This round barrow sits on the side of the hill here and has a track running past it which heads up to East Ilsley. It is well worn down, but still is a large clump of earth. It sits right on the modern county boundary which then appears to follow the line of Grims Ditch in some places. From this vantage point the other barrows in the Churn Knob area are clearly visible.
Why it is called fox barrow and is named, (as opposed to some of the others in the immediate area) I do not know. It was clearly a well known barrow as it was used for a county (and probably parish) boundary. This is quite common in the area.
You can just see Wittenham Clumps from the site as well.
Bronze Age bowl barrow visible as an earthwork and mapped from aerial photographs.
[SU 5071 8308] Fox Barrow [G.T.] (1)
Fox Barrow is a bowl barrow mentioned in an Anglo Saxon charter, and situated at the junction of the Blewbury, Compton and East Ilsley parish boundaries. The mound is thirty paces in diameter, seven feet high and surrounded by a ditch. Scheduled. (2-3) 'Fox Barrow' has been spared by ploughing and there is now no trace of a ditch. Published survey (25") revised. (4)
The barrow is visible as an earthwork on aerial photographs. (5)
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SOURCE TEXT
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( 1) General reference O.S. 6" (Prov.) 1960
( 2) General reference Berks A.J. 40, 1936, 46. (L.V. Grinsell)
( 3) General reference A M S Eng and Wales 1961, 19. (Mow).
( 4) Field Investigators Comments F1 JP 23-APR-64
( 5) Vertical aerial photograph reference number NMR OS/6431 208 17-MAY-1964
From: The Berkshire Archaeological Journal Vol 42 Part 2, Berkshire Barrows by L V Grinsell (1938)
Foxes Beorge (Fox Barrow)
Blewbury Charter;
There is no doubt this is a barrow, and it is the barrow still called Fox Barrow adjoining Grims Ditch at the meeting point of the parishes of Compton, Blewbury, and East Ilsley.