314 Notes on Barrows on King's Play Down, Heddington. 



yards south-west of the bowl-shaped barrow on the summit of the 

 hill. 1 



The mound is 24ft. in diameter and 1ft. in height. Under the 

 ■centre a large grave was found, 6ft. 7in. deep, 7Jft. long, 4ft. wide 

 at the top, and 2|f t. wide at the bottom. The grave contained the 

 remarkably well-preserved skeleton of a man extended at full 

 length on its back, with feet to the east and head to the west, the 

 left arm bent across the body, the right arm extended by the right 

 side. 



There were no relics or remains of any kind with the skeleton, 

 with the exception of thirty-six iron nails which were found em- 

 bedded in the chalk round it in such a manner as to make it 

 practically certain that they had been used in a wooden 

 coffin. All sign or trace of the wood had, however, disappeared, 

 except a few shreds actually adhering to the nails themselves. 



From the manner of interment and from the character of the 

 skull it is probable that this barrow is of Saxon origin. 



Barrow No. III. 



This mound is 175 yards south of the bowl-shaped barrow on 

 the summit of the hill. 2 It is close to the box hedge and close to 

 the western side of the ancient bank and ditch, which here run 

 up the hill. 



The mound is not noticed by the Eev. A. C. Smith, nor is it 

 marked on the Ordnance Maps. The mound is not quite circular, 

 being 22ft. in diameter from north to south, 18ft. from east to 

 west, and 2 feet high in the centre. The whole mound was turned 

 over but no trace of any interment could be found, and no grave 

 or cist, although these were carefully searched for. A few small 

 sherds of coarse pottery and one or two pieces of pottery that may 

 be Romano-British were found in the surface mould. It is possible 

 that the mound is not really a barrow. 



1 See Rev. A. C. Smith's Map, Antiquities of the North Wiltshire Downs 

 Section IV., A. vii., a. p. 62. 



2 Eev. A. C. Smith's Map, p. 62, Section IV., A. vii., a. 



