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England
Nempnett ThrubwellLong Barrow
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Collinson also suggested:"It undoubtedly is one of the noblest sepulchres of the kind in Great Britain; and probably contains the fragments of many brave chieftains, whome some fatal battle near the spot forbad to revisit their natal country."As so often, here is the pervasive idea that 'foreigners' built the tombs (and only foreigners could have built such tombs). He also says: "The field in which this barrow stands has from time immemorial been called the Fairy field; and the common people say that strange noises have been heard underneath the hill, and visions, portentous to children, have been seen waving in the thickets that crown its summit."Well, at least the inhabitants sound friendly. |
Posted by Rhiannon27th July 2004ce Edited 4th January 2005ce |
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The Fairy's Toot is a damaged burial chamber which was said to be the home of fairies and goblins, and to be haunted – strange noises have been heard here. I've not been to the site but it is still shown on the OS Explorer map. |
Posted by pure joy25th March 2003ce |
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Up to 1787 it was as far as is known quite complete, but in that year it fell on evil days and was doomed to deplorable and wanton ruination and unpardonable obliteration..*The Reverend T Bere 'discovered' the barrow and recognised its importance, writing letters of his findings to the Gentleman's Magazine and the Bath Chronicle in the latter part of the 18th century. He was the Rector of Butcombe (his church is only a stone's throw away). The choice of the word 'save' is quite ambiguous - was he trying to save them from being thrown away / taken as souvenirs and so on - or trying to 'Save' them by giving them a burial (albeit not a Christian one). Ok it's probably the former. But why not stick them in a box? It is the Rev Bere's drawing that has been posted by JD525 above. Text from 'Notes on some chambered long barrows of North Somerset.' Arthur Bulleid. Som. Arch. Nat. Hist. Soc. Proc. 1941 v87 p56-71. |
Posted by Rhiannon 4th April 2006ce Edited 4th April 2006ce |
| A detailed and well-researched account of Fairy's Toot, covering what it used to be like and how it was destroyed, is to be found in chapter 3 of the book Nempnett Thrubwell: Barrows, Names and Manors, described at http://www.nempnettbooks.co.uk |
Posted by JD525 28th November 2004ce Edited 28th November 2004ce |
The Reverend John Collinson wrote the following in his 'History and Antiquities of the County of Somerset' in the 1780s - without him what record would we have of the site in its better days? "This place.. has been variously written as Nimet, Nempnett, Nemlet, Emmet, and Emet.."(It has been suggested that the name is from the Roman? Celtic? 'nemeton' - sacred grove). "..a small distance eastward from the church stands a large tumulus 50 yds in length, 20 in breadth and 15 in height, and covered on its top with ash trees, briars and thick shrubs. On opening it some time ago its composition throughout was found to be a mass of stones supported on each side lengthwise by a wall of thin flakes. The distance between the two walls is about 8 ft and the intermediate space is filled up with two rows of cells, or cavities, formed by very large stones set edgewise. |
Posted by Rhiannon 27th July 2004ce Edited 21st April 2005ce |
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I still haven't been to the site, but it should still be pretty impressive. A two page report (PDF document) on the barrow is available via the 'Magic' website, at http://www.magic.gov.uk/rsm/22826.pdf The report suggests that apart from the chamber, the rest is still there - a mound 60m long, 25m wide and 2.5m high, retained by a dry stone wall. It says that "despite disturbance of the site, the Fair Toot long barrow survives comparatively well". It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, on the national monument register as '22826', and is described as "The Fairy Toot long barrow 350m SSW of Howgrove Farm". The full 8 figure grid ref is ST52056179. |
Posted by pure joy 4th January 2004ce Edited 4th January 2004ce |
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How could I resist adding a site with a name like this? But technically there won't be much to see. Before it was ruined it was probably as beautiful as Stoney Littleton, and had at least three pairs of sidechambers. I've seen it mentioned elsewhere, but I came across something about it in the library, in the Proceedings of the Bath Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club (vol 3 for 1877). It was 150ft north to south, and 76ft east to west. The chambers were closed by a perforated stone 13ft north of the entrance (I suppose this means it was kind of 'horned' like Stoney Littleton - also it's interesting that the stone was perforated). It had large slabs infilled by dry stone walling inside, and a drystone wall outside with the earth mound above it. "The waywarden wanted stones for the road, and so found the chambers... A limekiln has been built on the site and the stones..burned into lime; also a fold-yard constructed at another point, and the stones used for walling! A very small portion still remains.." I suppose there may also be stones left in any walls to the field? Otherwise the site rather serves as a reminder as what could have happened to similar barrows like Hetty Pegler's Tump and Stoney Littleton if they hadn't been brought under the wing of local Antiquarian societies, and the last paragraph of the quote above is probably as true now as it was then. |
Posted by Rhiannon 10th February 2003ce Edited 4th January 2005ce |
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