The Modern Antiquarian. Stone Circles, Ancient Sites, Neolithic Monuments, Ancient Monuments, Prehistoric Sites, Megalithic MysteriesThe Modern Antiquarian

Fieldnotes by treehugger-uk

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Standing Stones Hill (Ring Cairn)

I've been trying for sometime to find this site on about four separate trips, when I did find it I found id been looking at it all along! Nothing much remains of the barrow now and it's very hard to discern unless your on a winter visit as the grass grows very quick and very high in the summer, disappointment aside it's a cracking walk to get here!

Mosley Height (Stone Circle)

Its very easy to make out the location of where this circle once stood theres faint traces of circular embankments at the top of the small hill in the field behind Stump Cross .
If i were in any other county i'd find it hard to beleive that someone would have the mentality to do such a thing as clear this circle.
A complete tragedy as all that remain are a few stumps and a pile of boulders by the field wall some of the stones are huge this circle was rather large.
It was only excavated and complete in the 1950's but for some reason was never scheduled.

Stump Cross (Standing Stone / Menhir)

This stone seems far to close to Moseley Height i would think its an outlier to the great Circle that once stood in the field behind it.

Round Hill (Ancient Village / Settlement / Misc. Earthwork)

This site is simply marked as an earthwork on Maps. On closer inspection it looks like a small hilltop settlement and there are a few of these around Lancs. that are quite similliar. Theres also rumoured to be a carved stone close by.

Cliviger Law (Cairn(s))

I cant quite figure this one out it seems to be more 'henglike' than a cairn. A curving mound intersected on both sides by a house and a road so its impossible to tell i guess.

Thirteen Stones Hill (Stone Circle)

Visited the remains of this circle over the festive period. unfortunately the farmers of Lancashire decided to clear this one to. A few stumps are now sadly all that remains, there is only one stone remaining in the circle standing upright.
This must have been an impressive circle

Kinloch (Carving)

Visited this site late October so thankfully it was free of horseflies! The grooves are quite prominent just a shame to see it lies in a puddle of water on its side, I would love to get a look at the other side of this stone as it looks to me to be a fallen standing stone.

Kinloch (Cup Marked Stone)

A beautifully ‘Cup Marked Rock’ that sits right next to the road however the road is that quiet that I don’t think it really represents a threat. A pleasure to visit and my first piece of Highland rockart.

Dun Mhaigh Chambered Cairn

Very difficult to find all that remains now is a low mound with a jumble of stones a little scuffling about in the undergrowth revealed the Kerbstones of a burial chamber in a rectangular shape this place has been heavily excavated and you could quite easily walk past it not knowing what it was.

Dun Mhaigh (Broch)

Sat in an idyllic location on top of a small hill this brock remains with many features still visible, you can make out the passage between the walls and the steps leading up cubby holes in the wall and an intact entrance. I’m probably a little over enthusiastic with this one as it was my first ever Brock I’m sure theres more intact ones than this but I found this place very special.

Middle Barrow (Standing Stone / Menhir)

This stone lies in a private field by the side of a road.
Unfortunately on this ocassion the field was full of very curious bulls so I only ran in took photos and left very quickl! There is also a huge mound in this field, I couldn't get close enough to tell if it was man made or not but it certaintly looked it. There're lots of lumps and bumps in this field. Another visit is required soon.

Great Urswick Fort (Hillfort)

From a distance this fort is quite prominent. However the closer you get to it the more it disappears! Plenty of finds have been made here including bronze socketed axes and 4 Langdale axes were also found here as this place lies on the main axe route, but when you get up top theres really not much to see of the fort itself hardly any lumps and bumps remain, theres a vague outline of the original bank and thats it!
Either the top of here was full of timber buildings or its very silted up and reamains lay well below the surface. There are fantastic panoramic views which more the make up for it though. A very peaceful contemplative place with a Long Barrow at the foot of the hill.

Skelmore Heads Longbarrow (Long Barrow)

The SMR lists this site as a Long Barrow although its the smallest long barrow ive ever seen! With maximum dimensions of 22M long and 13M wide by 1.5M high. Theres 2 stones that protrude out over a metre high from the barrow that really dont line up with the barrow but seem to frame a hill in the distance which imitates the shape of the barrow.
The barrow itself sits on a gently sloping plateau at the foot of Great Urswick Hillfort.

Rectory Allotment (Ring Cairn)

A perfectly preserved ring cairn with well defined banks and ditches 28 metres in diameter with an inner rubble strucure. A very peacefull place to visit.

Black Hill (Long Barrow)

This barrow is 67 metres long. on one end of it is a superimposed round barrow with a central cist, the cist is 2 Metres long and still has half the capstone now standing upright inside it.
The barrow stands in an absolutely stunning location in a field on a sloping plateau with 3 round cairns and a ring cairn.
So good in fact i spent all day here and i didnt see a soul.
perfect.

Low Bradley Moor (Cairn(s))

There are alledgedly 5 cairns in this field, although i could only find two definate ones as the undergrowth and heather was far too thick on this visit.
One is a huge round cairn with lots of excavation pits the other being a long barrow which ive added as a separate site.
The round cairn is instantly recognisable the other three are less prominent, as theres lots of stones in this field and until the heather dies back a little i cant identify the other three.

Bleasedale Circle (Timber Circle)

I'd avoided this site as I was convinced I'd be dissapointed. How wrong I was.
Beautiful site in a wonderful setting I'd love to see it clear of trees though. There is now a concessional path up to it, you are supposed to get permission at the school though, however it was closed so we asked the farmer in the field next to it and he was more than happy to let us visit.

The Great Stone Of Fourstones (Natural Rock Feature)

A big old lump of rock in the middle of a very bleak and often featureless moor which makes it very hard to miss!
There seems to be a longheld tradition of carving names on this rock some date back to the 1600's and are quite beautifully carved for graffiti puts the modern stuff to shame! Theres also quite a few cupmarks carved into the top of the rock.
Some modern steps have been carved into it to and some much older steps carved around the back that look like footprints it would have been very intresting to see the other three rocks and what carvings were on them.
You can just make out the hollows on the ground of where the other stones were.
I was also quite suprised by the number of people that visited the stone.

Parlick Pike Cairn (Round Cairn)

Bit of a steep climb up to this one. I'm a seasoned walker but i had to stop twice on the way up! The cairn itself is quite substantial still you can make out the basic shape even with the modern interventions. its very easy to see why the cairn builders chose this location its a perfect setting and you can look right down onto Bleasedale from here.

Borwick Cairn (Round Cairn)

A quite prominent looking cairn in the centre of a field with fairly substantial remains. it was getting late and i only took a photo from the side of the road for this one as it was too late to ask permission at the farmhouse. it does seem to closely resemble the cairn on top of Parlick Pike though.
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