Details

The Long Barrow is situated on level ground at the top of the North Downs
scarp overlooking the valley of the Great Stour. It is oriented SE-NW, with
the SE end broader and surviving to a greater height.
The most distinctive feature of the monument is the elongated earthen mound,
measuring some 70m in length and 10-12m in width. It stands to a height of 2m
above the surrounding area at the SE end, and 1m at the NW end. Less obvious
but nevertheless discernible are two long but shallow depressions alongside
the mound which are now no more then 20-30cm deep but which are the filled-in
remains of two deep flanking ditches, the same length as the mound itself,
from which earth and chalk was quarried to make the mound.
No excavations appear to have taken place at this monument, but its form is
distinctively that of a Neolithic burial mound. Similar examples which have
been excavated have shown that a burial chamber containing the remains of a
number of individuals can be expected at the eastern end of the monument.
The surface of the adjacent footpath/track, where it lies within the
constraint area, is excluded from the scheduling although the ground below
remains included.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

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 long
barrows are recorded in England. 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.

The example near Jackets Field survives well and is considered to be of high
archaeological potential, apparently not having been excavated or robbed in
the past. It is also a member of a small group of such monuments connected
with the Stour valley.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Darvill, T., MPP Single Monument Class Descriptions - Long Barrows, (1989)
Report for the DoE, Holgate, R, A Management and Research Design for the Kent Megaliths, (1981)

Source: Historic England