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Fieldnotes
| Every time I travelled from Chippenham to London on the train (normally work related) I would notice what looked like a small mound in a field somewhere between Didcot and Cholsey and wondered what it could be. After many trips I eventually got around to working out what field it was in and tried to find it on the OS maps but with no luck. I checked out some of the maps on the 'Old Maps' web site where I noticed that the field it was located in had been used as a rifle range. Could this mound have just been a target or 'bullet stopper' of some sort? Also on the old maps were some unclear words where the mound was but I can not be certain what they say. One thing that I did wondered about was why it was still here. If it is not an ancient mount the farmer could have easily removed this mound making his work a little easier. Anyway, on one occasion I was travelling to London by car and on the way back thought I could take a break by this barrow and maybe get some pictures. I worked out its co-ordinates from Google Earth a put them into my Sat Nav. The nearest road is Church Road out of Cholsey where the mound can be seen in the field on the left. There is a little lay-by just opposite and I followed the tractor marks down the field to the barrow which seemed much further than the map suggested. After growing a couple of inches taller due to the mud on my boots I arrived at the barrow. This time of the year it was covered in nettles and there were a couple of bushes sprouting from it top. Despite all the foliage I would guess the mound to be about 2.5-3 metres at its highest point towards the north end and slopes quite rapidly down to about a metre at its southern end. I am sure this is not a long barrow as it would be quite short at about 10 metres long. Looking from the western side there is evidence that it has been chopped into by the plough and maybe this has given it its elongated shape I had observed on Google Earth. I am not convinced this is an ancient mound but I thought I may as well highlight it on this site. Maybe one of you more local people can shed some light on its history. I would be interested none the less. |
Posted by scubi6325th August 2008ce Edited 25th August 2008ce
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