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BARROW HILLS

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A monument complex whose main feature is a linear barrow cemetery orientated northeast - southwest. Most of the barrows are of Early Bronze Age date, although earlier and later features are also present. Some Mesolithic activity is attested in the vicinity, while extensive Saxon settlement and burial evidence has also been recorded. Much of the area has been excavated in advance of gravel quarrying, although not all excavations have been published in full. A detailed accound of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments and associated features has been published recently (Barclay and Halpin 1999). A separate volume dealing in particular with the Early Medieval period is planned. See child records and associated monument records for details of individual sites.

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[NB as of August 1999, many of the sites featured in the Barrow Hills complex have been recorded individually. See associated and child records for details. The text below is that of the Ordnance Survey/RCHME record for the area to 1997]

[Group centred SU 51809840] TUMULI [G.T.] (Site of) [4] [SU 51669825] TUMULUS (site of). (1)

Area centred SU 51619830. A group of 17 barrows (of mixed bowl,
disk and belt types), was located by the crop-marks of their
ditches on air photographs by Major Allen from 1930 onwards,
mainly in a field known as Barrow Hills, at Radley.

Eleven of the barrows were excavated between 1931 and 1953, and
were found to contain numerous inhumation and cremation burials
of Early to Mid Bronze Age date. Sherds of Iron Ages
Romano-British and possible Saxon pottery were found at various
times during excavation and two seconday inhumations, possibly
of Anglo-Saxon date, were discovered under the berm of barrow No.
5. [See 6" - The barrows have been numbered and sited from plans
in authorities 3 and 7. Nos. 1, 8-10, 12 and 13, have not been
excavated A0/LP/63/1 & 2]. (1-9)

The farmer said that the crop marks are clearly visible during
periods of very dry weather, but none could be seen at the time
of investigation. The sites of barrows 1-3, 8-13 and 16 fall
within arable fields, numbers 4,7,14 and 15 have been partially
destroyed by gravel workings, and numbers 5,6, and 17 have been
totally destroyed by old gravel workings, now infilled. (10-11)

Excavations at Barrow No 2 in 1976 in advance of road works,
identified earlier linear features underlying the barrow,
presumably of Neolithic or early Bronze Age pottery were found
in the pre-barrow ground surface and the finds from the barrow
ditches consist of a few sherds of Romano-British pottery
indicating that the ditches remain open into the Roman period. A
secondary burial with a small iron knife was recovered from the ditch silt, presumably Roman in date. (12-13)

[NB The following entry derives from RCHME work on the Thames Valley fot the National Mapping Programme. All the monuments listed below now have separate records]

Cropmark remains of a linear cemetery of 17 Bronze Age round barrows known as Barrow Hills at Radley. The cemetery is aligned NE-SW between SU 5128 9804 and SU 5194 9843.

All the barrows have been excavated and are recorded as follows:

-SU 5147 9823 - single ditched circular enclosure with diameter of 30m. (TG.351.18.1, OAU site 2). [now SU 59 NW 124]
-SU 5151 9824 - single ditched circular enclosure with diameter of 30m. (TG.351.18.2, OAU site 3). [now SU 59 NW 126]
-SU 5163 9832 - single ditched circular enclosure with diameter of 30m. (TG.351.18.3, OAU site 6). [now SU 59 NW 129]
-SU 5154 9826 - incomplete curvilinear elongated enclosure (`peanut' shaped) 55m x 36m. The breaks in the enclosure ditch are caused by the modern field boundary. Excavation has confirmed the presence of two barrows of differing size within the enclosure. (TG.351.18.4, OAU site 4). [now SU 59 NW 127]
-SU 5159 9828 - single ditched circular enclosure with a diameter of 40m. (TG.351.18.5, OAU site 5) [now SU 59 NW 128].
-SU 5165 9825 - double ditched circular enclosure with diameters of -20m and 30m. (TG.351.18.6, OAU site 14). Partially destroyed through gravel extraction. [now SU 59 NW 138]
-SU 5168 9835 - single ditched circular enclosure with a diameter of 30m. (TG.351.18.7, OAU site 7). Partially destroyed through gravel extraction. [now SU 59 NW 130]
-SU 5172 9838 - single ditched circular enclosure with a diameter of 20m. (TG.351.18.8, OAU site 8) [now SU 59 NW 131].
-SU 5176 9840 - single ditched circular enclosure with a diameter of 30m. (TG.351.18.9, OAU site 9) [now SU 59 NW 132]
-SU 5183 9841 - single ditched circular enclosure with a diameter of 30m. (TG.351.18.10, OAU site 10) [now SU 59 NW 133]
-SU 5187 9844 - single ditched circular enclosure with a diameter of 30m. (TG.351.18.11, OAU site 11) [now SU 59 NW 134]
-SU 5193 9842 - a single ditched circular enclosure with a diameter of 30m and a possible entrance in the south-western side. (TG.351.18.12, OAU site 16) [now SU 59 NW 140]
-SU 5181 9834 - an incomplete sub-circular enclosure difined by two broken ditches with diameters of 21m and 40m. (TG.351.18.13, OAU site 15) [now SU 59 NW 139]
-SU 5142 9819 - a single ditched circular enclosure with a diameter of 20m. (TG.351.18.14, OAU site 1) [now SU 59 NW 125]
-SU 5137 9810 - a single ditched circular enclosure with a diameter of 20m. (TG. 351.18.15, OAU site 13) [now SU 59 NW 136]
-SU 5129 9809 - single ditched circular enclosure with a diameter of 12m. (TG.351.18.16) [now SU 59 NW 145]
-SU 5141 9812 - Circular feature with a diameter of 6m identified as a possible round barrow. (TG.351.18.17) [now SU 59 NW 160]
-SU 5144 9816 - single ditched circular enclosure with a diameter of 10m classified as a Neolithic round barrow. (TG.351.18.18) [now SU 59 NW 163]
-SU 5148 9814 - a single ditched circular enclosure with a diameter of 10m. (TG.351.18.19) [now SU 59 NW 164]
-SU 5134 9809 - a double ditched circular round barrow with circuit diameters of 10m and 21m and a central pit. (TG.351.18.20, OAU site 12). The innermost ditch circuit is probably contemporary with the burial which may date to the Beaker Period. However, there is some uncertainty concerning the context of the remains, so the site has been classified as Bronze Age. [now SU 59 NW 135]

This site was mapped at 1:10,000 scale as part of the RCHME: Thames Valley NMP.

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

OS 6" 1960

( 2) Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society Oxoniensia

Leeds, ET. Round barrows and ring-ditches in Berkshire and Oxfordshire. 1, 1936 Page(s)7-23

( 3) Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society Oxoniensia

Leeds, ET: Beakers of the Upper Thames District (pp7-30); and Further Excavations in Barrow Hills Field, Radley, Berks (pp31-40). 3, 1938 Page(s)7-40

( 4) Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society Oxoniensia

Anon. Notes and news [pp102-114] 7, 1942 Page(s)103

( 5) Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society Oxoniensia

Riley, DN. Archaeology from the air. 8-9, 1943-4 Page(s)64-101

( 6) Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society Oxoniensia

10, 1945 Page(s)94

( 7) Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society Oxoniensia

Williams, A. Excavations in Barrow Hills Field, Radley, Berkshire 13, 1948 Page(s)1-17

( 8) Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society Oxoniensia

Atkinson, RJC. Excavations in Barrow Hills Field, Radley, Berks, 1944-5 17-18, 1952-3 Page(s)14-35

( 9) Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society Oxoniensia

Case, H. Notes on the finds and on ring ditches in the Oxford region. 28, 1963 Page(s)19-52

(10) Field Investigators Comments

F1 GHP 04-JUN-63

(11) Antiquity Publications Limited Antiquity

39, 1965 Page(s)64

(12) Oxfordshire Archaeological Unit : newsletter

9, Sep-1976 Page(s)3

(13) Oxfordshire Archaeological Unit : newsletter

10, Oct-1976 Page(s)3

(14) by Alistair Barclay and Claire Halpin 1999 Excavations at Barrow Hills, Radley, Oxfordshire. Volume 1 : the Neolithic and Bronze Age monument complex

Thames Valley landscapes monographs vol.11

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