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England
Stanton Harcourt
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55 posts
Devil's Quoits Henge |
1 post
Gravelly Guy Barrow Cemetery |
Fieldnotes |
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Stanton Harcourt is an ancient village 8 miles west of Oxford on the B4449. It got the 'Harcourt' part of it's name from a Norman family who settled here in the 15th century, I believe. The Harcourt family still live in the manor house. 'Stanton', of course means 'place of the stones' - as indeed it has - the magnificent rebuilt henge, the Devil's Quoits. But other rich archaeological finds in the river gravels have been made round the village and have been explored in C4s "Time Team" programme. The quarrying of river gravels have revealed incredible finds of more than 900 bones and teeth of animals including mammoth, elephant, horse, bison, bear, lion and hyena, many in almost perfect condition. There is evidence that climactic change 200,000 years ago forced the shift of the position of the River Thames, leaving rich fertile grasslands and big prey animals for early human settlers to exploit. Excavations by various agencies during the past 15 years have revealed stone- and bronze-age tools. burials, beaker peoples settlements and more. Some seriously important finds were made during the excavation of Gravelly Guy. |
Posted by Jane16th April 2003ce Edited 16th April 2003ce |
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John Aubrey, in his book 'Monumenta Britannica' says: "In Stanton Harcourt field in Oxford southward from the Towne stand two great stones, called the Devill's Coytes: sixty-five paces distant from one another. The east stone is nine foot high, and as much broad: halfe a yard thick. The west stone is eight foot high and about six foot broad, halfe a yard thick." "One of these stones was taken down by a farmer about the year 1680 to make a bridge of." "Two or three Bowshotts from hence is a great Barrow." It's not clear what this 'great Barrow' is - maybe Gravelly Guy? The distance feels about right. |
Posted by Jane 16th April 2003ce |
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OxoniensiaAn article from Oxoniensia (v8-9) by the mighty W F Grimes: "Excavations at Stanton Harcourt, Oxon., 1940." Includes lots of maps and drawings of the quoits and other monuments. |
Posted by Rhiannon19th August 2006ce |
Latest posts for Stanton Harcourt |
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Devil's Quoits (Henge) — Images (click to view fullsize) |
     
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Posted by Mustard 21st February 2010ce |
Devil's Quoits (Henge) — Fieldnotes |
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What a spectacular site. What struck me the most is how quickly you forget that this is a reconstruction. It really doesn't seem to matter. I'd expected the experience to be tempered by the knowledge that the site isn't original or 'genuine', but frankly, it just looks so stunning that all such thoughts are driven from the mind. I was also surprised at how little the surrounding tip impacts upon the site. And when it does, it almost enriches it in a strange way. The fact that such a unique and stunning location can exist in such against such an incongruous backdrop is somehow rewarding in its own right. Perhaps it helps that the site is reconstructed rather than original, because it feels as though something has been miraculously salvaged where there might otherwise be nothing at all. When entering the tip, I wasn't at all clear where to park, so I ended up parking in the wrong place (of which more later). Basically, there's a small parking area just to your left as you pass the public recycling area (with a "congregation point" sign, but no parking sign and no sign for the quoits). Once parked, there, there's an obvious public footpath leading to the stones. The one thing that marred the experience for me was the horrible little jobsworth oink who took an attitude with me for parking in the wrong place. It wasn't clear where to park, there was nobody visible to ask, and my car was tucked well out of the way of passing trucks, but this bloke still had the demeanour of personal affront that only ever seems to grace small-minded little men who've been waiting years to exercise the slight modicum of power that's fallen into their sad little laps. There were threats of locked gates and rude reprimands for missed signposts - where a simple smile and an indication of the correct place to park would have sufficed. It's a shame, because the company that own the site have obviously put a huge amount of effort into supporting the reconstruction, and it would be nice if their staff could show a little more enthusiasm for the project - or at least a little less belligerence. |
Posted by Mustard 21st February 2010ce Edited 23rd February 2010ce |
Devil's Quoits (Henge) — Links |
From British Archaeology magazinean article about the re-building of the Quoits, by archaeologist Gill Hey |
Posted by Jane 1st September 2009ce |
Devil's Quoits (Henge) — Images |
 
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Posted by Jane 15th September 2008ce |
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