One of the barrows of the Littlewood group - between the two hedgelines
This collection of
round
barrows forms the southern group of three Bronze
Age cemeteries that run in a rough line southeast to northwest on
the eastern side of Newbald Lodge (the other two being Newbald
Lodge and High Gardham).
Each of these clusters stands on its own small hill and together with a handful of other barrows that remain close by they must mark what was an important ceremonial area for the prehistoric population of the area, indeed this importance seems to have continued over a long period of time as a rich Iron Age cemetery existed just a short distance to the northwest at Arras.
There are about twelve barrows within this group, some better preserved than others, English Heritage's list of scheduled monuments gives their dimensions as follows (height by diameter):
1.75m x 50m, 1.5m x 56m, 0.4m x 35m, 0.2m x 17m, 1.3m x 17m, 0.3m x 35m,
0.25m x 13m, 1m x 40m, 0.3m x 36m, 0.5m x 34m, 0.25m x 16m, 0.3m x 43m.
This cemetery was one that was partially excavated by Canon Greenwell, an antiquarian who is now respected as an early archaeologist, in 1876 and his results published as "Recent research in barrows in Yorkshire, Wiltshire, Berkshire etc" in Archaelogia 52 in 1890. Greenwell noted that there were about twenty barrows at that time and all were constructed using earth and clay with a 'very little chalk intermixed', his finds included food vessels, flint knives, a flint saw and an incense cup as well as cremations, burnt bones and skeletal remains.
Each of these clusters stands on its own small hill and together with a handful of other barrows that remain close by they must mark what was an important ceremonial area for the prehistoric population of the area, indeed this importance seems to have continued over a long period of time as a rich Iron Age cemetery existed just a short distance to the northwest at Arras.
There are about twelve barrows within this group, some better preserved than others, English Heritage's list of scheduled monuments gives their dimensions as follows (height by diameter):
1.75m x 50m, 1.5m x 56m, 0.4m x 35m, 0.2m x 17m, 1.3m x 17m, 0.3m x 35m,
0.25m x 13m, 1m x 40m, 0.3m x 36m, 0.5m x 34m, 0.25m x 16m, 0.3m x 43m.
This cemetery was one that was partially excavated by Canon Greenwell, an antiquarian who is now respected as an early archaeologist, in 1876 and his results published as "Recent research in barrows in Yorkshire, Wiltshire, Berkshire etc" in Archaelogia 52 in 1890. Greenwell noted that there were about twenty barrows at that time and all were constructed using earth and clay with a 'very little chalk intermixed', his finds included food vessels, flint knives, a flint saw and an incense cup as well as cremations, burnt bones and skeletal remains.
