Farmer builds first Neolithic-style burial chamber in Britain for 5,000 years

[Neil]

By Jonathan O'Callaghan

Human remains are set to be placed in a Neolithic-style burial chamber in Britain - the first to be built in the country for 5,000 years.

Tim Daw, 52, has almost completed his long barrow burial mound, which will eventually hold the remains of thousands of people.

Some 40 people have already reserved a £1,000 ($1,680) spot in the 165 ft (50 metre) long structure, in Daw’s field near All Cannings, Wiltshire, and it is set to be completed this summer.

A farmer in Wiltshire is building the first long barrow to be seen in Britain for 5,000 years (pictured), a type of Neolithic burial mound that is designed to hold thousands of dead people. The first human remains to be buried in such a tomb since 3,000 BC could be placed there in a few weeks when Tim Daw's project is complete

The hollow mound, filled with stone chambers and niches, will be non-religious, but due to its alignment to the solstice sunrise and sunset, has attracted interest from the Pagan community.

'There’s been lots of interest in it, and already 40 people have reserved a niche inside for their or their loved one’s ashes,' said Daw.

'Some of those are people who have paid for their own ashes to be placed inside, while others already have their loved one’s ashes and said they had not been able to find anywhere they thought was suitable to place them until they heard about this.

'We’ve completed the frontage and a few of the niches inside to let people get a feel for what it will be like, and when it is completed in August, there will be urns going in there immediately.

'It’s gone really well. I think it looks superb. Everyone who’s seen it says it is really nice, and it is wonderful to get such positive comments from people.

'It is a very large structure in what is a really sensitive landscape, but everybody has been very positive, which is great. It’s rather touching that people are saying such nice things about it.'

Daw's neolithic-style tomb will be based near his farm in All Cannings, Wiltshire. His 220-acre farm lies in the middle of Wiltshire's 'crop circle country', where mysterious patterns appear in fields of crops overnight. Theories as to how they occur range from UFO landings to over-zealous cider drinkers

WILTSHIRE AND ITS NEOLITHIC BURIAL CHAMBERS
Wiltshire is strewn with Neolithic burial mounds, or barrows, dating back to the new stone age period, beginning about 10,200 BC and ending between 4,500 and 2,000 BC.

They were constructed using vast sarsen stones or wooden posts and then covered with mud, soil and grass.

West Kennet Long Barrow, six miles from Daw's barrow at All Cannings, is one of the largest, measuring 100 metres (330 feet) long. Excavations suggest work began on the tomb, which has five sarsen stone chambers, in 3,600 BC - some 400 years before Stonehenge was begun.
Silbury Hill, pictured, dates back to the Neolithic period but mystery still surrounds its original purpose

East Kennet Long Barrow is the largest in Britain, a wedge-shaped burial chamber measuring 106 metres (348 feet) long. It is believed to have been open for several centuries before being sealed up.
Lanhill Long Barrow, near Chippenham, is a late Neolithic long barrow which was found to contain the remains of several people from the same family, ranging in age from 12 months to 60 years.
Beckhampton Long Barrow, near Avebury, is one of the oldest known barrows in the country, dating back to around 3,200 BC. Its two ends have been ploughed away and destroyed, but the remains of one of the Beaker folk, migrants into Britain in 2,500 BC who were notable for the beaker shape of their pottery, have been found in the barrow.

Silbury Hill, a vast chalk mound 16 miles (26 kilometres) from Stonehenge, is not strictly a barrow but is a man-made mound from the same, Neolithic period and can be seen from many of the barrows that post-date it. Despite various attempts to excavate it over the years, and despite a common assumption over the years that it must be a burial mound, its purpose is still a mystery.
source: Wiltshire Web
..Daw (pictured), 52, said the project to recreate the resting place of our ancestors for the 21st century has proved a success, with 40 people signing up to be buried here at £1,000 ($1,680) each so far. He said it is 'quite a large' Neolithic long barrow for the Wiltshire countryside


There will be four separate chambers inside the burial mound, each with shelves containing lockable individual ‘niches’, that can be secured for a family.

The first phase will consist of four chambers, each with 250 individual slots, with a second phase planned for a further three chambers.

It has been positioned to allow the midwinter sunrise to shine directly down the length of the tomb.

The design is based on the famous long barrow at West Kennet, near Silbury Hill, a few miles from his farm, the largest man-made mound in Europe.
Inside the burial mound chamber the ashes of today's dead will be placed in special niches (shown). After winning permission for the new long barrow in a landscape dotted with ancient monuments construction work began at the start of the year, and is set to be finished by August
A further expansion of the burial mound is tentatively planned to the barrow for a couple of years' time after the current construction is finished (pictured). 'There's been lots of interest in it, and already 40 people have reserved a niche inside for their or their loved one's ashes,' said Daw

Here can be seen the interior of the burial mound. 'Some of those are people who have paid for their own ashes to be placed inside,' said Daw, 'while others already have their loved one's ashes and said they had not been able to find anywhere they thought was suitable to place them until they heard about this.'
Daw added: “We’ll have to keep the inside secure as other people’s remains will be in there too, but the idea is that it will be a place for families to come.

'They’ll be able to sit and contemplate on the mound.'

Daw's burial mound lies in the Marlborough Downs, near Stonehenge and Avebury stone circles.

His 220-acre farm lies in the middle of Wiltshire's 'crop circle country', where mysterious patterns appear in fields of crops overnight.
Theories as to how they occur range from UFO landings to over-zealous cider-drinking, but they draw large crowds each summer.

[dances with badgers]

that will confuse  archies in the future  lol

[celticspikey]

By Jonathan O'Callaghan

Human remains are set to be placed in a Neolithic-style burial chamber in Britain - the first to be built in the country for 5,000 years.

Tim Daw, 52, has almost completed his long barrow burial mound, which will eventually hold the remains of thousands of people.

Some 40 people have already reserved a £1,000 ($1,680) spot in the 165 ft (50 metre) long structure, in Daw’s field near All Cannings, Wiltshire, and it is set to be completed this summer.

A farmer in Wiltshire is building the first long barrow to be seen in Britain for 5,000 years (pictured), a type of Neolithic burial mound that is designed to hold thousands of dead people. The first human remains to be buried in such a tomb since 3,000 BC could be placed there in a few weeks when Tim Daw's project is complete

The hollow mound, filled with stone chambers and niches, will be non-religious, but due to its alignment to the solstice sunrise and sunset, has attracted interest from the Pagan community.

'There’s been lots of interest in it, and already 40 people have reserved a niche inside for their or their loved one’s ashes,' said Daw.

'Some of those are people who have paid for their own ashes to be placed inside, while others already have their loved one’s ashes and said they had not been able to find anywhere they thought was suitable to place them until they heard about this.

'We’ve completed the frontage and a few of the niches inside to let people get a feel for what it will be like, and when it is completed in August, there will be urns going in there immediately.

'It’s gone really well. I think it looks superb. Everyone who’s seen it says it is really nice, and it is wonderful to get such positive comments from people.

'It is a very large structure in what is a really sensitive landscape, but everybody has been very positive, which is great. It’s rather touching that people are saying such nice things about it.'

Daw's neolithic-style tomb will be based near his farm in All Cannings, Wiltshire. His 220-acre farm lies in the middle of Wiltshire's 'crop circle country', where mysterious patterns appear in fields of crops overnight. Theories as to how they occur range from UFO landings to over-zealous cider drinkers

WILTSHIRE AND ITS NEOLITHIC BURIAL CHAMBERS
Wiltshire is strewn with Neolithic burial mounds, or barrows, dating back to the new stone age period, beginning about 10,200 BC and ending between 4,500 and 2,000 BC.

They were constructed using vast sarsen stones or wooden posts and then covered with mud, soil and grass.

West Kennet Long Barrow, six miles from Daw's barrow at All Cannings, is one of the largest, measuring 100 metres (330 feet) long. Excavations suggest work began on the tomb, which has five sarsen stone chambers, in 3,600 BC - some 400 years before Stonehenge was begun.
Silbury Hill, pictured, dates back to the Neolithic period but mystery still surrounds its original purpose

East Kennet Long Barrow is the largest in Britain, a wedge-shaped burial chamber measuring 106 metres (348 feet) long. It is believed to have been open for several centuries before being sealed up.
Lanhill Long Barrow, near Chippenham, is a late Neolithic long barrow which was found to contain the remains of several people from the same family, ranging in age from 12 months to 60 years.
Beckhampton Long Barrow, near Avebury, is one of the oldest known barrows in the country, dating back to around 3,200 BC. Its two ends have been ploughed away and destroyed, but the remains of one of the Beaker folk, migrants into Britain in 2,500 BC who were notable for the beaker shape of their pottery, have been found in the barrow.

Silbury Hill, a vast chalk mound 16 miles (26 kilometres) from Stonehenge, is not strictly a barrow but is a man-made mound from the same, Neolithic period and can be seen from many of the barrows that post-date it. Despite various attempts to excavate it over the years, and despite a common assumption over the years that it must be a burial mound, its purpose is still a mystery.
source: Wiltshire Web
..Daw (pictured), 52, said the project to recreate the resting place of our ancestors for the 21st century has proved a success, with 40 people signing up to be buried here at £1,000 ($1,680) each so far. He said it is 'quite a large' Neolithic long barrow for the Wiltshire countryside


There will be four separate chambers inside the burial mound, each with shelves containing lockable individual ‘niches’, that can be secured for a family.

The first phase will consist of four chambers, each with 250 individual slots, with a second phase planned for a further three chambers.

It has been positioned to allow the midwinter sunrise to shine directly down the length of the tomb.

The design is based on the famous long barrow at West Kennet, near Silbury Hill, a few miles from his farm, the largest man-made mound in Europe.
Inside the burial mound chamber the ashes of today's dead will be placed in special niches (shown). After winning permission for the new long barrow in a landscape dotted with ancient monuments construction work began at the start of the year, and is set to be finished by August
A further expansion of the burial mound is tentatively planned to the barrow for a couple of years' time after the current construction is finished (pictured). 'There's been lots of interest in it, and already 40 people have reserved a niche inside for their or their loved one's ashes,' said Daw

Here can be seen the interior of the burial mound. 'Some of those are people who have paid for their own ashes to be placed inside,' said Daw, 'while others already have their loved one's ashes and said they had not been able to find anywhere they thought was suitable to place them until they heard about this.'
Daw added: “We’ll have to keep the inside secure as other people’s remains will be in there too, but the idea is that it will be a place for families to come.

'They’ll be able to sit and contemplate on the mound.'

Daw's burial mound lies in the Marlborough Downs, near Stonehenge and Avebury stone circles.

His 220-acre farm lies in the middle of Wiltshire's 'crop circle country', where mysterious patterns appear in fields of crops overnight.
Theories as to how they occur range from UFO landings to over-zealous cider-drinking, but they draw large crowds each summer.

Good read Neil, great bit of engineering I'm sure, will be a bit dark thou with no electric and I bet he doesn't get permission for a sky dish