Stunning

 SIGNIFICANT. For approximately 4000 years this location has held profound sacred significance and is only one of three in the country. What are we looking at? This is a Bronze Age Bowl barrow – in a churchyard. At a distance of two feet from the top of the barrow, a discovery of twenty skeletons emerged, laid to rest without coffins. Remarkably preserved, their east-west orientation indicated that these individuals were not ancient Britons but followers of Christianity.

Some theories speculate that they might have been victims of the Black Death, which ravaged the country in 1348, or casualties of the Civil War, potentially linked to the siege of Marlborough in 1642.

The original purpose of the barrow was discovered seven feet from its apex. The remains of cremated bones, remnants of a funeral pyre from 4000 years ago, were carefully gathered, wrapped in cloth, placed on a wooden plank, and covered by the entire barrow.

And the continuity of humankind - ‘modern’ graves in the 4000 year old burial mound....

You really do have to make sure you get there one day as it is simply stunning. The location is St Andrew’s Church, Ogbourne St Andrew, Marlborough, Wiltshire, SN8 1SU.