This page gives a list of the ‘Barrows, Tumuli, and Earthworks’ sites in the ‘Banburyshire Ancient Sites’ guide.
This section covers ancient earthworks which are not ‘forts’ or ‘camps’. Their condition varies, and of all our local ancient sites they are – despite their technical legal protection as ‘scheduled ancient monuments’ – the most endangered by modern agriculture and land management. Many have been lost to the plough in the last few decades.
Though marked on the map as a 'tumulus', this bowl barrow presents a completely different profile to other local sites – literally a large rounded heap of earth like an upturned bowl. Albeit this has seen better days, eroded by rabbits and badgers over the years, it presents a mysterious presence as you pass down the lane.
The remains of a large, ancient enclosure sit above a large groups of springs in a local hidden valley. Though not well preserved, it’s a lovely location to pause and take-in the surrounding landscape.
A large portal stone stands alone in the field, the scrubby path beyond shrouding the earthwork of the long-barrow structure, the stones and chamber robbed for stone over the centuries. A strange location, alone at the fingertip of a promentary of land jutting out into the Evenlode Valley.
What is special about this site is not so much the well preserved small tumulus, but it’s spectacular location at the top of a high hill, giving views across the Cotswolds to other significant ancient landscapes such as Crickley Hill and Condicote. In clear frost, or misty cloud, it always has a different perspective to offer.