Brane Barrow

Brane Barrow, also known as Chapel Euny Barrow, is a Neolithic entrance grave near the hamlet of Brane in Cornwall, England. It lies 317 yards (290m) south west of Brane End Farm and 1.2 miles (2 km) southwest of Sancreed, in low-lying pasture close to the upper Lamorna River.

The monument is a circular mound of earth and stones measuring up to 20 feet (6.1 m) in diameter. Large granite blocks form its border and retain the mound. Inside is a rectangular stone-lined chamber measuring 7.5 ft (2.3 m) long by 4 ft (1.2 m) wide and 3 ft (90 cm) high, roofed by two capstones after a third was removed. An entrance passage on the southeast leads directly into the chamber, which the mound was built to cover only barely. Earth has been taken from the south side, exposing part of the chamber.

William Borlase discovered the barrow in 1863 while exploring an underground structure, probably Carn Euny, nearby. He called it the barrow near Chapel Euny because of its location near the village of Chapel Euny. The farmer who owned the site said he had not destroyed the barrow because it provided good shelter for sheep and pigs.

Entrance graves belong to the later Neolithic and Bronze Age (c. 2500-1000 BC) and are found in places including the Isles of Scilly, west Cornwall, south-east Ireland, south-west Scotland, Brittany and the Channel Islands. Monuments of this kind typically have a circular mound bordered by a stone kerb over a rectangular burial chamber, entered through a narrow, stone-lined passage. Brane Barrow is considered one of the smallest and best preserved burial monuments in Britain, and can be visited with permission at Brane farm.

Entrance graves date to the later Neolithic era and Bronze Age (c. 2500-1000 BC). Circular in shape, most entrance graves were built with a mound of heaped rubble and soil, typically up to 82 feet (25m) in diameter. The perimeter of the mound was marked with kerbstone. It held a rectangular chamber built of stone slabs or coursed rubble stone, or a combination of the two. The chamber roof was made of stone slabs, called capstones. Access to the chamber was through an opening in the mound's kerb or outer edge.

Brane barrow was first discovered by William Borlase in 1863 while he was exploring an underground structure, probably Carn Euny, a short distance away. Borlase refers to the structure as the barrow near Chapel Euny, because of its location near the village of Chapel Euny. The farmer who owned the site told Borlase that he did not destroy the barrow because it was provided a good shelter for sheep and pigs.