A Long Barrow is an ancient burial mound dating from New Stone Age times, also known as the Neolithic Period*. This was quite a job to find, I must say. The Long Barrow is situated between two small towns: Stoney Littleton (not surprisingly) and Wellow (which, surprisingly, is where the "car park" is.)
"Car Park" in inverted commas because it was, essentially a field with, oddly, no exit onto the public footpath beyond. English Heritage's "Parking is limited" was a little way off the mark and should probably have read, "Just park in the middle of nowhere nearby and hope for the best." In the end, this is what I did because I would never have been able to walk all the way from Wellow down Littleton lane. Instead, parking right next to the entrance bridge† was right and, oddly, I think was the intended place anyway, but it was certainly not clear.
It is a nice walk though because the land traversed to get here was probably being farmed by the Neolithic people, and is still being farmed to this very day. The signposts are sparse but not unclear, each situated over a stile. There were a few stiles to cross, each one dry so I sat and took a rest on them, noting that no one else had been through this way that morning. Today was also the first day I took out the new walking stick to support me as I amble; I think it certainly helped as the place was rather hilly.
Outside was a single purple tealight crushed just before the entrance. Probably left there by some Pagan/Heathen person's recent trip to IKEA for coloured candles. Can't say much about the subject, but I was told by a Historian that the Paganism known today is an extremely modern mutation of the original (and different) Paganism - really, I don't know anything about it, but I found it amusing that the only so-said Pagan in the audience of this Historian was shaking his head with solemn dismay. I suppose that slow head shaking often rises in my mind at situations like these because, in the same way he felt to dismiss a learned Historian with the shake of the head, someone decided to leave a purple tealight outside a site that is (for me and many others) a place of historical interest not standing to be covered by littering, worshipful footfall.
There is also an ammonite fossil set into the entrance which must have been found by the builders of this place and selected as something special - click the above picture to enlarge it and see clearly. Inside, it was very dark. It is recommended that you bring a torch, so I brought Ol' Beamy, as I call him: a disc studded with 20 white LEDs, which are very, blindingly bright. But not even Ol' Beamy could penetrate deep into the Long Barrow's blackness.
The biggest problem was that the ceiling is extremely low and crouching is therefore the only possible form of motion besides crawling - which has the drawback of not being able to see where you are going. After a short while my legs became extremely weak, and reminded me of those old days when I used to go Filming with Phil and work non-stop with the tripod until I was utterly exhausted. It was dark and I thought the ceiling might fall in somehow, but it was fun and interesting too. Back off down Littleton Lane in the car! This lane, as it turned out, was aptly named because its size was, well, little-ton.
Worth the visit, but plan the journey up there, certainly.
Worth the visit, but plan the journey up there, certainly.
* "Neo" means "New", and "Lithic" means "Stone" in Latin.
† For those interested, the coordinates of this place are: +51° 18' 37.02", -2° 22' 57.89"
† For those interested, the coordinates of this place are: +51° 18' 37.02", -2° 22' 57.89"