Neolithic Long Barrow (Amesbury 14), N of Normanton Gorse, Stonehenge Landscape

Record ID:  117504*0 / MNA139547
Record type:  Monument
Protected Status: Scheduled Monument, World Heritage Site
NT Property:  Stonehenge Landscape; South West
Civil Parish:  Amesbury; Wiltshire
Grid Reference:  SU 1154 4175
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Summary

Long barrow (Amesbury G14) is situated SW of Stonehenge and orientated SSE-NNW. In the C19th it was excavated for Colt Hoare and then later by Thurnam who uncovered five inhumations. An evaluation excavation was undertaken by Wessex Archaeology in 1993. Surveyed in 2011 by English Heritage it measures 33m in length, 18m in width and 1.6m high.

Identification Images (0)

Most Recent Monitoring

None Recorded

Monument Types

  • LONG BARROW (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)

Description

Long barrow (Amesbury G14) is situated SW of Stonehenge and orientated SSE-NNW. It was excavated in the C19th for Colt Hoare: "opened by a section at the broad end", but they were "disappointed" by the results, i.e. they did not find any burials (No. 165 in Colt Hoare 1812:206). Later excavations by J. Thurnam found the remains of three primary inhumations, two of these skulls were cleft before burial, and two crouched round-headed burials, the latter interpreted as secondary (VCH 1957, 137). (1-2)

In 1993 Amesbury G14 was one of the subjects of an evaluation excavation by Wessex Archaeology in order to examine the preservation of the monument and to establish whether or not a ditch lay at the long barrow's N end. (3)

The barrow is visible as an earthwork on aerial photographs and was mapped by both RCHME's Salisbury Plain Training Area NMP and EH's Stonehenge WHS Mapping Project. (4-5)

Surveyed in 2009 by English Heritage and described as a long barrow oriented SSE-NNW, 33m in length, 18m maximum width with a 4m by 16m spread bank along the summit; total height 1.6m; the side ditches are 8m wide. (6)

References

  • --- SNA67153 - Article in serial: Needham, S., Lawson, A.J., Woodward, A.. 2010. 'A Noble Group of Barrows': Bush Barrow and the Normanton Down Early Bronze Age Cemetary Two Centuries On. 90. pp.1-39. pp. 6-7.

  • <1> SZT10337 - Monograph: Pugh, R.B. 1957. The Victoria History of the Counties of England: A History of Wiltshire, Vol 1, Part 1. 1 (Part 1). p.137.

  • <2> SZN133 - Monograph: Richard Colt Hoare. 1812. The History of Ancient Wiltshire, Volume I. Volume I. p.206.

  • <3> SNA67152 - Unpublished document: Wessex Archaeology. 1993. A303 Amesbury to Berwick Down, Wiltshire - Alternative Routes. Field Evaluation Excavations (March - April 1993). W580. Trenchs B1, B2.

  • <4> SNA69374 - Report: Simon Crutchley. 2002. Stonehenge World Heritage Site Mapping project: Management Report. 133/2002. 219693.

  • <5> SNA69372 - Report: Simon Crutchley. 2000. Salisbury Plain Training Area: A report for the National Mapping Programme. 94/2000. 219693.

  • <6> SNA69524 - Report: Field, D. and Pearson, T.. 2011. Stonehenge World Heritage Site Landscape Project: Stonehenge Down and the Triangle: Archaeological survey repor. Amesbury 14, pg.6.

Designations

Other Statuses and References

  • HER/SMR Reference (External) (Wilts SMR): MWI12487
  • National Monuments Record Reference: 219693 (SU14SW91)

Associated Events

  • ENA10433 - Archaeological Intervention, A303 Amesbury to Berwick Down, Wiltshire , Alternative Route: Field Evaluation Excavations
  • ENA10523 - Field Survey, Stonehenge World Heritage Site Landscape Project: Stonehenge Down and the Triangle
  • ENA10389 - Heritage Assessment, Stonehenge World Heritage Site: National Mapping Programme (NMP)
  • ENA10388 - Heritage Assessment, Salisbury Plain Training Area NMP

Associated Finds

None Recorded

Related Records

None Recorded