The barrow at the east end of the down is next to a footpath but there’s not much left of it. It fills the width of this photo behind the gate and is about 2 feet higher than surrounding pasture. Location SU 515 291.
Here’s the barrow at the East end of the down, seen by peering through a hedge and down the slope. It is the greener patch of grass (slight bump) just below dead centre of the photograph.
A warm summer evening. Counting from west to east, this is no. 3 seen from no. 4.
The largest of the well-preserved barrows. To give you a sense of scale, you can see Uncle’s bicycle on the right.
Looking west across the alignment of barrows / brow of the hill. There are two barrows very much flattened over time among the vegetation.
The middle of the five, looking south west. St Catherine’s Hill is in the left background, seen from an unusual angle, and yes there’s that sodding motorway again.
The three most prominent barrows, looking east.
Visited 24.11.12
For a ‘B’ road the B3404 sure is a busy one, which I guess isn’t surprising as it is one of the main roads into Winchester – which by the way is well worth a visit.
The closest we could park was in front of some houses just over the bridge.
Despite the rain it was only a 5 minute walk back up the road towards the nature reserve where the Barrows reside. (very posh school opposite!)
As soon as you enter the reserve 3 Barrows are obvious – the other side of a barbed wire fence.
The largest of the 3 Barrows is approx 1.8m high x 12m across.
The next largest is approx 1.5m high x 10m across.
The smallest being approx 1m high x 8m across.
All 3 Barrows show clear signs of being dug into.
On a nice day (not today) this would be a good place to visit – providing you can find somewhere to park of course!
I was really chuffed to see that the butterfly folk who keep the nature reserve in excellent condition are now keeping the grass trimmed back on the two very flat barrows to reveal their location for the first time to casual visitors.
Well worth a visit if you are in the Winchester area, these are off the Alresford road in a nature reserve for butterflies opposite St Swithun’s School and next door to the masons’ lodge. You can easily walk there from town (well, you do have to puff up a hill of course). Wonderful view across the hills and over the Chilcomb valley. Believe it or not these were the first barrows I ever encountered, so they are in part to blame for my interest! I still like coming up here early in the morning to reset the brain. It’s not exactly a secluded spot but it’s very peaceful. MAGIC gives lots of details, including archaeological finds. There are five barrows here though you are likely only to count the easternmost three as the others are a shadow of their former selves. There is also a further barrow at the east end of the down.
... Magdalen Hill, or down, on which a fair is held on the second of August, being the feast of St. Mary Magdalen, old style. On the hill, and within a furlong of the fair ground, stood, in antient times, the Hospital of St. Mary Magdalen, founded towards the close of the twelfth century, by Richard de Toclyve, Bishop of Winchester; and, to show the connexion of the establishment and the fair, it is only necessary to add, that the master of this charity, which still exists, though “curtailed in its fair proportions,” possesses certain rights in respect to it, but which are not now asserted.
Notes and Essays, archaeological, historical and topographical, relating to the counties of Hants and Wilts (1851) by Henry Moody.
books.google.co.uk/books?id=i-MMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA30
