One of the largest Bronze Age barrows in Cornwall (England), consisting of a double ring of stones enclosing an elevated area about a metre in height, has been put on the market for £150,000. The barrow was discovered two years ago by musician Nick Potter when he bought the land from relatives. “I realised there was something there, because you could see stone peeping out from the gorse, but when I looked more closely, I realized there was something special,” he says.
     Steve Hartgroves, principle archaeologist for Cornwall County Council’s Historic Environment Services, believes the barrow was built as the resting place for a very wealthy and important person, perhaps the local tribal clan chief. However, the site is unlikely to hold anything of historic value now, he added, as it has been raided, and the moorland soil is so acidic that it would have destroyed any bones left behind.
     The barrow dwells on protected moorland in the West Penwith peninsula, which has been officially designated one of only 10 environmentally sensitive areas in the UK. According to Potter, the site is being “scheduled by English Heritage, a process that provides protection for monument and ruins, making it an offense for anyone to damage or alter the barrow any further.
     Purchase of the barrow will include 1.6 hectares (4 acres) of moorland, which cannot be built or farmed on. Hartgroves, however, is quick to also point out the superb views: “There’s a lovely ambiance, the smell of wild flowers, miles from any roads, no one in sight. If I had lots of money I might just think of buying it so I could walk up there and sit.”
     Further details about the barrow and an offer form can be obtained from http://www.cornish-barrow.co.uk.

Source: The Observer (15 June 2003)