An ancient 6,000-year-old burial chamber in Badshot Lea could thwart plans to extend a caravan park.

The site at J Mar in Badshot Farm Lane already has a lawful use as a mobile home park dating back to 2010, with four static caravans and one touring caravan allowed on site.  

But applicant Noah Smith seeks to increase this to eight static and two touring caravans.

Mr Smith’s application for a certificate of lawfulness was refused last October by Waverley Borough Council, which ruled a full planning application is required.

But Farnham Town Council has presented the most intriguing objection, citing the caravan site’s proximity to the only Neolithic long barrow ever discovered in Surrey.

According to the website exploringsurreyspast.org.uk, the long barrow dating back to 4000 to 2200 BC was discovered at Badshot Lea in 1936 in a quarry, unfortunately partly destroyed. It was originally a burial chamber about 47 metres long.

The website continues: "The remains were observed by archeologist William Francis Rankine in 1936, in a quarry west of Badshot Farm and immediately east of the railway cutting.

"Most of the site had already been quarried away, but rescue excavations revealed enough of the ditches to indicate a barrow some 140 ft long, oriented slightly north of east.

"Three sherds of Neolithic pottery were found in the primary silting of the south ditch. In the secondary filling of both ditches was a quantity of Neolithic pottery and a few associated flints. A fragment of a polished axe was taken from the north ditch. Rankine also found two flint arrowheads one leaf-shaped and one lozenge-shaped.

"It is possible a Neolithic settlement is nearby (see Historic Environment Record 2155).

"Bronze Age round barrows are more common but this is the only example in Surrey of a Neolithic long barrow. It is an important site because it is half way between the well-known and preserved Kent and Wessex tombs."

The finds of the Badshot Lea excavation are still on display in Guildford Museum to this day.

Farnham Town Council's objections will be presented at an upcoming inquiry chaired by government planning inspector Faiza Kanwall.

Concerned parties are invited to submit their comments to the Planning Inspectorate by December 21.

Email [email protected] or write to Temple Quay House, 2 The Square, Bristol, BS1 6PN, quoting reference APP/R3650/X/23/3331396.