Latest Fieldnotes

Four barrows on a hilltop on the west Dorset coast. They are in a row from north to south and appear to point towards Colmer’s hill. A fifth barrow is also in line with them on Eype Down about half a mile to the north.
The first of the barrows is the mound on which the beacon itself sits. The second is the largest at about 12 feet in height and 30 odd yards in diameter. The next two are less distinct, possibly plough damage has lowered the height and they are now less easy to see as barrows.
This is a very prominent point on the coast from which you can see a long stretch of the Dorset and Devon coasts. It also has the advantage of far views inland. Very close by are other ancient sites such as Golden Cap, Colmer’s Hill and the recently excavated Doghouse Hill – probably the oldest site of human habitation in Dorset.

The fieldgate at the south had barbed wire either side of the top and the way there is spongy – so go through the farm. A small area of stones exposed in the eastern side has no order apparent unless the top few are a real line.

Finally able to have a good look at the cut in the northern end (no compass so, mound very roughly aligned with long axis NS but probably only following [present] cliff edge). Not even superficially a quarry, and Orkney has some decidedly rum bits mapped as this. Slightly more circular than rectangular when you’re in it. Not sure if the back is a continuous arc, more like angled stone lines either side. And if these are a wall still unsure if truly curved or straight walls distorted by erosion. Probably artefact of unrecorded prior excavation or else resulting from digging out circular feature such as a round cairn

What I thought to be a decorated stone is more likely to be natural. Behind the cut is the reported 15m depression that has led to its identification as a possible broch. Then I was on top of the cut and not far from this is an orthostat seen from the coast. And it is part of a feature highly reminiscent of that at the top end of the round cairn inserted into Head of Work, which Davidson and Henshall contend is likely the top of a chamber. even if this is incorrect it is definitely nothing a Brochaholic would accept as to do with a roundhouse. What you first note are two orthostats of a size on order with that at the top of the cut – maybe half-a-metre or so high – and three feet across the pair, with a jumble of flat stones of various sizes tumbled in front for about five feet and layered. If these are the backstops the chamber is roughly aligned EW and running at right angles to the long axis- so unlike the Head of Work in this respect too. On closer inspection there are further orthostats a couple of inches behind the ‘backstops’, though rather than something like packing these may be more of the backstops themselves heavily fragmented, indicating depth to my mind.

There’s the top of a long rectangular stone that looks to form most of the southern edge, with a longitudinal split that indicated it goes down a fair piece – to the feature’s floor perhaps. There are several other thick stones exposed, flat on the mound but partially buried nevertheless. Two of these solidly sunken near the eastern side, not flat but the tops of probable orthostats. These look to be at right angles to each other. Though they are exposed two or three inches away one from another they could well form a real pair under the earth.

The skibssaetning on Amundtorp grave field is 25 metres long and 9 metres wide, and consists of 24 stones, which gradually gets higher towards the ends. 22 stones were re-erected during a restoration in 1938.
On the WSW end of the ship there is a square, consisting of 12 standing stones, of which 5 was re-erected during the above mentioned restoration.the sides are 15 metres long.

ENE of the ship is a stone ring, 9 metres in diameter, and on the other side of the fence is another stone ring, 14 metres in diameter, in front of a barrow.

Note the hill behind the stone ship and the square, it’s straight and doesn’t look natural. It could be remains from the lime quarry nearby, but it looks like the ground where the stones are standing has been cut into the hill, leaving part of the hill behind.

South of the site there is also 2 hills, that looks like 2 barrows.

The stone square can be seen in GE.

How to get there:
On road 49 between Skara and Skövde, turn south in Varnhem towards
Broddetorp, and drive for 2.9 kilometres, then you’ll see the spot
to your left. Parking spot and info board in Swedish, English and German immediately beside the road. Park there and walk to the farm. Pass it and walk up the wooden stairs to the left behind the farm. After another 50 metres you are at the square of stones.

This cairn is one of the largest bronze age (1800 – 500BCE) monuments
in Västergötland. It has a low stone brim around the cairns edge. Large cairns of this type that have been investigated have often contained a cist built of stone slabs, for one burial. Bronze age cairns occur in the whole of Västergötland. Grave goods from the same period has been found in a number of rather large, low stone settings. Numerous loose finds also show that there have probably been many more graves, now destroyed.

Info sign on the site in Swedish and English.

A grave field with 2 standing stones is found 100 metres NNE of the cairn (you’ll see the stones if you are at Stora rör).

The cairn can be seen in GE.

How to get there:
At highway E20 at the city of Mariestad, turn southeastwards onto road 201. Turn right in the roundabout that you arrive to after 13.5 kilometres.
Drive 4 kilometres to Tidan town and look out for a blue sign “Horn 10” to the right. Turn and follow the road to the village of Horn (9.2 kilometres), then turn right at the blue sign “Tidavad 8”. After 2.2 kilometres you see the cairn on your right.

This is an extensive set of square celtic fields on a south facing hill, south of the village of Sydling St Nicholas. These fields have never been ploughed and are a rare survival locally. They are only about a mile west of the large enclosure on Grimstone down. There were also settlements at nearby Shearplace hill and Smacam Down.

Bronze Age multivallate hill fort believed to have been in use between the 4th and 8th centurys Bc.

Springfield Hill is a multivallate iron age hill fort west of the village of Dunscore. It is one of many such forts in the area.

The Doons is a Bronze Age univallate hillfort situated on Doon hill to the north of Shawhead. it is within the grounds of the Barsoul campsite and can be Seen easily fron the road out of Shawhead.

Hall hill is a small Iron Age univallate hillfort near Irongray in Dumfries and Galloway. It should not be confused With Inglestone Motte which is the remains of a norman fort on the hill to the south west of Hall Hill.

Beacon hill is a univallate iron age hill fort situated between the villages of Shawhead and Terregles. It commands great views and can be seen from miles around. the best view is probably from a layby on the A75 near Drummore heading down towards Dumfries

Prehistoric circular enclosure.

Site sits on a flat area of ground on the steep slopes above Corby’s Bridge.

Settlement is about 60m across, with a rampart and ditch. The entrance looks like it lies on the east side with causeway across the ditch.

Iron age circular defended settlement.

Close to the other site at West Brizlee, just south on the same parkland road.

Roughly 40m across with a substantial rampart (1.8m high) and ditch surrounding the site. Possible entrance on the south east side.

Iron Age defended settlement. The sire lies in forest and is partially cut through by Moorlaw Drive.

Two ditches and ramparts surround a circular enclosure approx 50m across, the enclosure lies at the end of a promontory overlooking the River Aln.

There appears to be an entrance on the eastern side with a causeway across the ditches.

Partially visible on Google Earth this Iron Age settlement is rectilinear in shape, protected on the western side by cliffs. There are ramparts on the other 3 sides, rising up to 1.8m high and 10m across at places. Looks to be defensive in nature.

The site lies about 200m south of the Caster road near public footpaths.

An absolute pig to get to, and even for me not worth the bother – it actually looks better at a distance, and I only found one of the stones, its like nothing’s stopped growing yet. A complete jumble of grassy depressions and peaks, none distinct as to form or function.

In June of 69, Britain’s longest cable car was opened, ferrying 1000 people an hour the two miles from happy valley to the top of the Great Orme. My family came to Llandudno every summer when I was small and a few times we went on the cable car, from this perfect vantage point I always gazed round the natural beauty of this large natural amphitheater, the dark and mysterious cave below only visible for a few seconds as you sail by just added to the splendor of the Orme, one day I told myself i’ll have a look round that place.

After a couple of goes on the toboggan run I managed to drag the kids off the beach day track, and off into the bushes we went, with only the cable above to point the way.
This is a big cave, a square mouth with a long square chamber, immediatly to the right is a tiny opening six feet up the wall, one could crawl through to what looks like a bigger chamber, but with no torch and noway in hell were my kids going in there, we didn’t go further.
To the left of the cave mouth is the other part of the cave with a higher floor and three openings of its own.
Coflein states there are two caves, Kendricks upper and lower, the uppers entrance being 6metres above the lowers, weather these two caves are now one I do not know but I could see no other cave, not even from the cable car. But there is an area on top of the lower cave that you cant see from the ground so maybe its there, if it is its got to be harder to get to than its buddy below.

This is one of Sweden’s biggest ring-cairn. To me, it rather looks like a fort, but the Swedish heritage board classifies it as a ring-cairn, partly because it’s in a middle of a grave site, with another flat cairn and 2 stone rings immediately beside it, and 4 more stone rings in the forest. 200 metres north of the ring-cairn lies another cairn, which you will pass if you visit the site.

The ring-cairn is visible in GE, and the cairn and stone ring immediately north of it.

How to get there:
From highway E4, take the exit at Torsvik N (about 7 kilometres south of Jönköping) and drive westwards to the town Taberg.
In Taberg, turn left in the T-shaped roundabout, and drive for 4 kilometres, and turn left at the sign “Bratteborg”.
After 1.9 kilometres, turn left at the yellow sign “Röshult”, drive up to the farm, (where you see a blue sign “Gravfält 2” turn right and follow the gravel road until you see a a ‘No entry’ sign.
Turn right onto the small track road, after 100 metres you see the north cairn to your left, but continue another 150 metres for a parking spot. Walk south on the track road for 100 metres and the site is on your right.

This stone is situated nearby Finale Ligure’s town at the beginning of the Val Ponci. This menhir, about two meters tall. Because of its particular form and engraves, this menhir is also known as a God Penn representation.

The Actual Name of the place is Holywood.

See the field notes for the main site.
(Lundsbacke, category: round cairn)

Lundsbacke (grove hill) dates from 500BCE to 400CE and consists of about 200 round flat cairns, varying from 3 to 12 metres in diametre, most of the are overgrown, and 65 standing stones. Furthermore, in the area there is also a total of 290 metres of low stone walls, which is remains of walls that kept the iron age farmer’s cattle in place.
The grave field was restored 1928. Then 36 fallen stones were re-erected, and 2 graves were examined, where bronze pieces and a bone comb were found, dated to 1st century CE. Most of the re-erected stones were erected in the place where they were lying, but some of them were placed in the stone row on the hill.

How to get there:
From highway E4 between Jönköping and Stockholm,
take the exit in Mjölby onto road 32. Drive northwards for 7.8 kilometres until you reach aroundabout.
After the roundabout, continue north for 2.6 kilometres, then turn right. Drive on this road for 3.7 kilometres, then turn left at the blue sign “Lundsbacke Gravfält 1.0”. After about 800 metres you can park at the info sign, and walk a small pathe to the right towards the hill.

Well and truly ploughed down, and fenced off from the plebs, this was once one of the long mounds flanking the eastern terminus of the Dorset Cursus. Alas, it is not doing well any more.

Grinsell claimed to have found it in 1938, when its ditches were “well-marked”, and then noted that in 1954 when he came to write up “Dorset Barrows”, it was ploughed to the edge of the mound. Sadly the tractors and harvesters and muckspreaders now go straight over the top of this integral part of our national heritage. He notes it as 95 feet long, 70 feet wide [which makes it oval more than long] and 3.5 feet high.

In “A Landscape Revealed”, Martin Green says:

During Colt Hoare’s brief examination of this mound he described it as ‘surrounded by sarsen stones’. Indeed, even now [book published 2000] I have noticed large lumps of sarsen ploughed to the surface around the edges of this mound.

This barrow is to be found at the southern tip of Pitglassie wood. If walking from the northern barrow use the fields the way is barred by furze (jabby things), bog and fences. It is over ten meters in width and maybe a hut circle, according to Canmore. However it is easy to see why this place is here as there are excellent views to Bennachie, Knock and Noth as well as being surrounded by stone circles and standing stones. Chris had a theory about Broomend of Crichie, Inverurie being the center of a wheel with spokes leading to different sites. Perhaps these barrows are something similar cause there is a lot going on.

(To be fair the local farmer was going to get rid of all the trees and use the land for agricultural purposes. Thanks to the historic interest he hasn’t.)

Visited 7/09/09.

Archaeological mish-mash or what? Shame about the bloody great ariel & waterworks giving it a sense of foreboding but still...
Does anyone have any idea what the circular banked feature is in the hillfort? lt looks like some sort of fancy barrow, eg a saucer barrow or something, except that its in a remarkably good state of preservation. I cant find any refenence to it anywhere so maybe its just some sort of modern nonsense to do with the civil war or summat?
The hillfort does seem to have a few other slightly out of the ordinary features-any suggestions?

What a great hillfort! Visited on a sunny August day (29.8.2009), walking up from Tintern. The approach from the north opens up views to the east over Gloucestershire. A WT station is situated on the summit of the hill. Passing around this a wonderful view over the Severn estuary appears, looking towards Chepstow and the Wye, the two Severn Bridges and beyond.

The fort itself is a quite small, bivallate construction. None of the ramparts or ditches are very large or deep. Definitely worth a visit though for the views alone.