West Kennet
Location
Wiltshire, England.
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Wet Kennet long-barrow - (Chambered Long-barrow)
.Description - The oldest long-barrow in Britain. The mound is 350 ft long and varies in width from 75 ft at the east end and 50 ft at the west end, where it terminates in a sepulchre approx 35 ft wide, 43 ft long and 8 ft high. The entrance was blocked by several large stones, one of which weighs 20 tons. (9).
This impressive Neolithic tomb is situated on a prominent chalk ridge near Silbury Hill and not far from Avebury. The county of Wiltshire alone contains 148 out of 260 of Britain's long barrows, and this is one of Britains largest. In many parts of Europe this type of tomb has been given giants' names, as a reminder of their size and presence and one of their puzzling aspects is that they are very long, for no apparent reason.
Note - The length of the passage is reminiscent of other astronomically orientated passages (i.e. The Boyne valley passage mounds in Ireland, and the passages of the 4th-5th dynasty pyramids in Egypt), and it is reasonable to speculate that the passage may have been originally designed so as to receive, for example, sunlight on a particular day of the year.
West Kennet is more than 100m (320ft) long and 2.4m (8ft) high and at the left end is a row of large, upright sarsen stones which were repositioned in 1956. Behind these is the passage-grave which occupies only 1/8 of the barrow's length and runs back into the mound about 10m (33ft). Entering the tomb beyond the forecourt there are two burial chambers either side and a larger polygonal one, 2.3m (7.5ft) high, at the end of the passage.
The construction of West Kennet commenced about 3,600 BC, which is some
400 years before the first stage of Stonehenge. In the past the mound has
been damaged by indiscriminate digging, but scientific excavations in 1859
and 1955-56 found a total of 46 burials, ranging from babies to old
people. The latest excavations also revealed that the side chambers occur
inside an exact isosceles triangle, whose height is twice the length of
its base. It is thought that this tomb was in use for as long as 1,000
years and at the end of this period the passage and chamber were filled to
the roof by the Beaker people with earth and stones, among which were
found pieces of pottery, bone tools, and beads.
Alignments - A local legend tells how this tomb is visited on Midsummer Day by a ghostly priest and a large white hound, so that although the passage is actually aligned true east, it would be interesting to see what light actually reaches the far end of the passage and when.
References
-9). Rene Noorbergen. Secrets of the Lost Races. New English Library. 1977.