Relhan Collection : 22 Bartlow. The approach to Bartlow Hills, showing 3 Roman tumuli

Relhan, Richard, 1782-1844

Relhan Collection

<p style='text-align: justify;'><p>1821</p><p>Four early Roman burial mounds, (one much truncated and only visible in (<b>23</b>), are shown. Two or possibly 3 others, recorded in C19, existed, but consisted only of slight remains. Excavations in the early and middle C19 revealed cremated remains in iron-bound chests at ground level at the centre of each mound, accompanied by rich feasting regalia, much of it imported from the Rhineland and N Gaul and dating to the late C1 and early C2 AD. Exceptionally dry conditions under chalk mounds preserved organic remains such as flowers, incense, wickerwork and liquids. Trial excavations and geophysical surveys were undertaken around the mounds 2004-2007, producing evidence in particular for later Roman settlement, burial and religious sites, but nothing directly related to these mounds. Today, the tallest mound is still 15m high and, although never as steep as shown, they are all imposing monuments. Relhan’s drawing was made when the mounds stood in strip fields. Later, as part the hunting estate of Bartlow Park, they became covered in woodland. In the late C20 scrubby woodland was removed on and around the mounds to improve preservation and the view. This drawing shows a cart with 2 people on board, one a man in a blue coat who appears in several other drawings. This is likely to be Relhan’s father, Richard Relhan FRS, who was a botanist, author of Flora Cantabrigiensis 1785, and it seems they often travelled to villages together. This would usually be on foot but Bartlow, a significant botanical site, was about 14 miles from Cambridge and it looks as if they were able to travel here in a carrier cart.</p><p>Eckardt 2009; Gage 1833, 1842, 1850; 1850; Kirby A pers comm; Neville RC 1852; Taylor 1998</p></p>