Bartlow Hills

Bartlow Hills is a Roman tumuli cemetery east of Cambridge in Cambridgeshire. Four large burial mounds remain of the original seven, with the three tallest standing open to visitors. The tallest mound reaches fifteen metres, making it the largest Roman barrow north of the Alps. Two smaller mounds appear as low earthworks west of the main group. The northernmost mound lies on private land and is hard to see from the path. Excavations in the 19th century uncovered walled graves holding human ashes in glass vessels, kept in wooden chests. Bronze, enamel and pottery vessels were found alongside an iron folding chair. Most finds were lost in a fire at Easton Lodge in 1847. A small Roman villa stood north of the mounds and was partly dug in 1852, but later surveys have not located it again. Visitors walk among the three main mounds and the two smaller earthworks. The site sits in open countryside with wide views over farmland. A geophysical survey in 2006 and small digs in 2007 added little new evidence. The mounds date from the 1st or 2nd centuries AD and remain a quiet reminder of Roman burial customs.