In 1879 quarrymen working on Barrow Wake, the exposed hilltop just north of Birdlip village, broke into an Iron Age burial that had lain undisturbed for nearly two thousand years. Inside they found the skeleton of a woman accompanied by grave goods of exceptional quality: a bronze bowl, a silver-gilt brooch, a knife, and — most remarkably — a large bronze mirror decorated with intricate curvilinear Celtic designs. The Birdlip Mirror, manufactured around 100–50 BC and likely an heirloom by the time of the burial around 50 AD, is one of only about fifty Iron Age mirrors found in Britain and is considered among the finest. Its back is covered in flowing, swirling patterns created by scribing and relief work, displaying the distinctive La Tène art style that the Celts brought from continental Europe. The burial is thought to be that of a high-status woman, perhaps a tribal leader or priestess, and the richness of the goods suggests Birdlip Hill was a place of considerable importance in the late Iron Age. The mirror is now displayed in Gloucester City Museum, while the hilltop itself remains a commanding viewpoint over the Severn Vale — the same sweeping landscape that the mirror's owner would have known.
“Its back is covered in flowing, swirling patterns created by scribing and relief work, displaying the distinctive La Tène art style that the Celts brought from continental Europe.”
