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Artificial Mound
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Just a quickie, I visit this place often and it is in a break of trees on the Ridgeway path. It is much worn down and used by trials bikes and mountain bikes for practice (shame!). There is a fair amount of rubbish at this site from campers who don't pick up the litter (shame again!).
The original shape has long gone and as the centre has collapsed, it resembles more of a dougnut with a hole in one side, than a conical mound (which it once was). All traces of the ditch which once must of surrounded it are also gone. It is still quite a height (20 feet or so tall) and offers a good view out on one side. Try to imagine the original construct and the fact that the trees would not have been there. It sits atop the crest of a hill and would have offered an excellent view of the surrounding countryside.
It is a very large mound, and although it resembles a large barrow (or a mini silbury hill depending on your presuasion), I have found no evdience to support its prehistoric antiquity. All references to Scutchamer Knob are in the early Anglo-Saxon period (400-600 AD).
A pleasant and historically important site (see the folklore), but also a very busy one as the Ridgeway is well used (especially at weekends) and adjacent to the site.
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Posted by wysefool
4th November 2003ce
Edited 4th November 2003ce
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