A monumental undertaking: Unravelling the long and complex story of Crickley Hill’s Long Mound

Newly published research has illuminated the evolution of an enigmatic monument at Crickley Hill, near Cheltenham in Gloucestershire. Its role as a religious or ceremonial complex can be traced back to the Neolithic period, but it continued to be used and rebuilt numerous times over the next 3,000 years, and perhaps even longer, as Steve Vaughan reports.

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Current Archaeology

March 5, 2025

Crickley Hill, on the edge of the Cotswolds, is famous for its spectacular views over the Severn Valley, as well as the well-preserved remains of an Iron Age hillfort that was built there c.600-500 BC. As 25 years of excavations led by Professor Philip Dixon of Nottingham University have demonstrated, however, the site’s story stretches back much further (see CA 110 and 200). Beginning in 1969, these investigations revealed that the hilltop had been settled many times throughout prehistory – and this occupation had begun some 4,000 years before the Iron Age ramparts rose. Excavating at Crickley Hill, Gloucestershire, in 1984. The remains of a stone circle can be seen in the foreground

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