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Lydeard HillRound Barrow(s)
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Visited 18.1.14 Directions: From Taunton take the A358 North West and then negotiate the country lanes through the hamlet of Cothelstone. When you get to the fork in the road go left and follow the road up to Lydeard Hill car park. An O/S map would be helpful. Once you have parked up, go through the gate and take the ‘path’ to the right, keeping the trees to your right. The Barrow is then easy enough to spot on the left, on the higher ground. It is only a 5 minute walk from the car park. For various reasons, this was our first day out ‘exploring’ for a few months. Despite the rain and cold, biting wind it felt good to be out in the countryside and in the fresh air – something I have missed. The Barrow is a bit of a sorry site. It is covered in brambles, heather and gorse. At some point in the past it has been dug into and appears to be a popular spot for lighting disposable BBQs – judging by the two I found in the centre of the hole. In saying all this Barrow is a decent size – approximately 2m high x 20m across – and affords good views over Bridgewater Bay to the north. This is an easy Barrow to access and a good first site to start the New Year off with. Worth a look when in the area. Until I read the E.H. notes when I got home I was unaware of the nearby other Barrow and Cairn. Pity about that. E.H. state: 'The monument, which falls into three areas, includes two Bronze Age bowl barrows and a Bronze Age round cairn aligned broadly from east to west along the crest of Lydeard Hill in the south western region of the Quantock Hills. The easternmost bowl barrow is 21m in diameter and 1.8m high with a large hollow centre; it has previously been recorded with a surrounding quarry ditch 3m wide which has become infilled over the years but which will survive as a buried feature. About 250m to the west is a bowl barrow 20m in diameter and 1.5m high which has been dug into on its southern side; it too is likely to have possessed a surrounding quarry ditch which will survive as a buried feature. The westernmost barrow, which lies a further 150m WNW, takes the form of round cairn (where the mound material contains a greater proportion of stone rather than earth), which is 21m in diameter and a maximum of 1m high. This cairn has a hollow centre which may be the result of antiquarian investigation; spoil heaps adjacent to the mounds of both of the bowl barrows are also considered to be the result of these unrecorded excavations'. |
Posted by CARL 20th January 2014ce |
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