 View looking east over Perry Dale long barrow and round barrow towards Eldon Hill quarry. The long barrow stretches to either side of the image while the round barrow overlays the northern end of mound to the left. |
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This is a
composite monument that stands in the shadow of Eldon Hill which as
can be seen from the image above is the site of large scale limestone
quarrying which extends to within 200 metres of the barrows. The first
monument on this site was a Neolithic long barrow that was oriented
northeast to southwest and measuring about 55 metres in length by just
over 25 metres wide. The remains stand less than a metre tall and can
be seen as a low elongated mound stretching to either side of the photograph
above. The site retained its importance into the Bronze Age, perhaps
due to its position beneath the hill and was chosen as the site of a
round barrow. Interestingly the barrow was not placed alongside or close
to the preceding long barrow but superimposed over its northeastern
end. The round mound that remains today stands about a metre tall and
covers an area of 25 metres in diameter but it has been badly cratered
around it's top, however there is some uncertainty as to what caused
this damage. English Heritage suggest it was either done in the mid
to late 18th century by quarrying for limestone at which time the antiquarian
William Bray reported the finding of a large number of human bones,
or by investigations by Rooke Pennington in the latter half of the 19th
century. This excavation revealed the presence of a pair of cists constructed
of limestone which contained remains of 'funerary pots' .
Perry Dale seems to have been a focus of activity in prehistory, as well as these monuments there are also a pair of barrows on Eldon Hill, one on the summit, one on the southeastern slope while a short distance to the west Gautries Hill also carries a pair, one on the summit the another on its southern slopes. |
 The round barrow looking south, the crater is probably the result of quarrying in the 18th century. |
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