| More information : The cropmark of a possible Bronze Age barrow (centred at SU 23066638) was mapped and interpreted from aerial photographs as part of the Savernake Forest NMP project. The site lies adjacent to a previously recorded barrow (SU26NW 7) and indeed the ditch appears to respect that of the other barrow. The barrow appears as an unusual cropmark, which may be due to its form or the formation of the cropmark. On photographs from 1944 it appeared as an apparently positive parch mark i.e. paler grass against a generally darker background. It was visible again on photographs from 2001 though much less distinctly as an area of poorer grass growth. Depending on the way the grass is reacting, the barrow either seems to have a large central hollow c20m across, then a berm between 4m and 8m across and then an outer ditch set slightly off centre to the south-west with an external diameter of c40m. Alternatively the geology and the grass may be combining to show a reversed mark where features show the opposite way to that in which they normally appear. In this case the barrow would consist of a large central mound with an encircling bank. Neither of these are in keeping with the normal form of barrows as, if the internal feature is a hollow, then its interpretation as a pond barrow would be unusual as these tend to have external banks rather than ditches; if however the internal feature is a mound then it is unusual to see no trace of a ditch. All of these factors mean that this feature may not be a barrow at all. (1) |