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Summary

SPELLOW HILLS LONG BARROW

Full description

Spellow Hills long barrow, or Hills of the Slain, is badly mutilated by antiquarian investigations of the nineteenth century, and was thus previously mistaken for a group of round barrows. {1}{2}{3}{4}

It is situated on the southern slope above and to the west of the A16 Alford-Spilsby road. It is aligned sse-nnw and is roughly trapezoidal in shape, measuring approx 55m long by 12m wide, the max height being 2.1m. Material for the mound would have been quarried from an encircling causewayed ditch. This is not visible but is thought to survive buried beneath the present ground surface. No written account of the antiquarian investigations has survived other than a reference in White's Lincolnshire Directory of 1882 which refers to a quantity of human bones having been discovered there. The barrow is known to have had its present appearance when it was documented by stukeley in the 18th century. Two trenches have been cut into the mound from the north-east but neither reach the original ground surface, or the south-west side of the earthwork. Inroads into the mound have also been made at two points on the north-east flank, in the centre and at the southern end of the mound, and there has been quarrying into the western flank from the north-west. Oral tradition has preserved various accounts of the origins and use of the barrow, one of which suggests that an intrusive burial of as date was discovered prior to 1855. This, together with another one close by form part of a group of long barrows associated with the valley of the River Lymn. {5}

Spellow hills is situated on the tip of a low spur at the head of the valley, south facing, at 90m od, with the long axis traversing the contours, and aligned south-south-east to north-north-west. It is an elliptical-shaped mound, much mutilated. The north end has been truncated by ploughing (by about 12m). The barrow survives to a height of 2.1m at the south end. The quarry ditch is discernible as soilmarks on aerial photographs, and appears to be of elongated oval form with a full-enclosing ditch plan. {6}

The name 'Spellow Hills' is derived from the Old English 'spel' and 'hlaw' or 'haugr' which means 'assembly mound'. The earliest recorded instance of the name is in the early twelfth century. The barrow lies just below the crest of a gentle rise 200m to the west of the A16 which marks the boundary with Dalby parish. The land rises gently to a point 1.2km north where the wapentakes of Hill, Calcewath and Candleshoe and the parishes of Langton, Driby, Ulceby and Dalby meet (TF 406 733). From here there is an extensive view in all directions. It seems highly likely that this was a meeting place for the people from all three wapentakes rather than that of a single unit. {8}

<1> HBMC, AM 7, SAM 72 (Scheduling Record). SLI4225.

<2> C.W. Phillips, 1934, 'The Present State of Archaeology in Lincolnshire: Part 1' in the Archaeological Journal, VOL89, P176, 193-6 (Article in Serial). SLI322.

<3> William White, 1882, History, Gazetteer and Directory of Lincolnshire - Fourth Edition, P346 (Bibliographic Reference). SLI888.

<4> OS CARD INDEX, TF 47 SW:1,1964, KF (Index). SLI2592.

<5> ENGLISH HERITAGE, 1996, SCHEDULING DOCUMENT 27856, MPP 23 (Scheduling Record). SLI4428.

<6> Paul Everson, 1975-90, RCHM, 2940/30,1980, (Aerial Photograph). SLI196.

<7> Dilwyn Jones, 1998, Gazetteer of Neolithic Elongated Enclosures and Extant Long Barrows in (Historic) Lincolnshire, NO 11 (Index). SLI2302.

<8> Aliki Pantos, 2000, Lincolnshire Assembly-Places, No 15 (Unpublished Document). SLI6302.

Monument Types

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

Associated Finds

• (Early Neolithic to Late Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)

Associated Events

• Excavation of barrow, 1882

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument

Sources and further reading

Related records

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