If visited following a sojourn at its not too distant neighbour, the Crippets long barrow, Coberley will always prove something of an anti-climax, I guess. Yeah, but not a disappointment.... since, although crudely dismembered by a lateral trench and subjected to numerous other horrors, Coberley nevertheless remains an upstanding, well positioned monument.
I approach from the east along what the map reveals to be the 'Gloucestershire Way', having parked upon the nearby minor road just before a sharp left hand descent to Coberley village. It is certainly an aesthetically pleasing approach above Coldwell Bottom to the south, the valley cradling what I assume to be the nascent River Churn? Ha! A long barrow upon a hillside overlooking a fledgling water course... whatever next?
The Gloucestershire Way veers to the south-west beside the monument, perhaps following the same contours of millennia past, an unlocked gate providing access to the long barrow itself. Once upon the barrow, the wanton damage to ancient fabric somehow becomes irrelevant - after the moral indignation has subsided, that is - as vast, billowing clouds take centre stage and raise both the visitor's gaze and spirits (if not consciousness, but hey, one day perhaps?) to, quite literally, another level. The stratosphere itself, no less. The notion recurs.... is it just me or were these monuments designed as viewing galleries for a theatre where the very landscape itself was the stage?
Second visit to the barrow, much earlier in the year this time (29.3.2009). The field is now covered in cropped grass making access possible.
As is apparent from the footpath along the south, the excavation damage is extensive, the trench almost cutting the barrow in two. Round on the north side, there is also plenty of animal damage, with a number of holes and burrows in the side of the monument (it again reminds me of Lower Swell long barrow). More interestingly, there is much visible limestone on the north side, showing the construction of the mound to be more stone that soil. I could see no megaliths though.
A busy spot this, five couples and a large group of ramblers passed while I was here today.
Visited on a nice July day (13.7.08), walking from Cheltenham up Leckhampton Hill and then via Coberley village (more of a hamlet I suppose, but does have a village church tucked away behind the manor house). The walk up to the barrow from the east is a reasonably gentle uphill (particularly compared with the scarp face of Leckhampton hill!). The barrow is set in a private field, but is very close to the fence and to the Gloucestershire Way, so I didn't go onto the site itself. The barrow itself is in a bit of a state, resembling two joined round barrows more than a long barrow, due to a deep 19th century excavation trench effectively cutting it in two. There is also an abandoned vehicle parked immediately adjacent to the northern side of the barrow in the field (this has obviously been there a while). The setting is pleasant rather than spectacular, with views across to the east and south. Worth a visit if you're passing, and lovely countryside around, but not necessarily one to come from far away to see!
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