Fairy Toot
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Fairy Toot | |
|---|---|
| Type: | oval barrow |
| Country: | England |
| County: | Somerset |
| Nearest Town: | Bristol |
| Nearest Village: | Nempnett Thrubwell |
| OS grid reference: | ST520618 |
| Coordinates: | |
| Condition (out of 5): | 3 |
| Access (out of 5): | 4 |
| References: | Megalithic Portal |
The Fairy Toot (grid reference ST520618) is an extensive oval barrow in the village of Nempnett Thrubwell, Somerset
It was formerly a chambered cairn which is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, on the national monument register as '22826'.[1] The Fairy Toot south-southwest of Howgrove Farm is a mound 60 m long, 25 m wide and now 2.5 m high, retained by a stone wall. Its summit is covered with ash trees and shrubs.[2] Formerly it was considerably higher. On being opened in 1789 and essentially destroyed, it was found to contain two rows of cells, running from south to north, formed by immense stones set edgeways, and covered by others of larger dimensions. At the time it was conjectured to be a work of the Druids, but its origins are far older and probably date from the Neolithic period.[3]
Wade and Wade in their 1929 book "Somerset" described it as "a remarkably fine tumulus of masonry, said to have been one of the finest in Britain, in the chambers of which skeletons have been discovered. A few vestiges of it now only remain, the rest has been used as a lime-kiln."[4]
The site was visited in the past as it was known as a place for curing warts.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ The Fairy Toot long barrow 350 m SSW of Howgrove Farm. English Heritage's Record of Scheduled Monuments. Retrieved on 2006-05-12.
- ^ Fairy Toot. Retrieved on 2006-05-12.
- ^ Nempnett Thrubwell. GENUKI. Retrieved on 2006-05-12.
- ^ Somerset by Wade, G.W. & Wade, J.H., available at Project Gutenberg.
- ^ Leete-Hodge, Lornie (1985). Curiosities of Somerset. Bodmin: Bossiney Books, 20. ISBN 0906456983.
[edit] External links
- The Modern Antiquarian: Fairy Toot
- The Fairy Toot
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