As per my notes on Lansdown Camp Barrow Cemetery I couldn't make out any barrows for this site either. I did visit in the middle of summer so perhaps the grass was too high to make them out? Either way, they can't be very big.
Pair of barrows as specified by Purejoy. There are another two pairs, one on the racecourse and the other on Littledown. These 6 barrows are the only intact barrows left on Greatdown and Littledown, except for a singleton further down the road. But there are also many destroyed barrows in this area.
These two plain looking round barrows are Scheduled Ancient Monuments. The 'Magic' website just confirms that they are scheduled as 'BA32', and are described as "Two Round Barrows N Of Blathwayt Arms". There's not much to see except for two lumps in a strange scrubby triangular piece of land, that has probably only been left alone because of the existence of the barrows. The barrows are sandwiched between the road and Bath racecourse on the east and west, and a few houses and the Golf Course car park to the south and north. 'Civilisation' is creeping towards the barrows, with the new cottage next to the Clubhouse helping to pay for the newly tarmaced car park. The southern barrow is significantly larger than the other barrow.
These pair of barrows lie adjacent to the road, on the opposite side of the road is an old farmhouse. And hereby hangs a tale - for many months I have spied this farmhouse from afar, and have always been able to locate through its opposing chimneys the monument on Cherhill down (30 kms) in the distance, allowing me to focus on Silbury and Avebury. Not exactly a blinding white flash, but the penny dropped when I remembered there was an old chapel which had been embraced in the farmhouse building, giving the whole building an east/west alignment., in fact it sits at an awkward angle to the road - which in itself is probably roman/prehistoric track.
So was this an early holy place settled maybe by the "desert" monks, who set up in opposition, or maybe on top of these tumuli, and the thin thread of religion continued down through the ages. What makes it more conclusive is that there is a holy well about 500 yards from the chapel, its called St.Alpege (much later saint) Well.
Having written that, no way am I implying that there is a "straight line" to Avebury, its just happenstance and the strange things that happen between earth and sky!!
Log in |
Register
England
0 discussions
Show map (inline Google Map)
Add an image 
Posted by moss
Posted by pure joy
Top of page