Latest Fieldnotes

‘Visited’ 20.6.10.
I drove along the B4293 which runs to the north of the Hillfort. The whole area is covered by trees and despite a public footpath being marked on the O/S map I didn’t spot any obvious paths running up the hill. As I had Dafydd with me and I didn’t fancy trekking through the trees in the hope of finding ‘something’ I decided to give this one a miss. Marked as ‘earthwork’ on O/S map.

‘Visited’ 20.6.10.
I drove past this site on the way to Runston Chapel (CADW site). Driving along the lane to the south, the small conical hill is easily seen. Time was against me and it looked like one of those sites which are best viewed from a distance anyway, so I decided not to walk up the hill and settled for a view from the road.

Visited 19.6.10.
There is a small lane running off the A4226 which leads directly to Redland Farm. I parked up by the farmhouse to ask for permission but there was no one in. I then heard a tractor and I soon had the ‘what are you doing here stare’ by the farmer. When I explained he was very friendly and pointed me in the right direction for the stones. There is a track which runs behind the large barn and at the end of the track is a metal gate into a field on the left. (the last gate). The stones are in the centre of the field – 2 minute walk. There are 5 stones here, grouped together. The farmer stated that this was the remains of a burial chamber although it is listed as a standing stone. The field was full of sheep and cattle – who got a bit frisky as they thought I had come to feed them! There was a sheep stood on top of the largest stone when I arrived – no doubt admiring the view! The nearby Cottrell stones are eaily seen from the farm a couple of fields away. Good one to visit but make sure you ask for permission first.

If you are in Brittany Go To Gavrinis!!
Boats go from Larmor Baden several times a day March – November. Phone 0297 571938 for reservations. Take the last sailing daily and get a close pass of Er lannic too. Cost 12 -15 euro.

Gavrinis is totally awesome. The carvings there have got to be seen. Go prepared just to be overwhelmed by it – no cameras or bags are allowed inside so your only record will be in your memory.

Also brush up on your French first – the tour is all in French although our guide did her best to translate for us. There is plenty of information on multilingual boards outside which gives you the gist. Whilst inside forget about the commentary and just be humbled by its magnificence!

From the Domaine departmental du Morbihan leaflet “er lannic”

“In 1866 De Closmadeuc discovered the prehistoric site of Er Lannic. He made a rapid description of the northern hemicycle composed of 60 blocks of stone and it was only in 1872 that thanks to a very low tide that he discovered the second semi-circle, 4 or 5 menhirs which had been submerged were still upright....The site was restored by Le Rouzic and St Just Pequart between 1923 and 1926. An excavation revealed chests, fireplaces and lithic material (flint stones, poliching stones, strikers, polished axes and grinders) and about 800kg of pottery.”

The last boat to Gavrinis ( 4.30pm April,May, June , 5 pm July, Aug, Sept) makes a close pass of Er Lannic, with a guide and commentary (in French) Cost us 15euro a head for the full thing including Gavrinis ( you get a small discount if you go to carnac/locmariaquer first and keep your stamped card)
make a reservation on 0297 571938.
Absolutley worth it – what an awesome thing to see these semi submerged megalithic circles – to say nothing of traversing one of the most powerful sea currents in the world!
Our guide was very sweet and keen and did her utmost to translate for us.

This massive glacial erratic is situated in the Harestone Moss and probably has some local folklore that I can’t find. The Hare Cairn and the Temple Stones at Potterton are in the area as is Mundurno.

Just north of the small village of Whitecairns, take the second minor road east. Pull in immediately after the trees on the south side. From here its over the gate and follow the fence south. Unfortunately the massive stone has a rubbish dump of farm waste beginning to gather to its south.

Whilst prancing about I was befriended by some horses who didn’t seem to mind my presence. Luckily I had some apples in my rucksack so they ended up being quite content.

Visited 19/06/2010.

Head south from the Hatton of Fintray, past the Gouk Stone, and take the first minor road east. Take care on this road as it is very twisty and has many pot holes. Go to the top of the hill, past Bendauch, and the forestry commission car park for The Slacks can be seen.

A track is found at the southern end. Follow this until a fork in the path is reached. Both paths lead to cairn. Keep going until a path heading east or west (depending on which track at the fork you take) is found. This leads straight to the cairn.

At some 23 meters wide and 2 meters tall this is a very beautiful yet private location hidden amongst the trees. To be fair, the forestry people appear to look after this cairn which is to their credit. The cairns top has been disturbed but that doesn’t detract from the feeling of age about this place. Like nearby Elrick this is a great place for contemplation and simple silence.

Visited 19/6/2010.

Follow directions for the nearby summit cairns and trig point, we walked straight to the ring cairn without knowing exactly where it was.
This was the hero of the day and our last hill walk, all tired out the three of us just collapsed in a heap inside the circle, lying on our backs gazing up at the clouds Arthur the young Jack Russell felt relaxed enough to sit on my face, for a second I thought aaah nice doggy then I thought for a second then it was noooooo.
High on a hill below summit cairns and above a barrow cemetary the ring cairn is in good condition I think, slightly mysterious are lines of stones within the ring making almost spokes of a wheel but meeting at the side and not the centre, coflein describes them simply as modern, but not what they are, they also say there are no signs of a cist but I found something that looks cist like but on the outside of the rubble bank, all four sides of a small stone box but the two end stones have fallen outwards.
This was definitlely the best place of the day.

On the A470 going north out of Merthyr Tydfil just before you get to Llwyn on village, there is a parking space for at least ten cars, park here and walk down the road towards a gate across the road from a farm, passing through the left hand gate go up hill keeping towards the left hand side of fields, this should take you straight to the ring cairn, from here you can see the mountain top cairns and the trig point to the south and lower down the hill to the north are a curving line of three cairns known as Coedcae’r Gwarthog.
There are two large cairns on this hilltop, the largest is just a few metres from the trig point(460m) and has had a shelter built out of the loose cairn material, twenty metres away is the other one, mercifully devoid of tamperings.
The view from here is pleasing to the eye, niegh, both eyes, far to the north hiding in the haze one can see Pen y fan and siblings, but just a few hundred metres away the ring cairn can’t be made out.

This is one of a series of 7 cross ridge dykes which straddle the crests of the surrounding hills. It is situated south of the nearby promontory hillfort at Nettlecombe Tout and is west of the Dorsetshire Gap. The pictures were taken from the tiny hamlet of Folly in the valley below.

Eric decided to stay in the car with Arthur the young Jack Russell, despite the close proximity to rave music playing crusties who had taken over the far end of the carpark.
I crossed the road and made for the little gate next to the footpath, next to this was a memorial to a father and son who had met their maker here on this road, always a sad thing to see, specially for a father with a young son.
The rave music stayed with me all the time I was here, some people eh ?
the small purpose built path leads straight to the first settlement these are the ones I photographed, though coflein suggests there are three, but one maybe medieval.
The iron agies who picked this place did well, the view down the Rhondda is a good one, but that damn rave music doesn’t half grate against your nerves, and still thinking of fathers and sons it didnt take long to decide upon a short visit, all was well back at the car and we made it down the road safely.

It was more or less on our route from Neath to Merthyr Tydfil and only a five to ten minute walk from the road, plus the coflein description was very interesting....

A complex monument consisting of a central clayey mound, 20.5m in diameter and 0.9m with, having a level summit, 13.5m in diameter, upon which rests a cairn, c.10m in diameter and 0.9m high, said to have been enclosed by upright stones, this is centrally disturbed with a small recent cairn set upon it. The whole is encircled by a ditch, c.28.4m in diameter.
Excavation, in 1902, revealed a cist cut into the subsoil, containing, burnt bone, a bronze model dagger and possible curated bone.....

There are no stones encircling the upper cairn but the two cairns, upper and lower, are easy to distinguish, and the ditch is only evident on the western side as the track and farming have destroyed or filled in the rest of it.
An untidy place, right next to a plantation, with untidy sheep willing us to leave, despite the long views to the south and east I didnt stay very long.

Simply wonderful. Kilmartin really is an exceptional place. Vist, visit, visit!!!

This is something obviously seen on every visit to Avebury. The one time that sticks in the mind for me was when I was on a guided tour of the site and someone was meditating or something next to the stones. He wasn’t doing any harm but the guide quickly moved us along!!

I visited this site a couple of years ago and what a cracking place it is to. Easy to find in the village of Lockeridge. Parking is possible near the gate which leads into the stone covered field. When I visited it was a sunny winter’s day and ice had formed on the small pockets of water on top of many of the stones. It was early evening and I had the place to myself – very peaceful. It does give you a good idea of how the land in this area must have looked thousands of years ago. A highly recommended place to visit.

Tumulus du Montioux – Sainte Soline

Visited 15 September 2008

This was the final site we visited in the Poitiers region and the nearest to Chaunay where we were staying. The site lies south of Poitiers on the N10 by Chaunay. Turn right at Chaunay then take the D55 to Str-Soline. Turn right again to Bonneul and the site is in a field on the left.

The site is sign posted; and was partly excavated in 1995. It dates from the bronze to Iron age (1800 – 500 BC).Finds include ceramics, flint tools and a sepulchre was discovered under a stone slab. The site consists of a single, unexcavated round barrow and a 50 m long mound with four funeral chambers. See site plan. These date from the Angoumois period and have an Atlantic type layout with a 11 m long corridor with polygonal Cambers.

The walls of the access corridor are composed of pillars alternating with dry stonewalls, but unlike West Kennet Long Barrow, the end chambers have been left open so the feeling of a confined space is lost.

The oldest of the group appears to be the unexcavated round barrow.

La Pierre-Levée (Poitiers) – Fieldnotes

Visited September 14th 2008

My hosts had set aside a Sunday afternoon for the exploration of Poitiers. Having owned a local property for over twenty years, they had shown numerous visitors around it’s ancient streets, cathedral and past Aquitaine splendours. It came as some surprise when I asked to visit the megalithic remains, as they didn’t know of any.

Poitiers was founded by the Pictones tribe and their fortified centre or oppidum was named Lemonum, Celtic for elm, Lemo. Although the Pictones assisted Rome and accepted Roman control when Caesar defeated the Gaulic tribes at the decisive battle of Alesia in 52 B.C., Lemonum became the scene of resistance and it’s oppidum was raised to the ground. Although La Pierre-Levée escaped this destruction, the might of Rome was to be felt alongside it with the construction of the major road from Lemonum (Poitiers) to Avaricum (Bourges) and onto Lugdunum (Lyon). When Poitiers became the capital for the roman province of Gallia Aquitania, aqueducts, baths and a vast amphitheatre, larger than the one at Nîmes, were constructed Unfortunately this was destroyed in 1857 during a period of “modernisation” of the city. Remains of Roman baths complex, built in the 1st century and demolished in the 3rd century, was uncovered 1877 and led to a more civilised conservation approach to the city’s antiquities and history. In 1879 a burial-place and tombs of a number of Christian martyrs, hypogee martyrium were discovered on the heights to the south-east, the names of some of the Christians being preserved in paintings and inscriptions.

La Pierre Levée is located outside the old city walls in the district known as the Dunes. This lies across the river by Le Pont Neuf, which is the start of the old Roman road to Lyon (N151). If following this road into the city, when it becomes the Rue de la Pierre Levee, turn right at the cross roads with Rue du Dolman and the Pierre Levée is in front of you. If travelling out of the centre on Le Pont Neuf, you will need to turn right onto Allee du Petit Tour and then cross over Rue de la Pierre Levee onto Rue du Dolman. La Pierre-Levée is a cultural icon of the city and is well sign posted. La Pierre-Levée lies south-east of the city in the Dunes. Its sandy soil would have yielded poor crops and seems to have been set aside by the Pictones for the revered ancestors. A short distance away is the hypogee martyrium which is also a pre-roman sacred site.

La Pierre Levée means the raised stone or rock and is 22 feet (6.7 m) long, 16 feet (4.9 m) broad by 7 feet (2.1 m) high with a rectangular chamber. The large capstone sits on several supports along the southern side, but is broken and falls to the ground at the northern side. This damage apparently happened in the 18th Century, but facts are unclear as to what caused it. There are accounts of several stones, presumably the “pillars” which held up the northern side, being removed from the site and taken into the city. The site is mentioned in various records from the Middle Ages, with its Latinized name in different ways: Petra-Levata in 1299, Petra-Soupeaze in 1302, Petra-suspense in 1322. The Charter of 1302 also indicates its position: Super dubiam, the Dunes.
Church records indicate that the site was used as a public meeting place and several festivities were held here including the great fair of Saint Luke. The city prison used to stand behind the site but this was demolished after WWII and the area redeveloped.

South of Newmachar on the A947 is the B979. Take this and head west for a mile taking the first minor road north. Go a 1/2 mile after after the first junction. Monykebbuck standing stone is in the west, Elrick cairn is some 200 meters to the east.

The cairn is some 20 meters wide by 11/2 meters at its tallest. It is protected and encircled by a fairly ruined dry stane dyke. Cairn material can be seen on the eastern flank. Very easy to find and no barbed wire fences.

A nice place to stop and chill out on a nice day. After that head into Beekies Neuk in Newmachar.

Visited 17/06/2010.

There are many reasons why certain prehistoric monuments may leave the visitor more ‘fullfilled’ – for want of a better word – than others. As it happens, I don’t subscribe to any formula, as such... massive stones, for example, won’t suffice if the siting is wrong. But sometimes multiplex, diverse factors combine, like ingredients in the hands of a master chef, to produce the perfect vibe. For me, my Masterchefs included the people who erected the glorious monoliths upon the northern slopes of Dunruchan Hill.

Why? Startling originality, for one. Truly bonkers. Sure, I’ve seen finer monoliths.... for example the Lewissian Gneiss of the Calanais ‘circles cannot, in my opinion, be bettered for intricacy of grain, the ‘stanley knife’ Stenness stones, for profile. But each and every stone upon this hillside has clearly been selected to be as ‘different’ from its neighbour as possible. One is conventionally rounded, one a massive, brutish slab resembling a capstone suspended in perpetuality above it’s robbed cist. Another is a completely orgasmic, thrusting phallus of a standing stone [as AngieLake notes] akin to a supercharged, viagra chewin’ version of the centre stone at Boscawen-un. Look at the base.... it was meant to stand at this angle. Why? Oh come on! Surely it can only be shouting ‘Let’s get it on, Mother Earth, right here, right now!’ Then there’s a classic of flowing lines and pointed summit, achingly evocative, even against a sunlit landscape. The first to be encountered when ascending the hillside is arguably the most traditional in form. Ha! To coax would be visitors into a false ‘comfort zone’ perhaps? Well, it worked upon me. Oh, there’s also a sixth stone standing just across the minor Culloch/Craggan road near Craigneich Farm. Plus a number more further to the east.......

So, how can the complex at Dunruchan be explained in rational terms? No idea. Not a stone row, unless the surveyor had an extremely ‘serpentine’ ruler! In my experience a grouping of this magnitude and form is unique [I would welcome notification of any parallels]. What’s more, the observant motorist heading east along the aforementioned minor road may catch sight of one or two stones, but that is all. It would seem you had to be ‘in the know’ to join the party.

Parking is not easy, it being just about possible to squeeze a car upon the verge here or there. As it happens the Craigneich farmer drives by in his lorry, followed by wife on quad bike. I waive her down and am invited to park at the end of the south facing farm track, this enclosed by one of the most fragile wooden gates ever. ‘You want to visit the standing stones? Great!’ I’d therefore suggest having a word is perhaps the best option. Park safely because you will want to spend quite some time amongst the Dunruchan Stones and inconveniencing such people is not an option.

The first time I came here the weather was really against us, the fog which was thick was only penatrated by the sideways rain, needless to say we didnt do much photography that day, so I took advantage of the recent and uncharacteristically good weather, borrowed the day voles lightweight ladders, and started the long drive down at 2am-ish.
Just over four hours later and Eric, Arthur and me with ladders were taking the short route to the ring (not like last time), bathed in early morning sunshine and captivated by the dawn chorus that surrounds us, up here above it all.
As Eric has taken possession of my old camera, instead of holding the dog whilst I shimmy up[ and down the ladders he insists on doing as I do and follows me meticulously, getting all the same shots as me.
The ladders were a really good idea here as much of the rings perimeter is obscured by that nice thick grass that grows so well on Welsh hillsides, attaining a much better appreciation of the ring and it’s surroundings from ten feet up has lots going for it.
Maybe it was the sunshine or the joy of a long overdue outing but I really liked it here, theres not much reason to leave either as its not well visited especially at 7 in the morning, so we sat here unhindered for over two hours.

The map suggests that you could perhaps drive quite close to the stone, we couldnt find the right way though and ended up taking one of the prettiest of welsh walks up to the stone.
I thought I was near enough guessing my way up, but the path led directly to the hill top and the stone, through mixed woodland with occasional views down to Neath, at the top it gets really steep and steps made from earth and wood are cut into the hillside, we saw a Jay here.
The stone comes into view slowly as you approach the hill top, then when you get closer you realise just how big 4.3 metres is, its about two and a half of me.
The stone sits on a wide ridge and though used as a gatepost its hiding place is crap, if it was any more conspicuous it would be jumping up and down. The lofty summit of maen Bredwan is angled, like far off llech Idris and much further the stones of steness.
Why nobody has made it here before me I do not know, just the walk up with son, dog and football through the lush wooded slopes was a  wonder in itself but to find such a big standing stone as well is a treat indeed.

What can possibly be added to what has already been said? Only to reiterate that this is a MUST SEE site to anyone who is able to make the trip to Avebury – an incredible place. Perhaps best viewed from West Kennet Long Barrow? Enjoy!

As Eternal states, this would have been an amazing place at its prime – and before the road! When I first visited it took a while to find the place as a big lorry had parked in front of the site and I couldn’t see it from the car park!! I must admit I couldn’t make head or tail of the concrete posts but I am sure that was me being a bit thick! Nevertheless, an important site which is easy to access although the road can be busy when trying to cross.

Very easy to spot when visiting the Sanctuary. Barrows are often better seen from a distance against the skyline rather than close up. Although it is good to visit a few barrows up close and personal to better appreciate what you are looking at from a distance – or am I talking rubbish again?