<< Our Photo Pages >> Belas Knap - Long Barrow in England in Gloucestershire
Submitted by vicky on Tuesday, 07 October 2003 Page Views: 26072
Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Belas Knap Alternative Name: Sudeley ICountry: England County: Gloucestershire Type: Long Barrow
Nearest Town: Cheltenham Nearest Village: Winchcombe
Map Ref: SP02092545 Landranger Map Number: 163
Latitude: 51.927563N Longitude: 1.971014W
Condition:
| 5 | Perfect |
| 4 | Almost Perfect |
| 3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
| 2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
| 1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
| 0 | No data. |
| -1 | Completely destroyed |
| 5 | Superb |
| 4 | Good |
| 3 | Ordinary |
| 2 | Not Good |
| 1 | Awful |
| 0 | No data. |
| 5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
| 4 | Short walk on a footpath |
| 3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
| 2 | A long walk |
| 1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
| 0 | No data. |
| 5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
| 4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
| 3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
| 2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
| 1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
| 0 | no data |
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I have visited· I would like to visit
SumDoood elad13 would like to visit
poho visited on 4th Dec 2022 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4 Late afteroon in December, just starting to get dark. A grey sky, and misty grey air making the distance fade and blur. The wind from the east, and a real or imagined smell of snow coming with it. It's fair to say this was quite an atmospheric time to visit! I passed through towards the end of a loop around the local area. It's a lovely valley, and I found a couple of very old trees too. All in all a very pleasing way to spend a winter afternoon.
lichen visited on 20th Dec 2021 - their rating: Amb: 5 Access: 4
TheCaptain visited on 10th Aug 2021 - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 4 Access: 3 A long Cotswold Way loop walk from Winchcombe, up to Belas Knap then over to Cleeve Hill via Postlip. A pint at the golf club, then up to the trig point and back to Winchcombe down the Isbourne valley.
FranPears visited on 31st May 2021 - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 5 Access: 3
ruthmj visited on 6th Jun 2020 - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 4 Access: 4 It’s a hot day when we climb the steep path from the road through a woodland of tall, spindly trees. Lockdown has been loosened and lots of people are out; we keep stepping aside to make room on the Cotswold Way. As you trace the spine of the wooded ridge the hummock rises suddenly from the earth like a wave. Today, it’s hardly a place of quiet contemplation: a scraggly-haired young man with his camping mat and rucksack asks us to take a photo, squatting in the false entrance where he’s balanced a strange purple sun-shaped disc.
The impressive frontage engulfs you with two large ‘horns’, constructed from dry-stone-walling, of which the lower parts are original. Peering closely at these stones through the lichens and crumbling moss you can see how meticulously they were laid together, unmoved since those hands placed them six thousand years before.
I bash my head on the lintels of the low-lying burial chambers as I peer inside. These are mostly reconstructed from the 1920s and 30s, but they accurately mirror the craftsmanship of the original: meticulously lined and walled in stone.
We retire to a vantage point across the field for lunch: the streamlined teardrop shape rises up like a surfacing whale from the ground. This was a monument made to be seen from afar. Some Romano-British pottery was found inside; for those who stashed it, the monument was already unimaginably ancient.
Full post about my visit on my newsletter here:
https://englandssecretlandscapes.substack.com/p/a-false-door-for-spirits-to-pass
odprich visited on 12th Sep 2019 - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 4 Access: 4
Catrinm visited on 29th Dec 2018 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 3
MercuryMars visited on 24th Nov 2018 - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 5 Access: 2
drolaf visited on 1st Jun 2017 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 3 a mile walk from Cleeve common car park
SimonBlackmore visited on 25th Mar 2017 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 4
NickyD visited on 25th Mar 2016 - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 4 Access: 2
ajmp3003 visited on 1st Aug 2015 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 3
jeffrep visited on 25th May 2011 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 3
TheWhiteRider visited on 22nd Jun 2010 - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 5 Access: 3
SteveC visited on 26th May 2010 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4
woodini254 visited on 4th Oct 2009 - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 5 Access: 4 This a superb Long Barrow which is accessable via footpath leading off from the main road uphill. Well worth visiting.
Richard13 visited on 1st Aug 2009 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 3
graemefield visited on 1st Jan 2007 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 2
TheCaptain visited on 2nd Apr 2006 A visit to Belas Knap after a day with megalithic portal people starting at Rollright
TheCaptain visited on 6th Jul 1986 A visit to Belas Knap following a visit to the fledgling Glos Warwicks Railway
jeniferj visited - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 4 Access: 2
NDM Humbucker neolithique02 coin DrewParsons TimPrevett h_fenton hamish mdensham have visited here
Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 4.44 Ambience: 4.47 Access: 3.16
The barrow is 52m long 18m wide (at its maximum) and up to 4m high running in a north/south alignment.
It has a false entrance between curved horns at the northern end, three side chambers and a long stone cist at the south end.
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