Astonishing Roman Barrows in Britain

You'd be forgiven for thinking that burial barrows were a prehistoric practice in Britain, but here we have some astonishing examples from the era of Roman Britain.

In this video we'll be looking at the distribution of Roman barrows in Britain and considering ideas as to what they represent. The continuation of Iron Age traditions, or something else entirely.

Our first barrow is called Rumberry Hill and lays adjacent to the Braughing to Great Chesterford Roman road. Much flattened by centuries of ploughing, it is nonetheless, still possible to get an impression of its vast proportions.

Whilst up in this wild corner of Essex, we take a quick look at the story behind a bizarrely named field: Constans Slap Station! Both the barrow and the Slap Station visit were very much inspired by Christopher Hadley's excellent book, "The Road".

Next up, Tweedy takes a look at the largest surviving grouping of Roman barrows in Britain. Six of them. This entails a visit to Stevenage New Town in Hertfordshire to see the appropriately named, Six Hills. Subject to sloppy excavations in centuries past, Tweedy considers the evidence for a Roman date.

And then we visit the tallest Roman barrow in Britain at Bartlow in Cambridgeshire. Once a group of seven barrows in two rows, today it is possible to visit three survivors here and they are impressive. Very different to prehistoric barrows...

Channels mentioned in this video:
@tweedyoutdoors
@pwhitewick
@hedleythorne
@AllotmentFox
@SamWalksALot
@Linleys

#romanbarrow #romanbarrows #rumberryhill #rumberry #beardslane #romanroads #constansslapstation #stevenage #thesixhills #bartlow #bartlowhills #thebartlowhills #hertfordshire #essex #cambridgeshire #romanbritain #kingsdale #braughing #chesterford #greatchesterford

If you would like to support this channel, you can buy us a “coffee” via the link in the About section.
All contributions gratefully received and ploughed back into our productions. Travel costs and equipment – that sort of thing. Occasionally, actual real coffee.

00:00 Introduction
04:07 Roman Barrows Data
08:19 Rumberry Hill
12:27 Constans Slap Station
16:35 The Six Hills
24:57 Bartlow Hills
32:51 Roman Barrows in Britain
34:07 Whitewick Studios Opening

Credits (Where due)
WC21 (UK) Productions Ltd theme tune: Keygenerator - Freesound
Roman Gazette theme tune: 8-bit Win – Velda – Epidemic Sound
For Serious Rambling Hikers & Scramblers theme tune: 514178 danlucas – Freesound
Compendium of Curiosities theme tune: Underbelly – Epidemic Sound
Coastal Catalogue theme tune: Just Like Magic – Epidemic Sound
The Time Tunnel theme tune: Micro – Epidemic Sound
Schofield’s Saxon Crosses theme tune: Good, Good – Epidemic Sound
Horror History Files theme tune: Eerily Distorted Retro Electronic Sound Horror - CapCut
The Almanac theme tune: Rush – DJI Mimo
All other music: Epidemic Sound

Main “Broadcaster”: Darren Spratt
Cameras
DJI Pocket 3 Creator Combo
GoPro Hero 12 Creator Edition
DJI Pocket 2 Creator Combo
HoverAir X1

[pwhitewick]

Hey hey... Camdens here. You blumin marvellous "concern" of a youtuber. Thanks for joining us and thanks for highlighting the studio. Very kind. 😊

[tweedyoutdoors]

An epic piece of work Mr WC21, and I feel honoured to have had the opportunity to make a small contribution to it! What an ambitious project this was, given the lavish array of filming locations!

For the record, I managed to do my bit on a very modest budget: my train ticket to Stevenage was £14.50 and the fry-up at the Stevenage Cafe (which I really needed as I was a bit hungover) was £9.50.

Quite possibly the most fun I've ever had on a Monday morning!

Those barrows at the Bartlow Hills really are impressive aren't they? I can see what you mean that they immediately stand out as being very different from, say, Bronze Age barrows.


Really good summary at the end of the different theories. I started this whole investigation wanting to believe these barrows were examples of native resistance, but I think increasingly the suggestion it relates to the Tungrians makes the most sense.

[tuff-duty]

I am an American but have hiked Hadrian’s Wall between the sheep fields and the banks of the Thames. I traced my genealogy back to Tingewick in the 1530’s, and saw the name “FENNIMORE” on a plaque on a wood burning stove in a pub near Mildenhall; so I have ties to England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿. You have been making videos for many years, but I have just discovered your work, I think it’s simply marvelous! The degree of detail, the humor, your hat- it is perfect! And I have learned some things- a bridge abutment that has not changed in more than a thousand years, a grave barrow with contained a treasure of Roman coins… believe me, I think preservation is just beginning, keep pointing out what can be kept for future generations!

[MajorTomm-mtvg]

Actually this is one has got to be one of your best videos yet…. Thank you again. 10/10

[David_Avidmind]

My two favorite action hereros are collaborating once again. It was a fantastic start to a Sunday.

[Oscartherescuedog]

Fantastic video! You and Tweedy are brilliant! That brief cameo from the hi-viz man towards the end was hilarious also. Good British humour you can’t beat it 👍🏻

[chrisbentleywalkingandrambling]

Well, I never. Another School day. I didn't think they were as late as the Roman era. Another fantastic video, Darren. As always, I learned more about Blighty off this channel than any other. Thanks for sharing, and thanks too to Tweedy for his input.

[janecapon]

Great video! You put so much effort into these gems. I look forward to every Sunday evening when they get broadcast.

[debsbennett]

This was your best yet- have wanted to do bartlow for ages

[andrewdolinskiatcarpathian]

Hi MrWC(UK)ProductionsLtd, wow how slick was that. Enthralling, entertaining and educational from beginning to end. Obviously MrTweedy was the star of the star of the show. 😂
My knowledge of Romano continues to expand. I have said it before, and I will say it again, if only you two were my history teachers way back in the 60’s and 70’s. Thanks to you and MrTweedy I view the landscape through different eyes and with greater knowledge. Am I turning into an amateur antiquarian as I marvel for example, at the four Northala Romanoesque conical barrows which grace the A40 in Northolt, West London 😮
So pleased that you and MrTweedy had a pub debrief over a pint ( or two ) of London Pride (no citrus beer for you two).
A huge thank you for all the hidden delights (the reference to Brian Cant was inspired) as well as for the background appearance of Geoff Marshall! What a gathering you all had at Paul’s studios.
Final word goes out to the photo bombing chap in the orange hiviz…………. what a plonker! 🤬
Gosh, how do you top this episode! 👏👏👍😀

[Jackhorner]

Tremendous episode. Who knew about Roman Tumuli? Also the reference to 'Playschool' much appreciated.
A great start to a grey Sunday. Thank you.

[jacquelinetaylor]

I've now finished watching the back catalogue so look forward to the new videos on a Sunday. This one didnt disappoint. Plua another new strange way to end a video. There must be a finite way to finish these videos but he keeps pulling new ones out of the bag. Its also great to see the viewing figures and subscriptions going up as its obvious a lot of research and effort goes into producing interesting videos.

[sUASNews]

Watching in South Africa, I have the pathfinder with my parents house on it behind me in the bookshelf. I did my O Level Geography project with a Pathfinder!

[dasja]

I laughed so hard at 18:45. Not the guy pointing at an inscreen picture, while this guy's shadow is aggressively pointing at the camera shadow.😂

[Seventeen_Syllables]

This is the most British thing of this sort that I've seen in a long time, days at least possibly weeks. Well done! Carry on.

[woodcox]

Wow, thank you sir. A fascinating production, well done.

[MrJohnConstable]

Superb. That old Roman road alongside the Six Hills in Stevenage is now called Six Hills Way and very neatly keeps Stevenage Old Town completely separate from the (gastly when I lived there from 1972-75) New Town.

[philipwells]

Thank you for educating me this morning over a cup of coffee. I miss Mr Ben but at least we have you. Now I think you need a pair of proper walking brogues.

[markstott]

I would never have considered that the Romans constructed burial mounds before today. Thus, today, you definitely taught me something new, so thank you.

As for Kingsdale. Well, my best mate and I went to do the four summits on the western side (Gragareth, Green Hill, Great Coum, and Crag Hill). The forecast was for broken clouds with sunshine at about 16-18°C. I wore shorts. It drizzled and mizzled (Mizzle = misty drizzle) all day long. It wasn't warm. Even today, my mate laments the weather with water splashing over the tops of our boots whilst on the ridge. My greatest regret is that I have never been back.

[PhilMBarrett]

Excellent! Loads I didn't know about there, especially The Stevenage mounds.
Nice spot on the Lidar of the quarry, I also think a couple of the destroyed mounds are just visible.
Nice Brian Cant reference 😂😂