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SMR Number : SU16SW608
Site Name : Gopher Wood
Grid Ref : SU13986393
Parish : Wilcot
Site Type : Bronze Age Disc Barrow
Scheduled Monument : AM035
Finds : Ceramics; Worked animal bone; Worked bronze; Human burial, secondary; Flint

Description
A Bronze Age disc barrow, 33ft by 3ft, excavated in the 19th century by Cunnington

Other barrows in this group include

SU16SW609 – Two bowl barrows, 10 paces by 2ft with traces of a ditch, opened by Cunnington. One had an urn with 2 perforated bone pins; the other a bone pin in a cist but no urn.

SU16SW606 – Three ditched confluent bowl barrows opened by Thurnam in 1863. The western interment was not reached; centre and east contained primary cremations.

SU16SW604 – A ditched bowl barrow, 11 paces by 3ft. B)It was visited by the Ordnance Survey in 1974 – 17.0m by 2.4m with a ditch 0.4m deep in the south side. Barrow is overlain by SU16SW605.

SU16SW605 – Bowl barrow, 10 paces by 3ft. It was visited by the Ordnance Survey in 1974 and found to overlay SU16SW604.

SU16SW607 – A bowl barrow with a smaller bowl barrow overlaying it on the south side

This site hosted by Google Books sets forth numerous megalithic monument descriptions including a writeup on page 377 regarding Cerrig y Gof. Rodney Castleden describes the uniqueness of the radial tomb design for this region of the Irish Sea area.

The official site guide – in Italian, sorry – but well worth it for the illustrations.
NB – pdf 1019kb

Excavations at Condicote Henge by A.Saville 1977

Detail of the site – in Italian.

Map fans searching for monuments are sure to like this recently completed site – it’s been produced so you can look at tithe maps particularly, but you can also look at 1870ish / 1910ish maps side by side with the modern OS map. You can zoom in and pan about to your heart’s content.

An article about the 1964 excavation, by J J Wymer and others. You can see the links to figures, photos and so on here:
ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/library/berks_bas_2007/journal.cfm?volume=62

The article does contain a nice map which handily shows the position of the barrow in relation to the many others in the area.

The Transactions of the Berkshire Archaeological and Architectural Society (1879-80) describes musings on an afternoon excursion to the camp. Includes a plan of the excessively wiggly boundary.

[Thank you to GreenOak for the revised url. TMA Ed.]

Photographs, site plan and geometrics displayed of this triple walled, concentric cliff-top stone fort.

From the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, volume 9 (1870-72).

“Notice of the Gallow Hill, Auchterless, and of Circular Foundations and Tumuli, and various Relics discovered there.” by James Forrest.

Gallows Hill is just south of Pitglassie stone circle. This article describes the wealth of prehistoric traces that was once there – hut circles, worked flints etc.

The Gallow Hill long bore the character of a haunted place, especially on its southern side, where it slopes into the howe of the Auld Yoch. Many a time, it is said, has some belated wight had to encounter the ghosts of murdered men whose bones lay bleaching on the hillside; and often, too, has the passer-by heard the wailing of some infant crying “Nameless,” ” Nameless.” But these superstitious fears, and even the traditions themselves, are fast disappearing. So much has the encroachment of human habitations upon, and the cultivation of, the hill destroyed all the ancient regard for it, that it would soon have been covered with cultivated fields, and all its antiquities would have passed away unnoticed, had it not been for the casual remark of a farmer who rents a portion of it...

The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland presents a 1902 snapshot of the Iskancullin megaliths (p285-6 in this Google Books website)

showing the old flint mines at the top edge of the Devils Punchbowl.

‘There is an unusual concentration in the village of sarsen stones, including a ring of twelve which form the foundations on which the towers of both the present church and of its medieval predecessor were built, and two close to the wooden bridge over the river at Berry Lane. According to local folklore, the twelve stones originally stood as an upright circle on a mound near the site of the church. A Charter granted in the year 972 AD, in the reign of King Edgar, refers to an ‘Egsanmor’ (slaughter stone) at Twyford. It is from bits of evidence such as these that the legend evolved of a Druidic religious site having existed in the village in pre-Roman times – perfectly plausible, given the proximity of Bronze Age (ca 1500 BC) and Iron Age (ca 1 AD) settlements on the hill later named after St Catherine and on Twyford Down.‘

Information on Dragon Hill, including:

In a 10th century charter, the hill is given its original name of Eccles Beorh, that is ‘Church Barrow’. This may suggest that a Christian religious building once stood on the summit.

There was a geophysical survey conducted in 1990 to identify the early medieval chapel that once stood on dragon hill.

Historic photograph of 1902 Cappaghkennedy Wedge Tomb. (Be sure to double click on the image for enlarged photo and also to reveal details of the historic photo.)

I am sure there are plenty of other antiquities on this wonderful archive...it is just that I was researching this particular spot..

No sign of the stone row mentioned in an earlier posting..

Page mostly describes directions for a walk from 2004, but also includes a nice old photo before the modern mound was added.

Apparently the wording on the sculpture at the barrow reads:
At badocks wood ghostly windmill sails turn and like a rewound film spin through history to remote times when this was burial place for bronze aged warrior in that landscape wolves prowled and nervy red deer grazed while hog rooted among trees

This website has plenty of information about the wood and its history; the site is now a Local Nature Reserve.

nice piccy of the aldbourne cup found in the barrows.
also
stone-circles.org.uk/stone/images/incense%20cup2.jpg
another piccy of the cup

Photographs of the Aldbourne blowing stone, from Liminae.

Photograph of Ballymihil Wedge Tomb.

good information site about events at Sinodun. Loads of information for family days out.

‘Notice of Stone Circles in the Parish of Old Deer’ by the Rev. James Peter, in PSAS v19 (1884-5).

Includes some super line drawings of the stones at Strichen and White Cow Wood.