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Showing 1-50 of 361 posts. Most recent first | Next 50

Wayland's Smithy (Long Barrow) — Links

Rethinking Pitt-Rivers | Model Monuments


Model of Wayland Smiths Cave (i.e. pre restoration). 3 miles from Shrivenham Station (Berkshire).

Clonehenge


A wooden replica of Wayland's Smithy.

Heritage Action


Wayland's Smithy Restoration in the 1960s. Richard Atkinson and Stuart Piggott.

Wayland's Smithy (Long Barrow) — Images (click to view fullsize)

<b>Wayland's Smithy</b>Posted by wysefool<b>Wayland's Smithy</b>Posted by wysefool

Uffington White Horse (Hill Figure) — Miscellaneous

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xh1DES4zmjg

Video of GPS scale model of White Horse Hill being constructed.

Abingdon Causewayed enclosure (Ancient Village / Settlement / Misc. Earthwork) — Links

Archaeology Data Service


PDF file containing plan diagrams and textual info from digs. M Avery, 1982?

Wytham Hill (Ancient Village / Settlement / Misc. Earthwork) — Miscellaneous

An Early Iron Age settlement site covering 1000 sq m
Excavated in the 1980's with usual pottery, bone and some flint finds.

Devil's Punchbowl (Ancient Mine / Quarry) — Links

Aerial View - Flash Earth


showing the old flint mines at the top edge of the Devils Punchbowl.

St Mary's Church, Twyford (Christianised Site) — Links

Twyford Parish Council


'There is an unusual concentration in the village of sarsen stones, including a ring of twelve which form the foundations on which the towers of both the present church and of its medieval predecessor were built, and two close to the wooden bridge over the river at Berry Lane. According to local folklore, the twelve stones originally stood as an upright circle on a mound near the site of the church. A Charter granted in the year 972 AD, in the reign of King Edgar, refers to an 'Egsanmor' (slaughter stone) at Twyford. It is from bits of evidence such as these that the legend evolved of a Druidic religious site having existed in the village in pre-Roman times - perfectly plausible, given the proximity of Bronze Age (ca 1500 BC) and Iron Age (ca 1 AD) settlements on the hill later named after St Catherine and on Twyford Down.'

Dragon Hill (Artificial Mound) — Links

Berkshire history


Information on Dragon Hill, including:

In a 10th century charter, the hill is given its original name of Eccles Beorh, that is 'Church Barrow'. This may suggest that a Christian religious building once stood on the summit.

There was a geophysical survey conducted in 1990 to identify the early medieval chapel that once stood on dragon hill.

Aldbourne Four Barrows (Barrow / Cairn Cemetery) — Links

Stone-circles.org


nice piccy of the aldbourne cup found in the barrows.
also
http://www.stone-circles.org.uk/stone/images/incense%20cup2.jpg
another piccy of the cup

Aldbourne Four Barrows (Barrow / Cairn Cemetery) — Miscellaneous

Aldbourne Four Barrows. - Sugar hill, Aldbourne near Hungerford.
Bronze age barrow cemetary 2500 - 1500 BC.

The contents of these Barrows are now in the British Museum. Three of the four barrows are of the Wessex bell type of barrow these are eight to ten feet high. The fourth is an ordinary bowl shaped mound, also ten feet high. They were excavated by W. Greenwell near the end of the 19th century. Two of the bell barrows contained cremations and the third a skeleton. Other finds included amber, beads, flint arrowheads, fragments of greenstone axe and a grooved dagger. The bowl barrow had a cremation in a burial cist covered with four sarsen stones. The famous Aldbourne barrow is at the foot of this hill in the field by the A419 just north of the wood. It is a bowl about 100 feet across by six feet high. The mound provided the British Museum with its Aldbourne cup, an incense cup with lid, and two bronze awls, a bronze dagger and beads of faience, amber, fossils and shale.

from:

http://www.wiltshire-web.co.uk/history/barrows.htm

Aldbourne Blowing Stone (Natural Rock Feature) — Links

Flickr


Photographs of the Aldbourne blowing stone, from Liminae.

Wittenham Clumps and Castle Hill (Hillfort) — Links

Northmoor Trust


good information site about events at Sinodun. Loads of information for family days out.

Dragon Hill (Artificial Mound) — Images

<b>Dragon Hill</b>Posted by wysefool

Stony Littleton (Long Barrow) — Links

PG's QuickTime VR


QTVR of on top and inside the barrow.

Bath and North East Somerset Council


scheduled monument record +a few relevant links

Wayland's Smithy (Long Barrow) — Images

<b>Wayland's Smithy</b>Posted by wysefool

Uffington White Horse (Hill Figure) — Links

Dating the White Horse


from David Nash Ford's 'Royal Berkshire History' website. Article on the dating of the white horse with many pictures.

Uffington White Horse (Hill Figure) — Images

<b>Uffington White Horse</b>Posted by wysefool

Drayton Cursus — Miscellaneous

During 1981 and 1982 an area of the East ditch was dug. Radiocarbon dates from material from the lower levels of the ditch indicated a date of 2900BC.

Mesolithic remains were also found.

'E T Leeds investigated Neolithic, Bronze Age and Anglo-Saxon sites near the cursus on the second terrace, and the Abingdon Society has excavated a Neolithic henge and bronze age remains to the north of the Cursus.'

from 'Excavations on the Cursus at Drayton, Oxon'
R Ainslie & J Wallis, Oxoniensia LII

Chûn Quoit (Dolmen / Quoit / Cromlech) — Links

British Library


Artist pencil drawing and information including:

Chun is derived from the Cornish 'chy-an-woone', meaning house on the downs.

The Longstone of Minchinhampton (Standing Stone / Menhir) — Images

<b>The Longstone of Minchinhampton</b>Posted by wysefool

Harold's Stones (Standing Stones) — Images

<b>Harold's Stones</b>Posted by wysefool

Bronneger (Complex) — Images

<b>Bronneger</b>Posted by wysefool

Lowbury Hill Camp (Sacred Hill) — Miscellaneous

Lowbury Hill: An artificial grove?

'Lowbury Hill in Oxfordshire, England, has long been regarded as the site of a probable Romano-British temple. The summit of the hill is occupied by several earthworks, including a rectangular enclosure and a round barrow. The site was excavated in 1913-14, when the bank and interior were investigated.

Further work has recently been carried out, including a geophysical survey and a limited excavation programme. One of the most interesting features discovered in this new investigation is the presence of a series of shallow, irregular scoops in the chalk, filled with dark, loamy soil, which have been interpreted as tree holes. These seem to have formed part of the primary demarcation of the sacred enclosure, and appear to represent deliberately planted trees.

This activity perhaps took place in the first century AD. The inference is that the first construction was replaced in the second century AD by an enclosing wall: inside there was probably a simple temple building; associated with it were a group of spears (including a deliberately bent one), coins and other finds indicative of sacred use.

But the first phase may have comprised a deliberately planted holy grove. One further discovery of possible relevance is the burial of a woman whose face had been mutilated, though it is uncertain to which phase this body belongs.'

Miranda J Green
1997

West Kennett (Long Barrow) — Images

<b>West Kennett</b>Posted by wysefool

News

BBC News - British Library books go digital


'More than 100,000 old books previously unavailable to the public will go online thanks to a mass digitisation programme at the British Library.
The programme focuses on 19th Century books, many of which are unknown as few were reprinted after first editions.'

Should be interesting for us TMA'ers ;-)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7018210.stm

West Kennett (Long Barrow) — Images

<b>West Kennett</b>Posted by wysefool

Perborough Castle (Hillfort) — Images

<b>Perborough Castle</b>Posted by wysefool

Blowing Stone (Standing Stone / Menhir) — Images

<b>Blowing Stone</b>Posted by wysefool

Stonehenge (Circle henge) — Images

<b>Stonehenge</b>Posted by wysefool<b>Stonehenge</b>Posted by wysefool

Hackpen Hill (Oxfordshire) (Round Barrow(s)) — Fieldnotes

The morning looked bright and clear, and so a quick visit to this barrow (i only live minutes away) seemed an easy option to grab some photographs.

The barrow is located above the Devil's Punchbowl and not far from the Ridgeway itself. I parked where the Ridgeway crosses the Lambourn Road, and where the Model Aeroplane Club have their site.

By the time I got half way across the field, I realised that I wasn't dressed up enough to cope with the icy wind which blasted away and nearly took me hat with it a couple of times.

This was a nice reminder for me of what I always preach to others, which is: always go properly dressed if you're going up the rudge. It may be pleasant and warm down in the valley, but it's amazing how a few hundred feet up the chalk, the wind, temperature and weather can be totally different!

Away to my right, and on the distant horizon, I could make out the large hump which has Beacon Hill Hillfort on its crest. The view down into the Vale is outstanding on a clear day, and to my left I could see over to Boars Hill. Ahead, the towers and chimney stack of Didcot Power Station dominate the landscape. Glancing over my shoulder I could make out the denuded barrow of Pigtrough Bottom and wondered if the two graves were related in any way (same period, or possibly even same tribe?).

The lump lies next to the fence and nearly adjacent to a small stile. Once across, I had a close up look. There's a single Elder bush next to it that seems to be doing quite well, given the exposed location. The usual bunny holes have penetrated the barrow in a few places and were quite deep. A quick rummage around the spoilheap, but no treasure was found!

The grave sits not far from the edge of the punchbowl and I thought about all the times I've walked here and never gone the extra few feet to investigate. The Punchbowl is an impressive piece of topography, in a funny kind of way, like the manger below Uffington Castle, although not quite as stunning.

The last time I was in the vicinity was to walk my friends lurcher, Lenny, who sadly passed away (old age) a few years ago, he'd definately of flushed any bunnys out and had a good time!

I took a few snaps (before I lossed all feeling in me paws) and wandered over across the ploughed piece towards the edge of the punchbowl. An object caught my eye on the ground, and I bent down to pick up a coin. Upon closer inspection it turned out to be a half penny of George VI from 1949 in very good nick.

Happy that I'd found treasure (a stone with a hole in it is a valuable treasure to me - i'm easily pleased), I started back to the motor and it was good to finally get out of the wind.

PS When I got home, i looked on Google Earth and you can make out lots of marks on the ground near this site - could those be remains of the workings that J R L Anderson saw when he visited?

Hackpen Hill (Oxfordshire) (Round Barrow(s)) — Links

Berkshire History - Meaning of Hackpen Hill


Description of the meaning of 'Hackpen'

Hackpen Hill (Oxfordshire) (Round Barrow(s)) — Images

<b>Hackpen Hill (Oxfordshire)</b>Posted by wysefool<b>Hackpen Hill (Oxfordshire)</b>Posted by wysefool<b>Hackpen Hill (Oxfordshire)</b>Posted by wysefool

Robin Hood's Arbour (Ancient Village / Settlement / Misc. Earthwork) — Links

Places which carry the name Robin Hood


'1556 - First recorded by a churchwarden of Abingdon and mentions the establishment of a bower.'

Berkshire History - Beware the Ghostly Hunt!


Reference to Robin Hood's Bower as being a possible Sacred Grove site related to Cernunnos/Herne mythology.

Robin Hood's Arbour (Ancient Village / Settlement / Misc. Earthwork) — Miscellaneous

Maidenhead Thicket, Robin Hood's Arbour.

'Mrs M A Cotton has directed excavations during the summer of 1960 on this sub-rectangular earthwork ...but Mrs Cotton obtained sections across the bank, ditch and counter-scarp bank. Outside and inside the entrance was found a cobbled trackway but no definite evidence for any timber structures. A hut or farmstead probably had existed in the enclosure and burnt down, for several isolated pieces of burnt daub were found to show that the enclosure had been constructed by the Belgae, probably between AD 25-50.'

source: Berkshire Archaeological Journal, Vol 58 1960

Uffington Castle (Hillfort) — Miscellaneous

'In 1947 a silver coin of the Dobunni, type of Mack 384a, was found at the hill fort of Uffington Castle...'

source: Berkshire Archaeological Journal Vol 58 (1960)

The Celtic tribe inhabiting the hill fort was Atrebates. Was this coin traded, or the spoils of war?

Liddington Castle (Hillfort) — Links

Swindon Web


Good information on Alfred Williams, lover of Liddington

Liddington Castle (Hillfort) — Images

<b>Liddington Castle</b>Posted by wysefool<b>Liddington Castle</b>Posted by wysefool<b>Liddington Castle</b>Posted by wysefool<b>Liddington Castle</b>Posted by wysefool

Wayland's Smithy (Long Barrow) — Images

<b>Wayland's Smithy</b>Posted by wysefool<b>Wayland's Smithy</b>Posted by wysefool
Showing 1-50 of 361 posts. Most recent first | Next 50
Live near the Ridgeway and most interested in sites 'up the rudge'.

Hates: people leaving rubbish at Wayland Smithy (groan, gripe, rant, rage, dribble etc!)

Loves: people taking their rubbish away with them in bags. And yes, that includes nitelites, coins (at least make them silver!), glass, sweet wrappers and dog ends.

Q. what's brown and sticky?
A. try collecting firewood at Waylands.
THINK. would you shit in a church?

... ... ... here endeth the rant

} cUrReNt NoNsEnSe {

Doesn't pagan to a roman just mean some old person who lives in the sticks?

"Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves? Why don't you dig how beautiful it is out here? Why don't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?"

"God dammit Jim, I'm a Doctor not a Dealer"

"We have sat waiting like this many times before. Sometimes I tire... of the fighting and killing. At night, I can hear the call of my race. They wait for me. When I join them, we will be forgotten."

"We're dealing with a Gnome! A Devil!... A Devil? Now you listen to me. The Devil in the Keep wears a black uniform, has a Death's Head in his cap, and calls himself a Sturmbannführer!"

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