<< Our Photo Pages >> Bartlow Hills - Barrow Cemetery in England in Cambridgeshire

Submitted by Thorgrim on Sunday, 09 June 2013  Page Views: 36997

Multi-periodSite Name: Bartlow Hills Alternative Name: Bartlow Burial Mounds
Country: England County: Cambridgeshire Type: Barrow Cemetery
Nearest Town: Saffron Walden  Nearest Village: Bartlow
Map Ref: TL586449  Landranger Map Number: 154
Latitude: 52.079743N  Longitude: 0.313037E
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.
 3 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.
 4 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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graemefield SumDoood taysMP would like to visit

oldman visited on 3rd Sep 2018 It's quite a climb to the top of the highest one.

Bartlow Hills
Bartlow Hills submitted by Thorgrim : This is the largest barrow in Britain and very few people know of it. This Romano-British site at Bartlow is on the Essex/Cambridgeshire border at TL 586453. Originally the largest group in Europe when there were seven enormous barrows here. Then the now disused railway came through and flattened four of them! The largest survivor is 45 feet high and the highest in Britain by far. The wo... (Vote or comment on this photo)
These are the largest barrows in Britain, although they are Romano-British rather than prehistoric. Very few people know of them. Originally the largest group in Europe when there were seven enormous barrows here. Then the now disused railway came through and flattened four of them!

The largest survivor is 45 feet high and the highest in Britain by far. The wooden staicase gives access to the top without causing erosion. You can then look down on the other two giants. Many suberb artefacts have been recovered and are now in Colchester Museum, Bartlow was formerly in Essex. This Romano-British site at Bartlow is on the Essex/Cambridgeshire border.

Access is via a footpath, but it is not well marked. Bartlow is a small crossroads hamlet with few houses. Look for the "Three Hills" pub and the path is beyond the entrance to the big house next door.

It seems incredible that this magnifent and enormous site is so little valued locally. The largest barrow is second only in size to Silbury Hill (excluding Norman mottes) and if Bartlow were in Wilts rather than Cambs there would be hundreds of visitors every day. Go there and be amazed!
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Bartlow Hills
Bartlow Hills submitted by Thorgrim : Barrows can make dull photos, but low sunlight can aid by giving modelling and texture. Another solution is to shoot into the sun and create a dramatic silhouette. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Bartlow Hills
Bartlow Hills submitted by Thorgrim : The 45 foot high Romano-British barrow at Bartlow. (1 comment - Vote or comment on this photo)

Bartlow Hills
Bartlow Hills submitted by Humbucker : Bartlow Hills. The tallest of the three remaining Bartlow Hills. Mound 4 looking North taken from Mound 7. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Bartlow Hills
Bartlow Hills submitted by Humbucker : Bartlow Hills. Panorama of all three remaining mounds looking from the West.. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Bartlow Hills
Bartlow Hills submitted by Flickr : Bartlow Hills site plan Bartlow, Cambridgeshire Image copyright: david.robarts, hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API.

Bartlow Hills
Bartlow Hills submitted by AngieLake : Bartlow Hills, Essex (according to caption.) Found in Leslie V. Grinsell's 'Barrows in England and Wales', Shire Archaeology series, 3rd edition, 1990.

Bartlow Hills
Bartlow Hills submitted by Thorgrim : Iron Age British with strong Roman influence, these are the largest round barrows in Britain. Unless you know different? Right on the Essex/Cambridge border. Both counties have claimed them, but both have largely ignored them.

Bartlow Hills
Bartlow Hills submitted by Humbucker : Bartlow Hills. The crater left in the top of Mound 4 following past excavations.

Bartlow Hills
Bartlow Hills submitted by Humbucker : Looking West along the now disused railway line which was built through the site & put paid to Mounds 3 & 6.

Bartlow Hills
Bartlow Hills submitted by Humbucker : Bartlow Hills. Looking South over the site of destroyed Mounds 1 & 2.

Bartlow Hills
Bartlow Hills submitted by Humbucker : Bartlow Hills. Looking South, Mound 5 taken from the top of Mound 4.

Bartlow Hills
Bartlow Hills submitted by Humbucker : Bartlow Hills. Looking North, Mound 7 taken from Mound 4.

Bartlow Hills
Bartlow Hills submitted by Antonine : Visited 2013

Bartlow Hills
Bartlow Hills submitted by Antonine

Bartlow Hills
Bartlow Hills submitted by oldman : Looking down to the second barrow from on top of the highest one. (1 comment)

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
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Re: Bartlow Hills by Anonymous on Friday, 29 April 2016
I was born in Bartlow and would like to inform you that there are 4 of the original 7 Barrows. Unfortunately the 4th s on Private property. It can just be seen to the left of the old railway bridge that is part of the footpath approach from Bartlow church ( a rare round tower church that survived the Norman Invasion) - that leads to the accessible 3 Hills

There are still a few artefacts in Saffron Walden Museum

Kind regards

Graham Tuthill

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Bartlow Hills Guided Walk with storytelling, July 3 2013 by Andy B on Sunday, 09 June 2013
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Bartlow Hills Guided Walk with Cambridgeshire Archaeology
Wednesday, July 3, 2013, 7:00pm

Join a guided walk around these impressive Roman burial mounds that once dominated the landscape followed by storytelling with Paul Jackson.

Free entry.

http://www.facebook.com/events/512052695500247/
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Bartlow Hills Heritage Walk by Andy B on Sunday, 09 June 2013
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The following monument walks have been put together by Cambridgeshire Archaeology in collaboration with South Cambridgeshire District Council.

http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/leisure/archaeology/outreach/outreach_walks.htm
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Re: Bartlow Hills by Anonymous on Monday, 12 July 2010
The railway actually passed through two of the tumuli and did not destroy any of them. It did uncover a cemetery though. There are three barrows accesible to the public, the forth is on private land (The Bartlow Estate).
The access is best from the Ashdon Road but it is easier to park by the church. Yes the access path is dark and spooky but this adds to the amazing experience when you approach the tumuli for the firts time.
The parallel line of three (or possibly five) barrows were originally much smaller and have been ploughed out.
The artefacts were taken to Great Easton Lodge but were destryoed in a fire in the 1950's. Only three items remain and these are in Saffron Walden museum NOT Colchester.
If you are quiet on your approach you may see lizards basking in the sun on the wooden steps leading up the largest tumulus.

see the following sites for more information:
http://www.eastspace.net/bartlow/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=5245
http://www.reading.ac.uk/archaeology/research/projects/arch-Bartlow.aspx
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Re: Bartlow Hills by Anonymous on Tuesday, 05 May 2009
hi i visted the hills yesterday and had a look at the mounds very impressive it took some effort to find them i asked people in the village and most were not forthcoming of it;s location. most seemed to not want us to be there. i was comfronted by PRIVATE and no entry sighs and a foul corragated fence leading up to the mounds. the setting of the mounds is destroyed by a barbed wire fence surrounded it and a overgrown wood. it should be open for all too see unfortuantely the area seems have continued what happened 200 years ago when two of the mounds was destroyed and one you can't get to because of a corragated fence, then the railway came through. the area seems unwiiling to share this beautiful monument. god forbid if you went on their land. i wanted to take a walk in the area on the disused railway i left disappointed.
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Re: Bartlow Hills by Anonymous on Wednesday, 29 April 2009
Put that in your soup and slurp it!

(somebody else...)
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Re: Bartlow Hills by Anonymous on Wednesday, 29 April 2009
Stop trying to send people to my favourite place, it is special because it is largely unknown!

People like you exploit old places and take away their dignity. I appreciate that you want people to enjoy them but this area is full of similar things that noone knows about and that is what makes it special!
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Re: Bartlow Hills by ocifant on Sunday, 07 October 2007
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Visited here today, and access is much more straightforward if you ignore the pub and head for the church instead! The entrance to the churchyard has a signpost to Bartlow Hills, and the footpath to the left of the church leads directly to the hills.
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