Winterbourne Stoke Group
Neolithic / Bronze Age Barrow Cemetery
West of Stonehenge, Wiltshire  OS Map Ref SU102418
OS Maps - Landranger 184 (Salisbury & The Plain), Explorer 130 (Salisbury & Stonehenge)


Winterbourne Stoke long barrow
Winterbourne Stoke long barrow, view of the north-eastern terminal and western flank of the barrow.
Whereas the cemetery at Normanton Down is a vast sprawling complex of barrows, Winterbourne Stoke is much smaller and more compact. Park in the layby on the A303 that is just east of the roundabout junction with the A360 and wander through the trees to the barrows.

The first barrow to be built on this site was the Neolithic long barrow close to the modern roundabout and aligned southwest to northeast. It is still well preserved and stands around 75 metres long, 21 metres wide, 3 metres high and still has discernible side ditches. An excavation in 1863 uncovered a primary burial at the northeast with several later secondary burial inserted into the mound dating from the Bronze Age.

Stretching away northeast from this barrow in two roughly parallel lines are the later Bronze Age round barrows that form the rest of this cemetery. They consist of a pair of disc barrows, a pair of bell barrows, a pair of pond barrows and around nineteen bowl barrows, some of which are now difficult to see on the ground. A short distance to the north of the long barrow are a pair of saucer barrows and a further five bowl barrows.

Finds from the Winterbourne Stoke group include: cremations- some in wooden coffins, food vessels, urns, bronze daggers, bone pin, tweezers, flints, incense cups, whetstones, fossils and pebbles, a piece of stalactite, beaver teeth and shale and amber beads.
Winterbourne Stoke long barrow
The long barrow viewed from the south looking northeast. The side ditches are visible to the left.
View across the northwestern area of Winterbourne Stoke group
Wide view across the northwestern area of the barrow group with a pair of disc barrows in the foreground and bowl barrows to the left and right.
Winterbourne Stoke bell barrow
A fine bell barrow towards the centre of the group.
Satellite view of the Winterbourne Stoke barrow group
In this view the southwest-northeast alignment of the barrows can clearly be seen, with the earliest monument - the long barrow - just to the upper right of the roundabout. A mixture of six bowl and bell barrows then extend towards the northeast while a pond barrow, a pair of disc barrows and several bowl barrows occur in the central and upper left section of the image.

Winterbourne Stoke crossroads group plan

360 Degree Panorama
360 Degree Panorama

Back to Map | Home | Full Glossary | Links | Email: chriscollyer@stone-circles.org.uk