Monument MPM1694 - Burials, near former Naval Telegraph Portsdown Hill

Twelve skeletons, probably Saxon, removed from a prehistoric barrow on Portsdown Hill in 1816. The burials were discovered when the barrow was broken into by labourers quarrying chalk. The site probably consisted of a Neolithic long barrow and secondary Saxon cemetery.

Twelve human skeletons, probably Saxon, removed from a barrow on Portsdown Hill broken into by labourers quarrying chalk in September 1816. The barrow, probably a Neolithic long barrow, was said to be about 100ft long (east west), 20ft wide and 6ft high. It was located near the Naval Telegraph which formerly stood on Portsdown Hill.

According to the local newspapers, the Hampshire Chronicle and the Hampshire Telegraph, the skeletons were in good condition, and had been interred in graves positioned about 3ft apart, some containing more than one burial. The graves were in a 'regular direction', the heads to the west. The tip of an iron weapon (reported as the tip of a 'pike') was embedded about 3 inches in one of the skulls. The newspapers reported the number of skeletons to be ten or eleven. [1, 2]

Henry Slight reported a total of twelve skeletons having been found in his 'Account of the Tumulus, or Barrow lately opened on Portsdown Hill; an Examination of the various Opinions advanced respecting it, and an Attempt to fix the precise Epoch of its formation' published in London in 1816. According to Slight, some of the burials were deposited in cists, while others were placed on the surface of the chalk and covered with soil. One burial had been covered with loose flags. The 'iron head of a spear' was imbedded in the skull. [3]

The site described by the 19th century sources is probably that of a Neolithic long barrow and secondary Saxon cemetery, the Saxon burials clustered in and around the barrow. Two Saxon inhumation burials revealed during excavations at the George Inn site in 1966 may have belonged to the same cemetery (see MPM126). Similar burial sites have been found at Southwick Hill Crossroads (see MPM229) and Bevis Grave (see MPM110) on Portsdown, and Snell's Corner, Horndean. [3]

An approximate location has been added to the HER, as the exact site is unclear. A barrow marked on the 1952 Ordnance Survey map (see MPM1695) is within the general area of the Naval Telegraph and chalk pits, but it is not possible to determine whether this is the same barrow referred to by the newspaper articles and Slight's account. It is likely that the barrow broken into by workmen in 1816 was destroyed.

<1> Hampshire Chronicle, 1816, Hampshire Chronicle (Bibliographic reference). SPM341.

<2> Hampshire Telegraph, 1816, Hampshire Telegraph (Bibliographic reference). SPM346.

<3> Bradley, R, Lewis, E, 1969, Excavations at the George Inn, Portsdown Hill, Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club and Archaeological Society Volume XXV for 1968, p27-50 (Bibliographic reference). SPM336.