West Down Roman Road Barrows Round Barrow(s) View all content for West Down Roman Road Barrows

Of the three barrows listed here, only the larger Bell Barrow survives and this too has been partly ploughed out to the north. Thankfully this northern area has now been set aside and planted up with young Beech trees. The east side of this barrow contains a row of mature beech trees which although interfering with the original ditch, do give the barrow a feeling of shelter and was welcome shade on a hot Lammas day. The most striking feature of this barrow is the upright sarsen mounted on its summit. Closer examination revealed two more sarsens dumped in the barrows ditch. I read on Pastscape that a lot of the barrows around here had sarsens mounted on them. This may be the result of antiquarian digging, as it seems some of the barrows were originally built over earlier structures or pits. When the barrows were first cut into, the sarsens were probably covering the original feature. One of the barrows to the north, West Down Gallops Barrows, was noted as having a sarsen. Access Park in the lay-by on the A361 near to where the Roman Road cut across it. Follow the Roman Road up the hill and the barrow is in the clump of beech trees to your right.

Posted by Chance 17th August 2013ce

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