The Drustone

Chapter Eight. An Ancient Cemetery?

Chapter Eight 

An Ancient Cemetery? 

Rev was late for their next meeting. ".... If you go and look at the very old graves in Pennington churchyard, you will find ... Ah glad you could make it, Rev. I was just talking to P.C. about those white slabs you saw up on the Haggs...Take a seat, Rev... Now where was I? Oh yes, the old tombs. They were made by placing a broad piece of limestone over two upright supporting stones, one at each end. Several of these tombs were accidentally uncovered a few years back, up on the Haggs. It was quite strange. In each case there were two human skeletons laying side by side, one with the head pointing due west, the other due east. 

"So me and P.C. were really walking over graves on the Haggs?"

Rev, after his visit to the museum, was now taking Mr. Dover's pronouncements more seriously. 

"And how! Underneath the Haggs there are many subterranean caverns. One was found in which a tunnel connected up to twenty small chambers, each of which contained the remains of two skeletons facing east and west, just like the others." 

"And you think the mounds are tombs too?" asked P.C. 

"Most likely. Historians believe some ancient peoples practised mound burials. These mounds were called "Barrows" and were reserved for the burials of great chiefs. A large mound was required because the chief had to take everything he needed for the after-life." 

"Just like the Pharaohs in the pyramids." 

"Yes, Rev, just the same." 

"Does that mean there is treasure in Ellerbarrow?" asked Henry, unable to conceal his excitement. 

"If there was, it's long gone. Ellerbarrow was excavated not long ago and nothing much was found except for the remains of some great big logs used in the construction. There were no bodies, nothing. It was a great disappointment because people believed that Eller, the second Saxon king of Britain, was buried there. The historians however seem to think that the mound was already there when Eller ruled and the locals named it in honour of the king."  

Uncle Steve paused for a puff on his briar.  

"You'll know the answer to this, P.C. What do you call the woods near to Ellerbarrow?" 

"Conniger Woods." 

"Do you know why?" 

"I've no idea." 

"Eller won a famous battle at a place called Conniger. So you see the villagers were naming local sites after him." 

"So the mounds must have been there before the Saxons," said Rev. 

"And before the Romans I suspect." 

"Another thing is worrying me," said Rev. "There is so much limestone on the moor. We're close to iron ore mines and there's lots of woodland nearby. Our geography teacher told us that this is what you need to make iron and I saw in the museum that the Celts around here were making iron. Why then are there no quarries on the moor?" 

"You two have been very quiet. Have you any ideas, Henry?" 

"I think the Celts believed it was a holy place and they somehow protected it." 

"Against the legions?" sneered Rev. 

"Maybe they bought them off, or the Druids used magic in some way." 

"Or maybe the Romans never found the place," suggested P.C. 

"Oh they did," said Mr.D. 

"How do you know?" they asked, almost in unison. 

"Meet me here at eight tomorrow morning and I'll show you."