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England
The BridestonesBurial Chamber
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Almost seven years on from my last field notes here I visited again, this time with my Daughter for company. The benefit of visiting on 26th December is that there is no one about at the quarry next door, so this time there was better for exploring the geographical context of the Bridestones and to further explore the connection to the landscape. Just of from the site standing at the quarry building there is the most spectacular view over Staffordshire and Cheshire, truly awe-inspiring in the distance the naked eye can see. I am convinced that this spot would have been of prime importance in relation to the Bridestones, and there reason for being here, I suspect they weren't placed here in isolation but would have been a small part in a wider use of this area, leading up higher and higher to the peak of the cloud. |
Posted by texlahoma1st January 2012ce |
| Surprisingly easy to find, The Bridestones are striking. A small, compact site but still imposing when you are amongst the stones. No dogs on the day of my visit so, except for the occasional car passing by on the nearby road, I was surrounded by tranquility and calm. Perfect. |
Posted by Gnomon 13th August 2010ce Edited 13th August 2010ce |
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Visited on a Northern Earth Mysteries day out. Our guide warned us that there have been problems with Rottweilers from the adjacent property menacing visitors - physical contact though not bites. On this visit there was barking from a sheepdog on the other side of the fence, but nothing worse. Apparently the structure was originally some 300 ft long (!), but much of the stone has been robbed over the years. The site is somewhat encroached by vegetation, but attempts have been made to cut it back, and apparently the situation is now better than it has been in the past. It is strongly recommended that you report any issues with dogs and/or vegetation to the local authority if you encounter them here. |
Posted by Ubik 27th April 2008ce |
| Seeing as I only live forty minutes away and this is my nearest ancient place I will come here several times every year, almost as if expecting to see something new,so far I'm not doing bad Once I came at sunset , next it had been snowing, this time I climbed a tree to look down on it slightly.Sometimes there is a big Rottwieller dog just ten metres from the chamber but he was elsewhere today and all was quiet. The only bad thing about this visit was the bushes were ever so slightly closer to the side of the chamber, the whole lot should be ruthlessly chopped leaving only the mature trees, somtimes there's not even enough room to stretch ones imagination. I leaned the fallen information board against a tree said goodbye to the stones (as you do) and walked back to the car. |
Posted by postman3rd March 2008ce |
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As we approached the Bridestones the sky was dark towards Jodrell Bank Observatory and the Welsh hills in the far off distance. we did encounter the barking of dogs on approach to the stones although they quickly stopped again leaving us in peace. As we entered the enclosure the sun broke through the sky and created amazing views past the stones and across the landscape. This is an amazing place to visit and in very good condition. By the gate there is what looks like a capstone to the tomb or maybe it is another standing stone which has fallen over at some point, either way it is huge. This post appears as part of the weblog entry below the cloud towards the old man o' mow
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Posted by texlahoma 4th January 2005ce Edited 4th January 2005ce |
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[visited 3/4/4] I've been angling to come here for ages ever since I saw The Pikestones and wondered just how they got that far north. Access is good, you can park to within metres of the stones & then through a gate. So accompanied by loud barking I got to see a very impressive chambered tomb facing almost true west. It used to be 100 odd metres long and had a cresentic forecourt with cobbling! Very similar in style to other outliers of the cotswolds barrows, a vein of which seem to be clinging to the western edge of englands central hills. If this mound was covered in white as per mounds further south, it would have been visible far out into the western plains. I met a very helpful local who pointed out some stones can be still be seen in the small grove of trees on the way into the site and on the other side of the access road, but most were taken away when the road was metalled. Apparently the stones are named as a result of a wedding being held here in the 1930s, what they were called before then is unrecorded. This post appears as part of the weblog entry Quick bank holiday drive round
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Posted by juamei3rd May 2004ce |
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This is an amazing site... small, but for me, perfectly formed. Two massive uprights - one with a beautiful smile - and then a long chamber flanked with big, sparkling slabs. This is definitely worth a journey - it's not that far from Lud's Church. The only 'problem' are the guard dogs - two big rottweilers just beyond the site don't make you feel terribly welcome. They are fenced in, but were a little intimidating. To get to the Bridestones, you could walk from the nearby (about 2 miles) hamlet of Timbersbrook (parking, loos, picnic area etc), or else just beyond (c. 400 metres) the site towards Leek there's a layby where you can park (just where Dial Lane becomes Beat Lane). |
Posted by rangzen19th August 2003ce |
| The Bridestones are one of the few megalithic sites between Derbyshire and Wales and are well worth a visit if you can put up with incessant dog barking and the occasional Curious Cow. Two big flanking uprights infront of a roofless burial chamber, curious for its porthole stone: one of only five or so known from the UK. While you're there go for a walk on the cutely named Cloud: fantastic views across the north Midlands and you can tell your mates you went for a walk in the Clouds.... |
Posted by Dave M 25th June 2000ce |
Folklore |
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Local landowner, Sir Philip Brocklehurst, wrote in 1874:The peasants of the neighbourhood have a curious legend respecting the origin of 'The Bridestones'. "When the Danes invaded England," they say, "a Danish youth became enamoured of a Saxon lady, and in the end the two were married at Biddulph church (about a mile and a half distant) but on returning from the wedding, they were here met and murdered, and after their interment had taken place on the spot where they fell, these stones were laid around their grave, and the name Bridestones given to it from that circumstance." So much for public opinion.You can see him rolling his eyes. Quoted in Westwood and Simpson's 2005 'Lore of the Land'. |
Posted by Rhiannon24th February 2006ce |
Miscellaneous |
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From J D Sainters "Scientific Rambles Round Macclesfield" 1878: 'East of this sephulchral cell or monument, there stood six or eight upright stones or monoliths, from 8-10feet in height and six feet apart, which formed a circle 27 feet in diameter; and two other stones stood north by south within this circle, which may have been the remains of a cromlech or dolmen that had contained a burial by process of cremation, since the soil is reported black with charcoal ashes. Another stone stood six yards east from this circle, succeeded by one six yards beyond it......' |
Posted by stubob9th December 2007ce Edited 9th December 2007ce |
| It appears that someone brings there dog to toilet here, regularly. Watch your footing! |
Posted by AgentOrange 19th December 2005ce |
Links |
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Cheshire Archaelogical Service Site Information |
Posted by Ubik 27th April 2008ce |
Megalithic WalksAtmospheric snowy photos of the Brides. |
Posted by Rhiannon 17th April 2002ce Edited 2nd March 2005ce |
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