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England
Lake GroupRound Barrow(s)
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Lake Group Earthwork Ancient Village / Settlement / Misc. Earthwork |
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Prophet Barrow Round Barrow(s) |
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Lake Barrow Group Field notes - Visited 5th Aug 2007 There are three different and separate barrow groups south of Normanton Down, all of which are within the Wilsford cum Lake parish. Apart from the Lake group, there is the Lake Down barrow group (SU 117 393) which is actually on Lake Down, east of Druids Lodge and above Spring Bottom. The other group is known as the Wilsford Barrow group (SU 118 398) and this sits on the spur between Wilsford Down and Lake Down, on the western slope of Spring Bottom. The Lake group are located just off the track that runs past Normanton Down and onto the A360 at Druids Lodge. These barrows are on private land but in order to get permission to view them you need to walk past them to Westfield farm. This group contains at least fifteen bowl-barrows, four bell-barrows, two disc barrows and a long barrow. The farm track separates the main barrows of the group, the northern set containing the long barrow and disc barrows sit in a wood, while on the southern side of the track are two bell and three bowl barrows, one of which has been greatly reduced. To the north-west lay a satellite group of four bowl barrows which were completely excavated by Professor William Grimes in 1959 due to the damage they were under from being ploughed down. Although Colt Hoare and William Cunnington carried out a lot of the excavations in the area, many of the barrows in this group including both the disc barrows, were opened by a former proprietor, Rev. Edward Duke, unfortunately with little, if any record. The Neolithic long barrow however, aligned north-west to south-east, 42 metres long, 23 metres wide and 2.5 metres high, appears never to have been opened or excavated in any way. The bell and bowl barrows which stand in the triangular open area between the two arms of the wood are the best preserved although the one furthest west is greatly reduced. These were the subject of Duke's excavations in 1807, but there is doubt as to what he found in which barrow. The barrows within the wood were difficult to photograph when I visited at the height of summer due to the extensive vegetation. There was a stench of death and I think a badger set had been the scene of slaughter. Some of the barrows had certainly been damaged by burrowing, if not by the tree roots that had engulfed them. I couldn't get too far into the overgrowth to see the disc barrows or the so-called, Prophet Barrow which was said to be the place a French prophet preached from in 1710. An interesting barrow group if you have the time to walk down from Stonehenge and get permission to look around them but I would recommend you did this in the winter months when the trees are bare and you can get a clearer view of the barrows. |
Posted by Chance10th June 2010ce |
Latest posts for Lake Group |
Prophet Barrow (Round Barrow(s)) — Miscellaneous |
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A Bronze Age bowl barrow, listed by Grinsell as Wilsford 43, and part of the Lake Group of barrows recorded as SU 14 SW 51. The barrow allegedly acquired its name in the early 18th century after French "prophets" set up their standard on it and preached to local people (circa 1710). Excavated in the early 19th century by Colt Hoare, who found a primary cremation in what he described as a wooden box in a large cist. Accompanying the cremation were a bronze dagger and a perforated whetstone-pendant. The barrow is extant as a mutilated mound 1.5 metres high. |
Posted by Chance 17th February 2012ce |
Lake Group Earthwork (Ancient Village / Settlement / Misc. Earthwork) — Images (click to view fullsize) |
 
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Posted by Chance 10th June 2010ce |
Lake Group Earthwork (Ancient Village / Settlement / Misc. Earthwork) — Miscellaneous |
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The reason this Bronze Age earthwork survives as well as it does is mostly due to it still acting as a boundary between two fields and so has not suffered the plough. A lot of the linear archaeology in the Stonehenge area was flattened by mediaeval ploughing but this well-preserved section of boundary bank and ditch across Wilsford Down has survived and is clearly visible within the modern landscape, both from the ground and the air. See the detail from the 1810 map of the area by Colt-Hoare for a clearer idea of how this feature fitted into the barrow groups in the area. Another bank, only intermittently preserved, runs north-westwards from the wood in the Lake barrow group, up to the Winterbourne Stoke barrow group at the junction of Longbarrow Crossroads with the A303. This may have originally been created as a boundary between the two massive Long barrows, each being the centre of the barrow grouping. |
Posted by Chance 10th June 2010ce |
Lake Group Earthwork (Ancient Village / Settlement / Misc. Earthwork) — Images |
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Posted by RiotGibbon 22nd March 2002ce |
Lake Group Earthwork (Ancient Village / Settlement / Misc. Earthwork) — Fieldnotes |
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Far down the track from Stonehenge and past Normanton Down, as you approach the Lake Group, the path climbs up a hill. About half way up, leading up the edge of the Lake Group wood, an earthwork is marked on the map. No longer a ditch or bank, a strong cropmark jumps out at you. I've seen pictures of cropmarks in ariel photographs, but have been disappointed on the ground. Not here. The cropmark is only visible on the eastern side, where grass is growing, becoming thick and lush on the site of the earthwork. A different crop is growing on the western side, and the site of the earthwork isn't visible at all, not when we visited. Not the most imposing of sites, but certainly worth the walk if you're in the area (but the walk itself is certainly worth it), just to see what this cropmark business is all about, without the use of a plane ... Spring Equinox, 2002 |
Posted by RiotGibbon 22nd March 2002ce |
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