Monument record MDO3284 - Long barrow at Longlands, Winterbourne Abbas

Site of a possible Neolithic long barrow visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs. It appears to be the focus for the later Longlands Bronze Age barrow cemetery. In 1970 this monument was recorded as an oval earthwork mound around 70 feet by 40 feet and 1½ feet high, much reduced by ploughing.

Group of barrows at Longlands, including one possible bell, four in a rough alignment south west-north east along spine of spur, with possible long barrow at north east end. The three south west barrows are just above the 500 ft contour and the others above 400 ft. All damaged. Near foot of steep slope to north immediately south of the main road three further barrows at 60449020, 60519025 and 60559018 are shown on OS (1811) but there is now no sign of them.

`F` Oval barrow, long barrow (?) is sited about 450 ft above OD on a gentle north east facing slope just below the crest of a broad ridge. It has been much ploughed and is now only about1 1/2 ft high and measures 70 ft (east-west) by 40 ft. Under plough it showed only earth and flints as in the surrounding field. <1> <3>

`F` SY 60439004, An elongated mound, 24.0m. by 18.0m approximately; height 1.2m. on downhill (north) side. No visible ditch. Probably ploughed-down long barrow but the remains are now too amorphous to afford any real guide to classification. Re-surveyed at 1:2500 on MSD. <4>

The ploughed over remains of a long barrow lie at SY 6044 9004 on the southern side of the South Winterbourne valley. The remains comprise a low, sub-rectangular mound, oriented W/E and 24m long, 17m wide and 0.6m high. Long Lands was enclosed in 1810 (Winterbourne Abbas Enclosure Award and Map, DRO Inclosure 69) and air photographs show that it has been under arable cultivation from the 1940s to the present day (CPE UK 1934 17 JAN 1947 fr 5097; OS 8400347/304 21 APR 1984). <6>

The site was surveyed using differential GPS at a scale of 1: 200 as part of a survey of the long barrows on the South Dorset Ridgeway carried out by English Heritage and the Ridgeway Survey Group. <7>

An oval mound flanking by an encircling outer ditch is visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs, probably the site of a Neolithic long barrow. It appears to have been the focus for the later Longlands Bronze Age barrow cemetery (MDO3316-18). The mound seems to have been disturbed by a post-medieval chalk pit or perhaps 19th century antiquarian activity. <10-13>

<1> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 82, 148 (Monograph). SDO132.

<2> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1963 (Map). SWX1540.

`F` - SY 60439004) Long Barrow (NR)

<3> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 2, 432 (Monograph). SDO136.

‘(13) OVAL BARROW, long barrow (?) (SY 68 NE; 60459006), is sited about 450 ft. above O.D. on a gentle N.-E.-facing slope just below the crest of a broad ridge. It has been much ploughed and is now only about 1½ ft. high and measures 70 ft. (E.-W.) by 40 ft. Under plough it showed only earth and flints as in the surrounding field. It lies N.E. of the Longlands Barrow Group (AF).’

<4> Barton, J G, Various, Field Investigators Comments JGB (Unpublished document). SDO11900.

<5> Papworth, M, 1983, The South Dorset Ridgeway Project: condition and management survey, SDR (Index). SDO12304.

The barrow is almost ploughed out and is only visible as a faint swelling in a recently ploughed field. 1/5/D

<6> Riley, H, Field Investigators Comments: Hazel Riley, November 2006 (Unpublished document). SDO17469.

<7> Riley, H, 2008, Long Barrows on the South Dorset Ridgeway: a survey by English Heritage and the Ridgeway Survey Group (Unpublished document). SDO15192.

<8> Wessex Archaeology, 2011, South Dorset Ridgeway Barrow Survey 2010 (Unpublished document). SDO12407.

<9> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Externally held archive: RCH01/093 RCHME Inventory: Dorset II (South-East) (Unpublished document). SDO17434.

<10> 28-JUN-2000, NMR SY 6090/6 (18802/23) (Aerial Photograph). SDO11124.

<11> 28-JUN-2000, NMR SY 6090/9 (18766/29) (Aerial Photograph). SDO11125.

<12> 23-APR-1980, NMR SY 5060/2 (1749/086) (Aerial Photograph). SDO11119.

<13> 21-APR-1984, NMR OS/84037 304-6 (Aerial Photograph). SDO11118.

<14> National Record of the Historic Environment, 452337 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jan 23 2025 10:57AM