Folklore

Lord Wantage Monument Barrow
Round Barrow(s)

The monument to Lord Wantage positioned high up on the ridgeway, is rumoured to be built upon a bronze age barrow. I have come across a reference to this a few times in some local research. Lord Wantage was a soldier and became a local landowner. He is most rembered for his services in the Crimean war and for the success of Ardington (a nearby village) as a model farming village, providing work for the local agricultural community in hard times.

Given the high up position (common for the siting of a lot of barrows of the bronze age), this wouldn’t suprise me.

In the area around the monument are some other barrow sites (marked on OS Explorer 170 map). This again is additional evidence.