<< Our Photo Pages >> Belas Knap - Long Barrow in England in Gloucestershire

Submitted by vicky on Tuesday, 07 October 2003  Page Views: 26970

Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Belas Knap Alternative Name: Sudeley I
Country: 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:
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.
 3 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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I have visited· I would like to visit

SumDoood elad13 would like to visit

Couplands visited on 1st Jan 2025 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 3 Access: 3

bishop_pam visited on 17th Jul 2024 - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 5 Access: 3

lboutside visited on 12th Jul 2024 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4

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: 4.43 Ambience: 4.41 Access: 3.18

Belas Knap
Belas Knap submitted by Adam Stanford : Taken with Aerial-Cam, at aprox 10M above ground level on a telescopic mast with remote control Nikon D70s camera system. This image shows the tapering of the mound from front to back (left to right). The camera was pointing in an Easterly direction. Cheers AS. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Restored Severn-Cotswold Long Barrow in Gloucestershire

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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Belas Knap
Belas Knap submitted by h_fenton : Belas Knap Long Barrow, viewed from the North West. Kite Aerial Photograph 25 March 2012 (2 comments - Vote or comment on this photo)

Belas Knap
Belas Knap submitted by h_fenton : Belas Knap Long Barrow. Kite Aerial Photograph 25 March 2012 (1 comment - Vote or comment on this photo)

Belas Knap
Belas Knap submitted by h_fenton : Belas Knap Long Barrow, viewed from the South. Kite Aerial Photograph 25 March 2012 (Vote or comment on this photo)

Belas Knap
Belas Knap submitted by DrewParsons : The horns and false entrance at the northern end of the barrow. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Belas Knap
Belas Knap submitted by Adam Stanford : Taken with Aerial-Cam, at aprox 70ft or 22m above ground level on a telescopic mast with remote control Nikon D70s camera system. Hopefully this provides a very useful vantage point with the monument now easier to understand for those who have not had the chance to visit. Cheers AS. (7 comments - Vote or comment on this photo)

Belas Knap
Belas Knap submitted by DrewParsons : Detail of the false entrance at the northern end. April 2010.

Belas Knap
Belas Knap submitted by neolithique02 : Belas Knap Long Barrow Image copyright: Néolithique02, hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API.

Belas Knap Chamber B
Belas Knap Chamber B submitted by rockmanzym : 06 - Belas Knap - Chamber B Sadly, still with swastika graffiti :( August 22nd 2013 Image copyright: Rockman of Zymurgy, hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API.

Belas Knap
Belas Knap submitted by jeffrep : The Horns and False Entrance at the Northern End of Belas Knap Long Barrow, Gloucestershire, England.

Belas Knap
Belas Knap submitted by Robc : Inside Belas Knap at SP:021254 Robc steals the internal chamber picture...ha ha! (1 comment)

Belas Knap
Belas Knap submitted by bec-zog : Belas Knap Neolithic Chambered Tomb: Side, grave entrance. Charlton Abbots SP021,254

Belas Knap
Belas Knap submitted by camperman : An aerial view from the West.

Belas Knap
Belas Knap submitted by camperman : Belas Knap long barrow, viewed from the North.

Belas Knap
Belas Knap submitted by neolithique02 : Belas Knap Long Barrow Image copyright: Néolithique02, hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API.

Belas Knap False Entrance
Belas Knap False Entrance submitted by rockmanzym : 01 - Belas Knap - False Entrance Image copyright: Rockman of Zymurgy, hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API.

Belas Knap
Belas Knap submitted by Robc : SP:021254 A view of the eastern chamber looking south

Belas Knap
Belas Knap submitted by Robc : SP:021254 Neolithic long barrow. The barrow is 52m long 18m wide (at its maximum) and 4m high running in a north/south alignment. A view of the false entrance.

Belas Knap
Belas Knap submitted by Thorgrim : Belas Knap. One of the side burial chambers.

Belas Knap
Belas Knap submitted by Thorgrim : Belas Knap. The false entrance.

Belas Knap
Belas Knap submitted by Thorgrim : One of the three burial chambers in the side of Belas Knap.

Belas Knap
Belas Knap submitted by Thorgrim : Belas Knap. The false entrance between curved horns.

Belas Knap
Belas Knap submitted by Horatio : The view looking north showing the southern Chamber. 'During the 19th century excavations, the false entrance was found to cover the remains of six skeletons, including five infants, which are thought to be early Bronze Age internments. The south-eastern chamber contained the remains of two males and two females along with animal bones and flint artefacts. The north-eastern chambe...

Belas Knap
Belas Knap submitted by Horatio : The view of the north entrance on approach

Belas Knap
Belas Knap submitted by camperman : The chambered entrance facing North.

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"Belas Knap" | Login/Create an Account | 13 News and Comments
  
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Re: Belas Knap by ruthmj on Saturday, 04 July 2020
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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.

Full post about my visit here: "Belas knap: a false door for spirits to pass through"
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Belas Knap by StevieGee on Wednesday, 01 January 2020
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Myself and partner Sally visited Belas Knap today and it was magical.But a word of warning. If you use the car park the Sat nav took us to, it is a heck of a walk. I was ok but my partner who is living with MS found it a terrible struggle. Also the final stile was very slippery. Well worth it but I think next time I will be going alone.
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Re: Belas Knap by 4seasonbackpacking on Sunday, 14 July 2019
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Re: Belas Knap by Rachelectro on Saturday, 29 December 2018
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I am so ridiculously excited to see this place when my boyfriend and I go to the UK (for the 5th time) at the end of May! This is unlike anything I've ever seen before and I cannot wait. I get wildly excited over a 200 year old building here at home, so this place is likely to blow my mind! I have a feeling that just us looking at the Ordnance Survey Map of the area is going to be a joy.
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    Re: Belas Knap by Anonymous on Monday, 14 December 2020
    Newgrange, in Ireland, on the banks of the River Boyne, a passage tomb aligned to the winter solstice, you would love.
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Re: Belas Knap by 4seasonbackpacking on Friday, 09 November 2018
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Re: Belas Knap by drolaf on Thursday, 01 June 2017
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Belas Knap is part of an ancient landscape that includes Cleeve common, and the barrow is intervisible with the upper slopes of the common to the west. A good way to approach the barrow is from the west, park at the 3 comms towers near the trig at 51.921769, -2.010195 . This gives a feel for the landscape. It’s a 4 mile walk there and back. Takes about 1 1/4 hours to get there at a leisurely pace. It's worth taking a whole day to explore the area, as there are Bronze Age dykes/banks and an Iron Age camp. oh and the stunning views.

see Cleeve hill page
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    Re: Belas Knap by Rachelectro on Saturday, 29 December 2018
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    Thank you for the tips! I suspected that this was going to be an area in which we would want to linger, and this proves it. Thanks to this post I may set aside an entire day to explore this awesome, ancient area. So exciting!
    [ Reply to This ]

Re: Belas Knap by Anonymous on Monday, 21 June 2010
hello
does anyone know (link, book, other) where could I get pictures of the skull retrieved from Belas knap Long Barrow?
thank you in advance
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Links by coldrum on Sunday, 14 September 2008
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http://www.britannia.com/wonder/belas.html

http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2385909139#/group.php?gid=2362874865&ref=ts

http://www.megalithics.com/england/belas/belamain.htm

http://witcombe.sbc.edu/earthmysteries/EMBelasKnap.html
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Re: Belas Knap by Andy B on Friday, 11 May 2007
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This celebrated barrow is situated in the parish of Charlton Abbots, seven miles east of Cheltenham and four from Winchcombe, just above a wood known as "Humble Bee How," or "Humble Bey How."

It is 197 feet long, and 75 feet wide near the centre, its greatest height being twelve feet six inches. Its direction is north and south, the highest part of the barrow being at the north end. A wall of dry stone surrounded the barrow about two feet high except at the north end, where it rose to seven feet and curved inwards, so as to form a passage towards the centre.

This ended about twenty feet from the outer slopes in a massive slab set vertically between two pillars, and supporting a still larger slab set horizontally. At the sides of the barrow are two smaller openings leading to cells, and another cell or cistern is towards the south end. In 1863 a large flat stone, lying exposed on the surface of the barrow at its southern end, was removed, and proved to be the cover of a cell six feet long and two feet six inches wide. In this were found four human bodies, some bones and tusks of boars, a bone scoop, four pieces of pottery, and a few flints.

In the autumn of 1863 five more bodies of children and one young man were found at the north end, under a stone eight feet square and two feet thick. Another chamber was found in 1864 on the east side; it was formed of four large rough stones, enclosing an area about five feet square. In this, twelve skeletons were found, but no pottery or flints. Another cistern was found at the south end covered with three large horizontal stones, and walled all round. Another chamber was found on the west side containing the remains of no less than fourteen bodies. The number of skeletons found altogether numbered thirty-eight, of all ages, from the infant to extreme old age. All the skulls were of the dolicho-cephalic type except one, and this was doubtless a secondary interment.

Text from The Archaeological Handbook
of the County of Gloucester
by George Witts, 1882 (approx)
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Re: Belas Knap by Anonymous on Saturday, 04 August 2001
cymraeg writes: A downpour commencing at the onset of our uphill walk to visit this 4000 year old burial chamber did nothing to reassure my empty belly, not to mention my increasing dismay as my pyjama bottoms' became drenched in mud. As in all good tales the battle with the elements culminated in a dry arrival at the site and the sun breaking through the cloud to flood the scene with welcome warmth. Although the notice at the site warned of it's delicate condition ; the untrained eye saw a well preserved;impressive burial chamber with an interesting false entrance and ritual area. There is a well defined henge and purely for our delight (of course) we observed a curious pattern of condensation, as the sun dried the wet ground. A mist rose from the henge but not yet from the raised ground surrounding. It was intensified within the ritual area and a gentle breeze served to brush the mist slowly but definatly around the henge. It was most impressive and lasted for perhaps 15 minutes before the raised ground joined in the chorus. I don't know much about air currents and the like, but I was tickled pink to see such a beautiful manifestation.
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