[TR 07745324] Julliberrie's Grave, Long Barrow [NR] (1) A Wessex-type Long Barrow (4) excavated by Jessup in 1936 and 1937. The name is traditional from at least the early C18th when it was noted by Camden (2,3). Scheduled (5). During the 1937 excavation, four Roman burials (both inhumation and cremation) were found in the southern part of the ditch, also eight late C4th Roman coins. These last may have dropped from a pot containing a hoard of Constantinian coins, which was found in one of the post-holes for the fence surrounding the monument in the early C19th. (2-5) In excellent condition. Resurveyed at 1:2500. (6) Julliberrie's Grave, the remains of the earthen long barrow are now 48ft wide tappering by 6ft to its southern end. The present length is 144ft and the maximum height 7ft. No ditch is now visible but it can be traced round the barrow's destroyed northern end. (7) There are traces of two previous excavations, one in 1701 (8) or 1702 (9) by Lord Weymouth and Heneage Finch, and the other probably dug by one of the Wildman family, owners of the Chilham Castle estate between 1792 and 1861. (8,9) Additional bibliography. (10-15) Jessup began his excavation at Julliberrie's Grave in July 1936 (see authority 2) inspired by the account of a fictional excavation of the site by Mr Elmhurst in R Austin Freeman's novel "The Penros Mystery", published in 1936. Jessup had supplied technical advice and information for the novel. (16)

From the National Heritage List for England:

"The Long Barrow is situated on a false crest of the North Downs overlooking the Great Stour, 1km east of the village of Chilham. It is oriented SSE-NNW with its broader end towards the NNW. The original terminal of the monument at this end has been quarried away but it is estimated that some three- quarters of the original length remains. The most distinctive feature of the monument is the elongated earthen mound, measuring today some 45m in length and 8-10m in width. It stands to a height of ca.1.8m above the level of the surrounding land at the more northerly end, diminishing to less then 1m at the opposite end. In addition to the mound, however, there are two flanking ditches, similar in length to the mound itself, which are now completely infilled and undetectable but which were traced by excavation in the 1930s. It was these flanking ditches from which the earth and chalk used to construct the mound was quarried. A berm of 1.5m separated the mound from the flanking ditches. The excavations carried out in 1936 established that the surviving barrow mound formerly extended further northwards, perhaps forming a mound 60m in overall length. Quarry ditches were located at the lip of the quarry on both sides of the mound and cuttings were made across the ditches in four other places. The main burial chamber, it was concluded, had probably been lost to the quarrying, but evidence in the form of artefacts and other sources such as pollen is considered to survive within the remaining mound. The surface of the footpath running across the monument at the quarry edge is excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath it is included.

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.

This example, although damaged by quarrying at the more northerly end, survives as an impressive earthwork mound and retains high archaeological potential. It also forms part of a small group of such monument associated with the Stour valley." (18)

<1> OS 6" 1961 (OS Card Reference). SKE48369.

<2> Field report for monument TR 05 SE 5 - May, 1963 (Bibliographic reference). SKE5212.

<3> Antiquaries Journal, 17, 1937, 122-37 (RF Jessup) (OS Card Reference). SKE33267.

<4> Antiquaries Journal, 19, 1939, 260-281 (RF Jessup) (OS Card Reference). SKE33268.

<5> Neolithic Cultures, 1954, 52 (S Piggott) (OS Card Reference). SKE47532.

<6> AMs (MOW) 1961, 58 (OS Card Reference). SKE33025.

<7> F1 ASP 17-MAY-1963 (OS Card Reference). SKE42152.

<8> SE England 1970, 81-85 (RF Jessup) (OS Card Reference). SKE49432.

<9> Antiquaries Jounral, 17,1937,125-6 (RF Jessup) (OS Card Reference). SKE33256.

<10> Archaeologia 42, 1869, 161-244 (J Thurnham) (OS Card Reference). SKE37316.

<11> Archaeol In Kent, 1930, 70 (RF Jessup) (OS Card Reference). SKE37276.

<12> Proc Prehist Soc 2, 1936, 213 (OS Card Reference). SKE48721.

<13> Proc Prehist Soc 3, 1937, 441 (OS Card Reference). SKE48724.

<14> Archaeol Cant 74, 1960, 54 (OS Card Reference). SKE37240.

<15> The Earthen Long Barrow in Britain, 1970 (P Ashbee) (OS Card Reference). SKE50335.

<16> CBA Research Rep 48: Archaeol in Kent, 1982, 28-9 (AF Clarke) (OS Card Reference). SKE38916.

<17> Kent Archaeol Rev 86, Winter 1986, 131 (DS Cousins) (OS Card Reference). SKE45896.

<18> English Heritage, Register of Scheduled Monuments (Scheduling record). SKE16191.