Details

The monument includes a small henge monument located 300m south of
Longbarrow Cross Roads. It is situated on a gentle south east facing slope
70m east of the A360.
The area of the henge is defined by a ditch 35m in overall diameter, with
an entrance causeway on the north east side of the monument. The henge is
now difficult to identify on the ground, having been levelled by
cultivation, but its extent has been defined by geophysical survey and
aerial photographs.

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

A small number of areas in southern England appear to have acted as foci for
ceremonial and ritual activity during the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods.
Two of the best known and the earliest recognised areas are around Avebury and
Stonehenge, now jointly designated as a World Heritage Site.
The area of chalk downland which surrounds Stonehenge contains one of the
densest and most varied groups of Neolithic and Bronze Age field monuments in
Britain. Included within the area are Stonehenge itself, the Stonehenge
cursus, the Durrington Walls henge, and a variety of burial monuments, many
grouped into cemeteries.
The area has been the subject of archaeological research since the 18th
century when Stukeley recorded many of the monuments and partially excavated a
number of the burial mounds. More recently, the collection of artefacts from
the surfaces of ploughed fields has supplemented the evidence for ritual and
burial by revealing the intensity of contemporary settlement and land-use.
In view of the importance of the area, all ceremonial and sepulchral monuments
of this period which retain significant archaeological remains are identified
as nationally important.

Henges are ritual or ceremonial centres which date to the Late Neolithic
period (2800-2000 BC). They were constructed as roughly circular or
oval-shaped enclosures comprising a flat area over 20m in diameter
enclosed by a ditch and external bank. One, two or four entrances provided
access to the interior of the monument, which may have contained a variety
of features including timber or stone circles, post or stone alignments,
pits, burials or central mounds. Finds from the ditches and interiors of
henges provide evidence for the chronological development of the sites,
the types of activity that occurred within them and the nature of the
environment in which they were constructed. Henges occur throughout
England with the exception of south eastern counties and the Welsh
Marches. They are generally situated on low ground, often close to springs
and water-courses. Henges are rare nationally with about 80 known
examples.
Despite being levelled by cultivation, the henge 300m south of Longbarrow
Cross Roads will contain archaeological remains and environmental evidence
relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed.
Geophysical survey has shown that the ditch fills survive undisturbed
while deposits located on the prehistoric land surface will survive
beneath the area disturbed by cultivation.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other

John Samuals Archaeological Consultants, A303 Amesbury - Berwick Down, (1993)

Source: Historic England