Are you aware that within the parish we have a collection of Bronze Age burial sites, including a rare and exceptionally well preserved disc barrow dating to the period 1400-1200BC, which was once described as the finest disc barrow in Hampshire'
In the field opposite the Littleton Stores can be found both the disc
barrow (one of only 250 known in the whole country) and one, possibly two, bowl barrows,
in which would have been buried the (usually cremated) remains of individuals of high
status together with pottery vessels, tools and personal ornaments. There are two other
bowl barrows in the north of the parish.
The field was awarded to the church warden and overseers of the parish under the Littleton Inclosure Act of 1843, as a place of exercise and recreation for the inhabitants of the parish and is now held in perpetual trust by the Parish Council. In 1972 the Parish Council placed the land under the guardianship of English Heritage, who contribute towards and advise the Council on the protection and maintenance of the monument.
In August 1994, a four ton Sarsen stone was placed in the field containing the barrows. This stone had been found in a field opposite Lainston near Deane Down Drove but had been moved to Chilcombe in about 1906. the HCC Museum Service saved it from being buried under the M3 and agreed that it should be returned to Littletonn.
Thanks are due to the Littleton Local History Group for their permission to use this text.