Details

The monument includes the earthwork and buried remains of a Neolithic long
barrow situated 575m north-west of Lypiatt Farm on a broad level hilltop to
the west of the village of Miserden. The barrow includes a mound orientated
north-east to south-west and is approximately 104m long. The mound measures
up to 20m wide, tapering at its south-western end and, although reduced by
ploughing, it survives up to 1m high in places. The soil on the mound is
stonier than the rest of the field. The barrow is also clearly visible from
the air as a crop mark (an area of enhanced crop growth resulting from higher
levels of moisture retained by the underlying archaeological features), and
has been recorded on aerial photographs. The flanking quarry ditch, from
which material was excavated during the construction of the barrow, is no
longer visible at ground level, having become infilled over the years, but
will survive as a buried feature. The aerial photographs show an area of
disturbance towards the northern end of the barrow which appears to be
circular in form, although its origins are not known. It may relate to
antiquarian excavation since sources suggest that this barrow is the one
recorded by Dr Bird in 1880 which contained a cist.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 5 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 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 reduction in its height through cultivation, the long barrow 575m
north-west of Lypiatt Farm survives well and will contribute to our
understanding of the social organisation and burial practices of the county's
Neolithic population. It is likely that the remains of the mound will protect
archaeological and environmental evidence including a buried land surface,
which will provide information about the landscape prior to the construction
of the barrow. In addition the ditch will contain archaeological and
environmental evidence relating to its construction and the landscape in which
it was built.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
O`Neil, H E, Grinsell, L V, 'Proc of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Arch Soc' in Gloucestershire Barrows, , Vol. 79, (1960), 69-96
Other
NMR National Mapping Programme, HOB UID 117204, (2010)

Source: Historic England