Six Hills

The Six Hills are six large grassy mounds standing beside an old Roman road on Six Hills Common in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. They form the largest surviving group of Roman burial mounds in England and are protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The road beside them was once part of the Great North Road, a major route for nearly two thousand years. Local legend says the Devil threw seven clods of earth from Whomerley Wood, missing six times to create the mounds. The seventh clod hit Graveley church spire, leaving it crooked to this day. Archaeologists believe the mounds date from about 100 A.D. and mark the cremated remains of a wealthy local family. Early diggers found only a few pieces of wood and iron, probably leftovers from the original burials. Over centuries, farmers and road builders have taken soil from the mounds, lowering each by over a metre. Despite this, the grass around them still grows wild with rare plants like bird’s-foot trefoil and harebells. Visitors walk among the six grassy mounds on the common, seeing the straight line they form beside the old road. The crooked spire of Graveley church stands a short distance away as a reminder of the local legend. The common itself is quiet, with wildflowers growing between the mounds and the remains of ancient grassland still visible. The mounds blend into the landscape, their history marked only by their shape and the stories told about them.