258 PROCEEDINGS COTTESWOLD CLUB 1906 
OPENING OF A ROUND BARROW 
NEAR HARESFIELD, GLOs. 
BY 
WILLIAM BELLOWS 
High up on the Cotteswolds, about one mile to the east 
of the Roman Camp at Haresfield, and close to the road 
from there to Horsepools, is a round barrow in the middle 
of a field. It stands not far from the edge of the woods 
overlooking Standish Park, at 825 feet above sea-level—a 
fitting spot, indeed, for the resting-place of some Cottes- 
wold hero of a far-off age. 
In the autumn of 1903, I obtained leave to excavate 
this barrow’; and with the help of friends a trench was 
cut into its eastern face. By a stroke of good fortune we 
began our digging at the right point, for at a very few feet 
in, and close to the ground-level, a lump of limestone gave 
way to the pick-axe and revealed a beautiful stone cist, 
arched over with carefully poised slabs. It was pentagonal 
in shape and measured 2 feet 6 inches across, its perfectly 
level floor being composed of burnt earth some 4 to 5° 
inches deep. This earth, carefully removed in a sack, was 
found to contain fragments of human bones (portions of 
jaws with teeth in position, ribs, skull, &c.) all more or 
less distorted by partial cremation. These bones were 
subsequently identified for us by Dr Beddoe. The most 
interesting “find,” however, was a small, beautifully formed 
oval flint scraper (?) 2% inches x 34 inch—curved through- 
out its length and sharpened all round to a fine edge— 
which lay in one corner of the cist. Except for this, and 
the above-mentioned remains, nothing else was discovered 
and no further chamber came to light. 
1 It is not shown as one on the Ordnance Map. My friend Alfred E. W. Paine kindly 
supplies its dimensions as follows: average diameter 63 ft., height above surrounding 
field 6 ft. 
