Taken 10th April 2004: Looking south west, the two red arrows indicate the locations of the two round barrows. The one to the right is easiest to discern on the ground (see other photo). The one on the left lies in the shadow of a tree and is very tricky to spot.
No prizes for spotting the Bridgewater Monument.
Taken 10th April 2004: This has got to be one of the least dramatic sites I’ve posted up, but here goes nothing. This is the larger of the two barrows near the Bridgewater Monument (believe it or not). It stands slightly to the west of the other one.
In the centre of the photo, standing in the centre of the barrow is my Dad. The red arrows indicate the feint lines where the remains of the barrow can be discerned (if you squint). The monument is out of shot to the right.
Visited 10th April 2004: The following information is a public disappointment warning. Do not visit the Bridgewater Monument round barrows unless;
a) you are especially fanatical about tiny undulations in the ground,
b) you are visiting Ashridge anyway, perhaps for a nice stroll or something
My visit fell into both categories, but if I’m honest mainly the second. After a rather pleasant pub lunch in the Greyhound in Aldbury we walked back up the hill and I asked at the shop where the barrows were. After lots of discussion I got some directions from a member of staff, and with two young female National Trust volunteers in tow (not the kind of thing that happens to me a lot on these excursions!) I headed off to find the barrows.
We wondered round the field by the monument, looking for these things, but couldn’t see any sign of them. Then I realised just how messed up these monuments are. I was standing right in the middle of the larger one. The two National Trust volunteers were relatively philosophical about it all, but to be honest, it was a bit disappointing. Later on my dad posed for the photo, which cheered me up a bit because it’s quite ludicrous.
