Would YOU want a Bronze Age burial? ‘Deeply spiritual’ ancient stone burial mounds are having a modern revival – with some Brits paying thousands to have their ashes stored underground
Thousands of years ago, elite Britons were buried in stone structures covered by enormous mounds of earth known as burial mounds.
Now this ‘deeply spiritual’ ancient funeral tradition is experiencing a revival – and it could be your final resting place if you have thousands of pounds to spare.
A series of new burial mounds are being built in Britain, modeled on the original Bronze Age versions.
From the outside they look like small grass-covered hills, but inside there are rows and rows of niches in stone walls.
This is where urns containing the ashes are kept, along with small souvenirs, photos and even drinks, just as you would in a coffin.
From the outside, burial mounds look like small grassy mounds, but inside there are rows and rows of niches in stone walls, containing urns containing cremated remains. This cross section shows the original barrows in Wiltshire
AW Lymn funeral home has been given the green light to build a new burial mound just outside Calverton in Nottinghamshire
In the area of the stone barrows, urns containing people’s ashes are stored in separate ‘niches’, similar to shelves
On certain days, families can visit the ashes of their loved one and even bring a picnic to eat in the barrow grounds.
AW Lymn funeral home has just been given the green light to build a new burial mound just outside the village of Calverton in Nottinghamshire.
Concept images show three wheelbarrows at the George’s Lane site, including two without roofs.
The company aims to have the new wheelbarrows open to the public by next spring.
According to Pete Clarson, commercial director at AW Lymn, burial mounds are ‘more than a place to bury ashes’.
‘The burial mounds provide an alternative to a burial, yet provide a place where the bereaved can go to understand their grief, accept their loss and celebrate a life,’ he told MailOnline.
‘Situated in a beautiful and tranquil setting, they form a special space made of natural materials where people can go and spend time in memory of their loved one.’
The original burial mounds date from the Early Neolithic to the Middle Bronze Age, around 4000 BC to 1400 BC.
These impressive earthen mounds were built over stone structures that functioned as collective graves, although traditionally built for the social elite.
One of the most famous examples is Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, which has about twenty barrows, which were reserved for people who owned objects that suggested they had wealth or prestige.
The first modern barrow – All Cannings, near Marlborough in Wilshire – opened in 2015. Since then, further barrow sites have sprung up in Cambridgeshire, Dorset, Shropshire and Oxfordshire.
The practice of building the great tomb to store the remains of the dead dates back more than 5,000 years. Pictured: The interior of the Wiltshire barrow
Concept images show three wheelbarrows at the new site on George’s Lane, Calverton in Nottinghamshire
AW Lymn funeral home hopes to have its new location in Nottinghamshire open next spring
Pictured are some original barrows at the historic Sutton Hoo site in Suffolk, home to Anglo-Saxon cemeteries
Only in the past decade have new burial mounds been built in Britain, paying tribute to the original versions.
The first – All Cannings, near Marlborough in Wilshire – opened in 2015, becoming the first long barrow in Britain for thousands of years.
It was built on land owned by Wiltshire farmer Tim Daw, who said all the alcoves or ‘alcoves’ were reserved for the first few years.
“We occasionally get one back for resale,” he told MailOnline.
‘The niches cost £400 for a single urn space and up to £1,400 for a niche that could hold five or six urns.’
Since All Cannings opened, further barrow locations have sprung up in Cambridgeshire, Dorset, Shropshire and Oxfordshire.
In addition to the new site in Nottinghamshire, another is planned on farmland near Milton Keynes in Weston Underwood, Buckinghamshire.
A company called Sacred Stones owns two sites: Willow Row in Cambridgeshire and Soulton Long Barrow in Shropshire.
The cost of storing an urn at the sites ranges from £825 for a one-year lease to £2,145 for a 99-year lease.
Sacred Stones CEO Toby Angel said families tend to buy an alcove before they actually need it. He suggested that “Britons talk about the last event of life” and prepare together with their families.
‘We advise everyone to record their wishes in a will and of course all relevant documentation is kept securely in one place,’ he told MailOnline.
“I believe people need and appreciate a space that provides physical and emotional safety, especially as they come to terms with grief.
‘The Barrow offers this sanctuary without the shadow or influence of any faith, and yet they are deeply spiritual places.’
Construction of the first modern wheelbarrow – All Cannings, near Marlborough in Wilshire, in 2014
The original barrows were built by hand thousands of years ago using natural limestone, lime mortar and traditional techniques
Burial mounds simply add to the ever-growing list of options for how human bodies can be put to rest.
Another method that is also becoming popular is water cremations, also called alkaline hydrolysis – where the corpse is decomposed in a stream of water and alkaline chemicals.
The liquid, known as ‘effluent’, can end up in the drain along with other waste water and bones, which can be ground into ash for the relatives to take home.
Another method is plastination – which uses a chemical process to preserve tissues, organs and entire bodies for medical purposes and public display.
Yet another option is to donate your corpse to a “body farm,” an open-air laboratory where scientists study how human carcasses affect plants as they rot.