According to Shirley Toulson's book 'The Moors of the Southwest v1' (1983) these two barrows by the road on Twitchen Ridge are haunted by a guardian - "a spirit more fearsome than the black dog of the Wambarrows." Keep on driving, I suggest.
Twitchen Barrows (Tumuli) [O.E.] (1)
Tumulus at 'A' approx. 35ft diam. - 5ft 6ins in height.
Tumulus at 'B' approx 60ft diam - 5ft 6ins in height. (2)
W barrow sited at SS 80313226, visited by Grinsell 26.10.59. Hole at Centre. "Two stones lying outwards, perhaps from some internal structure" (a). E barrow sited SS 80403226, visited by Grinsell 26.10.59. On heath and mutilated. (3-4)
SS 80323225. A grass covered round barrow 14.0 m in diameter and 1.7 m high. Excavation hollow in centre, but Clarke's stones not visible in centre or perimeter.SS 80413225. A grass covered round barrow 20.0 m in diameter and up to 1.7 m high. The broad top has been excessively dug into by way of pits and trenches.Both barrows are in reclaimed pasture.OS 1:2500 surveys revised. (5)Scheduled 672 (6)
Twitchen Barrows, a pair of prehistoric round barrows, are centred at SS 80383225, at the east end of the summit of Twitchen Ridge.
The westerly barrow, centred at SS 80323225, consists of a circular mound 11.5m in diameter and 1.4m high. A possible excavation trench, 2.2m wide, 3.4m long and 0.3m deep has been driven into the summit from the south. It has been exploited by an animal scrape. There is no trace of an encircling ditch around the barrow.The easterly barrow, centred at SS 80413225, measures 19.4m north-south by 23.1m west-east and is 1.3m high. It has been extensively robbed, and is bisected by a zig-zagging robbing trench 0.5m deep running roughly west-east. To the north of this the barrow appears largely intact, whilst to the south the surface is uneven and very disturbed.Both barrows are covered in close cropped grass and lie within improved pasture. Loose stone is scattered on the surface and may be associated with modern field clearance. (7)
Both mounds are clearly visible on aerial photographs from the 1940s onwards. On photographs taken on recent aerial reconnaissance flights the damage to the monuments is clear. (8-9)
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