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Stonehenge: The Story So Far, Julian Richards

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<< Our Photo Pages >> Seven Lows - Round Barrow(s) in England in Cheshire

Submitted by vicky on Friday, 03 January 2003  Page Views: 11340

Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Seven Lows
Country: England County: Cheshire Type: Round Barrow(s)
Nearest Town: Northwich  Nearest Village: Delamere
Map Ref: SJ567671  Landranger Map Number: 117
Latitude: 53.199203N  Longitude: 2.649635W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
1 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
1 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
5 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
3

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Seven Lows
Seven Lows submitted by Vicky : Seven Lows Bronze Age Barrow Cemetery, Delamere, Cheshire These famous seven earthen mounds have suffered much in recent years. Damaged by ploughing, quarrying and landscaping only four now survive as slight bumps overlooking a valley to the South of Delamere. They were originally located at (i)SJ567671, (ii) SJ567670, (iii) SJ567671, (iv) SJ567670, (v) SJ56670, (vi) SJ567671 and (vii) SJ5666... (Vote or comment on this photo)
Round Barrow in Cheshire

These famous seven earthen mounds have suffered much in recent years. Damaged by ploughing, quarrying and landscaping only four now survive as slight bumps overlooking a valley to the south of Delamere, which was once an area of open water as is suggested by the name of the nearby Fishpool Farm. Two of the others were so unrecognisable that they were descheduled in 1994.

The earliest mention of the Seven Lows came from John Leland’s Itinerary written circa 1540: ‘there is a place in the forest of Delamere cawlid the VII Loos wher be seen VII Caste Dikes. The people there speak much of them. I think they were made by men of warre.’

The Lows were later described by Sir Philip de Malpas Grey Egerton. Some of this account appears in the works of local Cheshire historian, George Ormerod in the 19th century: ‘The Seven Lows are ranged in form nearly semicircular, and are of different sizes varying in diameter at the base from 105 feet to 40 feet. Beginning at the highest tumulus and following the semicircle, the tumuli measure in diameter 105, 45 ½, 40, 105, 66, 68 feet. One has been removed in the recent alterations of the forest, another was opened at a former period, both of which were composed of the dry gravely soil of the forest, and contained black matter, similar to that which appeared on opening Castle Hill Cob.’

Egerton continues ‘A tenant of mine, being in want of material to level an old road, opened for that purpose No 6 in Ormerod’s Plan. On digging into the mound on the north-east side an urn with bones was found. It was reversed on a flat stone, fragments of charcoal and earth were found over a great part of the floor of the mound. It appears that the modus operandi in its construction was this: A circular area of a definite diameter was first selected and floored with a layer of stones, on this the funeral pyre was erected. When the fire was extinguished, the ashes and bones were collected and deposited in the urn, and the latter reversed in such a position near the circumference as not to be crushed by the superincumbent structure. This being arranged the tumulus was formed by a covering of soil. The quantity of stones in this tumulus cannot have been less than 50 tons. The circumference was rather more than sixty yards, and the height in the centre six feet.’

He then goes on to describe the urn which was ‘of earthenware, apparently slightly baked or sun-dried. The marks of the latter are visible in the interior. Circumference at the rim 2 feet 7 inches; largest circumference, 2 feet 11 inches, diameter of the foot, 5 inches; height 1 foot 1 inch. At four inches below the rim a raised fillet surrounds the urn, and the portion between the rim and the fillet is rudely ornamented with parallel lines, drawn diagonally in various directions, but never decussating, they appear as if formed by a piece of twisted cord on the soft clay.’

The further demise of the cemetery is recorded by antiquarian William Shone in the early twentieth century: ‘The writer visited, in November 1907, the VII Lows, only to find them almost levelled. A slight circular rise in the ground, in places, can be traced with help of the large scale Ordnance Survey map.’ Luckily the site does not seem to have deteriorated too much in the intervening years, but it seems criminal that such an important prehistoric feature has been reduced to nothing more than a few grassy bumps.

Access

The Lows stood at (i)SJ567671 (ii)SJ567670 (destroyed) (iii)SJ567671 (destroyed) (iv)SJ567670 (v)SJ56670 (vi)SJ567671 and (vii)SJ566671 (destroyed). The four remaining mounds can be viewed today from B5152 (the road linking the A54 Northwich to Chester road with the A49T Warrington to Whitchurch road) near Ottersbank farm. However it is not worth making a special visit!

References

G. Ormerod “The History of Cheshire”, 2nd Edition (1882)

D.M.Longley “Prehistory” in C.R.Elrington (ed) “The Victoria History of the County of Chester, volume 1, Oxford University Press (1987)

Cheshire County Sites & Monuments Record

J. Leland “The Itinerary” (1745 edition)

W. Shone “Prehistoric Man in Cheshire” (1911)

Note: Please note this barrow cemetery is located on private land but can be easily viewed from the nearby road.
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Seven Lows
Seven Lows submitted by Vicky : Seven Lows in 1813 A plan of the Seven Lows as they looked in 1813, taken from Ormerod’s ‘History of Cheshire’. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Seven Lows
Seven Lows submitted by Vicky : The Collared Urn found in one of the Seven Lows of Delamere after an ‘accidental opening’, now in the British Museum (from Shone’s ‘Prehistoric Man in Cheshire, 1911’) (Vote or comment on this photo)

Do not use the above information on other web sites or publications without permission of the contributor.

coldrum has found this location on Google Street View:

Nearby Images from Geograph Britain and Ireland:
SJ5667 : The B5152 (Fishpool Road) by Jeff Buck
by Jeff Buck
©2016(licence)
SJ5667 : Driveway to Ottersbank Farm and Mews by Jeff Buck
by Jeff Buck
©2016(licence)
SJ5666 : House and farmland near Delamere by David Medcalf
by David Medcalf
©2006(licence)
SJ5666 : Hollins Hill/Heaths Lane junction by Colin Pyle
by Colin Pyle
©2012(licence)
SJ5666 : Fishpool Road near Utkinton (Tarporley, Cheshire) by Andrew Loughran
by Andrew Loughran
©2006(licence)

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 376m WSW 259° Seven Lows Round Barrow(s) (SJ56336703)
 1.1km NE 52° Oakmere* Ancient Village or Settlement (SJ576678)
 1.5km SW 234° High Billinge* Round Barrow(s) (SJ5548066242)
 1.9km W 263° Whistlebitch Well* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SJ548669)
 2.7km NNW 328° Castle Ditch Eddisbury* Hillfort (SJ553694)
 3.2km E 79° Long Stone Cross* Ancient Cross (SJ599677)
 3.5km WNW 298° Delamere Stone Circle (SJ536688)
 3.6km W 276° Kelsborrow Castle* Hillfort (SJ5315567509)
 4.2km SSW 200° Salterswell* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SJ552632)
 4.2km N 4° Gallowsclough Cob* Round Barrow(s) (SJ570713)
 6.2km NNW 332° Glead Hill Cob Round Barrow(s) (SJ538726)
 7.1km NNW 333° Castle Cob* Round Barrow(s) (SJ535734)
 7.2km S 173° Robin Hood's Tump* Round Barrow(s) (SJ575599)
 7.7km WSW 245° Brookhouse Farm Ancient Village or Settlement (SJ497639)
 8.4km SSW 200° Beeston Castle* Hillfort (SJ538592)
 8.9km ENE 74° Moultonbank Farm Round Barrow(s) (SJ653694)
 9.7km SSW 194° Peckforton Mere* Ancient Village or Settlement (SJ543577)
 10.1km NNW 343° Bradley Earthworks* Hillfort (SJ539768)
 10.3km NNW 326° Woodhouses* Hillfort (SJ511757)
 11.1km NW 318° Helsby Hill* Hillfort (SJ493754)
 11.4km WNW 285° St Plegmund's Well* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SJ457701)
 11.5km NNW 334° Synagogue Well Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SJ51687742)
 13.2km NNE 22° Whitley Village Round Barrow(s) (SJ617793)
 14.3km NE 41° Robin Hoods Butts Round Barrow(s) (SJ662778)
 14.6km WNW 300° St Mary (Thornton Le Moors)* Ancient Cross (SJ44157455)
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Re: Seven Lows by coldrum on Wednesday, 28 April 2010
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