Alderman's Barrow at N of Almsworthy Common

Alderman’s Barrow is a Bronze Age bowl barrow on Exmoor in Somerset. It stands near the northern edge of Almsworthy Common, a windswept plateau of heather and grass. The barrow was built as a burial chamber roughly three thousand years ago. Over centuries it became a boundary marker for four parishes: Exford, Exmoor, Luccombe and Porlock. Its name changed with the times, from Osmunesburgh in the 13th century to Owlaman’s Burrow in the 17th. The site is worth the journey because it is one of the few surviving Bronze Age monuments on Exmoor. It was recognised as nationally important and protected as a scheduled monument in 1934. Its position on the common gives wide views across the moor and the Bristol Channel on clear days. The barrow also tells the story of how ancient landmarks were later used to define parish borders. Visitors find a low, grass-covered mound about a metre high and roughly twenty metres across. A shallow ditch once surrounded the barrow but is now filled in. The surrounding common stretches for kilometres in every direction, dotted with other prehistoric remains. From the barrow the horizon shows rolling moorland and distant hills. The silence and space make it easy to imagine Bronze Age mourners gathering here long ago.