Overview
Uley Long Barrow, or Hetty Pegler's Tump, is a stone-chambered Neolithic tomb built before 3000 BC and reused for a Roman burial. Excavation found fifteen people; later repairs and the loss or reburial of their bones record changing treatment of both monument and dead.
Who made it and when
An early farming community built the gallery grave before 3000 BC. Its builders are unknown; the later name comes from Hester Pegler, wife of seventeenth-century landowner Henry Pegler, rather than anyone buried in the mound.
How it was made and used
A central stone passage served two chambers on each side and an end chamber beneath a mound held by dry-stone facing. Successive burials placed community members together, and somebody added a separate burial above a chamber in Roman times.
What was found
The 1821 excavation recovered fifteen skeletons; John Thurnam dug again in 1854. Two skulls went to Guy's Hospital and most other bones were probably reburied at Uley church, while repairs followed in 1871, 1891 and 1906.
What remains
The thirty-seven-metre mound, passage and five chambers remain accessible after safety work and reopening in 2011. Restoration has stabilised the stonework, although excavation altered the chamber deposits and removed most human remains.
Why it mattered
Uley makes communal burial physically understandable and shows later generations repeatedly renaming, opening and repairing a prehistoric place. The Roman interment proves that its power as a burial landmark lasted thousands of years beyond its builders.
History checked 16 August 2026 against the named sources below.
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