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Julliberrie's GraveLong Barrow
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Visited 21/8/2005: Here we have a fine Kentish long barrow set high above the Great Stour and small village of Chilham, the latter also possessing a rather interesting polygonal Norman keep, located beside a great house of some repute. Near the junction of the A28/A252 a 'dead-end' road leads across a railway line to a wooded car park. Contrary to the fine forecast, a hint of August drizzle hangs in the air... the path leading across the aforementioned river, past a striking white timbered building, to an attractive weir, the fast flowing water enhanced by a veritable submerged forest of weed and such-like. The path swings to the left, after negotiating a second bridge near a house of attractive red brick, to ascend to the downs above... (ha! How excellent is the English language?) where the long barrow lies, unseen by the casual observer. Not to mention the interested one, too. The monument is cloaked in summer vegetation and foliage, natural camouflage of the highest order which takes me for a 'monumental' sucker. Yeah, I walk straight past, to finally cotton on courtesy of a retrospective glance by the edge of a freshly harvested field... so there you are, you beauty. This long barrow is no ploughed-out vestige of its former self either, measuring a substantial 6ft-odd high by 144ft long beneath the greenery. I reckon it would have been clearly visible from the river down below in days gone by; however, it now backs up against an area of woodland which has possibly served to protect the remaining fabric. Out of sight is out of mind, so to speak. Upon finally locating a bramble-free spot to sit and contemplate the surroundings, the paradoxical nature of the site is all too evident. Common place sounds of urban life - traffic noise, the very-close-to-annoying peel of church bells etc - may be clearly audible, yet all I can see are rolling agricultural fields sweeping into the distance. The two do not converge in any meaningful way, leading to a somewhat surreal experience, if the truth be told. Occasionally it is apparent that - sometimes, anyway - places don't change that much, do they? Julliberrie's Grave keeps on keeping on. Regardless. Revisit - 27/1/2024: some 18 years later, I'm back. Older (certainly).. wiser (in some respects, perhaps?)... but with no loss of appetite for these enigmatic places. Unfortunately, the expected 'wooded car park' is no more, the visitor being met with 'No Unauthorised Cars blahblahblah' signs. Nonetheless, it is still possible to leave one car beside the waterworks building, which I duly do. Failing that, park in nearby Chilham and walk back across the level crossing. Preferably during the seemingly not very frequent intervals when trains are not trundling past. Careful now. As before, I follow the public footpath across the weir to ascend to Julliberrie's Downs, the great Neolithic mound slumbering away more-or-less immediately above the red-brick house. Despite it being the depths of winter, the monument is SERIOUSLY overgrown with brambles and not at all obvious. Nevertheless, I'm able to eventually make my way along the crest - albeit with much difficulty, not to mention a scrape of sorts - and reminisce upon times gone by perched upon the truncated northern end... Several hours later, I'm greeted by a local walking his dog who assumes (the gentleman, not the dog, that is) I'm here to photograph kingfishers on the Great Stour. Damned good idea, to be fair, but not quite - and no such luck today. However, he's aware there's a long barrow 'up there', no doubt since his daughter happens to be an archaeologist. Trouble is, he explains, it's not at all easy to identify... even when you're right on top of it. Ha! Tell me about it. |
Posted by GLADMAN14th January 2011ce Edited 5th February 2024ce |
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JULIEBERRIES GRAVE - Visited 28/12/99 This was a bit tricky to find at first. We followed Copey's directions, but alas, were foolishly without an OS Map. The trick is to head round to the right after going up the path behind the houses and through the opening out into a field where the barrow "appears" to the right. The dog in the house immediately below the barrow was none too friendly! Still we managed to get a shot like the book only with winter colouring instead..which was nice! |
Posted by Rob Gillespie15th January 2001ce |
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Julliberrie's Grave - origins of the name According to 'The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 7' by Edward Hasted, published in 1798 Chilham "LIES upon the river Stour, about six miles southward from Canterbury. It is called in Domesday, Cilleham; in Saxon, Cyleham; which signifies the cold place; and some think this place was antiently called Julham, or Juliham, i. e. the village or dwelling of Julius, in regard to Julius Cæsar, the Roman emperor, who had several conflicts with the Britons in and near it." What this suggests is that the name Julli in Julliberrie's grave and the first syllable of Chilham are related - both coming from one source, whether than be the Saxon 'Cille' ('chill/cold') or an earlier (and doubtful) 'Julius'. The similarity between the 'j' and 'ch' sounds are obvious, and can easily be mistaken/swapped. This further suggests that we are looking at two linked placenames - Chil-ham and Chil-berry, the latter a possible derivation from either Burgh (again, doubtful) or bearw, as in 'barrow' in Anglo-Saxon. In other words Julliberrie's grave is simply the barrow near, or of, Chil-ham. If this etymology is correct we are looking at an original meaning of the 'cold barrow', or 'the barrow near the cold place' - rather apt for the misty, frosty stour valley in winter. Another idea may be that it comes from ceorl-ham, the settlement of the churl (a landholder) or it is a debased Saxon personal name, such as the Guthlac that survives as 'Gilli' in Gillingham. The other possibility is that it does derive from an earlier Roman or Celtic word - but seeing as neither possessed the 'j' sound (Julius Caesar being originally Iulius Caesar) this is extremely doubtful. John Grigsby www.johngrigsby.co.uk |
Posted by John Grigsby 7th April 2010ce |
The position of this hill is described in Murray's 'Handbook for Kent' as being immediately above the station (Chilham) on the right. The compilers of this work and of Black's ' Guide' offer the suggestion that this is a corruption of "Julian's Bower," a common name given to an area devoted to Roman popular games.From 'Notes and Queries' May 19th, 1900. |
Posted by Rhiannon25th August 2006ce Edited 25th August 2006ce |
"JULLABER" —Jullaber is near Chilham, about six miles south-west of Canterbury. There are two references to the place in Camden. Camden himself thus explains the name:—From Notes and Queries, May 19, 1900. |
Posted by Rhiannon 25th August 2006ce Edited 25th August 2006ce |
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The Down on which the barrow sits is called Julliberrie Down. Would it be beyond all likelihood that it's got something to do with berries? Perhaps that's far too simple. It is said that it was here the Ancient Britons stood against the Tenth Legion and kicked their behinds so they had to return to the continent (as you can read at Peter Blanche's 'Kent Resources' page at http://www.digiserve.com/peter/chilham.htm) Another explanation is that the mound is the grave of a giant called Julaber (so says Grinsell in his 1936 'Ancient Burial Mounds of England'). |
Posted by Rhiannon 19th August 2004ce Edited 25th August 2006ce |
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Julliberrie's Grave was thoughtfully sited on the false crest of the Down, overlooking the River Stour below. According to the smr on MAGIC, this longbarrow was once even longer: 60m maybe, instead of 45 as it is now. Perhaps that explains the lack of a burial chamber - it was in the NNW end that was quarried away. Dyer (in 'Southern Britain') describes how the barrow was reused over the centuries: there were Romano-British burials found in the south ditch, which were covered with cairns of flints. So maybe there is a roman general inside - who knows. A damaged late Neolithic axehead was found in the turf core of the longbarrow when it was excavated in the 1930s. Lots on the history of the excavations at the Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julliberrie's_Grave |
Posted by Rhiannon 19th August 2004ce Edited 25th August 2006ce |
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Julliberrie's GraveIt's up there somewhere - honest. |
Posted by GLADMAN 17th February 2024ce |
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