Details

The monument is situated on the limestone plateau of Derbyshire, north of Wye
Dale, and includes a Bronze Age bowl barrow and a Neolithic long barrow within
a single constraint area. The bowl barrow is a roughly circular mound with a
diameter of c.15m and a height of c.1m. It is superimposed on the south-
eastern end of the long barrow which is c.0.5m high and measures c.40m long
from north-west to south-east and ranges from c.20m at the wider, south-
eastern end to c.10m at the narrower, north-western end. There has been no
definitely recorded excavation of the monument but both barrows have been
identified by their form and by their similarity to other known examples, by
which the monument can be dated to the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods. Both
barrows have been somewhat disturbed by stone robbing, either for walling at
the time of the Enclosures or to feed the limekiln in the adjacent field. The
drystone wall crossing the northern edge of the monument is excluded from the
scheduling but the ground underneath is included.

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.

Although the surface of The Tong long barrow has been disturbed by stone
robbing, the old land surface on which burials were placed is still largely
intact. The later bowl barrow is also reasonably well preserved and both
contain significant archaeological remains. The superimposition of the Bronze
Age barrow on the earlier Neolithic barrow indicates the continued importance
of the earlier burial focus. Together the two barrows demonstrate changing
burial practices during these two periods.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Barnatt, J, The Peak District Barrow Survey (1989), (1989)
Barnatt, J, The Peak District Barrow Survey (1989), (1989)
Bray, W, Sketch of a Tour into Derbyshire and Yorkshire, (1783)
Marsden, B M, The Burial Mounds of Derbyshire , (1977)

Source: Historic England