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Lordenshaw

Cup and Ring Marks / Rock Art

<b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by HobImage © IH
Nearest Town:Alnwick (19km NNE)
OS Ref (GB):   NZ050991 / Sheet: 81
Latitude:55° 17' 9.02" N
Longitude:   1° 55' 16.57" W

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Sites in this group:

7 posts
Lordenshaws Cairns Cist
11 posts
Lordenshaws Hillfort Hillfort
2 posts
Lordenshaws Standing Stone Standing Stone / Menhir
15 posts
North Lordenshaw Cup Marked Stone

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Photographs:<b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by Hob <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by Hob <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by Hob <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by Hob <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by Hob <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by akas555 <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by Gavin Douglas <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by Gavin Douglas <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by Gavin Douglas <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by Gavin Douglas <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by Gavin Douglas <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by bobpc <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by bobpc <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by Hob <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by Hob <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by Hob <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by rockandy <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by rockandy <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by Hob <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by Hob <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by Hob <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by Hob <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by Hob <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by Hob <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by Hob <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by Hob <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by rockartuk <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by rockartuk <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by rockartuk <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by rockartuk <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by Hob <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by greywether <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by greywether <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by greywether <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by pebblesfromheaven <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by pebblesfromheaven <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by pebblesfromheaven <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by pebblesfromheaven <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by rockartuk <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by pebblesfromheaven <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by pebblesfromheaven <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by pebblesfromheaven <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by moey <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by moey <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by moey <b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by shep Artistic / Interpretive:<b>Lordenshaw</b>Posted by Hob

Fieldnotes

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Went on the eleventh of this month and loved it. The main panel and hillfort - superb. Think I saw some cairns and I have a photograph but I am not sure of what it is. It is not the ones I have posted. bobpc Posted by bobpc
27th December 2006ce

Sometimes Rock art can be tricky to find. Not here though.

Straight up the path from the carpark, turn left, look for the big rock covered in carvings. Just in case the rock is feeling bashful, the main panel has a slightly quaint signit is virtually impossible to miss.

As ever, a copy of the relevant Stan Beckensall doesn't go amiss.

A great place to start a jaunt up Simonside, which must surely be the focal landscape feature for this area's rock art, though it does have a good vista over the nearby river valley (that of the Coquet), as is apparently desirable in a suitable site for cups and rings.
Hob Posted by Hob
11th July 2004ce

Back again today, finally found the horse-shoe rock, and it was SO obvious now I know where to look! Just follow the line of wall west, from the main rock.
Found a secret mission taking place which I would tell you all about, but would then have to kill you ;-)

UPDATE
The research has now been published, see link below for details.

.o0O0o.
pebblesfromheaven Posted by pebblesfromheaven
6th April 2003ce
Edited 4th July 2003ce

On a very bright clear February Saturday afternoon, lots of people had the same idea as me to come here (including moey! PS I was first :-) )

The car-park was very busy (approx 15 cars+), but surprisingly it still had a feeling of isolation, and the site is large enough to take lots of separate wanderers. If you come in the summer, come early or late, you'll get parked and the light will be better!

There is definately more rock art than I found today, another great excuse for a return visit.

.o0O0o.
pebblesfromheaven Posted by pebblesfromheaven
16th February 2003ce
Edited 16th February 2003ce

Stunning views in all directions from the hill fort - try to visit during the Nortumbrian heather season (late summer), and I defy you not to be awed by this location! Posted by shep
22nd January 2003ce

Miscellaneous

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As long as weather conditions are alright next week and the place is not under three feet of snow I am planning on going to see the whole Lordenshaw site. I have read about a car park, is it far from the site itself and is North Lordenshaw far away.

Cheers
bobpc Posted by bobpc
4th December 2006ce

Sat 2 - Sun 3 December 2006
Sat 9 - Sun 10 December 2006


As part of The North East Winter festival, artist Philip Supple has been commissioned to create an effects lighting installation piece focusing on the cup and ring marks at Lordenshaw. It has been described as 'Subtle, yet mind-blowing'.

The installation is to be an important feature of a series of guided walks from the nearby village of Rothbury, to the 'sacred hill' of Simonside, the walks highlight the archaeology of the area, and also include an emphasis on the folklore of the Duergar.

Contact Rothbury National Park Centre (Tel: 01669 620887)
or visit: the NE winter festival website .
Hob Posted by Hob
22nd October 2006ce
Edited 22nd December 2006ce

Links

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Recording Rock Art in 3 Dimensions


Project undertaken by Dr Margarita Díaz-Andreu, Department of Archaeology, the University of Durham (U.K)
click on the link then look for the following:

research --> Northumberland --> 3D recording
pebblesfromheaven Posted by pebblesfromheaven
4th July 2003ce
Edited 4th July 2003ce

Latest posts for Lordenshaw

Showing 1-10 of 35 posts. Most recent first | Next 10

Lordenshaws Cairns (Cist) — Images (click to view fullsize)

<b>Lordenshaws Cairns</b>Posted by Hob<b>Lordenshaws Cairns</b>Posted by Hob<b>Lordenshaws Cairns</b>Posted by Hob Hob Posted by Hob
1st March 2009ce

Lordenshaws Hillfort — Images

<b>Lordenshaws Hillfort</b>Posted by Gavin Douglas<b>Lordenshaws Hillfort</b>Posted by Gavin Douglas Gavin Douglas Posted by Gavin Douglas
24th July 2007ce

Lordenshaws Cairns (Cist) — Images

<b>Lordenshaws Cairns</b>Posted by Gavin Douglas Gavin Douglas Posted by Gavin Douglas
24th July 2007ce

Lordenshaws Hillfort — Images

<b>Lordenshaws Hillfort</b>Posted by Hob Hob Posted by Hob
12th July 2007ce

Lordenshaws Hillfort — Links

Gefrin


BoC Posted by BoC
18th May 2007ce

Lordenshaws Hillfort — Fieldnotes

The hillfort at Lordenshaws is a real gem. It has the easiest access of any of the sites in the Northumberland National Park. The fort is only 400m or so from an area set aside for car parking along a good road.

The climb to the fort is in no way strenuous. Lordenshaws is surrounded by a wealth of archaeological remains and not far from the fort itself lie some spectacular examples of rock art.

There are ancient trackways, burial carirns and earthworks and, by arrangement with the Duke of Northumberland and the tenant farmer, you are free to wander around them in an agreed access area.

Lordenshaws is a roughly circular fort and has two entrances facing East and West. The outermost defensive ditch has a diameter of around 140m and is one of the best preserved features of the site.

In the South and South East this ditch has been disturbed by later development but to the North the ditch has a very steep V shaped profile and is up to 2.5m deep and up to 9m wide.

Inside this is a less well preserved inner ditch with a broader, more shallow profile. This inner ditch, in places, also manages a width of 9m but never gets any deeper than 1.3m. In the South East the outer ditch actually crosses the inner ditch suggesting the inner ditch was not associated with later phases of the fort.

If any form of rampart ever existed between the inner and outer ditches then there is no sign of it. There are signs of a short irregular bank, around 0.5m high in the middle of the inner ditch close to the Western entrance to the fort. It is possible that this is the remains of a rampart but it appears only in this one spot. The defences may never have entirely enclosed the fort as there is a natural outcrop to the South East which seems never to have been disturbed by the ditches.

The entrances to the fort simply cut through these defences. The Western entranceway is the least well preserved but the Eastern entrance is 3m wide and there are some facing stones visible. Where this entrance cuts through the second defensive mound there are some prominent stones still standing 0.8m high.

The innermost part of the site, the inhabited area, has a diameter of roughly 70m and is on two levels as the site is crossed from East to West by a natural scarp.

The usual way into the fort is from the Western entrance as this is the way a visitor would normally walk up from the National Park car park. From the West entrance the path takes you into the Southern half of the fort. Along the South facing edge of the fort there are four small circular features. I say 'features' as they seem too small to be huts. They vary in diameter and, in one, the stonework has been exposed.

Further into the fort is a very prominent hut. The interior of this has been cleared at some point and the stonework is visible. This hut has a diameter of 5.3m and the walls are around 1m high. There is no obvious entrance to this hut as the walls are continuous.

In the Northern half of the hillfort are the circles of two huts. It is possible that more existed but the ground here is very disturbed.

Standing outside the Western entrance to the fort you can see a large rectangular enclosure. It is enclosed by an earth and boulder wall which still manages a height of around a metre in places. The enclosure must have been constructed late in the life of the fort as it cuts into the defences. The enclosure shows prominent lines of medieval ridge and furrow plough marks and was recorded as a 'cornfield' in 1825.

There is other evidence of later development at the fort, especially in the South East. Here the defences have been overbuilt with an extension to the inhabited centre of the fort. There are circular features here but they are not prominent.

There is, also, a notable defensive outwork about 30m to the South and South West of the fort. It consists of an earth bank roughly 7m wide the outer profile standing up to 1.8m high. There is an outer ditch associated with the outwork but this is not easy to see. There is a gap in the earthwork which leads to the Western entrance to the hillfort yet does not exactly line up with it. It seems to accommodate the line of a trackway which runs North East from the existing road and turns East after passing to the North of the main cup marked rock on the site.

There have been no properly recorded excavations at Lordenshaws. A detailed survey of the hillfort and its surroundings was undertaken in late 1990 by RCHME.

Without doubt a wealth of information lies in wait at Lordenshaws. As I have said access to the site is relatively easy, though choosing when to visit can be important too. In the summer, for example, when the bracken and ferns are at their tallest, some of the lower lying ground features around the fort may be harder to pick out. For me the topography is best revealed by a light covering of snow. Later in the day a low angle of sunlight helps reveal the more subtle rock carvings.

The National Park car park is also a good base for walking in the Simonsides.

www.gefrin.com
BoC Posted by BoC
18th May 2007ce

Lordenshaws Cairns (Cist) — Miscellaneous

Where abouts are they? I have been twice and still have not been able to find them, HELP. bobpc Posted by bobpc
24th March 2007ce
Showing 1-10 of 35 posts. Most recent first | Next 10