Shadowmark Maps › LiDAR sites › West Kennet Long Barrow

West Kennet Long Barrow in LiDAR

West Kennet Long Barrow is a Neolithic long barrow in Wiltshire. Here it is in the Environment Agency's 1 m LiDAR, shaded so the shape of the ground stands out. Look for a long wedge-shaped mound about 104m long, broader at its east end, with a quarry ditch along each side.

What you can see

• The wedge-shaped mound is 104m long, up to 25m wide and up to 3.2m high. (Historic England)
• Five small chambers open off a 12m passage at the broader east end of the mound. (Historic England)
• Quarry ditches about 100m long and 5m wide flank the mound to the north and south and still show as earthworks. (Historic England)
• The barrow looks towards Silbury Hill, about 1km to the north-west. (Historic England)

Visiting

English Heritage says entry is free and the barrow is open any reasonable time during daylight hours, a half-mile uphill walk from the A4 lay-by. (English Heritage)

Official record: Historic England list entry 1010628: West Kennet long barrow, 800m south-east of Silbury Hill.

Look, don't detect or dig

West Kennet Long Barrow is a Scheduled Monument, protected by law because it's of national importance. In England it's a criminal offence to use a metal detector on a Scheduled Monument without Historic England's written consent, and to remove any object of archaeological or historical interest found with one. Damaging a scheduled monument is an offence too, and works on one, including digging, need Scheduled Monument Consent first. More on Scheduled Monuments and the rules.

Keep to paths and open access land, and follow the Countryside Code.

More sites in LiDAR

Avebury · Fyfield Down · Barbury Castle · Wayland's Smithy · all sites