A well kept secret awaits your visit!
The largest barrow offers far reaching views from the
summit.
The largest of the four remaining Bartlow Hills 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. It was originally the largest group in Europe when there
were seven enormous barrows here, however three were destroyed when
a railway was laid through the site! The railway is long gone,
however the four surviving barrows remain. One is on the far side
of the former railway track and completely overgrown, the other
three are nicely preserved and maintained.
The largest survivor is 45 feet high and the highest in Britain by
far. The wooden staircase gives access to the top without causing
erosion. You can then look down on the other two giants. Some
artefacts have been recovered and are now in Saffron Walden Museum
(Bartlow was formerly in Essex). It seems incredible that this
magnificent and enormous site is so little known. If Bartlow were
in Wiltshire rather than Cambridgeshire there would be hundreds of
visitors every day. Visit and be amazed!
The fourth barrow now overgrown is clearly visible in this old
photograph.
Access to the barrows is via a footpath, but it is not well
marked. At the crossroads for the hamlet, take the road southwards
towards Ashdon. You will pass the remains of the bridge that
carried the railway over the road, then there is a layby on the
left for about 2 cars where you should tuck in well when you park.
The footpath to the hills runs eastward at a tangent to the
road.
The cache dates back to December 2001 making it one of the oldest
in Britain which is rather appropriate for the ancient setting.
(Link back to
original
listing) However, it was sited in the Bartlow Estate at a time
when cache placings were not reviewed as they are today. In the
absence of the original owner we have therefore adopted it and
relocated it onto public land. We hope that the appropriate siting
and the association with the barrows will entice far more cachers
to visit and virtually eliminate the high proportion of "did not
find" reports that may well have contributed to the low number of
cachers visiting.
The cache lies very close to a second footpath which runs parallel
to the road. You will encounter this footpath more or less as soon
as you enter the path to the hills. GPSr reception under the trees
is predictably poor so we would suggest getting yourself due west
of the cache on the west side of the road, pacing your way north to
the entrance by the hills footpath, then pacing your way back south
on the parallel footpath.
The land to the east belongs to Bartlow Estate and is private. The
vehicular track that bisects the two footpaths is not a public
right of way.
After finding the cache treat yourself to lunch and a pint of good
beer at "The Three Hills" pub in the hamlet and then visit the
church, which is particularly quaint and has an interesting
round tower.
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