Entrance Portal Rodmarton Long Barrow - geograph

Windmill Tump, also known as Rodmarton Chambered Tomb, is a

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

burial site, a stone

tumulus A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones buil ...

or barrow. It is a mound covering the site of graves, in the form of a

cairn A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehis ...

, located in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

. It lies to the west of the village of Rodmarton, south of the road between Cherington and Tarlton. There are trees growing on the site.

Description

It is approximately wide and long, and is oriented from east to west. The construction consists of approximately 5,000 tons of stone, under a mound. The only portion of the stones that can still be seen is a fake entrance, which lies at the eastern side of the mound. The site is managed by Gloucestershire County Council, under the guardianship of

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

Excavations

Digging Digging, also referred to as excavation, is the process of using some implement such as claws, hands, manual tools or heavy equipment, to remove material from a solid surface, usually soil, sand or rock on the surface of Earth. Digging is actuall ...

took place in 1863, and again in 1939, after which the mound was restored. The site contains two tombs, behind the false entrance, with passageways to the north and south. The tombs contained the remains of ten adults and three children. Animal remains were also uncovered, including boar tusks, horses teeth and calf jawbones. Two tombstones, were unearthed in the first dig, and these are approximately in height, and a third and larger stone was leaning against them, seemingly placed in that position. It was noted at the time that this specific arrangement was similar to

cromlech A cromlech (sometimes also spelled "cromleh" or "cromlêh"; cf Welsh ''crom'', "bent"; ''llech'', "slate") is a megalithic construction made of large stone blocks. The word applies to two different megalithic forms in English, the first being an ...

mounds in

Kilkenny Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilken ...

, Ireland, and in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

. The third stone may have been placed in this manner for use in sacrifices. Evidence of structured walls to support the cairn were also discovered. with a double-thickness wall surrounding the entire structure, and further walls providing strength in a transverse direction.

Etymology

There is no evidence that a windmill ever existed in the location; instead, one possible etymology derives from the word ''Nant'' from ''Nantoush'', meaning "The diffuser of fire or light", and the English word ''win'' which has similar meaning.

References

External links

Page at English Heritage

Details of excavations and references: English Heritage
{{coord, 51.6744, -2.0989, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title History of Gloucestershire Barrows in England English Heritage sites in Gloucestershire