The Modern Antiquarian. Stone Circles, Ancient Sites, Neolithic Monuments, Ancient Monuments, Prehistoric Sites, Megalithic MysteriesThe Modern Antiquarian

The Dorset Cursus

Cursus

Fieldnotes

[visited 22/09/2003] My first view of a certified cursus and I was not disapointed. I visited a bit near the middle of the cursus at approx SU025167.

I parked in a weird layby next to a farm gate on the edge of the A354 & worked my way through Oakley Down barrow cemetary, past a small wood and onto the cursus at SU023163. I then followed the path of the cursus north, touching on a wood full of some kind of pheasant thing. The best viewable remains seem to be in the wood itself, I didn't look for the west bank in the wood but the east bank reaches a height of approx 1.5m skirting the edge of the wood. Also look out for clear marks in the soil to the south of the wood, the east banks path is clearly visible at this time of year (late september).

So general impressions, it is huge. The only other sites that had this vastness about them that I've seen are Silbury & Avebury, but the overall nature of this dwarfs them. Two banks of earth taller than me, ploughing across the dorset landscape for miles upon miles, over hills into valleys, onwards ever onwards. One of those few occasions I've been overawed by what I've seen at a site.
juamei Posted by juamei
28th September 2003ce
Edited 29th September 2003ce

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