Wimble Toot

Round Barrow(s)
ST560279

Also known as:

Babcary 1

Nearest town:

Sparkford (4km E)

OS reference:

ST560279

OS sheet:

183

Latitude:

51° 2' 53.46 N

Longitude:

2° 37' 39.96 W

Added to TMA by

Rhiannon

Images (1)
Folklore (2)
Miscellaneous (1)

Images

Image of Wimble Toot (Round Barrow(s)) by baza

The unmolestable virgin’s teat peeped at through the nearest roadside hedge

baza Dec 13, 2006

Articles

Wimble Toot

Round Barrow(s)

Rhiannon Jan 6, 2024

Babcary Tout or Wimble Toot.
A question with regard to the traditional battle of Babcary was asked [in this newspaper] in February 1934 by a reader, who said it was believed that a battle was fought in the valley around Babcary where the trenches and a burial mound are still to be seen.
Nothing definite with regard to any such battle appears to be known, but one reader replied that “two fields at Foddington are called ‘Peace’ for there the peace was signed.
“The burial mound, 45 yards by 25 by 3 yards high, has fourteen large trees on it. One has fallen, but the wood is not alllowed to be used by order of the Graves Commission. Within the memory of residents there was an iron fence and gate, but they have been somehow mislaid. This big mound... has the name of ‘Wimbletout.’ ”
[...] the word ‘piece’ frequently enters into field names. Is it not more than possible that the name of the fields at Foddington is ‘Piece’ and that this has become confused with ‘Peace’ and so given rise to the tradition mentioned by the correspondent quoted above? – M.

In the Taunton Courier, 30th October 1937.

As Rhiannon says this tree-covered barrow marks the breast of the Virgo figure in the ‘Glastonbury Zodiac’. Virgo is the fertile Earth Mother, and Wheathill lies at her feet. Her profile and front are outlined by the River Cary, and she is lying on her back, her head pointing west. Barrows are often breast-shaped, and ‘toot’ is a apparently a variant of ‘teat’. Wimble Toot certainly resembles a breast lying on the fertile farmland.

Wimble Toot

Round Barrow(s)

Rhiannon Dec 4, 2002

Wimble Toot lies between Steart Lane (near Bowers Farm) and the nearby River Cary. It’s a small conical mound, ten feet high and crowned by a group of trees – it’s probably a Bronze Age round barrow.

If you go for that sort of thing, it’s part of the “Glastonbury Zodiac”. Of course, it’s Virgo’s breast.