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Long Barrow
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Up to 1787 it was as far as is known quite complete, but in that year it fell on evil days and was doomed to deplorable and wanton ruination and unpardonable obliteration..
..The entrance stone had a hole through its centre and blocked the opening to the avenue where the unmortared walls terminated..
.. When visiting the site some years ago the writer was informed by a man that tradition says all the bones from the barrow were buried in a hole on the North side of the field, and it is quite possible that this was done on Bere's advice and in order to save them*. *The Reverend T Bere 'discovered' the barrow and recognised its importance, writing letters of his findings to the Gentleman's Magazine and the Bath Chronicle in the latter part of the 18th century. He was the Rector of Butcombe (his church is only a stone's throw away). The choice of the word 'save' is quite ambiguous - was he trying to save them from being thrown away / taken as souvenirs and so on - or trying to 'Save' them by giving them a burial (albeit not a Christian one). Ok it's probably the former. But why not stick them in a box?
It is the Rev Bere's drawing that has been posted by JD525 above.
Text from 'Notes on some chambered long barrows of North Somerset.' Arthur Bulleid.
Som. Arch. Nat. Hist. Soc. Proc. 1941 v87 p56-71.
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Posted by Rhiannon
4th April 2006ce
Edited 4th April 2006ce
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