Made my way here from The Tump on 6.3.2009. As I walked up the hill towards the barrow, shotgun firing started up very close behind me, which added some urgency to my approach - I had already noticed a few piles of feathers along the edges of the field! By the time I got to the barrow my heart was pounding (I'm not very brave when it comes to the prospect of being shot, I'm afraid), so I skirted around the west end of the barrow to the north side, where I startled some pheasants and a group of deer. The wood here is full of game and I think I must have arrived mid-cull.
As Jane mentioned, this is a long barrow worthy of the name. Unfortunately the shooting started up again, even closer than before, so I didn't get much of a chance to loiter. I snatched a couple of photos of the north side and east end before making a swift exit towards Upper Swell long barrow.
This is a really big long barrow and not overly trashed. On the edge of woodland, it hasn't suffered under the plough and its shape, height, total length and significance is clear. Punctuated by mature trees along the top, its outline is still relatively smooth and straight. And to my pleasant surprise I found two stones and a bit of rubble making up a little stone cist on the top, small enough to curl up in. What a great long barrow!
The antiquarian Reverend David Royce (a Victorian rector of Nether Swell) said the barrow had been "seen at times, by those gifted with second sight, swathed in unearthly flame".
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