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Prof. Howard M R Williams writes: Through my work on perceptions of the past in the early medieval period and the Pillar of Eliseg, I continue to explore my interest in the early medieval use of mounds as assembly places.
Me, my son and one of my daughters recently visited Scutchmer Knob (otherwise known as Scutchamer Knob or ‘Scotchman’s Knob’). This is a mound situated on Cuckhamsley or Scutchamfly Hill in the parish of East Hendred (Oxfordshire) and historically in Berkshire.
The Knob is nowhere near has prominent as it might once have been: situated within a stand of trees and only crescent shape following early 20th-century archaeological excavations that suggested it dated to the Iron age, and earlier excavations to quarry soil to fertilise surrounding fields. It would have originally been a conical, flat-topped mound c. 43m in diameter – a huge knob if ever there was one! [Har Har Howard - MegP Ed]
In my 1999 paper investigating the locational qualities of high-status barrow-burials of the seventh century AD, I made the argument that Scuthmer Knob is the only burial mound in its vicinity to afford all-round views over long distances, making it an ideal location for communicating by beacon or signal and affording the visitor will the sense of all-encompassing oversight. The only mound in the area giving a similar impression was at Lowbury Hill: a far more modest mound that contained a seventh-century weapon burial. Hence, the Knob’s selection for use as an assembly place was not arbitrary, it was a site on a prominent long-distance routeway, on a principal shire boundary and also one that was especially prominent in the surrounding landscape, and affording spectacular long-distance views. In this regard, Scutchmer Knob is not only a site that allows views northwards over the Upper Thames Valley, it is possible on a clear day to see south to the North Downs.
More at
https://howardwilliamsblog.wordpress.com/2014/06/01/exploring-the-biggest-ever/
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