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Lincolnshire and Humberside: Latest Posts

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Winceby Stone (Natural Rock Feature) — Folklore

The Stone used to lie in the field where the civil war Battle of Winceby took place. It's marked on a map of 1880 but then seems to disappear.
There was the large stone in Winceby field, where soldiers had sharpened their swords before the battle. This was a stone of fearful interest, for much treasure was supposed to have been buried under it. Numerous attempts have abeen made to get at this treasure, but they were always defeated by some accident or piece of bad luck. On the last occasion, by 'yokkin' several horses to chains fastened round the stone, they nearly succeeded in pulling it over, when, in his excitement, one of the men uttered an oath, and the devil instantly appeared, and stamped on it with his foot. 'Tha cheans all brok, tha osses fell, an' tha stoan went back t' its owd place solidder nur ivver; an' if ya doan't believe ya ma goa an' look fur yer sen, an' ya'll see tha divvill's fut mark like three kraws' claws, a-top o' tha stoan.' It was firmly believed that the lane was haunted, and that loud groans were often heard there. -- Notes and Queries, vol. ix., p. 466.

[The Big Stone at Slash Lane, near Winceby]This stone cannot be moved, at least all attempts have so far failed, especially on one occasion, when it was with much difficulty reared up by ropes pulled by men and dragged by horses, for on a man saying, 'Let God or devil come now, we have it,' the stone fell back, dragging over the men and horses who were hauling at the ropes, and something appeared standing on the stone, doubtless Samwell the Old Lad, that is the Devil, who had been so rashly defied. -- Lincolnshire Notes and Queries, vol. ii., p. 235.
Copied from 'County Folk-lore v.VII: Lincolnshire' collected by Mrs Gutch and Mabel Peacock (1908).

This article in 'Horncastle News' (10th April 2002) describes that the stone got buried for many years in the field, but that in 1970 Frank Scott and his colleagues on the farm finally moved it out of the way - it took heavy lifting gear though. "Me and my mate were in that hole as quick as we could and dug down as far and fast as possible but we never found any treasure, nor devils either. By the number of broken ploughshares all around, we thought it was quite likely the stone was cursed, by every farmer and farm hand involved no doubt."

The folklore is similar to many prehistoric stones in that it's connected to the battle, has treasure lurking under it, and is said to be immovable. It's even got supernatural marks on it from the devil. Pretty much a stoney folklore full house.
Rhiannon Posted by Rhiannon
22nd January 2014ce

Winceby Stone (Natural Rock Feature) — Links

Rod Collins


Rod has a nice photo of the stone in its new roadside spot.
Rhiannon Posted by Rhiannon
22nd January 2014ce

Dragonby (Rocky Outcrop) — Folklore

In a field on Sawcliff Farm, in the parish of Roxby-cum-Kisby, North Lincolnshire, there is a deposit of uncommon character and singular beauty. It is particularly interesting to the lover of natural objects. Locally it is known as the "Sunken Church." An ancient tradition informs us that it was a church attached to one of the monasteries, and was buried by a landslip; or according to Abraham de la Pryme, the Yorkshire antiquary, who visited it in 1696 (Surtees Society, vol. liv.), the tradition is that the church sunk in the ground, with all the people in it, in the times of Popery.

[...] The stone curtain [..] consists of a mass of calcareous tufa deposited by a petrifying spring trickling out of the limestone rocks, as seen in the second illustration. It is a wall-like mass, some ninety feet or more in length, having a varying thickness from fifteen inches to two feet at the top, and a height above ground of nine feet at its highest point. From the higher end where it first leaves the ordinary slope of the hill, there is a gentle fall along the ridge until, about half-way down, a big step of about four feet occurs. Then the ridge continues to descend, until at the lower end it almost comes to the level of the ground again.

Undoubtedly the most striking feature about it is a groove two inches wide and one and a quarter inches deep, which runs along the ridge from end to end, and also continues down the step above mentioned. This groove is well shown in the first illustration.
The groove looks quite strange. I'm glad this curious bit of the landscape has survived in an area that's so full of quarries and mines. It's slightly remiss that dragons aren't mentioned at all in the article. But the idea of the 'sunken church' is one found elsewhere in stoney folklore (e.g. Sunkenkirk). The photos and exerpt are from an article in Science Gossip, v7 (1901) by Henry Preston.
Rhiannon Posted by Rhiannon
22nd January 2014ce

Dragonby (Rocky Outcrop) — Images (click to view fullsize)

<b>Dragonby</b>Posted by Rhiannon<b>Dragonby</b>Posted by Rhiannon Rhiannon Posted by Rhiannon
22nd January 2014ce

Twyford Forest (Ancient Village / Settlement / Misc. Earthwork) — Miscellaneous

Small Late Iron Age settlement enclosure, destroyed in the 1940s during construction of an airfield runway. Still shown on the 1949 "Provisional" edition of the OS 1:25000 map.

From Pastscape:

An irregular, almost D-shaped enclosure, defined by a single bank and ditch was excavated by W F Grimes in 1942-3. (Sited at SK 9443 2295). The area enclosed was about 240 feet by 210 feet and had a simple entrance in the middle of the straight, western side.

Round huts, defined by drip-water gullies, some of which intersected indicating successive occupations, were found. There were also other gullies, pits and walls representing storage arrangements and a smelting site. The pottery was predominantly Belgic in type with a little Roman material including fragments of a glass bottle and a bronze brooch. The whole suggests an occupation of mid-lst century AD. Finds to be placed in Grantham Museum.

Site obliterated by construction of airfield runways.
thesweetcheat Posted by thesweetcheat
29th January 2012ce

Little Ponton (Round Barrow(s)) — Miscellaneous

English Heritage description of large bowl barrow:

The monument includes the earthwork and buried remains of a bowl barrow located 80m above sea level on the western slope of the valley of the River Witham. It is prominently situated on the crest of the slope, immediately to the south of the northern field boundary hedge, some 150m east of the Great North Road. The grassy mound has a rounded summit and gently sloping sides, and shows no sign of any disturbance. It is c.50m in diameter and stands to a height of approximately 2m above the surrounding pasture. Material for the construction of the mound would have been quarried from an encircling ditch. This ditch is no longer visible but is thought to survive buried beneath the present ground surface.
thesweetcheat Posted by thesweetcheat
29th January 2012ce

Anwick Drake Stones (Natural Rock Feature) — Folklore

It is said that the devil's cave is under this stone, and that it contains hidden treasure. Many times the treasure has been sought for, but no bottom could be found to the stone; and hence it was supposed to be protected by the devil. Still adventurers continued to dig, until the excavated hollow round the base of the stone became filled with water, and it stood in the centre of a small lake. Then an attempt was made to draw it out of its place by a yoke of oxen, who strained so hard a the task that the chains snapped, and the attempt proved abortive; although the guardian spirit of the stone appears to have taken alarm at the project, for he is said to have flown away in the shape of a drake, at the moment when the chains broke. Subsequently the stone sank into the earth, and totally disappeared, and for many years the plough passed over it.

In all material points, I am persuaded that this tradition is purely mythological; for the Drake Stone was but slightly fixed in the earth, and at the time when these attempts were said to have been made, the bottom could not have exceeded a foot and a half from the surface of the ground; besides which, no one pretends to assert that any of these experiments occurred in his time; and the oldest person I have consulted, says, that "he had the tale from his fore-elders."
George Oliver, in The Gentleman's Magazine for June 1833, p580.
Rhiannon Posted by Rhiannon
13th December 2011ce

Bully Hills (Barrow / Cairn Cemetery) — Images

<b>Bully Hills</b>Posted by GLADMAN<b>Bully Hills</b>Posted by GLADMAN GLADMAN Posted by GLADMAN
15th January 2011ce
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