Thousands of years ago our Stone Age ancestors buried the remains of their loved ones and important people in special barrows.
Now local people have the opportunity to do the same at a new burial barrow which has been built on a remote site near St Neots.
Willow Row Barrow, at Hail Weston, is the first chamber of its kind to be built in the county for 3,500 years and Sacred Stones, the firm behind its construction, has opened it up to the public.
The stone-built mound contains a series of niches which can be used to store a love one’s remains.
It follows on from the construction of a replica long barrow in Wiltshire and is inspired by the burial mounds built by our prehistoric ancestors.
Toby Angel, managing director of Sacred Stones, said: “The long barrow at All Cannings, Wiltshire – designed and built by the team that now forms Sacred Stones – was recently featured on the BBC’s Countryfile programme.
“It received huge praise and interest and we are truly delighted to present another barrow here in Cambridgeshire.”
Mr Angel said: “During the build we have had numerous guests to visit the barrow. I think we underestimated quite how people would respond to it.
“Nearly all have talked about the levels of energy inside the building and the tranquility of the location.
“For many of our guests it stirred a very emotional response.”
Mr Angel said they could not wait to show off the building and its tranquil location at the open day.
It took a small team of stonemasons using traditional tools and techniques five months to build the barrow by hand.
More than 3,500 man hours went into the construction which used over 300 tons of limestone.
The barrow is designed to provide a last resting place for cremation ashes in a sympathetic environment.
In Bronze Age and Anglo-Saxon times the structures were built as places where could celebrate life.
Sacred Stones said it wanted to capture the essence of what the monuments meant to our ancestors and revive them in traditional way of celebrating life.
The firm has since been invited to build more barrows in other parts of the UK and overseas. It has already been given planning permission for another site in Herefordshire.
The barrow at Hail Weston is secure to protect the memorials stored inside.
