A Re-examination of the Therfield Heath Long Barrow, Royston, Hertfordshire

Extract

Therfield heath, the expanse of chalk downland on the west side of Royston, has long enjoyed a local fame for the number of barrows and other antiquities which diversify its surface. On the north side it is bounded by the Icknield Way and so is well placed on the corridor between Wessex and East Anglia.

By far the most important monument on the Heath is a small long barrow notable as the only example known in East Anglia, its nearest neighbours being the destroyed Dunstable barrow 25 miles to the west, and, further still, the Churn barrow west of the Thames near the Goring Gap.

The outward form of the barrow is well-preserved (fig. 1, plan 1), exhibiting the typical club-shaped plan, the broader and higher end to the east. It is 110 feet long, 56 feet wide and 6 feet high at the east end, and 25 feet wide and 2 feet wide at the west. The Ordnance Survey references are Herts 6 inch 4 NE and 25 inch 4, 8. The latitude is 52°2′35″ and the longitude 0° 2′ 40″ w. The height above sea level is 385 feet.

It is unfortunate that the late E. B. Nunn of Royston, who opened most of the barrows on the Heath, completely gutted the interior of this long barrow. By the courtesy of Dr W. M. Palmer, M.A., M.D., F.S.A. I am able to publish the following extract from Nunn's manuscript describing his operations here eighty years ago. Fig. 2 is a reproduction of the sketch which illustrates his account.