Manton Down forum 2 room
Image by thesweetcheat
close
more_vert

Nothing beats getting out there and having a forage (am guessing you were down for the Solstice). I've just been dipping into An English Countryside Explored - The Land of Lettice Sweetapple which is about the West Overton, Fyfield, Manton areas - written by archaeologists Peter Fowler and Ian Blackwell.

Your post has inspired me to get back up there and re-visit this fascinating area. Great stuff!

Edited

T tjj

tjj wrote:
I've just been dipping into An English Countryside Explored - The Land of Lettice Sweetapple which is about the West Overton, Fyfield, Manton areas - written by archaeologists Peter Fowler and Ian Blackwell.
I couldn't get over the feeling I had read something in the above book about Manton Down long barrow and have just come across it beneath a black & white photo very similar to the ones posted by Bladup.

"Discarded long barrow, Manton Down, as dumped in 1996 - the end (or just another phase?) of a long story of abuse of a chambered long barrow which was a Scheduled Ancient Monument supposedly protected by law; but it made the big mistake of being in the way of agricultural land improvement in the 1950s and has subsequently been totally destroyed. This presumably final resting is about a quarter mile (c.400m) from the place where these stones were built into a tomb some 6000 years ago, a tomb which was respected by prehistoric farmers when cultivating their fields 2000-3000 years later. And 3000 years later again - progress? What progress?"