[visited 27/12/05] I've been pondering on visiting this place for years, finally getting off my arse to see this and hambledon in the same day. So, firstly, this place is huge. I'm not surprised the Romans went to the additional hassle of cornering off part of this massive fort for their pad, the iron age ramparts would have required many hundreds to defend properly. Walking the ramparts in December is a chilly affair but the views either side of Hambledon are awesome, looking out down the side of Cranbourne Chase and onto the vast plain in front of you.
Access is for the reasonably fit, the car park is at the bottom of the hill then its up a steep slope to the fort.This post appears as part of the blog post " Xmas wanderings" |
[visited July 2005] I walked here from Stoney Littleton, if you take the most direct footpath route its about a 40 minute walk and rather pleasant except for the mud. In addition to the 5 stones on the green I mentioned last time, I also found 3 others by the stream. You can see these by following the footpath on the other side of the main road from the green.
Cove Cottage does exist, but being a polite person I didn't enquire & they have big hedges so no idea whether its megalithically named. Opposite this cottage are a row of houses called lansdown view. To prove these right, head North away from Faulkland back towards Stoney Littleton, about 5-10 mins out of town on the footpath, the world opens up for you. Rhiannon may be pleased to know Kelston Round Hill is clearly visible, as is the Westbury white horse and the mendips. Lovely.
|
[visited 23/4/5] This is a delightful little fort hidden away on the edge of the mendips. I imagine the views are immense, unfortunately it was very hazy / misty on this visit and so I could only make out shadows in the mist. I could however see the Pen Hill transmitter & hill in the near distance, though I suspect the barrow is hidden over the crest of the hill from this angle.
Condition wise this is ok, though the banks are somewhat denuded & I suspect this site has been ploughed in the past. There are also a couple of points where the bank could have been levelled. On the West side is what looks like the remains of a cobbled entrance, which if true, makes this somewhat strange. That said evidence of wheeled vehicles have been found not too far away at the glastonbury lake village.
Accesswise, I parked just off the road to the South of the fort and followed the footpath over it. Its about a 5-10 minute walk up a steep bumpy field. You could possibly get to it via the golf club next door, but that way lies madness.
|
[visited 26/3/5] I started the day by scanning the dorset map for barrows and I found this, my third Bank Barrow. There are apparently only 3 left in a decent condition anyway so beyond ripples in the mud, this may well be it. Surfice to say I wasn't disapointed, its another riproarer, a giant amongst little people. Standing proud on the dorset ridgeway, with beautiful 360degree views and so many round barrows paying tribute to it.
The really nice thing about this is it seems to be complete, I don't think the road builders chopped a bit off the end and fortunately any ploughing hasn't reduced it beyond amazing levels. Comparing it with the other brutes in Dorset, it didn't seem as large as long bredy but was definately larger than Black Down.
Access is good as a road goes straight past the field this is in and tbh you get a great view of its hugeness from the road.
|
[visited 4/2/5] Foolishly I failed to read the pages here before visiting this barrow. I'd allready failed to find the burial chambers in Avening and bombed straight past The Tinglestone. So as I headed back towards Avening, I passed the longstone and stopped on the verge of the track leading past this barrow.
Seeing no-one about and not really aware of the danger, I strolled to the barrow and had a good root about. 2 stones are standing at one end and one chamber is visible though almost buried. The barrow is in a bad state but better than some about these parts.
And then the landrover arrived. So I pegged it back to my car expecting an irate farmer and instead met 2 nice police officers, who ran the full police check on me as well. I was then informed that the tinglestone is on the same estate and isn't visitable either...
So, access is prohibited and inadvisable if you have any outstanding warrants. There was no-one about when I went but they apparently have cameras and very efficent coppers. You've been warned.
|
[visited 28/11/04] Apart from the Priddy henges, this is the one I've been wanting to visit longest in this area. I got the OS map of the area and then had to drive past the mendip main tv transmitter everyday, knowing there was a longbarrow I'd not visited right underneath it. Finally however I got to it, having picked our way across a sea of mud, the barrow is in its own little enclosure.
Its positioned perfectly, running along the crest of the hill and the view across the somerset levels is gorgeous. Of course most of the land you see now was underwater in the neolithic, but the distant hills were certainly occupied and the gods are always watching.
The barrow is in fairly good nick but is clearly denuded, I couldn't see any sign of stones around or on it, so this is presumably an earthen longbarrow. Unless someone has nicked them all of course. I'd recommend this site, though the huge transmitter may put some people off as it really is hard to forget about it towering above you.
Access is up a metalled track to the transmitter, then round to the left, through the gate and the barrow is in front of you enclosed in fencing.
One more thing worth looking at is the weird linear feature to the east of the barrow which you'll probably see before the barrow itself. This is the 'bank barrow' Rhiannon mentions. I'm not convinced it qualifies to be in the same league as the dorset ones. Its just not enough of a brute for that in my opinion, its too small in width and height.
It does however look similar to the weird tracks leading up to the Barrow above the long man of wilmington. I'd bet someone elses house on it being as old as the barrow.This post appears as part of the blog post " Mendip mischief" |
[visited 28/11/04] These caught my eye a few months ago and finally I've had a chance to visit. The view was gorgeous and well worth the trip to these parts all by itself, but the site itself, hmmmm. Lets start with the dead badger lying close to the stones, not their fault I will admit, but it really didn't add to the ambience of the place, though did provide a useful comparison for the photos.
Onto the antiquity of the stones, I've seen a fair few standing stones now about these parts and they have all to a rock, been considerably more weathered than these two. They've had much more lichen and are on the whole darker. These stones stood out lighter from a distance, which is never the best of signs.
Perhaps they've come from a barrow hereabouts, the roundbarrows round here contain cists after all, or perhaps they are a more modern introduction.
--
Reading the site notes, one stone should defn be less weathered, presumably the upper stone as its lighter.
Access is via a 10 minute walk from one of two ebhor gorge car parks, along a road for a bit, then in a field.This post appears as part of the blog post " Mendip mischief" |
[visited 28/11/04] This is really only half a barrow cluster, there being another line of barrows (Ashen Hill) 1/2 a mile to the North. One thing I noticed when up here, besides the fact its cold on the edge of the mendips in late November, is you can't actually see the levels from here. In fact they are a touch oddly placed imo.
I presume the sight from the Priddy Circles to the North would have been unimpeded 3-4 thousand years ago and this lovely linear cemetary would have visible shining white on the horizon.
Access is across a few fields, but you can see these beauties from a fair way off in most directions (except North).This post appears as part of the blog post " Mendip mischief" |
[visited 28/11/04] I'm loathe to include this as a seperate site from priddy nine barrows (PNB), but as it is seperate on other websites and an extra eight or nine barrows would make PNB very badly misnamed... However, these should almost certainly be counted as the same cemetary, being less than 10 minutes walk from PNB and highly inter-visible. But maybe then the idea of a barrow cemetary is fundamentally flawed when you are talking about barrows. Where do you draw the limits?
Moving on, this is a nice linear cluster, acting almost as a counterpoint to PNB who's line lies slightly further to the east. They are all in relatively good order and a fair size for todays barrows. One thing that did puzzle me were the ditches either side of the barrow line expecially as the Northern ditch had large stones within it. Whether this is a mendip thing I'm not sure, there is a solitary large barrow at 545492, with 300 metre long ditches either side of it. The ditches look newer than bronze age however...
Access is a 100 yards down a track then 200 yards across a muddy muddy field.This post appears as part of the blog post " Mendip mischief" |
[visited 28/11/04] Yet to get into the field to have a close-up look at this, but through the hedge and the gate its little more than a ripple in the grass. The barrows in the henge are semi-visible but as with the henge, clearly ploughed out. The whole site has that fuzzy look about it. Sadly there is also a hedge across the henge so you can't even see the whole thing in one go.
The field containing the henge is on a country lane with 70mph cutthroughers, so if you keep your wits about you access is good as they don't come along that often.This post appears as part of the blog post " Mendip mischief" |
[visited 28/11/04] The lure of a concrete copy onsite lured me here, but I kinda failed to find it. I think I saw it across a field, but pain & mud put me off till the spring.
For those who are tempted in the meantime: Starting on the B road, head west to east along the footpath that goes past Pool Farm. On the other side of the first field on your left is what I think is the remains of the cist.
Access is unknown but looks like being across a muddy field.This post appears as part of the blog post " Mendip mischief" |
[visited 28/11/04] Yet another possible trashed ancient site, I'm not that picky me, so I popped along. I counted 5 medium sized stones (4ft+) scattered on or near the village green including the two set up either side of the stocks. They certainly had the look of very weathered stones to me, covered in lichen as they were. I didn't go looking for the cottage called "The Cove", but I do think the evidence weighs in favour of this being the site of an ancient monument.
Access is excellent, you can park within 20 yards of the stock's stones, on the edge of the green.This post appears as part of the blog post " Mendip mischief" |
[visited 11/9/4] As I was bombing past here on my way to Toller Porcorum, I stopped for a shufty. Basically its 2 (or possibly more) large stones together in a crop field. Luckily the crop was gone so I shinnied over the gate and went for a closer look. I presume this is the remains of a long barrow and in fact The Ancient Stones of Dorset has a picture from 1872 suggesting these may form two sides of a chamber. One thing is for certain not much is left to talk about. Good views though...
Access to the edge of the field is easy as its on a road, after that its a field...This post appears as part of the blog post " One doesn't go mad in Dorset" |
[visited 10/9/4] Not much to see here that is recognisable really. As you approach from Bokerly Farm, the cursus is conspicuous by its absence on the right in a field where it once stood. And then in the next field where the goal should stand, Bokerly Ditch rises like a false dawn in the distance.
Now given that the remains on the map look like a C with long barrows attached, with supposedly the earthwork of Grim's Ditch just behind, one long mound took me a bit by surprise. I contemplated for a good 10 minutes whether the elongated mound in the middle of the field was actually part of the cursus and I think on reflection it probably is. It does kinda point at the obvious long barrow on the hill to the South and does also have a couple of dips, kinda like the map.
But ffs what damage and destruction the plough has wrought here. This monument was once one of the greatest ever built and I get the feeling 200 years (or even less) ago, we would have seen something of that greatness rather than the sad remains today. This field is still being ploughed, all thats left is the bizarre mound, the two sides are gone forever, as has Grim's Ditch it appears.
Worth a visitish, personally though, if you only see one bit of the cursus chose the middle bit by Oakley Down. Access is on flat ground via public footpath and probably through crops in summer. I parked in Woodyates village.This post appears as part of the blog post " One doesn't go mad in Dorset" |
[visited 11/9/4] Those that know me know my sceptical nature and I'd hate to disappoint. Umm... the church is certainly higher than the surroundings. There are certainly a couple of large stones in the entrance to the churchyard. It has a kinda circular churchyard. Thats about it really.
Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for a church, but I left feeling cheated in some way. On a plus note Access could only be easier if the place had a moving walkway taking you round it.This post appears as part of the blog post " One doesn't go mad in Dorset" |
[visited 11/9/4] September in Dorset can really get chilly, especially on top of the southern hills. Don't let that stop you coming to look at this beauty however. Two bank barrows are marked on the map though only one is really obvious and its a delight. It points just to the North of the Long Bredy Bank barrow which is clearly visible on the hill to the west. Whilst not as big as that one, this is still longer than most long barrows and holds an unexpected delight. Unmarked on the OS map is a large round barrow with a huge sarsen stone on it top, a definate bonus. Looking at The Ancient Stones of Dorset, Peter Knight calls it "Kingston Russell Barrow 5".
Look to the South from up here and you can see the extended hill containing the Grey Mare and Kingston Russell circle. Poor lot is below you to the North and you can see to the horizon in most directions. I've been thinking a good deal about the purpose of these Bank Barrows and indeed similarly placed Long Barrows. Riding the crest of a hill, a man-made white streak visible for miles. A sign for the gods or a marker to all who enter these parts that this is taken. Access is up about 3 fields from the A35 carefully avoiding cowpats...This post appears as part of the blog post " One doesn't go mad in Dorset" |
[visited 11/9/4] Quick look about after hearing of a metal detector in the Dorchester area digging into barrows. No real sign here, but a couple of the barrows have patches of bare soil, presumably from the sheep as they didn't look like shovel dug holes. I also had a quick chat with the owners of the house next door, who say they keep an eye on the place and certainly wouldn't tolerate treasure hunters.
Whilst you visit Poor Lot don't forget the woods just to the East, though watch out for gamekeepers as these be pheasant woods. There is a circular banked structure just before you enter the woods to your left, it used to be in the woods, but the landowner has removed the woods to iirc turn it into pasture. I preume this is the remains of a disk? barrow, similar to one at Oakley Down cemetary, but I'm not sure.This post appears as part of the blog post " One doesn't go mad in Dorset" |
[visited 11/9/4] The idea that this sad stone could be part of a circle has excited me since I heard it, so I thought as I was site hunting about this way, I'd have a good walk about. I visited the actual stone again; its sad slow disapearance under vegetation & creeping topsoil continues. Never mind resurrecting it, I'm thinking a visit with a couple of shovels would be a good start.
I found one stone in the field next door and another in the field next to that. They are much smaller than the Broadstone, but as at Nine Stones of Winterbourne Abbas about a mile away, the size differential between stones is greater, its not a problem. I didn't see Moth's circle markers in the field and tbh if the circle existed, I imagined the road went straight through the middle of it. But I think thats just my fatalism.
Access to the Broadstone is from an AA layby along the verge of a very busy A road. Not for the faint hearted. Access to the other stones was (by me) over a fence from verge.
[update: december 2005] Was here to clear the creeping topsoil again and noticed the field next door is now being ploughed. A cursory look failed to locate the other stones, they may well have been removed...This post appears as part of the blog post " One doesn't go mad in Dorset" |
[visited 31/5/4] This is a cracker and in the low sideways light, Long Meg itself comes into its own, its spirals clearly visible even from a distance. Access could only be better if they built a track round the stones, you can after all park inside the circle. After 5 minutes here, I decided this was a cracker. Huge stones Avebury size, in a massive circle. Its reminiscent of Stanton Drew, both being colossal and bizarrely on slight slopes. This really is a circle to spend a day at watching the world go past.
Unfortunately I only had a cursory look, walked the circle, admired the spirals and left cursing the god that made each day only have 24 hours.
|
[visited 31/5/4] Sitting almost in the shadow of Mayburgh is this Arbor Lowesque henge. Its a bit trashed by the road and forgotten by modern penrith but its doing remarkably well compared to compatriots about the country. Access is ok, I stuck the car on the verge next to the henge and shinied over the gate. I think you can get in without gymnastics though.
Henge complexes are reasonably common in Britain but I've not heard of two so dramatically different, being so close as this and Mayburgh are. Despite the closeness I feel this one is the true henge of the area, maybe the local henge for local people.
|
|
Rumours I found one folklore piece to complete my rainbow are true
|
Log in |
Register
Previous 20 | Showing 61-80 of 164 fieldnotes. Most recent first | Next 20 
Top of page