Cranham's Burial Mounds.

 

There are two burial mounds of note in Cranham; West Tump, which is a Neolithic long-barrow, situated in Buckholt Wood within the angle formed by Buckholt Road and the B4070 Stroud to Birdlip road, above Red House saw mill and Buck's Head tumulus, which in the centre of an open field called Hungry Park between Tintown and Dunley.

West Tump was discovered in 1880 by G.B. Witts and was excavated in the same year. Apart from pottery and a perfect, leaf-shaped arrowhead several skeletons were found in the outer forecourt, another 3 on the inside of the retaining wall,9 more in the passage and 3 in the inner chamber.
The most interesting feature was the discovery of a semi-circular platform made of five smooth, flat stones
A new investigation was undertaken in 2004 by Birmingham University into the bones collected by Professor Rolleston who assisted Wiits in the initial excavation. The results show that the bones found on the semicircular platform were that of a juvenile and a puppy.

This picture shows just how difficult it is to find.

West Tump is notoriously difficult to find, despite it nearness to several tracks and the fact that it is 150 feet long and 75 feet wide at it's broadest point. The story is told of how in the 1950's, Dr. Morris of The Institute
of Archaeology in London drove with a party of students to examine it. They spent the entire afternoon quartering the area and returned home in the evening without having found it!
However,when visiting to take photographs we were surprised to find a hand-carved wooden shrine,
dedicated to the Mother Goddess in thanks for the safe delivery of a baby daughter.
There is a legend associated with the Cerne Abbas giant that any couple who conceived within it's boundaries were certain to produce a healthy child.
Perhaps West Tump has now become popular within the pagan fraternity for the same reason? Fortunately, there were no conceptions taking place when we were there!

The Wooden shrine in recognition of West Tump's high score rate!

Buck's Head round barrow is only about 1/4 mile as the crow flies from West Tump. It is 35 metres in diameter and five feet high.Being an open field the barrow is now considerably lower than it would have been due to many centuries of ploughing.
It was partially excavated in July 1880 by J.E. Dorington who found much evidence of cremations and the remains of woman and child .
Could this have been another "Cotteswold Chieftainess"?
Fortunately, this monument is now protected by English Heritage who prevent the vile peasants that dwell there from ploughing it into oblivion.

Buck's Head Tumulus, complete with "vile peasant".

It is interesting to note that if one draws a straight line on a map from Brimpsfield Church to Cranham church, it passes straight through Buck's Head round barrow.
This brings us into the realms of ley-lines and other phenomena and there are many websites dedicated to
the study of such things !

A member of Nether Stowey UFO Society investigating Buck's Head tumulus for evidence of extra terrestrial activity.

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Page Updated: May 2005

Update:The bones from West Tump have recently been re-examined by Birmingham University with some interesting findings due to be published soon.

Page created solely by M.P.Whitaker thus indemnifying Cranham Local History Society.