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St Paul's Epistle

Round Barrow(s)

<b>St Paul's Epistle</b>Posted by thesweetcheatImage © A. Brookes (8.5.2020)
Nearest Town:Cheltenham (7km WNW)
OS Ref (GB):   SP002181 / Sheet: 163
Latitude:51° 51' 39.54" N
Longitude:   1° 59' 49.54" W

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Fieldnotes

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Visited 24.8.13

Very easy to see right next to the minor road.
Tree covered at a prominent location with great views to the east

Nice one.
Posted by CARL
27th August 2013ce

This is a decent round barrow, very nicely preserved and in a very prominent position. Topped by trees and easily visible from the minor road running alongside, this is one of the best examples of a round barrow along the western edge of the Cotswolds.

[The OS 1:25000 shows another round barrow a couple of hundred yards to the south-east (on Pegglesworth Hill at SP00351779), but a quick visit makes it look like it may have been ploughed out of existence. According to Darvill and Grinsell's "Gloucestershire Barrows: Supplement 1961-1988" it was only 0.4m high in 1980, so it's no real surprise. There is a mound in the field with a reservoir tank inserted into the top, but not in quite the position shown on the OS.]
thesweetcheat Posted by thesweetcheat
1st January 2010ce

Folklore

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The barrow appears to have had the name since at least 1777, when it was marked on Taylor's Map of Gloucester as "Paul Aposd".

"It has been suggested that an epistle was read there at the beating of the parish bounds, which run close by. In the mid 19th century, however, the name 'Paul and the Epistles' was sometimes used and was said to refer to the number of trees."

From: 'Parishes: Dowdeswell', A History of the County of Gloucester: volume 9: Bradley hundred. The Northleach area of the Cotswolds (2001), pp. 42-69. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=66462

Rather less religiously, it is also known locally as "Bull's Pissel"!
thesweetcheat Posted by thesweetcheat
4th January 2009ce
Edited 4th January 2009ce