Trent barrow near to Sherborne in Dorset. From above, this ancient barrow / burial mound looks like a sacred clearing or grove that our Anglo Saxon or Norse ancestors might have used to perform blot to the Gods. It was common to re-use ancient burial mounds and also clearings/groves in the middle of woods.
The legend that tells me this place is sacred to our folk is the story of a Norman monk who forced local men to push a huge neolithic standing stone into the pond to discourage pagan practices. Onlookers were shocked to see a stone 6 times taller than a man dissapear into the unknown depths with no sign near the surface. The reason the onlookers were spooked is that for eons there had been tales of a bottomless pit at trent barrow and this seemed to confirm it. The men who pushed the stone into the pond were all said to be cursed and all of them dissapeared without trace over the next few years. Centuries later in the 1800's local xtians decided to dig the pond to see how deep it was. After several days and much effort they gave up saying that no matter how deep they dug more water came from the spring below.
Another story says that a very long time ago in the middle ages, a coach and horses chasing pagans who were sacrificing to their Gods in the woods is said to have crashed and fallen into the lake/pond and all of the passengers, driver and horses died. On the anniversary of the tragic accident, on a full moon in September, you can still hear the sounds of hooves and the noise of the coach crashing into the water, never to be seen again....…
There is also tell of Arthurs sword Excalibur being thrown into this bottomless pit for protection. This is quite dubious as the arthurian stories are most likely just fiction but it is interesting that the these stories of a bottomless pit date back to heathen times or at least have a heathen theme to them. This plus the story of the standing stone that was pushed into the bottomless pit by xtians suggests this place may indeed have a been a sacred grove used for sacrifice to the old Gods by our Anglo Saxon ancestors.
