Probable Neolithic mortuary enclosure and two Bronze Age round barrows, north-west of Feering (EHER 8782)

The cropmarks of a Neolithic mortuary enclosure, two Bronze Age barrows and undated linear features are visible on aerial photographs. The mortuary enclosure is subrectangular with rounded ends, and defined by a narrow ditch. Located close to a bend in the River Blackwater and orientated roughly north-north-east by south-south-west, the southern end features a clear off-centre interruption or causeway approximately 4 metres long in the line of the ditch. The enclosure is estimated to be appriximately 70 metres long and 25 metres wide. A number of pit-like features, some of which may be related to the enclosure, have been observed as cropmarks within its interior. A cropmark ring ditch lies immediately southeast of the enclosure's southern end. Other linear and rectangular cropmarks, probably much later in date and unrelated to the enclosure, are also visible on aerial photographs.

Large rectangular enclosure, with curved end cut by hedge. Entrance off-centre in end. Dark mark within - could it be cross trees of a wind mill? Plan of enclosure suggests that of a long barrow. <1> <2> 1976. Field visit. TL 8675 2050. Feering. Cropmarks visible of a large rectangular enclosure, a clear rectangular pit and linear and other features. TL 8685 2055, cropmarks of a ring ditch visible near the other features. The site lies on the gravel flood plain of the River Blackwater. No significant features were seen on the ground. <3> <4> On aerial photographs <5> <6> <7> and <8> the enclosure is oblong with curved end. Another ring ditch and another rectangular enclosure are also visible. See also further oblique aerial photographs <9> - <17>. 1999. Scheduled. Scheduled Monument Description: The monument includes the buried remains of a Neolithic mortuary enclosure and adjacent round barrow located some 400m north west of Feering village and some 100m south west of Frame Farm sitting on the northern slope of the Blackwater River Valley. Although the long mortuary enclosure and round barrow are no longer visible on the ground, their infilled ditches can be seen from the air as cropmarks. These cropmarks (areas of enchanced growth resulting from higher levels of moisture retained by underlying archaeological features) were first identified by aerial survey, showing up particularly well in the dry summer of 1996. The long mortuary enclosure is defined by a fairly narrow oblong ditch with rounded corners, enclosing an area some 70m long by 25m wide; a 4m break in the ditch circuit at its south-western end, facing the river, represents its entrence. Originally the long mortuary enclosure would have 6had an internal bank created by the upcast from the excavation of the ditch; this has long sice been reduced by ploughing. A number of pit-like features have been observed as cropmarks within its internal area; some of these may be related to the enclosure. The round barrow is situated some 10m to the south east of the long mortuary enclosure and is some 25m in diameter, with a distinctive, narrow encircling ditch. Internal pit-like features are visible on some aerial photographs showing as cropmarks and are likely to mark the position of primary and secondary burials. <18> Site Assessment: 1999: Round barrows are funerary monuments dating from the late Neolithic period to the Late Bronze Age, with most examples belonging to the period 2400-1500 BC. They were constructed as earthen mounds, sometimes ditches, which covered single or multiple burials. They occur either in isolation or grouped as cemeteries and often acted as a focas of burial in later periods. They are a major historical element in the modern landscape and their considerable variation in form anf longvity as monument type provide important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisations amoungst early prehistoric communities. Although the long mortuary enclosure and adjacent barrow at Feering are no longer visible on the ground, archaeological deposits will survive as buried features and will contain evidence relating to the dating of their construction, period of use and evidence preserved in the old buried ground surfaces amd in the fills of the ditch and internal features may illustrate the nature of the lanscape in which the long mortuary enclosure was set. The relationship between the two features is of particular importance: should the site of the Neolithic funerary ritual bafore the burial of the remains in the adjacent barrow. The ritual is thought to have been to expose the bodies to the element prior to interment, possibly on platforms. If the mortuary enclosure and barrow prove not to be contemporaneous, their association is as an area for ritual and burial over a substantial period of time. Long mortuary enclosures are rare monuments; this example with an associated barrow is potentially highly informative. <18> See also aerial photographs <19> - <22>. Information from NRHE data import: Two Bronze Age ring ditches were recorded separately on the NRHE, but one, NRHE 1341383, had initially been recorded together with the mortuary enclosure as part of NMR record TL 82 SE 37. The first of these, NRHE 1341383 (formerly TL 82 SE 82), is visible as a cropmark on air photographs, is within the Scheduled area, and is located a 10 metres south-east of the southern terminal of the possible Neolithic mortuary enclosure. It measures approximately 25 metres in diameter and is defined by a narrow enclosing ditch. Internal pit-like features are visible as cropmarks on air photographs and may be related to the ring ditch, perhaps representing the location of burials. This ring ditch is visible on <15>. The second ring ditch, NRHE 1341385 (formerly TL 82 SE 83), is visible as a cropmark on air photographs, and is outside the Scheduled area. This second ring ditch is located approximately 135 metres east of the possible Neolithic mortuary enclosure. It occurs among other linear and rectangular cropmarks of later, but unknown, date. This ring ditch is visible on <15>.