Visited on 11 June 2022
I was surprised to find that there was no entry for this site, given how visible it is and how close it is to Radstock.
We parked on the road in front of St Nicholas Church, from here it is a short walk to a gate leading into the Jubilee Field. Local walkers and dog walkers seemed to be using the gate regularly and there is a well-worn path leading up the hill to the barrow.
The barrow is situated on top of a hill in a very exposed location, quite windy at the time of the visit. The flower-rich grassland was knee-high and covered the entire mound (lots of nettle on the mound), which I estimated to be about 1.5m high. There is a small metal structure in the centre with a hole in it, that looked to me like it could be used for a flag pole, but could be associated with the man-hole connected to the water-works mentioned by Grinsell.
From the top of the barrow is a good view of the church, and and excellent view of the valley to the east and the wooded hillside above it.
We then took a walk through the churchyard and came out in the field to the west of the church, near the site of another destroyed barrow (Norton Radstock 4a in Grinsell 1971) at ST 685546, from which there is an excellent view of the Jubilee Field Barrow to the south-east.
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Visited yesterday. The larger barrow is extremely overgrown with brambles and several small trees. It is difficult to see where it begins, but I would estimate around 30-40 feet in diameter. At the centre it reaches a height of 5-6 feet. I remember it being a much more impressive feature a couple of decades ago, very visible from the road when driving past, before it became as scrubbed over as it is now.
There is a drawing of this barrow from 1783 on the British Library website, just behind Rose Cottage with a large ash tree growing on it. http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/topdrawings/a/largeimage85779.html
The tree is also visible on the Harcourt Masters Turnpike map of 1786/7, where mound is shown as a very prominent feature. The other two barrows are not shown on the map.
The largest of the confluent round barrows in the field is around 3 feet in height, the smaller one to the NW is around 2 feet.
The field is marked on the 1841 tithe map as 'Fair Close', presumably this was where the Lansdown Fair was held.
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Standing between The Pipers gives an impressive view of the Cheesewring - the hill is right in the centre of your field of vision. If these are indeed genuine antiquities, this must have been an important factor in their positioning.
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Boxing Day, 2010 CE, 15:00
After visiting Trethevy Quoit, where not a soul was to be seen, it came as a bit of surprise to find that we were not the only ones to brave the snow on Boxing Day. About 50 people were present around the Hurlers and the Cheesewring.
Standing between The Pipers gives an excellent view from a distance - this position forces the cheesewring into your perspective, and I don't doubt that these stones were put here for exactly that purpose.
In the snow, no track was visible, so we had to go carefully climbing up the rocks and boulders on the hill.
The view from the top is incredible, and underneath the Cheesewring is the perfect spot for a picnic.
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Boxing Day 2010 CE, 14:00
The road leading up to the quoit was far too icy for driving, so we parked in the village and went on foot. In retrospect it was better this way anyway - for such a large structure you can see nothing of it until you are about 30 foot from it - and then the size is really striking.
It's possible to squeeze inside the chamber, but since the back stone has fallen down there is little room. The angle of the capstone is mind-boggling - just a few more degrees and it will almost certainly slide.
No-one was here when we came, and if it wasn't for the grim-looking houses built right next to it, this place would be much more mysterious. But still, at least it's here, and with a little imagination it's not hard to see what it would've been like.
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25/9/2010 approx 19:00
I reached this circle shortly before sunset. Overgrown with thistles and nettles on a field margin, it wasn't easy to find, but a delight when I finally did. The stones are small wih pieces of flint embedded in them. Great views out to sea combined with the sunset made this a very atmospheric place.
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Pottering about in the Westcountry landscape
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