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May 8, 2025
History, archaeology & legends of The Devil's Den
In this video we travel to Wiltshire to visit the Devils Den and explore the history, archaeology and folklore that surround it. We include all the available information, from the earliest antiquarian references and sketches, to the full excavation report, and tips for visiting yourself... everything you need to know about this iconic site!
Looking east, in the trees apparently another cairn--next time!
Image credit: drew/AMJ
Sometimes overlooked, the large cairn looking south west.
Image credit: drew/AMJ
May 7, 2025
This second large mound, in the churchyard’s south side, is not recorded by Coflein
Image credit: Mike Purslow
S side of church, mound visible under tower
Image credit: Mike Purslow
The large mound that the church tower sits atop
Image credit: Mike Purslow
While on our way along the track to Kerry Ring armed with an out of date OS map I did a double take.. eh, what’s this? Only later did I find that it was listed here. It is a skyline feature as soon as you get to the end of the forestry when coming from Black Wood car park – I had thought from a distance it was Kerry Ring. Superb views from here – until the replanted pine forestry along the ridge overlooking Kerry obscure that direction. Do ‘do’ the Kerry Ridgeway if you get the chance. So many sites and vistas. I’ve yet to complete it. Next time, touch wood.
Looking west over the Tump… albeit a very low feature it is nonetheless clearly defined.
Image credit: Mike Purslow
An annual pilgrimage to this most idyllic and unspoilt part of the world and where my family’s roots are. I had previously failed to spot this site when driving to and fro but this time, armed with a large scale map thought I’d give it another go. Only after locating and photographing it – it’s just described as a ‘mound’ – did I find via the HE listing that it dates not from the Dark Ages as I’d previously read but in fact is about three thousand years old and therefore eligible for inclusion on this site.
The theory that it is the resting place of a chieftain named Pussa is therefore incorrect, unless his remains were interred subsequently. I prefer the translation as ‘burial mound with the pear tree’ anyway. The current tree, a venerable ash, both disguises the site and perhaps, due to its size, is counter to the HE description as being in good condition. But… nice to bear the name of something prehistoric, eh? And if you ever get the chance to visit this supremely timeless area do not hesitate. You’ll come back again and again as I do. A E Housman was right. One day my ashes may lie here too.
N side of the barrow that is the root of my family tree… an ancient ash atop
Image credit: Mike Purslow
Seen from the Clun Road, showing how the barrow would be a skyline feature but for the trees that surround Purslow Hall
Image credit: Mike Purslow
May 5, 2025
Combe gibbet and long barrow from Combe Wood to the North.
Image credit: Corkey Burger
Another stone half-buried in the bank
51.720084874428174,-1.1279548303261622
Cuddesdon Lower Stone
(51.715270733551726, -1.1262380465933124)
First found on a cold December day in 2015,
it lay quiet by the hedgerow,
in the same wide field where once it stood proud—
a silent witness near the shadow
of a war-born decoy from darker times.
Tall as a man, slender as memory,
six feet in height, a foot in breadth,
weathered by wind and watchful time.
I returned in May, a decade on—
the nettled margins thick and high,
too wild to pass with ease.
Across the ditch, in the neighboring field
where the Upper Stone once met the sky,
I glimpsed another:
a broad slab half-buried in the bank,
mute and mossed, holding its secrets still.
I hope to walk those fields again
when autumn’s breath lays down the green,
and take a closer look—
stone to soul.
Ok, mudstone might not be the most ‘refined’ of construction media, but fair to say longevity isn’t an issue...
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
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