|
 Log in |
Register
|
|
North Yorkshire: Latest Posts — Fieldnotes |
Previous 10 | Showing 301-310 of 378 fieldnotes. Most recent first | Next 10 
Baysdale (Cup Marked Stone) |
|
Me and my apprentice dodman set off in search of hut circles. I had read somewhere that there were circles just above Baysdale on Kildale/Warren Moor. We parked up at Hob Hole and marched up the road to the bridleway opposite to the Sloethorn Park road. The weather was terrible and the path was a mud monsters paradise. The are lots of rocks and boulders strewn along the hillside that leads down to the beck. We investigated quite a few of these and found quite a few possible cups most of which were fairly weathered. You have to be careful around here because the rocks are iron rich, the iron forms nodules in the rocks which weather-out leaving a 'pseudo cup'. The was one distinctive rock that we came across that I'm pretty sure has a genuine single cup. The rock is in a significant spot about 20 metres downhill from the path and directly opposite to the junction of the Great Hograh Beck Valley and Baysdale. The rock itself is larger than most of it's neighbours and has a large weather-polished upper surface. The cup is right in the middle of this surface. I examined the rock for pseudo-cups and found none. There is also some graffitti on the rock dated 1948. There are other possible cups on rocks opposite to the junction of the little Hograh Beck and Baysdale. You may say "one cup mark, so what?" but considering that there are huge stretches of the UK that are completely devoid of any rock art , one small North Yorks site, is significant. We failed to find the hut circles as we spent too much time looking at the rocks in the valley. We've saved them for another day, preferably in summer. 25/03/03 Update. I was back in Baysdale yesterday and found another 'cup' but following a discussion with a local gamekeeper I am now less convinced that this is rock art and more convinced that these marks could be bullet holes. Apparently the armed forces used standing stones for target practice during WW2. The bullet hole theory was also put forward by Graeme C on his excellent website. Don't let this put you off visiting Baysdale, it's a lovely spot. There are some rather unsatisfactory hut circles at NZ628078 and although I'm not a big fan of grouse butts, if you up there check out the lovely grouse carving in the butt. |
Posted by fitzcoraldo12th January 2003ce Edited 25th March 2003ce |
Kildale (Cup and Ring Marks / Rock Art) |
|
A couple of sources quote two rings on orthostat walling on Warren Moor. I parked up by the entrance to Park Farm and walked up the side of the park to the crag that overlooks Kildale, I then followed the path onto Warren Moor and walked down the eastern side of the dry stone wall for about a kilometre, never taking my eyes off the wall. I then retraced my steps along the western side, again studying every inch of the wall. I did come across some vague markings on the eastern side but nothing that I could hand on heart describe as a pair of rings. This NYM rock art is bloody elusive stuff. |
Posted by fitzcoraldo 10th January 2003ce Edited 12th January 2003ce |
Howe Hill, Newby (Round Barrow(s)) |
| This is a pretty unremarkable round barrow. It is however significant that it was one of very few barrow that have been found in the vale of Cleveland. The hills and moors around the area are dotted with barrows but the lowlands contain very few. This could be due to the ploughing- out of sites. There is evidence in local place names that barrows did exist elsewhere in the Tees valley e.g., Ingleby Greenhow, Sexhow. |
Posted by fitzcoraldo 7th January 2003ce |
Stone Rook (Cairn(s)) |
|
I parked up at the Lord Stones cafe and followed the bridal way up onto Bilsdale West Moor. Today I thought I'd go and hunt out the Three Thumb Stone and the Raven Stone. When I got onto the moor it became obvious that today was not the best day to search for stones basically it was a beautiful day with clear skies and very little wind. The problem was a foot of snow covering everything, the moors are especially beautiful following snow, the subtlties of the landscape are revealed but many other features become hidden, such as the stones I was seeking. Stone Rook is a loose collection of large boulders set around a mound and topped by a cairn, a Tor in minature. I will need to return after the snow has melted to collect further details. I then crossed the shallow valley and headed north west towards the OS marker, on looking back I noticed a fairly well defined rectangular ditched enclosure on the hillside just below Stone Rook, adjacent to this was another area that appeared to be a field system. The enclosure looks very similar to the Ayton Moor enclosure. |
Posted by fitzcoraldo 7th January 2003ce |
Thornborough Henge South |
| The most plough damaged of the three henges, but the bank is still in reasonable condition as is the northwest entrance. The henge now stands in its own fenced and wired enclosure and is an easy walk across grassland and past a ploughed barrow, from the road beside the central henge. |
Posted by Chris Collyer5th January 2003ce |
Thornborough Henge Central |
| This reminds me a lot of Mayburgh henge, it’s in a similar state of disrepair and has the same air of abandonment. The entrances are still well defined but the bank is badly damaged and the internal ditch has just about gone. Apparently it is thought that the banks of this henge and its two siblings were covered in gypsum crystals, echoing the chalk earthworks of the south of England. The henge also stands over an earlier mile long cursus which ran in a northeast to southwest direction and later more than 2 dozen round barrows were constructed in this area, so it was obviously an important place for some considerable length of time. |
Posted by Chris Collyer 5th January 2003ce |
Thornborough Henge North |
| Have to agree with Fitz about this henge, while the centre and south henges are derelict and abandoned this one is alive and well, even in the depths of winter and with a frosting of snow. The bank is huge, as is the berm (does my berm look big in this?) and the 2 entrances to the northwest and southeast are both clearly defined and lead over the deep ditch to the centre. Must be a wonderful place in the summertime. |
Posted by Chris Collyer 5th January 2003ce |
Hunt House Crag (Standing Stones) |
| See also postings/images under Howl Moor |
Posted by moggymiaow 1st December 2002ce |
Simon Howe (Cairn(s)) |
|
The partner in crime on this trip, the second howe with the "headstone" I think that the head stone is one of the kerb stones that the embankment has worn away from as close investigations reveals the tops of several other upright stones still embedded in the embankment approximately in line (circularly) with the head stone. The standing stones make for an intriguing site. Shame about the grouse butt. |
Posted by moggymiaow 1st December 2002ce |
|
This is a lovely little site, it consists of a cairn that has been robbed of much of it's stone fill leaving part of the cairn and a kerb consisting of large stones. There is also a stone row consisting of four large stones and a nearby Round barrow with a possible headstone. I visited this site with Moggymiaow after checking out her ? ruined circle on Hunt House Crag. There is a well defined track running from Hunt House road up to the Howe. The situation of the Howe is unusual as it is on the top of the hill rather than the prefered brow ( the usual site here-abouts). The site itself consists of a well defined kerb of large stones enclosing a cairn. The cairn appears to have been robbed of some of it's stone filling, some of which has been used to build a windbreak* within the kerb. The diameter of the circle is approx 12 metres. To the north of the circle is a row of four large stones aligned SE-NW. Approximately 50 metres north of the circle is an un-named barrow & trig point, this barrow has what appears to be a marker or head stone on its southern flank. *Fieldnotes amended to reflect the information from Hotaire regarding the recent structure within the kerb |
Posted by fitzcoraldo 29th November 2002ce Edited 26th August 2006ce |
Previous 10 | Showing 301-310 of 378 fieldnotes. Most recent first | Next 10 
Top of page