Sutton Veny Barrows

Also known as:
The Knoll
Nearest town:
Warminster (5km WNW)
OS reference:
ST911415
OS sheet:
184
Latitude:
51° 10' 19.58 N
Longitude:
2° 7' 38.35 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Sutton Veny Barrows (Round Barrow(s)) by Rhiannon

The third barrow is also known as ‘the Knoll’. It looked amazing amidst the swirling sea of barley.

Rhiannon
Rhiannon Jun 25, 2003

Articles

Sutton Veny Barrows

Rhiannon
Rhiannon Jul 16, 2003

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.

Miscellaneous

Sutton Veny Barrows
Round Barrow(s)
Rhiannon
Rhiannon Jul 16, 2003

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.

Sites within 20km of Sutton Veny Barrows

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