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Latitude: 50.9795 / 50°58'46"N
Longitude: -1.8035 / 1°48'12"W
OS Eastings: 413888.487168
OS Northings: 120033.362525
OS Grid: SU138200
Mapcode National: GBR 52D.DW1
Mapcode Global: FRA 763J.964
Entry Name: Giant's Grave: a long barrow 400m north-west of Down Farm
Scheduled Date: 9 October 1981
Last Amended: 7 March 1991
Source: Historic England
Source ID: 1015980
English Heritage Legacy ID: 12085
County: Hampshire
Civil Parish: Breamore
Traditional County: Hampshire
Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Hampshire
Church of England Parish: Breamore St Mary
Church of England Diocese: Winchester
The monument includes a long barrow set below the crest of a gentle south-west
facing slope in an area of undulating chalk downland. The mound is rectangular
in plan and orientated NE-SW with the NE end facing uphill and surviving to a
height of 2.4m. The opposite end is downslope and appears much reduced by
ploughing. The barrow mound is 68m long and 20m wide flanked on either side by
a berm 0.5m wide and ditches from which the mound material was quarried. These
run the length of the mound and survive to a width of 12.5m and a maximum
depth of 0.2m.
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
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. Giant's Grave is important as it survives
well and, with no evidence of formal excavation, has considerable
archaeological potential.
Source: Historic England
Books and journals
Schofield, A J, Putting Lithics To The Test, (1987)
Smith, I F , Long Barrows in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, (1979)
Source: Historic England
Other nearby scheduled monuments