Details

The monument includes a Neolithic long barrow and a standing stone. The
monument is situated c.300m south west of a hillfort known as the Roundabout,
which is the subject of a separate scheduling. The barrow and stone are
aligned south west-north east along a ridge which gives them a dominant
position within the local landscape, overlooking valleys to the north west and
south east. The long barrow mound measures 32m in length and stands up to
1.75m high at its 19m wide north east end. At its tail or south west end it
tapers away to ground level and measures just 4m wide.
In 1894 a part excavation located two chambers on the south east side of the
mound and at least one of these contained bone fragments, pottery and
charcoal. Also found were two Anglo-Saxon burials which had been cut into the
top of the existing mound. Unusually, there was no evidence of flanking quarry
ditches which are commonly found either side of long barrow mounds.
Immediately north east, at a distance of 9m from the barrow mound, stands a
single monolith which was broken in 1923 but reset in its original location in
1924. This stands 1.8m high and measures 1.8m wide and 0.6m thick. There is no
surviving evidence of other standing stones in the area and it is probable
that the mound originally extended a further 9m to the location of the stone
where a facade of standing stones would have stood.

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

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 examples of
long barrows and long cairns, their counterparts in the uplands, are recorded
nationally. 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.

Despite the barrow mound having been reduced by cultivation, Lyneham long
barrow survives as a clearly visible earthwork. It is known from part
excavation to contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating
to its construction and the landscape in which it was built.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
PRN 2275, C.A.O., LYNEHAM LONG BARROW, (1993)

Source: Historic England