Fairy Toot facts for kids
Fairy Toot Field
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 Location in Somerset
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| Location | near Nempnett Thrubwell and Bristol |
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| Region | Somerset, England |
| Coordinates | 51°21′11″N 2°41′24″W / 51.353117°N 2.689946°W |
| Type | oval barrow |
| Site notes | |
| Condition | some damage |
The Fairy Toot is a very old and large oval mound of earth and stones in Somerset, England. It's located near the village of Nempnett Thrubwell. This special site is a type of ancient burial place called a barrow.
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What is the Fairy Toot?
The Fairy Toot is a kind of ancient tomb known as a Severn-Cotswold tomb. These tombs are usually long, trapezoid-shaped mounds of earth. They are carefully built to cover a burial chamber inside. Because of this, they are also called chambered long barrows.
This site was once a chambered cairn. This means it was a mound of stones with a burial chamber. Today, it is protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument. This means it's an important historical site that must be preserved.
The mound is about 60 meters (nearly 200 feet) long and 25 meters (about 82 feet) wide. It is now about 2.5 meters (8 feet) high. A stone wall helps to hold it in place. The top of the mound is covered with ash trees and bushes. In the past, the Fairy Toot was much taller than it is today.
Exploring the Ancient Burial Place
Between 1787 and 1835, two people, Reverend Thomas Bere and Reverend John Skinner, explored the Fairy Toot. During their exploration, parts of the mound were damaged. They found two rows of "cells" or small rooms inside. These rooms were made from huge stones placed on their sides and covered by even larger stones.
One human skull found at the Fairy Toot is now kept at the Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery.
Old Beliefs and Real History
When the Fairy Toot was first explored, some people thought it was built by the Druids. Druids were ancient Celtic priests. However, the Fairy Toot is much older than the time of the Druids. Experts now believe it was built during the Neolithic period. This was a time thousands of years ago when people first started farming.
In their 1929 book "Somerset," Wade and Wade described the Fairy Toot. They said it was a "remarkably fine tumulus of masonry." They also mentioned that skeletons had been found in its chambers. Sadly, they noted that much of it had been used as a "lime-kiln." This means parts of the stone mound were burned to make lime, which was used in building.
A Place for Cures?
In the past, people would visit the Fairy Toot for a special reason. They believed it was a place where they could cure warts. This shows how important and mysterious the site was to local people for a long time.
