The New Forest: Its History and Its SceneryWise, John R. (John Richard)
History
The New Forest: Its History and Its Scenery
Wise, John R. (John Richard)
New Forest (England : Forest)
We will now leave Fritham, and cross Sloden and Amberwood Plantation.
Not far from Amberwood Corner, and above Pitt’s Enclosure, stand two
barrows. The largest was opened thirty years ago by a labouring man,
who, to use his own language, “constantly dreamt that he should there
find a crock of gold.” His opening was rewarded by discovering only some
charcoal. In 1851, the Rev. J. Pemberton Bartlett also explored it with
still less success. It is, however, a remarkable barrow, and differs in
character from any of the preceding, being composed in the interior of
large sub-angular flints, and cased on the outside with a rampart of
earth. Beyond it lies another, very different in style, being made only
of earth. This was also opened by Mr. Bartlett, who found some pieces of
charcoal, and small fragments of a very coarsely-made urn.
About a mile away on Butt’s Plain rise five more barrows, and beyond
them again two more. Of the first five, two were explored by Mr.
Bartlett, who was unsuccessful, and two by myself.
The two which I opened lie on the right of the track leading from
Amberwood to the Fordingbridge road. The northernmost was considerably
the largest, having a circumference of fifty yards, and was composed
simply of gravel and earth. In it we found only a circle of charcoal
placed nearly in the centre on the level of the ground.
The other was more remarkable. It measured only thirty yards in
circumference, but was composed in the centre of raised earth, above
which were piled large rolled flints, making a stratum of from two to
three feet in depth on the sides, but gradually becoming thinner as it
reached the centre, which was barely covered. It thus totally differed
from that near Amberwood, where the earth flanked the stones instead of
being the nucleus round which they were placed. In it we found a circle
of charcoal ingrained with limy matter, a few remains of much calcined
bones, and a fine stone hammer bored with two holes slantwise, to give a
greater purchase to the handle.
Besides these, I opened a solitary barrow situated between Handycross
Pond and Pinnock Wood, close to Akercombe Bottom. It measured
twenty-seven yards in circumference, and three feet in height. After
digging into it near the centre, we found in the white sand, of which
the mound was chiefly composed, a good deal of charcoal on and below the
level of the ground, but failed to discover any traces of an urn,
although we went down to a considerable depth.
Further, a solitary oval mound stood on the south side of South Bentley,
half way between it and Anses Wood. It measured two feet and a half in
height, twelve yards in length, and seven in breadth. This also I
opened, but failed to find even any remains of charcoal, and, from the
easy-moving nature of the soil, am inclined to suspect that it was
modern, and raised for some other purpose than that of burial. On the
east side was a depression filled with water, from whence the soil was
taken.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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