Windmill Tump — Rodmarton Long Barrow

Windmill Tump, also called Rodmarton Long Barrow, was built in the early Neolithic, broadly between 4000 and 3500 BC. Its elongated mound of small stones enclosed several burial chambers. An impressive false entrance at the eastern forecourt did not provide access to the interior; the actual chambers were entered separately, including through a short passage from the side. Excavation in the late nineteenth century and in 1939 recovered human skeletons and flint arrowheads. Roman pottery and coins demonstrate later activity at the site, although they do not by themselves establish the purpose of every visit. Storms in 1987 uprooted trees and exposed a previously unrecognised chamber, a capstone and a child’s bones. These discoveries show how much can remain concealed even within a known monument. The surviving mound combines evidence of communal burial, later disturbance and modern investigation. Period: Early Neolithic; approximately 4000–3500 BC Grid reference: ST 93255 97302 Protection: Scheduled monument Source: Historic England, https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1008198 (Open Government Licence). © Historic England 2026. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Banner photo: "Windmill Tump viewed from the North" by Ethan Doyle White, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.