Scheduled Monument: THE TONG BOWL BARROW AND LONG BARROW (1017542)

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION 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. Although the surface of The Tong long barrow has been disturbed by stone robbing, the old land surface on which burials were placed is still largely intact. The later bowl barrow is also reasonably well preserved and both contain significant archaeological remains. The superimposition of the Bronze Age barrow on the earlier Neolithic barrow indicates the continued importance of the earlier burial focus. Together the two barrows demonstrate changing burial practices during these two periods. DETAILS The monument is situated on the limestone plateau of Derbyshire, north of Wye Dale, and includes a Bronze Age bowl barrow and a Neolithic long barrow within a single constraint area. The bowl barrow is a roughly circular mound with a diameter of c.15m and a height of c.1m. It is superimposed on the southeastern end of the long barrow which is c.0.5m high and measures c.40m long from north-west to south-east and ranges from c.20m at the wider, southeastern end to c.10m at the narrower, north-western end. There has been no definitely recorded excavation of the monument but both barrows have been identified by their form and by their similarity to other known examples, by which the monument can be dated to the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods. Both barrows have been somewhat disturbed by stone robbing, either for walling at the time of the enclosures or to feed the limekiln in the adjacent field. The drystone wall crossing the northern edge of the monument is excluded from the scheduling but the ground underneath is included. SELECTED SOURCES Book Reference - Author: Barnatt, J. - Title: The Peak District Barrow Survey - Type: DESC TEXT Book Reference - Author: Barnatt, J. - Title: The Peak District Barrow Survey - Type: PLAN: MEASURED Book Reference - Author: Bray, William - Title: Sketch of a Tour into Derbyshire and Yorkshire - Date: 1783 - Type: DESC TEXT Book Reference - Author: Marsden B - Title: The Burial Mounds of Derbyshire (1977) - Date: 1977 - Type: DESC TEXT