The Devil's Jumps are a group of five large bell barrows situated on the

South Downs The South Downs are a range of chalk hills in the south-eastern coastal counties of England that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, in the ...

south-east of Treyford in the county of

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

in southern

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The Devil's Jumps site is listed as a

Scheduled Ancient Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

and as a Local Nature Reserve. Most barrows along the South Downs have been damaged by agriculture and treasure hunters but the Devil's Jumps are considered to be the best preserved

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

barrow group in

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

. The barrows are laid out in a line running approximately south-east to north-west. The five barrows vary in diameter from and stand up to high. Two smaller barrows were situated close to the five main mounds. Traces remain of a sixth barrow. The Devil's Jumps have been dated to the Bronze Age and they are believed to be between three and four thousand years old. The Devil's Jumps were explored in the 19th century, when bones were found in two of the mounds, although some of the barrows contained no cremated remains at all. The main line of five barrows is aligned with sunset on Midsummer Day. The site is managed by the Murray Downland Trust and is cleared of overgrowth. The land is currently grazed by sheep and cattle as a part of this management. In 2009 permission was given by the landowners to clear trees from the site and return it to

chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Ch ...

downland Downland, chalkland, chalk downs or just downs are areas of open chalk hills, such as the North Downs. This term is used to describe the characteristic landscape in southern England where chalk is exposed at the surface. The name "downs" is deriv ...

Folklore

The Devil's Jumps are the focus of local folklore, apparently transferred from the Devil's Jumps near Churt in the neighbouring county of

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. According to the story, the god

Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...

used to sit on Treyford Hill. One day the

Devil A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...

saw the five barrows and started to jump from one to the next in order to amuse himself. This enraged Thor, who threw a stone at the Devil, causing him to flee.Simpson 2002, pp.58-59.

Notes

References

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External links

The Murray Downland Trust
the organisation that manages the site. {{coord, 50, 56, 57, N, 0, 49, 37, W, type:landmark, display=title Archaeological sites in West Sussex Barrows in England West Sussex folklore Scheduled monuments in West Sussex Bronze Age sites in West Sussex

Folklore

See also

Notes

References

External links