Monument record 0078200000 - THORNBOROUGH MOUNDS

Plan Form - Circular.
Scheduled: SAM 27138. 2 large bowl barrows. East barrow 4m high, 27.4m diameter. 200m ENE of Thornborough Bridge (B8).
West barrow 4.8m high, 36.5m diameter (in c.1913)(B5).
Both barrows opened 1839 & 1840; 1 had been previously robbed, other had rich cremation burial. Roman roads from Towcester, Irchester & Magiovinium meet nearby (B8).
Account of excavations in 1840 (B2).
NGR to site (B5).
APs (B11-13).
Sketch plan of medieval/post-medieval cultivation patterns surrounding mounds (B14).

Two barrows of Roman date are visible on historic aerial photographs and remote sensing data as extant earthworks and were mapped as part of the North Buckinghamshire Aerial Investigation and Mapping project (EBC18304). Located approximately 230m east of Thornborough Bridge and centred at SP 73135 33252. Two prominent mounds are visible, in a field of medieval ridge and earthworks, measuring 40m and 30m across. A further earthwork, which has been affected by medieval ploughing, but is still visible on lidar visualisations, can be seen to the west of them both. It measures approximately 15m across and appears to be lower at the centre. The two barrows are Scheduled. (15-19)



(SP 73113324, 73183325) Thornborough Mounds (NAT) Tumuli (R) (B20).
Two Roman barrows at Thornborough were excavated by the Duke of Buckingham in 1839. One barrow measuring, diameter 156 feet, height 25 feet, contained a cremation burial in a square-bodied glass jug on a limestone platform, accompanied by: a second glass jug and handle of a third; three samian vessels and a poppy-head beaker; two jugs, a patera, a dish and a lamp all of bronze. Also a lozenge-shaped piece of gold, since lost. A probable late second century date was given for the burial. Finds in Cambridge University Museum. The second barrow which had previously been robbed, only contained some disturbed stones (B3).
Thornborough Mounds: name verified. Two barrows (A & B) situated on gentle E rising ground under pasture. A - (SP 73113324) measures about 43.0m SW-NE by about 38.0m transversly, and is 3.5m high. B- (SP 73183325) measures approximately 37.0m in overall diameter and is 4.0m high. The tops and slopes of both barrows have a smoothed outline consistent with local knowledge that both were ploughed over regularly many years ago. Re-surveyed at 1:2500 (B21).

This record includes National Record of the Historic Environment Information provided by Historic England on 4 June 2025 licensed under the Open Government Licence.