Latest Fieldnotes

Starting from the small car park by Oliver’s Castle we headed right along a trackway towards King’s Play Hill and long barrow. A typical January day, chilly with a hint of rain in the air but it was a pleasure be out on the Wiltshire Downs again. A round barrow sits on the crest of King’s Play Hill, to get to it we did a back shuffle under a barbed wire fence (a first for me) to come upon an amazing almost sheer drop on the other side of the hill – made negotiable only by the tiers of sheep tracks.

My walking friend, being a keen map-reader, pointed out the long barrow, although not very prominent, sat just below the crest of the hill – where we had just come from on the other side of the barbed wire, so back we went to take a closer look. From where we were standing we could also see the round barrows in the distance on the highest point of Furze Knoll near Morgan’s Hill.

Ultimately, we were heading for the village of Heddington to pick up the track at the bottom of Roundway Down back to Oliver’s Castle so it was under the barbed wire again to make our way downhill along the sheep tracks. This is when the astonishing hillocks that Rhiannon mentions in her fieldnote came into view – similar to the ones near Oliver’s Castle but far more ridged (see photo).

Once on lower ground our way became very muddy; at one point we had to pass through liquified mud by a farmyard near Heddington. A farm worker directed us to the path ‘up on the left’. I looked up and heard my horrified voice say “But there’s a dead cow lying there”.
Farm worker: “Yes, she dropped dead yesterday.” Horrified Voice: “Oh ... what are you going to do with her.”
Farm Worker: “The hunt will have for the hounds”. For a townie out walking, this is one of the unpalatable realities of country life.

In the grounds of Tallaght Priory, beside the Friar’s Walk, you will need to get permission to visit these stones.

I was surprised by the size of the bullaun stone having only seen close-up photographs with no idea of scale. It’s an irregular shape conglomerate, maybe roughly two thirds of a metre squarish. The bullaun is about 20 cms wide and 15 cms deep.

Beside it is a stone described by Patrick Healy in All Roads Lead to Tallaght (South Dublin Libraries) as: “…a large granite stone with a hole through it. The hole is narrower at the ends and in the middle, somewhat like an hourglass, but is now screw-threaded as stated by O’Curry. Beside the hole is a round hollow.”

I was kindly brought here by Brother Michael. Thanks.

Visited 23.1.11
It was with much relief I actually managed to find this site!
I hadn’t done as much preparation as I should have and expected to be able to drive along the track right up to the Roman camps and then a short walk to the stone circles – wrong! Instead I had to park a mile away, where the tarmac ends, and carry Dafydd the rest of the way. He is nearly three and quite a lump to have to carry that far along an ice bound, rutted track! (Apparently he will happily walk for his mother but seems to lose the use of his legs when out with me!)
Anyway, along the track we went and I decided to head straight for the Roman camps and find the stone circles from there. The O/S map show a footpath to the stones but don’t be fooled, there isn’t one – just open, bleak moorland.
It took me about half hour to walk/carry Dafydd to the Roman camp and I was hoping to be able to spot the stone circles from the top of the ramparts, but I couldn’t. We did however see 10 (presumably wild) horses grazing along the ramparts.
Using guess work I headed across the moorland in the general direction where I thought the circles should be and as luck would have it, found them without too much problem. I first spotted a single standing stone (outliner?) and then the smaller circle with the larger stones. I counted 4 standing and 1 fallen.
From here the larger circle (25 smaller stones) is easily seen.
The smaller circle is nice enough but the larger circle is a beauty.
Although the stones are small (no doubt only survived due to the remoteness of the site) they appear to be a complete circle and have great views to the north.
I really liked it here but by now Dafydd was complaining of the cold which was fair enough (after all it is January in the Brecon Beacons!) so we headed back to Karen and Sophie who had wisely decided to stay in the warmth of the car.
It has been a long time since I have visited a stone circle and there really is something special about these types of site, particularly when they are as well preserved as these two circles are. Well worth a visit but be prepared for a long walk and I would recommend wellies in wet weather – the path would be a mud trap.

Easiest approach from Hordron Edge circle is via the shooting track that you took from the A57. If you carry along the contour line from the circle you’ll intersect it as it comes up from the valley. It takes you to a bridge over the beck, which is far easier than routes across the moor suggested elsewhere.

Visited 22/01/11: Walked to Disgwylfa Fawr from a parking spot next to Llyn Syfydrin to the west. This is the shortest & simplest route up (my friend’s 7 year old daughter had no trouble with it).

I’m embarrassed to say this was my first time up Disgwylfa Fawr and it’s hard to imagine why it’s taken me so long to make the journey. The cairn is large and earth-covered with an indentation in the top, presumably from excavation. It’s a nice lump the stand on and the views of the surrounding peaks are splendid (especially Pumlumon and Dinas). Well worth a visit.

Visited 23.1.11
Easy to spot next to the gate with the ‘unsuitable for motor vehicles’ sign.
Also easy to park at this point.
The Barrow is approximately 10 metres round and 1 metre high. It is on the other side of a barbed wire fence so I settled for a view from the roadside.

I viewed this cairn from the side road when going to visit Mitchells Fold stone circle back last year. Coming off the A488 and heading west towards the parking area for the stone circle, the cairn is easy to spot in the field on your left. I had Dafydd with me at the time so it would have been awkward to have taken a closer look.
There is a public footpath which runs right past the cairn.

Cissbury Ring is one of my favourite walking places in West Sussex. Standing on the South Downs and within walking distance of my home town of Worthing it’s an excellent place to wander and refresh yourself. Even in the depths of winter you’ll find some hardy folk along with their canine companions walking the ring or brivetting about in the undergrowth. It’s quiet seclusion also offers spectacular views in all directions covering the Downs, the sprawl of the south coast conurbation from Brighton to Bognor Regis and on a clear day you can even see the Seven Sisters to the east and the Isle of Wight to the west.

Hard to believe then that this was once one of the powerhouses of Neolithic industry in the UK. Though entered on TMA as an Iron Age hillfort it actually began it’s fantastically varied life as a source of raw flint in the Neolithic era and the south western area of the hill bears testimony to this with it’s hundreds of shallow, and sometimes enormous, pits. This ‘moon-cratered’ surface represents the backfilled shafts of flint mines dating back some 5000 years and although not visible today some of them were between 40-45 feet deep and gave onto galleries and chambers that sometimes connected to other shafts. Cissbury and the nearby Church Hill and, slightly further afield Harrow Hill and Blackpatch, were some of the primary sources of flint throughout the Neolithic period. Only the slightly later mines at Norfolk’s Grimes Graves were any significant rival. The quality of the flint mined here was obviously very high as mining continued well into the Bronze Age and tools created from the flint have been found across Britain and mainland Europe. Between the four Sussex locations there were probably in excess of 400 shafts. Some of these were the subject of a number of archaeological digs between Victorian times and as recently as the 1970s. The earliest interest for the Cissbury site comes from 1849 when the Reverend Edward Turner, addressing the Sussex Archaeological Society, stated confidently that the hollows were formed for ‘Druidical celebrations’ but didn’t specify what these might be! The first excavations were carried out in 1857 by George Irving, but he failed to get to the bottom of the pits both physically and metaphorically and interpreted them as ‘animal pens’ due to the finds he came across. In 1867 Colonel Augustus Lane Fox was the first person to suggest that the pits were associated with flint mining while investigating hillfort construction on the South Downs, but he too failed to fully excavate the mines to their actual bottoms. However, the discovery of shafts beneath the fort’s ramparts made them realise that the shafts pre-dated the Iron Age and discovery of a polished axe within the ring and to the east of the pits firmly planted the shafts in the Neolithic era. Ernest Willet, who in 1868 had been looking at similar features to Lane Fox on nearby Church Hill, began working at Cissbury in 1873 and was the first person to get to the bottom of a shaft after digging down 4.2m through the back-fill in one of the earlier excavated pits where he discovered a series of chambers and galleries. Sadly his site notes from the dig were lost. More diggers came and went for the next 60 years but one of the more interesting figures to explore Cissbury was a local working class self-taught archaeologist named John Pull. He’d already achieved notoriety in the area following his discoveries at Blackpatch in the early 1920s and suffered at the disparaging hands of the Worthing Archaeology Society for his methods and site recording procedures. Most of this was down to pure snobbery on the Society’s part and given the towns Conservative nature hardly surprising. He did however rejoin the Society in 1947, taking over as president in 1952 and started new works at Cissbury the same year which gave rise to the most comprehensive studies of the Cissbury mines ever undertaken. Sadly he was shot dead in a bank raid in 1960 while working as a security guard at the Durrington branch of Lloyds Bank. For further intriguing reading on the subject take a look at Miles Russell’s fascinating book ‘Flint mines in Neolithic Britain’ (Tempus Books, 2000).

These are a nice pair of possible bell barrows and are well protected from farm vehicles with short wooden posts surrounding them. They are both roughly 20 yards across by 6 feet in height and the southern of the pair shows obvious signs of having been excavated. They are sited on a slight rise from which the nearby Bradford Barrow can just be seen in the distance.
Grinsell lists these as Pamphill 1,2,3,4 and 4a – 3,4,and 4a are no longer visible – he couldn’t find 4a and 3 and 4 were only a foot in height. These have probably fallen victim to the plough in the 50 or so years since Grinsell saw them.
These are close to Badbury Rings hillfort and there are well marked bridle ways to and from the barrows and the rings.

This is a very large bowl barrow, it is 41 yards in diameter and 20 feet in height, indeed there are telegraph poles close to it and they are roughly the same height. It sits on a ridge to the north of King Down and from it can be seen a pair of barrows on that down. Grinsell says it had a ditch, but I could not get close enough to see it.
Large as this is it is not easy to photograph as it is surrounded by hedges and small trees.
This is easy to get to and the footpaths are pretty flat. I parked near the entrance to Kingston Lacy house and followed the well marked footpaths.

Visited 15.1.11
Visible from Starveall Long Barrow, in the field on the opposite side of the lane.
There was no public right of access so I settled for a view from the lane. The Barrow appeared to be a bit smaller than Starveall although it had the advantage of not having any trees growing out of it – just plenty of long grass!
Nothing much else to add.

Visited 15.1.11
This Long Barrow is huge and easily spotted from the minor road off the A46 leading to the very pretty village of Leighterton – a place I plan a return visit to at some point in the future.
There is no public right of way to the Long Barrow and I felt it would have been be a bit too obvious crossing the open fields and climbing over the 3 walls it would have required to get up close – all within sight of the village houses!
The Barrow looked to be about 50 metres long and there were two birds of prey silently hovering overhead.
Well worth a view when in the area.

Visited 15.1.11
Really easy to visit this one – right next to the busy A46. Luckily there is a minor road directly opposite the Barrow where you can pull over near a field gate (signposted Hillesley) where I also saw a cute Shetland pony.
Access is no problem as there is a very worn public footpath sign next to the barrow. (Wouldn’t be a problem anyway as the fencing around the place has collapsed!)
The Barrow itself is covered in trees, brambles and long grass. I climbed to the top of the barrow which was covered it ivy. I nice place for a quick stop when in the area.

Visited 15.1.11
Very easy site to visit, being only 50 metres from the minor road off the A46.
The field in which the Barrow stands is now fenced although there is a handy gate giving access. Oval in shape the Barrow is approximately 10 metres x 5 metres x 2 metres high. The Barrow is situated on a low rise and there are lots of small stones sticking out of the earth around the Barrow. Nice.

Another overcast morning as we leave our Downpatrick B&B under the watchful gaze of himself – well, at least a statue of St Pat, anyway – on the hill opposite... and head for Belfast. Ah, Belfast. As an Englishman, brought up with lurid BBC news reports of sectarian violence and Stiff Little Fingers’ searing tales of youthful repression from all sides, I’m not surprisingly brimming with preconceptions about the place. And not a little nervous, too. But when there just happens to be a veritable ‘super henge’ located at the southern city limits, a stonehead’s gotta do what a stonehead’s gotta do.

Sited above the River Lagan between Carryduff and Dunmurry, the surroundings are surprisingly rural, despite high rise buildings looming through the trees not more than half a mile distant? The henge is so large that the impression is of arriving at a hillfort, the mis-conception heightened by numerous locals arriving to ‘walk the dog’... a universally popular activity at hillforts, it has to be said. Ascend the earthworks, however, and this is clearly no hillfort. Especially with the rather fine remaining chamber of a former passage grave set at the centre. Albeit a passage grave currently being utilised as a temporary (one hopes?) dwelling by two Buckfast swilling loons, in accordance with what would seem to be local tradition here? Yeah, by all accounts people have a different ‘take’ on life and their relationship with others in these parts? Perhaps this is inevitable in light of the well documented history of social unrest and outsiders are not really informed enough to comment. Anyway – luckily – they keep their ‘curtains’ drawn, enabling me to have a good look around the upstanding chamber before undertaking several circuits of the massive henge bank.

And it is the henge which is the star of the show here. Apparently it measures almost 660ft in diameter, with an average bank height of 15ft. Amazing stuff. The distinctive profile of Cave Hill rises to the north-west of the city, itself crowned by the remains of an Iron Age fort. Apparently this was the venue for the meeting leading to Wolfe Tone’s rebellion of 1795 – the not altogether ‘successful’ one, that is. Yeah, there’s clearly a lot more to Belfast than an outsider might first think.

You know... the more hillforts I visit, the more I’m convinced that there is a far greater symbolic aspect to them than is usually attributed by the authors of guidebooks and academics. In short, I guess what I’m suggesting is that in not all cases was defence the primary, overriding concern of the inhabitants. Far from being simply ‘fortified villages’, I reckon they performed a serious spiritual function, too, perhaps recognising that ‘the spiritual world’ was as tangible to peoples’ everyday lives as the basic human necessities of water, food and shelter? Cow Castle is, I think, a case in point.

I decide not to take the longer, northern approach from Simonsbath – lazy sod – but walk from Horsen Farm at the terminus of a minor road leaving the Simonsbath/Braysford road at Blue Gate [incidentally also the route of The Two Moors Way]. I think it was the old time, cheesy entertainer Max Bygraves who’s catchphrase was ‘I want to tell you a story’. Well, the stream which flows roughly eastwards towards Great Ferny Ball says more or less the same thing... but with infinitely more style. Yeah, the traveller is compelled to literally ‘go with the flow’ towards what lies unseen ‘around the corner’. Upon meeting a ford I decide to take the higher approach via the aforementioned Great Ferny Ball, to be rewarded with a jaw dropping view of Cow Castle to the north... in its magical landscape setting, within a natural ampitheatre of encircling hills. Is ‘jaw dropping’ over-eulogizing, perhaps? To be honest, I don’t think so. A military engineer might disagree with Cow Castle’s placement, but not those with a permanent spot reserved within the psyche for wild, uncompromising, down right beautiful landscapes.

A sharp descent brings me back to the main track [stay on this if you prefer and so avoid the climb] and a wooden bridge across the River Barle, followed by another crossing its tributary, White Water. Here a steep ascent northwards brings the traveller to the summit of Cow Castle. Just how a cow is supposed to get up here is anyone’s guess? But there you are. Perhaps utilising rocket assisted cow take off, or something. The ramparts aren’t exactly the most formidable you’ll encounter, granted, but they are pretty well preserved, with entrances – original, I think – to south-east and north-east, the latter, it would appear, with additional outworks. So this was clearly a pretty defensible enclosure, well protected against surprise attack. And only your wannabe Beserker would attempt to storm it, surely? Not with flanks that steep. OK, our military engineer would no doubt cite the higher, surrounding hills as a weakness. Perhaps. But then again – even though we aren’t talking anything as extreme as, say The Chesters up near Edinburgh – I reckon the inhabitants just felt compelled to occupy this isolated hilltop, no matter what. Their home just HAD to be here, perhaps to gain some supernatural protection, perhaps in veneration of a long time spiritual site? In many ways the landscape says it all, the enclosure more or less surrounded by water courses, save a gap to the north.... a ‘meeting of the waters’, no less. There are possibly other clues, too, most notably that the enclosure ditch is traceable on the INSIDE of the ramparts at several points. That this apparent absurdity echoes henge structure may be coincidental, or it may not?

Many walkers pass by below my hilltop perch. None, however, take the effort to join me. Consequently the vibe remains intact. Yeah, there’s definately more to these hillforts than meets the eye.

Visited 15.1.11
This was my last site of the day and my favourite.
I parked outside the pretty St Mary the Virgin church in Hawkesbury (plenty of space although church was locked so I was unable to have a look around), donned wellies and headed along the signposted bridleway opposite. Lucky I put my wellies on as the path soon became a small pond with water 8 inches deep!
As the path rises look to your right and you will see a very distinctive conical looking hilltop – this is in fact the barrow. Cut up the short but steep hill (over one fence – easy as fence has collapsed in places) and you are there. The hill appears to have been terraced at some point?
On the approach it is impossible to tell where the hill ends and the Long Barrow starts. It all blends into one – either by design or due to erosion I don’t know?
However, once at the top the Barrow is much more obvious. It is quite large, approximately 10 metres x 5 metres x 2 metres high. The western end looks like it has been dug into, was this the original entrance? Although not very high, the hilltop gives surprisingly good views, particularly to the south.
It is only a 10 minute walk from the church to the Long Barrow and is worth the effort when in the area.
P.S. Outside the church is a small grassed area which has a strange ‘well’ in the middle of it – water was running when I visited. Looked clean although I didn’t take the chance on having a taste!

This rock was first discovered just over five years ago on a dull November day and the pics were equally dull , with only a couple of cups clear enough to convince anyone .I hadn’t returned until today , despite it being only over a local hill , not much more than six miles away . Now the total is 18 cups .

Pierre-aux-Dames – Musée d’art et d’histoire

Visited 17 September 2008

South of Geneva lies the small municipality of Troinex. This area was absorbed into Savoy in 1754 to become Troinex Savoy, before returning to Geneva in 1815. A treaty was signed on 30 May 1817, making Troinex an independent municipality. During this period an official census of the region was conducted and 1819 finds the first recorded account of the Pierre-aux-Dames.
Several prehistoric monuments were recorded including a large mound with the Pierre-aux-Dames resting upon it’s top, accompanied by two or three other megaliths.

In 1877, the area began to be developed with roads and building plots. The mound was cut into revealing seven tombs dating from the late Bronze Age. According to the discoverers, whose excavations are poorly documented, the graves contained the bodies of a man and several women. It is unclear if the mound was completely destroyed at this point but the megalith was classified as a historic monument in 1921 and has been “maintained” at the Museum of Art and History in Geneva, since 1942.

The 2.5 meter long stone rests in the inner courtyard of the Museum and has doubled up as a water outlet for the garden. It is difficult to imagine how the stone originally rested on the mound as its base has now been levelled with concrete.

The municipality of Troinex asked for it’s return, but the Museum refused on the grounds of security, so in 1998, a high-quality copy was commissioned by the female mayor, M I Beatrice Luscher and created by sculptor, Lukas Grogg. This copy, as well as two other small megaliths, stand outside the Troinex town hall, the Place de la Mairie, on Chemin de la Grand Cour 2, 1256.

Not entirely lost , the dimensions given by Coles fit the stones perfectly .The area where they were dumped is “stone free ” with the exception of these anomalous monsters. Story here .
canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/28710/details/broad+moss/

Visited 21/8/2005: Here we have a fine Kentish long barrow set high above the Great Stour and small village of Chilham, the latter also possessing a rather interesting polygonal Norman keep, located beside a great house of some repute.

Near the junction of the A28/A252 a ‘dead-end’ road leads across a railway line to a wooded car park. Contrary to the fine forecast, a hint of August drizzle hangs in the air... the path leading across the aforementioned river, past a striking white timbered building, to an attractive weir, the fast flowing water enhanced by a veritable submerged forest of weed and such-like. The path swings to the left, after negotiating a second bridge near a house of attractive red brick, to ascend to the downs above... (ha! How excellent is the English language?) where the long barrow lies, unseen by the casual observer. Not to mention the interested one, too.

The monument is cloaked in summer vegetation and foliage, natural camouflage of the highest order which takes me for a ‘monumental’ sucker. Yeah, I walk straight past, to finally cotton on courtesy of a retrospective glance by the edge of a freshly harvested field... so there you are, you beauty. This long barrow is no ploughed-out vestige of its former self either, measuring a substantial 6ft-odd high by 144ft long beneath the greenery. I reckon it would have been clearly visible from the river down below in days gone by; however, it now backs up against an area of woodland which has possibly served to protect the remaining fabric. Out of sight is out of mind, so to speak.

Upon finally locating a bramble-free spot to sit and contemplate the surroundings, the paradoxical nature of the site is all too evident. Common place sounds of urban life – traffic noise, the very-close-to-annoying peel of church bells etc – may be clearly audible, yet all I can see are rolling agricultural fields sweeping into the distance. The two do not converge in any meaningful way, leading to a somewhat surreal experience, if the truth be told. Occasionally it is apparent that – sometimes, anyway – places don’t change that much, do they? Julliberrie’s Grave keeps on keeping on. Regardless.

Revisit – 27/1/2024: some 18 years later, I’m back. Older (certainly).. wiser (in some respects, perhaps?)... but with no loss of appetite for these enigmatic places. Unfortunately, the expected ‘wooded car park’ is no more, the visitor being met with ‘No Unauthorised Cars blahblahblah’ signs. Nonetheless, it is still possible to leave one car beside the waterworks building, which I duly do. Failing that, park in nearby Chilham and walk back across the level crossing. Preferably during the seemingly not very frequent intervals when trains are not trundling past. Careful now.

As before, I follow the public footpath across the weir to ascend to Julliberrie’s Downs, the great Neolithic mound slumbering away more-or-less immediately above the red-brick house. Despite it being the depths of winter, the monument is SERIOUSLY overgrown with brambles and not at all obvious. Nevertheless, I’m able to eventually make my way along the crest – albeit with much difficulty, not to mention a scrape of sorts – and reminisce upon times gone by perched upon the truncated northern end...

Several hours later, I’m greeted by a local walking his dog who assumes (the gentleman, not the dog, that is) I’m here to photograph kingfishers on the Great Stour. Damned good idea, to be fair, but not quite – and no such luck today. However, he’s aware there’s a long barrow ‘up there’, no doubt since his daughter happens to be an archaeologist. Trouble is, he explains, it’s not at all easy to identify... even when you’re right on top of it. Ha! Tell me about it.

These marked rocks were found about five years ago . A distinguishing feature of these and other engravings in the area is the small cup marks . Either a localised style or the same minimalist engraver ? Another local example is themodernantiquarian.com/site/11600/corrody_burn.html

The second of the Bronze Age burial cairns is ten meters to the north east. It is slightly smaller being 4 meters wide and 0.3 meters tall. There is a possible kerb on the southern flank.

Visited 13/01/2011.

This can be approached from the east (from the A96) or from the west (the B9002). Brownhills farm is on the east side of the hill.

The cairns are on top of the hill behind and date from the Bronze Age. Bennachie is to the south in area covered with cairns, standing stones and RSC,s. Also my good friend from Tealing might want to hunt here. There are many flat surfaces so a summer time search is required.

As for the cairn it is now covered in grass, is some 5 meters wide and 0.4 tall. But it’s builders had the right idea. Whoever was in this burial cairn rests in a beautiful place.

Visited 13/01/2011.

Go south from Kintore, on the B977, past Leylodge (home to several standing stones and it’s RSC) and turn east at the Broomhill Stores. On the hill behind the store is the modern Breemies RSC. I kept going until the first farm track north and parked the car at the top. Luckily the owner was at the top of the road collecting her mail. The track was a skating rink. She also mentioned that they had been stranded for several weeks with kindly neighbours bringing in much needed supplies.

Instead of walking the 3/4 mile on the track we walked back to the farmhouse via the fields. Once the thaw comes this will be another mud bath. The stone is situated to the North East of the house in the middle of a field with it’s slopes facing northwards and towards Bennachie. At 2.6 meters, this granite stone can be see for miles but not from the B977.

After a few photos I climbed back up the hill to South Fornet via several fences and a ditch. In amongst the trees some wee deer played and ignored me altogether. By the time I climbed back down it was growing dark so Thursdays walking was complete. Back to the car avoiding the ice rink!

Visited 13/01/2011.