 Previous 20 | Showing 21-37 of 37 fieldnotes. Most recent first
I found this holed stone whilst looking for the Polisher. It lies at the heart of a Beaker Settlement on the North of Delling Copse which includes the deeply scoured and polished stone. Like Rhiannon, I do not intend to reveal the exact grid reference as going on stone safari on this part of the Downs is good for the soul. I use the safari metaphor with some reason as looking east across the fields to Rockley reminded me of the African plains, but without the Giraffes. Or Elephants.
Perhaps it's because I've recently returned from Cork, but this field reminded me a bit of Canrooksa in Glengarriff. Like that place, this site is important as an example of a relatively undisturbed ancient landscape. Dyer (1981) describes it as "probably the finest example of a prehistoric landscape in Southern Britain". Also, like Canrooska, the act of searching for a specific stone amongst a jigsaw of the prehistoric built environment and naturally occuring features puts you much more intune with the landscape.
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Walked down the Avenue at 9am on a Sunday morning after already having spent a good two hours or so on the henge. As ever we had the place to ourselves. Regardless of the time of day this place is, in my experience nearly always empty. So many people seem to rush round the henge totally oblivious to the Kennet Avenue let alone Adam and Eve on Beckhampton. The belly of Stukeley's snake looked fine today, the glistening silver dew and the vivid greens and browns of the surrounding fields conjured up a child's felt-tip picture of this Solemne Walke.
The early morning light made the stones glimmer and encouraged me in my pathetic photgraphic attempts to emulate Max Milligan (more like Spike Milligan said Mrs RBD). The RBD children were delighted to find the axe marks at the south-eastern base of stone 19.
The excavations at Falkners Circle were in full swing when we passed again later that day on the way back to Marlborough.
Much has been written about this place but I wanted to reflect upon what Burl (1993) regarded as the minor mystery of the 16 missing stones. Between Aubrey's 1663 visit and Stukeley's 1723 visit, 16 large sarsens (stones nos. 5a-12b) were removed. There is no evidence of burning or burying. The familiar ugly obelisks now stand in their place at the Northernmost part of the Avenue.
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Visited this site for the first time at the weekend. A sorry admission since I spent 18 years of childhood and youth in Swindon a few miles up the road and was a regular visitor to the Avebury henge and environs during that time.
Harvesting was well underway this weekend. Whilst walking up the field boundary to the dolmen, a farmer, presumably Kommisar Clatford, drove headlong towards (to the untrained eye damaging his own crops whilst doing so) to remind us that we were on private property. This is the field that Evelyn Francis, in her cute Avebury Wooden Book, suggests should be dedicated to St Pesticide. Mmm.
This farmer was angry as hell and pompous as well.
Deja vu at the Devil's Den. This was all too much like our recent experience in Cork and Kerry. I explained that little boys in shorts and 4 foot high stinging nettles don't make for a happy day out and he responded that that wasn't his problem. I enquired as to whose responsibility the management of the public footpath was and we then had a really fascinating exchange of opinions about the rights and wrongs of permissive access to national treaures.
After a sincere empathetic recital of the country code on my part - a useful skill I picked up when having a similar chat with a Corkmam farmer a few weeks ago - he gave us permission to walk on to the dolmen. His summing up, concluded "Technically no-one should be allowed in here as it [the Dolmen] is on private land. Still I suppose some people are better than others". Not sure what to make of that but I resisted the temptation to say the same thing to him!
This encounter detracted somewhat from the experience of visting this most un-Wiltshire-like place. More like the Dorset Hellstone than say, Devon's Spinster's Rock, this gnarled little specimen was a nettly oasis from the Combine Harvesters which surrounded us. I wasn't AS "moved" as others have clearly been here (but then my heart and soul really belongs to Gurranes) and was surprised to note the large slab of concrete holding the edifice up on its eastern side. Still a wondrous place mind you.
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Stukeley's Itinerarium Curiousum (1724) includes one of his marvellous sketches of a "Celtic Temple" here at Winterbourne Bassett. The illustration, which is reproduced in John Michell's Megalithomania, depicts an 8 stone circle.
Only three stones now remain visible in the field to the south east of Lambourne Ground. The OS Map suggests a field with 7 stones, but curiously doesn't record the massive outlier at the junction of the road from Clyffe Pypard to Winterbourne Bassett.
A bit of investigative work at this site pays quick dividends. I counted what I took to be three of the missing stones partially obscured by lichen and summer undergrowth in ditches and boundaries around the junction.
The larger outlier can be seen on the horizon to the west in the photograph above.
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This multiple stone circle was, according to a local I met whilst visiting, "rediscovered" about a decade ago by the person responsible for establishing the Sheep's Head Way long-distance walk. Apologies, I forget the name, but he is commemorated by a memorial which was unveiled by the American Ambassaodr at the steps leading to the site. A real rarity this in Cork, I think only Drombeg and Kealkil can steer the megalitamanics gaze quite so clearly with such signage. The site is well sign-posted from the village of Ahakista and is a short walk from the fabulous tin pub. It is the only significant site on the Sheep's Head peninsula - a finger of land which is much less frequented by humans than either the Mizen or the Beara.
Since the Sheep's Head way was established the circle is now much easier to access, the site being partially cleared of the bracken and ferns which cover the low hills nearby.
Despite this it is still difficult to get a real feel for this place. Vegetation hems you in on all sides and the circle is in a ruinous state. I want to suggest that this is an 11 or 13 stone circle, and is about 7 yards in diameter. I was unsure about its orientation but I would suggest it was approximately SSE. The axis stone is now sheltered by a tree which has clasped its roots around the feet of the stone. Travelling on the road back towards the village of Ahakista I noticed a good example of an increasigly common site in Cork front gardens, "the pop stone row". Rather worryingly these looked like the real thing. I wonder if in millennia to come whether megalithamaniacs might be seeking out the stones currently located at the entrances to industrial estates?
If you go to this stone circle don't forget to vist the tin pub.
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This site has got everything. Stone circles, alignments, mass rocks, standing stones, boulder cairns. It is difficult to tell what's really going on here. The site of the stone circle is now regarded as one of the most important in Cork because it is contextualised in a relatively unaltered megalithic landscape.
My photogarphs illustrate some of the sites. Alignments similar to the Plague Market litter the hillside high up above Glengarriff, whilst the lane leading up through Rusnashunsgoe is flanked by a ditch comprised of what looks like discarded megaliths thatb would grace West Kennett Avenue. I'm no expert but there's an awful lot going on here. I suspect that this site may become even more important if the results of archaeological field surveys were more widely disseminated.
Bulls guarded much of the site, and if they don't spook you you'll get stuck in the mud or fall down a ditch whilst trying to follow the alignments. Its hard to tell what's naturally occuring here and what's not around this small cirlce but Jack Roberts makes the following comment on the stone circle and its associated sites. "[This] site is central to the megalithic landscape of the whole area. Ancient type of field systems, low walls of quite large boulders with ocassional uprights, and at least ten different types of monuments". After reading this extract I'm not entirely sure what it is I've photographed. I'm sure other visitors will enlighten me.
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This is an enthusiastically reconstructed ring fort. Excavated by Boyle Somerville - who is buried with his sister, the novelist Edith Somerville in nearby Castletownsend - in the early 20th Century. The highlights of this site are the fine views of the sea to the south, the views of the three Gurranes fingers to the north, a cup-marked stone, a souterrain, and a cross-inscribed stone.
The souterrain was unlocked when we visited and I was able to crawl well inside both chambers to find two discarded crisp packets. They weren't Somerville's. The overall impression is of a site not disimilar to Carn Gluze at Cape Cornwall. The reconstructed walls and the impressive flight of steps make this place seem much more modern than it really is. The site would have been easily defended and nearby Gurranes acts as an impressive welcome or warning to visitors.
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This obscure 6 stone alignment shares a ENE-SSW orientation with the nearby Ardrah Row. It many ways it has a similar feel, although the stones have a shape more common to the stumpy pillars of Reenascreena in the south of the county. The tallest ENE stands at about 4 and half feet whilst the smallest is about 20 inches. Five stones stand, one is fallen. Burl, in his 1993 publication, "From Carnac to Callanish" reports that Charcoal dating on peat overlying the site dates to approximately 1600BC. The site was excavated in 1977. The tallest stone "weighs about 2 tons and could have been erected by some eight workers".
When travelling North or South to vist this site, following the hand-written signs to the nearby Basketry will be a big help. The site nestles on a small hill overlooking the crossroads of two lanes. To the SW is Lough Atoreen and to the NW the familiar peak of Knockboy. The landowner had recently installed a gate when we visited. A refreshing change after some of the real, imaginary ("Beware of the Bull" ) and symbolic barriers so often found in these parts.
The happy face simulacra on the SSW stone was only spotted when the film was developed!
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Ardrah Stone Row is difficult to find and access. We sought permission from a very suspicious farmer with the strongest Irish accent I've ever heard (we both repeated everything to each other at least twice). The Farmer insisted that we were some way short of Kealkill but after I'd got my map out and explained to him that it was Adrah we were looking for, he positively gushed vague directions. Following the lane northwards, through a gate we entered a field where we could plainly see the row. It was here that I understood why the farmer had asked whether I was intending to change out of my sturdy walking books. Waders might have been more appropriate. Getting nearer to the row than about 500 feet proved almost impossible. After circling the site for about 45 minutes when we attempted to dodge noisy cows, scale banks, ditches, streams and barbed wire we eventually got into the grounds of the abandonned farm house from which the site can be accessed.
Myler's report on this alignment in his "An Archaeological survey of the Mealagh Valley" includes the following observations "The largest south western stone is 9 ft high, 3 ft wide and 2.5 ft thick. The adjacent stone measures 3 ft high, 2 ft wide and 1.5 thick. The next one is 4.5 ft high, 4 ft wide and 2 ft thick. The north eastern stone is 3ft high, 2 ft wide and 2 ft thick".
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This is the Mealagh Valley's largest standing stone. It is one of a number interesting sites in the immediate vicinity including, on the opposite side of the road, a ringfort with souterrain and a cup marked stading stone.
In his excellent archaeological survey of the Mealagh Valley, David Myler reports that it stands 15 foot high, is 6 foot wide and 3 feet thick. The stone is rumoured to have markings on it. I noticed none but can report that the stone has began to sprout a fine head of hair. Local rumours also report that the stone was once damaged by a bolt of lightning.
Turn left on the road heading NW from Lough Boffina, turn left again after about a mile and then pull in at the lane on the left. Ask permission to access the site. One of the farms' many barky dogs kept me company on my visit.
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This is the Northern one of a pair of circles at Currabeha. After O 'Nuallain, Jack Roberts suggests that there is some disagreement as to whether there were originally 9 or 11 stones here.
We visited this low runined cicrle on a wet and foul day. We didn't realise the second cirlce was so close at hand until reading Roberts' guide later that evening.
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My experience of finding the site was a similar one. The stones dip below the horizon as you approach. I followed the directions suggested by Burl and walked up the lane past a farm. There was no-one there but I did notice a previously un-reported (and certainly not recorded on the OS map) stading stone adjacent to the back garden. The bog is the most fearsome I've encountered visiting sites in Cork or Kerry.
It wasn't until leaving the lane and then turning left and left again to head toward the Healy Pass that I noticed a much easier access point. The fence here is partly trampled and the stones remain in view as you follow the contours to reach them. I guess this is the easy route!
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FourWinds has got a point here. Yes, this is the Eastern of the two circles. Four of us spent nearly 2 hours trying to find the other one and in the process got separated from each other. Things became a bit scary then and after we all met up again later to find out that we'd all been shouting at the tops of our voces and had all retraced our original steps out of there and had still not found the stones nor each other. Any advice on finding this site, or some images would be most welcome.
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There is some debate as to whether there were originally 13 or 15 stones on this site.
There is an informative interpretation board at this site. The landowner asks for a small charitable donation and the rear of the board incorporates letters of acknowledgement from, amongst others, Amnesty International.
A delight to visit on such a sunny day.
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Gurranes stone row actually lies to the North of Knockdrum, a reconstructed ring fort. The alignment is clearly visible from the fort and tracks across the skyline as you descend back to the road. There were, according to Roberts' "Antiquites of West Cork", originally 5 upright finger stones here. The missing fifth stone was removed during the 19th Century and installed in a Castletownshend garden.
Our second visit to this site and 53 weeks on from our first trip it still feels like a magical place. This time rabbits scattered into hedgerows as we approached. The views inland were more stunning than I remembered. From the lofty heights of Knockdrum we spotted the cows that share the field with the stones using them to scratch themsleves. A prosaic end to another fine visit. This is still my favourite ancient site.
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Mynydd y Gelli, as this site is also known (somewhat optimistically) as "the Welsh Stonehenge"' (Burl, 1995: 174).
I've not heard this site referred to as Rhondda Stonhenge before. Like the English one, though, what's left is being ruined by pollution. No trunk roads here though just a hole full of stinking plastic bags.
This place is paradoxiaclly grim and breathtaking. At the end of a winding road from Gelli up to a massive landfill site there is a stile. Heading west, the site is easy to miss. You're instinctively drawn away from the line of the chain link fence that divides the encroaching stenching land fill from the magnificent hillside views to the North over to Rhondda Fach.You then miss the site. At the edge of a plateau some few hundred yards west of the rings are a number of equally spaced partially buried stones. Outliers dot the slopes below. This would appear to be what Burl (op cit) refers to as "the wreckage of three more dubious cists". Dubious or not, this was once a special place for ritual and ceremony. Look around at the views and the alignments!
Rhondda-Cynon-Taf, the local authority have only vague records of this ancient monument and, with an absence of landmarks for map reading and a Quatermass land-fill getting nearer all the time, finding this site was hard work on a foggy day in March 2002. The rings are next to the chainlink fence on a ENE-WSW axis. Burl reports them as being 10.2m by 9m in diameter.
Ignore Burl's directions. Follow the road to the landfill site and get out by the gates and lorries. Follow the fence on the brow of the hill to the site. None of the stones are taller than about 75cm, the OS map doesn't record the circle by name, nor does it record the growth of the landfill (a local politcal hot potato) instead it coyly records "Cairns". For now Taffhenge or Tiphenge, remains sadly neglected and seldom visited.
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I've also seen this referred to as Knockdrum. An impressive stone row in a special place. Park at the the School on the road into Castletownshend. The site is visible on the horizon to the west. You'll want to run there. A breathless gallop to embrace these four scrawny fingers. Three erect and one broken.
This is a special place.
Echoes of the Callanish silhouette here, and Trellech there. The fingers offer brief but welcome shelter from the winds.
Our visit in mid August 2001 was the highlight of a megalithamaniacs field trip. We dodged the recumbent bikes, camper vans and tourists later that day at nearby Drombeg and felt priveleged to have visited Gurranes earlier. We're going back next week to look where the fingers point.
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Previous 20 | Showing 21-37 of 37 fieldnotes. Most recent first |
30-something Wiltshireman now living in Cardiff. When not at work (as a housing academic) or coaching a local junior football team I'm often to be found with my camera at sites listed on TMA
Apart from Swindon's County Ground some of my favourite places include:
Gurranes
The Polisher
Uragh
Ardrah
Ardgroom
Drombohilly
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