Trees and barrows

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It was done at Coldrum and Little Kits Coty by 13th Century religious zealots, plus probably more locally. It supposedly helped to cleanse the place of non-Christian overtones, and in many cases helps to undermine the foundations and leads to eventual collapse.

Zealot as a name does sound so cool tho...

slumpy the Zealot

So I guess it was a way of destroying the barrow without overtly desecrating the grave? Cunning.

If anything I'd have thought sticking a tree on a barrow would mean it prolonged its existence? You can't plough a barrow with a bloody great tree on it. Also, trees might be able to grow naturally on a raised area for precisely that reason, and once they took hold they wouldn't get ploughed.
Can you give some more details about the 13C source?