{"id":2432,"date":"2020-03-14T20:12:54","date_gmt":"2020-03-14T20:12:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/narrowboatingforbeginners.com\/wordpress\/?p=2432"},"modified":"2020-03-14T20:13:01","modified_gmt":"2020-03-14T20:13:01","slug":"giants-grave-north-of-pewsey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/narrowboatingforbeginners.com\/wordpress\/giants-grave-north-of-pewsey\/","title":{"rendered":"Giant\u2019s Grave north of Pewsey"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/embed?pb=!4v1584210277070!6m8!1m7!1sCAoSLEFGMVFpcE1CTXUxTmpCV2JHMHpiaXBJczNpSW1NS0g4WWM3TmxqZzBycVdH!2m2!1d51.3682029!2d-1.7614674!3f189.03527826224123!4f-12.346776474762976!5f0.7820865974627469\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:0;\" allowfullscreen=\"\" aria-hidden=\"false\" tabindex=\"0\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s amazing what you can find just by browsing through the Ordnance Survey Leisure Map at 1:25K scale. I do this online when planning a narrowboat trip so that I know in advance of a stately home or neolithic burial site that might be convenient to the canal. Of course when considering a trip on the Kennet &amp; Avon Canal in Wilthsire (and Berkshire) one is spoiled for choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1484\" height=\"1074\" data-attachment-id=\"2433\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/narrowboatingforbeginners.com\/wordpress\/giants-grave-north-of-pewsey\/giants-grave-map\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/narrowboatingforbeginners.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/giants-grave-map.jpg?fit=1484%2C1074\" data-orig-size=\"1484,1074\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"giants-grave-map\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/narrowboatingforbeginners.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/giants-grave-map.jpg?fit=300%2C217\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/narrowboatingforbeginners.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/giants-grave-map.jpg?fit=800%2C579\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/narrowboatingforbeginners.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/giants-grave-map.jpg?fit=800%2C579\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2433\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/narrowboatingforbeginners.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/giants-grave-map.jpg?w=1484 1484w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/narrowboatingforbeginners.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/giants-grave-map.jpg?resize=300%2C217 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/narrowboatingforbeginners.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/giants-grave-map.jpg?resize=1024%2C741 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption>Ordnance Survey Leisure Map<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Giant\u2019s Grave just north of Pewsey is a perfect example of what I\u2019m talking about. I scan a few miles to either side of a canal to see what\u2019s within a reasonable walking distance and I found Giant\u2019s Grave marked in the characteristic Gill Sans font with an underline in Black Letter that says \u201cSettlement.\u201d Looking more closely on the map I realized that White Horse Trail and Mid Wilts Way pass through what is obviously a promontory judging from the contour lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/d\/embed?mid=15R-IH3XEC9Ju3Dqtj_W-P_STmoUxvnwh\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p>A quick Google search confirmed that this is Martinsell Hill, the third highest point in Wiltshire at 948 ft\/289 m, and that there is indeed an Iron Age hillfort at (or near) this spot. There is a commanding view of the surrounding area from the hillfort and looking south in the picture above you can almost see the K&amp;A in the Street View, or at least you can see the White House Trail that leads to the canal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s about a 1.6 mi\/2.6 km walk on the White Horse Trail, which crosses the canal at Bridge 113, to Giant\u2019s Grave. There\u2019s also a much longer 6.5 mi\/ 10.5 km <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"circular walk from Pewsey Wharf (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.visitpewseyvale.co.uk\/milkhouse-water-martinsell-giants-grave\/\" target=\"_blank\">circular walk from Pewsey Wharf<\/a> for the more ambitious. Unfortunately I\u2019m not sure why it\u2019s called Giant\u2019s Grave. I don\u2019t think the site is a barrow, but confusingly there is a Giant\u2019s Grave Long Barrow southeast of Pewsey, a short distance from the White House, and a Giant\u2019s Grave Long Barrow south of Salisbury. My guess is that at some point someone thought the hillfort to be a gigantic barrow. I\u2019m also unsure if the site marked Giant\u2019s Grave was part of the main hillfort (about 0.74 mi\/1.2 km north northeast) or a separate settlement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Martinsell Hill was definitely a settlement, however, as evidenced by the strip lynchets, or terraced farming plots, on the south side of the promontory. Of course everywhere you look on the OS map you\u2019ll find earthworks, tumuli (burial grounds), dykes and mounds. The Giant\u2019s Grave is pretty distinctive with a ditch cutting through the hill, which you can see marked on the OS map above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a bonus to your hike to Giant\u2019s Grave, you might want to include a visit to <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"nearby Oare House (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.visitpewseyvale.co.uk\/business-directory-2\/oare-house-gardens-arboreteum-2\/\" target=\"_blank\">nearby Oare House<\/a> and it\u2019s stunning gardens\u2014that is if your visit coincides with the garden\u2019s two open days. It\u2019s a private home but as part of the <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/ngs.org.uk\" target=\"_blank\">National Open Garden Scheme<\/a> it, and many other stately homes that aren\u2019t already associated with the National Trust or English Heritage, make their gardens accessible to the public. If you\u2019re considering a visit to the UK and have an interest in horticulture, it\u2019s worth your while to see if there\u2019s a garden open day somewhere nearby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And before saying goodbye to Giant\u2019s Grave and Martinsell Hill, I thought I\u2019d mention that Wiltshire is the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitwiltshire.co.uk\/whats-on\/crop-circle-exhibition-and-information-centre-p1906973\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"crop circle capital (opens in a new tab)\">crop circle capital<\/a> of the UK, and that Martinsell Hill is no stranger to this phenomenon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\"  id=\"_ytid_20962\"  width=\"800\" height=\"450\"  data-origwidth=\"800\" data-origheight=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZtbZWL1wKxE?enablejsapi=1&#038;autoplay=0&#038;cc_load_policy=0&#038;cc_lang_pref=&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;loop=0&#038;rel=1&#038;fs=1&#038;playsinline=0&#038;autohide=2&#038;theme=dark&#038;color=red&#038;controls=1&#038;disablekb=0&#038;\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  epyt-is-override  no-lazyload\" title=\"YouTube player\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s amazing what you can find just by browsing through the Ordnance Survey Leisure Map at 1:25K scale. I do<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2433,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Giant\u2019s Grave north of Pewsey Kennet & Avon Canal","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/narrowboatingforbeginners.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/giants-grave-map.jpg?fit=1484%2C1074","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p74kO9-De","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/narrowboatingforbeginners.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/narrowboatingforbeginners.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/narrowboatingforbeginners.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/narrowboatingforbeginners.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/narrowboatingforbeginners.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2432"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/narrowboatingforbeginners.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2432\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2435,"href":"http:\/\/narrowboatingforbeginners.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2432\/revisions\/2435"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/narrowboatingforbeginners.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/narrowboatingforbeginners.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/narrowboatingforbeginners.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/narrowboatingforbeginners.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}