Burrow Mump

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View of the ruins from the base of Burrow Mump

Burrow Mump is a hill and historic site in the village of Burrowbridge in Taunton Deane, England.

It is an ancient earthwork now owned by the National Trust, presented by Major A.C. Barrett in 1946 as a war memorial.^[1] Burrow Mump is also known as St Michael's Borough or Tutteyate.

It is a natural hill of Triassic sandstone capped by Keuper marl standing at a strategic point where the River Tone and the old course of the River Cary join the River Parrett. It probably served as a natural outwork to the defended royal island of Athelney at the end of the 9th century.^[2]

Excavations have shown evidence of a 12th century masonry building on the top of the hill. The first recorded writing mentioning this site is from William of Worcestre in about 1480 when he referred to it as Myghell-borough. A medieval church dedicated to St Michael, belonging to the Athelney Abbey, dates from at least the mid 15th century and formed a sanctuary for royalist troops in in 1642 and 1645 during the English Civil War, and a detachment of the king's army occupied it in 1685 during the course of the Monmouth Rebellion.^[3] In 1793, the attempt at total rebuilding on a smaller scale ended in failure to collect enough money, and a church for the community was built instead at the foot of the hill (Burrowbridge) in 1838.

The Mump also serves as a memorial to those in the community lost during the first and second world wars.

View from the summit of Burrow Mump, northeast to the village of Othery and, in the distance, to Glastonbury Tor

The confluence of the River Tone and River Parrett at Burrowbridge, as seen from the top of Burrow Mump.

View from the summit of Burrow Mump across the winter-flooded Somerset levels toward Aller Hill and the village of Aller, Somerset.

View from behind the Mump, along the Burrow drove track.

[edit] References

^ Leete-Hodge, Lornie (1985). Curiosities of Somerset. Bodmin: Bossiney Books, 82. ISBN 0906456983.
^ National Trust, Levels and Moors Partnership. interpretive signs at the foot of Burrow Mump & brochure/map [map].
^ Adkins, Lesley and Roy (1992). A field Guide to Somerset Archeology. Stanbridge: Dovecote press. ISBN 0946159947.