments.uk for any queries related to any individual ancient or schedued monument, planning permission related to scheduled monuments or the scheduling process itself.

AncientMonuments.uk is a Good Stuff website.