Summary : Neolithic long barrow, excavated in 1931, when polished stone axe found, again in 1986, when Neolithic and Bronze Age pottery found, as well as two 10th century secondary inhumations. A Second World War air raid shelter was erected at the northern end of the barrow, now demolished. The barrow is now heavily overgrown and mutilated. Scheduled. |
More information : [TF 20889612] Ash Hill, Long Barrow [OE]. (1) Ash Hill long barrow, 128ft long, with a maximum width of 53ft, and 6-7ft high, is bare of turf and trees and is strewn with farmyard rubbish. Damaged at the northern end by the erection of an air-raid shelter. Scheduled. A fragment of polished stone axe was found a few feet from the north end of the barrow by J G D Clark, in 1931. In the possession of C W Phillips. (2-5) The long barrow is heavily overgrown, and mutilated as described. Resurveyed at 1:2500. (6)
Limited excavation of the Ash Hill long barrow in 1986 sectioned the western flanking ditch and fixed its dimensions at c.3.70m wide by c.1.50m deep. An external pit to the west of the barrow, c.0.5m x 0.4m, contained Mortlake and Beaker sherds as well as flintwork. Clearance around the N terminal followed the discovery of 2 partial inhumations during the demolition of a WWII air raid shelter. They have been dated to the 10th century AD. (7-8)
The Neolithic long barrow remains under tree cover on all available air photographs, but is visible as an earthwork on 2006-2007 DTM lidar. The last return lidar data is not of very high quality, but the elongated mound compares to the measurements given above, being 40m by 20m. It is elongated north-east by south-west and is surrounded by the remains of a Second World War military camp (UID 1606526), an auxiliary outlier to RAF Binbrook. (9) |