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Barrow Hill (Sulgrave)

Round Barrow(s)

Also known as:
  • Monument No. 339264

Nearest Town:Brackley (10km SSE)
OS Ref (GB):   SP559472 / Sheet: 152
Latitude:52° 7' 11.33" N
Longitude:   1° 11' 0.47" W

Added by Rhiannon


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Folklore

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By the side of this Trackway, in the parish of Sulgrave, and seven miles and a half N.E. by E. from Banbury, is a Tumulus or Barrow still called Barrow Hill, the use of which as an exploratory mount may be correctly conceived from Morton's description of it. Here, he says, "no fewer than nine counties do present themselves to one view, that is, the counties of Northampton, Warwick, Worcester, Oxford, Gloucester, Berks, Bucks, Bedford, and Hertford; and 'tis thought that a part of Wiltshire or Hampshire is likewise to be seen from thence."*

*Morton's Northamp., 1712, p22

The base of this Tumulus is 25 yards by 19, and the summit 12 yards by 10. Upon it grows a great Ash tree, now going to decay, which is considered to be four centuries old.

There is a tradition respecting this mount and the Ash tree, that the spot was the scene of the revels of witches, and that when the Sulgrave people went to cut the tree down, they saw their village in the vale beneath apparently wrapped in flames, and therefore returned home. While they were absent from the tree on this false alarm, the witches made good the injury that had been done to the tree, and thus it was preserved.
p16 in 'The History of Banbury' by Alfred Beesley [1841?] (online at the Internet Archive).
Rhiannon Posted by Rhiannon
26th July 2009ce
Edited 26th July 2009ce

Miscellaneous

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Details of barrow on Pastscape

[SP 55934716) Tumulus (LB) Barrow Hill. (1)
There is a barrow below Barrow Hill, one mile N of Sulgrave, on the S side of Banbury Lane. (2)
A bowl barrow located on the crest of Barrow Hill, with a good outlook to the S. It is some 22.0m diameter, and 2.0m high on the N.side, but mutilation by rabbits, etc, has badly distorted its profile on the S.side. On the N.side there is a slight trace of ditch in the lusher vegetation at the base of the mound. AM survey 1:2500. (3)
Mound (SP 5594716) may be the site of a medieval windmill. (4)
Chance Posted by Chance
25th July 2016ce

Barrow Hill outside Sulgrave is an oval shaped Bronze Age burial mound positioned on a relatively high point in the surrounding land. Its northern end is about two metres high. According to its record on 'Magic' some large stones lie exposed on its western side – perhaps there were or are burial cists inside. The mound has apparently been rather disturbed by badgers.

Looking on the map you can see it is handily located in the angle between a public footpath and the ancient Banbury Lane (a supposed prehistoric route from the Avon to the Humber).
Rhiannon Posted by Rhiannon
23rd July 2004ce