<< Our Photo Pages >> Giant's Caves - Chambered Cairn in England in Wiltshire

Submitted by TheCaptain on Thursday, 10 March 2022  Page Views: 16638

Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Giant's Caves Alternative Name: Luckington I
Country: England County: Wiltshire Type: Chambered Cairn
Nearest Town: Chippenham  Nearest Village: Luckington
Map Ref: ST81998297  Landranger Map Number: 173
Latitude: 51.545333N  Longitude: 2.261106W
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
 4 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
 4 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
 5

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TheCaptain visited on 6th Mar 2022 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 3 Access: 4 A lot of the large trees and overgrowth has gone since I was last here 19 years ago, but its still overrun with brambles etc, and not in a good condition. The remains of three chambers are easily found with large side slabs still in place, but there is also a worrying heap of large slabs piled nearby, no doubt once part of the structures. I didn't do too much delving to see what else I could find.

4clydesdale7 visited on 30th Jun 2011 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 4 The approach from Badminton Village springs a beautiful surprise as you meet the T-junction (with footpath/track going to S) shown on the map even more so in summer on a late sunny evening - lots to investigate with many stones around and on the Cairn - probably a veritable 'treasure chest' on careful examination

TheCaptain visited on 13th Apr 2004 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 4 This fantastic long barrow, which lies on an east west axis, is in a field just to the north of a little stream on the edge of the Badminton estate. The initial impression is that it is fairly ruinous, and has become overgrown with trees and undergrowth, but closer inspection reveals that there is much left here. Although the ends of the barrow appear to have been removed at sometime in the past, the remaining central part show what a large structure this once was. Within this central part of the barrow can clearly be seen the remains of four chambers, constructed using large rock slabs, which either opened onto a central corridor, or to the sides of the barrow, although they would have been blocked off with stone slabs. These chambers are approximately 4 metres long and 1 to 1½ metres in width, and strangely would not have been located at the bottom ground level of the mound, but at a slightly higher level.

hamish have visited here

Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 3 Ambience: 3.67 Access: 4

Giant's Caves
Giant's Caves submitted by TheCaptain : I revisited this after about 19 years. A lot of the large trees and overgrowth has gone since then, but its still overrun with brambles etc. Viewed from the southwest. (Vote or comment on this photo)
A beautiful long barrow near Luckington in the grounds of Badminton Park, but clearly visible from the lane. It has a near neighbour Luckington II just to the southeast.

The sense of discovery is wonderful at this site. The long barrow is similar to Belas Knap with a false entrance, horns and four chamber cut into the sides. Unlike the overtidied Belas Knap, this barrow looks untouched and the moss and brambles can give it a terrific atmosphere.

This fantastic long barrow lies on an east west axis, in a field just to the north of a little stream on the edge of the Badminton estate. The initial impression is that it is fairly ruinous, and has become overgrown with trees and undergrowth, but closer inspection reveals that there is much left here.

Within this central part of the barrow can clearly be seen the remains of four chambers, constructed using large rock slabs, which opened to the sides of the barrow, although they would have been blocked off with stone slabs. These chambers are approximately 3 to 4 metres long and 1 to 1½ metres in width, no doubt giving rise to the Giants Graves or Caves name.

See historicengland.org entry, with some decent photos

Note: A return visit after 19 years finds this wonderful longbarrow to have been tidied up at some point, although still overgrown with brambles etc.
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Giant's Caves
Giant's Caves submitted by TheCaptain : Overall view of the barrow from the lane near to its twin barrow, Luckington II (Vote or comment on this photo)

Giant's Caves
Giant's Caves submitted by TheCaptain : A view of the barrow from the eastern end (Vote or comment on this photo)

Giant's Caves
Giant's Caves submitted by TheCaptain : There is an ominous heap of large slabs piled nearby, no doubt once part of the structures. Its neighbour Luckington II can be seen in the background. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Giant's Caves
Giant's Caves submitted by TheCaptain : View across the barrow from the southeastern chamber, with the northeastern chamber and the ominous pile of slabs beyond. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Giant's Caves
Giant's Caves submitted by TheCaptain : The southeastern of the side chambers. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Giant's Caves
Giant's Caves submitted by TheCaptain : The northeastern of the side chambers.

Giant's Caves
Giant's Caves submitted by TheCaptain : The northwestern of the side chambers.

Giant's Caves
Giant's Caves submitted by TheCaptain : The view of the westen end, at the false entrance

Giant's Caves
Giant's Caves submitted by vieveforward : A long cairn with lateral chambers, seen from the south, excavated by A.D. Passmore in 1932, and by J. Corcoran in 1960-62. Four chambers, with a forecourt and a blind entrance at the eastern end. The mound was trapezoidal in plan and revetted by dry-stone walling, still be seen at the western end. Finds included flint flakes and a sherd of Neolithic pottery. Corcoran found the fourth chamber fill...

Giant's Caves
Giant's Caves submitted by Bladup : Giant's Caves.

Giant's Caves
Giant's Caves submitted by hamish : One of the chambers. This is an interesting barrow to visit, you really need a strimmer to find the remains.

Giant's Caves
Giant's Caves submitted by hamish : Neolithic drystone walling on the barrow edges. (1 comment)

Giant's Caves
Giant's Caves submitted by hamish : A portal stone of one of the chambers of the barrow?

Giant's Caves
Giant's Caves submitted by thecaptain : Giant’s Caves, Chambered Tomb, Luckington, Wiltshire, ST820830 Within this central part of the barrow can be seen the remains of four chambers, constructed using large rock slabs. This is the northwest chamber.

Giant's Caves
Giant's Caves submitted by thecaptain : Giant’s Caves, Chambered Tomb, Luckington, Wiltshire, ST820830 Within this central part of the barrow can be seen the remains of four chambers, constructed using large rock slabs. This is the northeast chamber.

Giant's Caves
Giant's Caves submitted by thecaptain : Giant’s Caves, Chambered Tomb, Luckington, Wiltshire, ST820830 Within this central part of the barrow can be seen the remains of four chambers, constructed using large rock slabs. These chambers are approximately 3 to 4 metres long and 1 to 1½ metres in width, and strangely would not have been located at the bottom ground level of the mound, but at a slightly higher level. This is the so...

Giant's Caves
Giant's Caves submitted by thecaptain : Giant’s Caves, Chambered Tomb, Luckington, Wiltshire, ST820830 Overall view from the south of this fantastic long barrow, which lies on an east west axis, in a field just to the north of a little stream on the edge of the Badminton estate. The initial impression is that it is fairly ruinous, but closer inspection reveals that there is much left here. Although the ends of the barrow appear to ...

Giant's Caves
Giant's Caves submitted by Thorgrim : A beautiful long barrow at ST 820830 near Luckington. In the grounds of Badminton Park, but clearly visible from the lane.

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"Giant's Caves" | Login/Create an Account | 4 News and Comments
  
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Re: Giant's Caves andy the witchyman by Anonymous on Tuesday, 26 November 2024
I went there on a nice day in 1997
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Re: Giant's Caves by Anonymous on Thursday, 11 January 2018
I went there in the late 90s & found it impressive.
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Re: Giant's Caves by TheCaptain on Tuesday, 06 April 2010
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street view

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Re: Giant's Caves by TheCaptain on Friday, 16 April 2004
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I agree with Thorgrims comment about discovering this site.

This fantastic long barrow, which lies on an east west axis, is in a field just to the north of a little stream on the edge of the Badminton estate. The initial impression is that it is fairly ruinous, and has become overgrown with trees and undergrowth, but closer inspection reveals that there is much left here. To me, the ends of the barrow appear to have been removed at sometime in the past, I saw nothing which looked like a Belas Knap false entrance, but the remaining central part show what a large structure this once was. Within this central part of the barrow can clearly be seen the remains of four chambers, constructed using large rock slabs, which either opened onto a central corridor, or to the sides of the barrow, although they would have been blocked off with stone slabs. These chambers are approximately 3 to 4 metres long and 1 to 1½ metres in width, and strangely would not have been located at the bottom ground level of the mound, but at a slightly higher level.
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