Burrow Mump, Somerset: Alfred the Great's lookout point

The famed hill in Burrowbridge is today's Secret Britain spot.

The ruins of St Michael's Church, Burrow Mump, Somerset.
The ruins of St Michael's Church, Burrow Mump, Somerset.
(Image credit: Robert Harding / Alamy)
Annunciata Elwes
By
published
in Features

An excellent lookout for marauding Danes, which was Alfred the Great’s purpose when he climbed it, Burrow Mump (literally ‘hill hill’) is only 79ft tall, but the views over the Somerset Levels are extensive.

In winter, when the rivers Parrett and Tone swirl at the foot of the Mump, the landscape must look similar to that seen by the ancient King of Wessex.

The view up from the valley to the ruins of St Michael's Church.

Civil War Royalist soldiers who hid in medieval St Michael’s Church, at the top, must have felt comparatively wary of approaching Roundheads and probably didn’t appreciate the vista, which includes fellow ‘islands’ Glastonbury Tor and Athelney, where Alfred hid before the Battle of Edington in 878.

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Annunciata Elwes
Annunciata Elwes
Annunciata Elwes (née Walton) joined Country Life after founding a literary and music festival at Milton Manor, Oxfordshire, and working at The Sunday Times Travel Magazine.
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