Reasons for Designation
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.
Enclosures provide important evidence of land use and agricultural practices
in the prehistoric period. The presence of these remains and their
relationship with field systems and settlements are integral to understanding
the character and development of downland agriculture. Broadly contemporary
with the enclosure is the bowl barrow, a funerary monument dating from the
Late Neolithic period to the Late Bronze Age. Bowl barrows were constructed as
earthen or rubble mounds, normally ditched, which covered single or multiple
burials. They occur either in isolation or grouped as cemeteries and often
acted as a focus for burials in later periods. Often superficially similar,
although differing widely in size, they exhibit regional variations in form
and a variety of burial practices. There are over 10,000 surviving bowl
barrows recorded nationally and at least 320 in the Stonehenge area.
Despite having been previously levelled by cultivation and more recently
disturbed by road improvements, the enclosure and bowl barrow 100m west of
Longbarrow Cross Roads are known from a recent geophysical survey to contain
archaeological remains which will relate to the monument and the landscape in
which it was built.
Details
The monument, which falls into two areas, includes a Bronze Age enclosure and
a levelled bowl barrow located 100m west of Longbarrow Cross Roads on
Winterbourne Stoke Down, with views south east across Wilsford Down and
Normanton Down. The enclosure is situated to the south west of the
Winterbourne Stoke linear round barrow cemetery which extends some 500m along
a ridge to the north east. It may be associated with a Bronze Age settlement
located 100m to the east which was removed during construction of the present
roundabout in 1967.
The monument is no longer visible on the ground being located in an area
previously disturbed by cultivation and more recently by improvement works on
the A303. The enclosure is, however, visible on aerial photographs and was
investigated by a recent geophysical survey. It is 75m long and 68m wide, with
a possible entrance to the south. Some internal features were also recorded
during the survey. A small scatter of burnt flint was recovered from both
within the enclosure and to the east of it.
The central section of the enclosure has been removed by the downcutting of
the A303.
The levelled bowl barrow lies immediately to the north west of the enclosure.
The mound is no longer visible on the ground. The geophysical survey, however,
revealed a ditch from which material was quarried during the construction of
the barrow. This survives as a buried feature of 20m overall diameter.
All fence posts are excluded from the scheduling but the ground beneath these
features 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.
