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Fieldnotes
| Visited 10th April 2011 Stopped and visited this barrow which lies just off the A345 between Netheravon and Figheldean. Barrow is situated in a pasture behind a cottage. Wiltshire and Swindon Sites and Monument Record class it as an oval barrow, similar to Silver Barrow. http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/11962/silver_barrow.html These barrows are thought to be a transitional type between the small, late Neolithic long barrows and the more common Bell and Bowl barrows. O.G.S. Crawford said it was a long barrow and marked it down as such on his 6" map. William Hawley opened the barrow in 1910 and found a barbed and tanged arrowhead together with a few pottery sherds. The barrow was measured as 28 paces in diameter by L.V. Grinsell and listed in the Victoria County History in 1957. I found it to be uninspiring and lacking in any vibes. It may have been disturbed by the army at some time for it now has the "Star of David" sign to ward off those trenching squaddies. The name "Gallows" refers to a gallows which was erected in the field next to the barrow. The road was used by coaches before being taken over by the army. A policeman was killed by another policeman near here on 1st April 1913 but the gallows were not needed then. The web link supplied below by the wysefool suggests that "Sarsen stones for Stonehenge were brought down this valley from the Marlborough downs and a mishap lead to one of them ending up at the bottom of the river Avon in Figheldean". I had a look around the river but couldn't see anything. Maybe this was the same stone that was in the river at Bulford?. May go back to search in the winter when vegetation dies back. |
Posted by Chance25th April 2011ce Edited 9th April 2013ce
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