This barrow is probably looking a bit sorry for itself, being crossed by a field boundary at one end, and only being about 60cm high. However, it (and no doubt the plethora of other sites around - Redhill barrow cemetery, the Water Stone ) seems a good reason why this bit of folklore is attached to the area. Redhill longbarrow is very close to the farm mentioned below.
There is a farm near Wrington called Hailstones Farm but some folk say it should really be Hurlerstone Farm on account of the Devil picking up a great rock lying there and throwing it right over the Mendips to hit Cranmore Church. Of course he missed, but it was a tidy throw even for the Old Boy. Some say it was a giant dropped it or made a bad shot of it. Any how the rock lies on the edge of a cliff in the woods and they call them Hurdlestone Woods. And there is a Giant's Grave there too.
From Ruth Tongue's 'Someset Folklore' (1965) gathered locally in 1945.
[ST 4995 6360] Long Barrow [G.T.]. (1) A long barrow - T 31 - oriented E-W, and 154 feet long. The wider and higher end is at the east and is 45-50 feet wide and 3-3 1/2 feet high. Some large stones are visible and a hedge crosses the mound 20 feet from the west end. Both ends are rounded but there are no traces of a surrounding ditch. There is no local name for the barrow or the field. (2-3) This feature appears to be a long barrow, 1.4m high at the east end and 0.3m at the west. Its east end has been planted with trees and used as a dump for stones from field clearance. The rest of the mound has been spread by ploughing. No stones can be seen that appear to be an integral part of the structure. Surveyed at 1: 2,500. (4)
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Posted by Rhiannon
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