The Three, Three Hills Of Bartlow

By one of them

 Recently I was casting my mind back to my days at St Michael's, and I found myself thinking about the large bookcase that stood at the top of the main staircase at Ingoldisthorpe. You may recall that it was on this bookcase that the DETENTION book was kept! As a regular entrant in this record of misbehavior, I became all too well aware that a certain Master had a passion for setting essays for the detention period, and that one of his favorite subjects was "Wales, whales and wails"

As I had been requested to do a "Piece" for the summer edition of "The Mitre' it crossed my mind to tell you of another trilogy    The Three, Three Hills of Bartlow. I will explain these in order of age, starting with the oldest.

The first THREE HILLS of Bartlow were originally the largest group of Roman Barrows in Northern Europe, and included the highest burial mound in Britain. The seven mounds covered extraordinarily rich burials containing a wonderful collection of artistic objects, in fact thought to be the best found in Britain. The largest mound is forty feet high and has a diameter of one hundred and forty four feet. Today it has a flight of wooden steps to the top, thereby saving wear and tear on the steep conical shaped sides. Also, originally they were surrounded by a ditch, which was typical of Roman burial mounds.

Burial mounds of this type were built in the late first and early second century AD in Eastern England and Belgium. Most artifacts in them, which indicate the high status of the owner, were' usually imported from the Rhineland or Northern Gaul and are concerned with feasting and sacrificial offerings, rather than personal belongings, which would be useful in the afterlife.

In 1815 Buswick Herwood excavated a mound to provide work for the unemployed. "They began at" the apex, and digging down at great labor to the cist,

Despoiled it of its contents, which were distributed, and no account of them taken". However some of the contents went to the Saffron Walden Museum where they are still kept. John Gage carried out better-recorded excavations between 1832 and 1840. Eminent scientists, including Faraday, analysed the contents of the vessels and other organic remains. Gage's reports are the only evidence we now have of the later excavations, for all the objects were taken to Easton Hall, Dunmow, where they were destroyed by fire in 1847.

Large wooden chests with iron fittings were found in five mounds, and the brick cist in another. Cremated burials, with food and drink in vessels of decorated bronze, glass and pottery, and other sacrificial offerings had been deposited in the chests, which were buried with lamps still burning in them. Items found include an iron folding chair and the remains of flowers; box leaves a sponge, incense and liquids including blood, milk and wine mixed with honey.

The three surviving mounds became overgrown before they were taken over by Essex County Council in 1978. The scrub was cleared and fences built for protection. The Hills passed to Cambridgeshire County Council in 1990 after a change in the county boundary.

Built of chalk and unsuitable for agriculture. The surviving mounds are a refuge for the distinctive plants and insects of chalk grasslands. The Pasque flower grew here until early this century. Regular mowing in late summer wlll prevent the scrub from spreading.

Secondly, there is the THREE HILLS public house which is situated about' seven or eight minutes walk from the burial mounds from where it takes it's name. The sign depicts the Three Hills with a Roman Centurion standing in the foreground. For those to whom it really matters it is a free house serving Adnarns and Greene King beers, as well as an excellent selection of food (Maybe that should be worth a pint or two on my next visit!).

Finally, living adjacent to the pub, and only a little way from the church (St. Mary's), are the third THREE HILLS, namely Bob (Robert), Christine and their daughter Anna-Lisa. Having relocated work from Gatwick to Stanstead and commuted the M25 for six years it was decided after much deliberation that we would move.

Having scoured the Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire countryside for about five months we finally decided that we would like to live in Bartlow. We had seen the house about three months earlier and when we went back were surprised to find it was still available. It was then as we approached the village from a different direction that we saw the 'pub next door' was called The Three Hills. That seemed to seal our fate and we decided that it was meant to be that we should become the third "THREE HILLS OF BARTLOW”  

Bob Hill