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Heston Brake Long Barrow is in Portskewett, Monmouthshire, Prehistoric Wales Neolithic Burials.
Proceedings of the Clifton Antiquarian Club Volume 2 Heston Brake. The Chambered Tumulus at Heston Brake [Map], Monmouthshire. By the Rev William Bagnall-Oakeley, M.A. (Read August 22nd 1888.1)
Note 1. A paper on this and other "rude stone monuments" in South Wales, from which the above is extracted, was read at a meeting of the Monmouthshire and Cacrleon Antiquarian Association, at which the President, Secretary, and some of the members of the Clifton Antiquarian Club were present by invitation. A. E. H
An Account of Some of the Rude Stone Monuments and Ancient Burial Mounds in Monmouthshire. Plate VIII . At Heston Brake near Portskewitt Station is a chambered grave [Heston Brake Long Barrow [Map]], which was originally placed upon natural mound, and then covered with earth; most of this earth had been removed, and the largest stones stood exposed . The situation is marked in the Ordnance Map as the Rough Grounds, and in Omerod's Strigulensia it is described as a mound, called Heston Brake, raised artificially on the edge of a dingle, and having a seeming elevation very much increased by natural slopes towards the North East . It has 66 a flat summit, and commands a view of the Severn towards Aust, and is covered with a venerable shade of Oaks, and Yew Trees . In the centre of this summit is a space about 27ft . long by 9ft . wide, surrounded originally as it seems by 13 wide upright stones, now time-worn, mossed over, or matted with ivy . One is at the East end, two at the West, and three remain at each side, with spaces for the four which have been removed . Unless it is a sepulchral memorial, connected with the massacre of Harold's servants by Caradoc in 1065, no conjecture as to its object can be offered." The mound now presents a very different appearance to what it did in Mr. Omerod's time, and there is no doubt that it is entirely unconnected with the massacre above alluded to, and that it is the burial chamber of some of the ancient inhabitants of the country .
Long Barrows of the Cotswolds. Heston Brake Long Barrow [Map]
Monmouthshire, 30 S.E. Parish of Portskewett. 63 *.
Latitude 51° 35' 38". Longitude z° 42' 50". Height above O.D. 100 feet.
This chambered Long Barrow occupies the summit of a remarkable natural knoll, two thirds of a mile N.W. of Blackrock, the nearest point of the Severn estuary. The site is a striking one and commands a fine view over the shores on both sides. The visible remains consist of a double row or gallery of upright stones; but they are so thickly overgrown with brambles that only those at the two ends of the gallery can be seen. There are faint but distinct traces of a mound or cairn, which was certainly 70 feet in length and probably longer. The mound has suffered considerably from ploughing which has encroached upon it up the hill and thereby caused it to waste away on ail sides. On the north side of the knoll this ploughing has so steepened the slope that a small stony declivity has formed, now overgrown with thorns and briars. At the west end of the knoll (probably beyond the limits of the original barrow) are piles of stones, the remains possibly of the cairn, scattered and then re-collected and thrown here when the field was under cultivation. It is these stones which are marked on the map under the (wrong) impression that they are structurally connected with the "tumulus," which in their present position can hardly be correct.