I didn't know what to expect here - I was just chasing 'tumuli' on the map. There are three in a row in the Wylye valley bottom - admittedly it's a very wide valley, but still a little unusual to find them so low down when there are so many convenient hills?
I tried to keep my mind on the landscape but had to walk through a field of curious bullocks who looked like they were going to march over en masse so I was slightly distracted. Running the gauntlet seemed worth it though when I got to the last field containing 'The Knoll'. The barrow was surrounded by fantastic greeny golden barley, rippling in waves like something in a Van Gogh painting.
I suppose the barrows show use of the area for burials over quite a long period of time:
'The Knoll' is described as a bell barrow at magic.gov so will be the burial mound of a wealthy Bronze Age person.
A bronze dagger was found in the excavation of a bell barrow at st91284150, according to magic.gov - but I don't think I saw this barrow at all (only 3 are on the OS map, but their map shows 4).
ST91124151 is a longbarrow - that's the middle photo - so that's neolithic. The other photo is of a bowl barrow, so perhaps that was built in the late neolithic/early bronze age - in the time between the long barrow and the Knoll.
Also, between the bowl barrow and the others is an (almost) ruined church with its graveyard, unusually dedicated to St Leonard - interesting as another layer of 'burial history' in this relatively tiny area.
Heytesbury isn't far away - you might want to pop to that church to visit the mortal remains of William Cunnington. A tablet inside the church has an inscription purportedly written by Richard Colt Hoare.
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Posted by Rhiannon
Posted by wysefool
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