Latest Fieldnotes

This was my second visit to the triple cairn but it didn’t make it any easier to find . I parked in the quarry entrance by the T junction and made our way on to the moor. But Arnie my 11 yr old Jack Russell was finding it hard going and I had to carry him through some of the higher heather. Too far to the right had I taken us so we struggled through the unpathed moor along the edge of the small plattau that is Raven Tor. Eventaually we found the cairns and Arnie immediatly set to finding a rock to chew. It is a bit more overgrown than the last time I came but really overgrown compared to the other pictures. Come see the triple cairn now before it is lost forever (he says melodramaticly) and enjoy the ethereal beauty of the Peak District (he says earnestly).

A bivallate Iron Age hill fort or a least that is what most authorities consider it to be, (there is some discussion as to whether it may be medieval). What is certain, is a 15th century L-plan tower house stuck in the middle of the fort which in my humble opinion doesn’t detract too much from the feel of the place, in fact it gives an air of continuity to the site. It is a bit of a lonely spot, and judging by the delight of the local sheep to see visitors, doesn’t receive much attention, a shame because it is no great hike from the main road.

A very, very sad place. Ballykissane burial ground is a disused Cillín or burial ground for infants that died before baptism. Under the shroud of the maniacal catholic church, the un-baptised were buried away from the consecrated graveyard alongside murderers, lunatics and others deemed beyond salvation. A very nice woman who lives nearby nearly had tears falling when she was describing how grief stricken parents of infants were forced to bury their child after midnight in this graveyard away from the community and could not wake them or find comfort in the normal burial rituals. Those sick bastards. Ballykissane was in use up until the mid 20th century.

Only tiny bits of boulders mark the graves and the graveyard is so overgrown that it’s impossible to see many of them now.
Recently, perhaps in a moment of repentance, a standing stone with a plaque of remembrance for the children buried here was erected where the old track to the burial ground met the road to the east.

The rock art is now sitting under a tree along the borders of the raised burial area but has moved at least once. Along both sides of a fissure are five cup and rings and around 12 deep and rounded cup marks. Other rings may have weathered away.

Access is through a farmyard along the road south. Please ask.

This bowl barrow sits on top of a hill rising out of the local heathland. It is about 1/2 a mile from Bull barrow and is 22 metres in diameter and about 1 1/2 metres in height.
The barrow is covered in vegetation but I did manage to walk up it. The centre of the barrow has a large rectangular depression in it. Any surrounding ditch which may have existed has now become infilled and cannot be seen.

Three, maybe four stones, situated slightly back from the summit of a low hill; the view is considerable to the north and east, but bounded to the south by the proximity of higher ground at Knocklady/Clasharusheen and to the west by the field boundary hedge and the rise to the hilltop – another example of an Argideen/Rosscarbery row being unable to ‘see’ as much as it could if situated a short distance away.

Like Knockawaddra E the blindfold is partial (the Carrigfadda peaks are still visible), but in its apparent direction of indication. A look over the fence, on a roughly projected line southwestward from the row, reveals a  glorious field-patch view, across the Argideen valley, to a point somewhere on the high ground at Clashatarriff. Visible with the naked eye, if you know where you’re looking, are the row at Knocks and the circle at Knocks S.

The alignment, as it originally stood, would have been a close, though oppositely focused, relation to Knockawaddra W; a swan guiding her cygnets in gliding procession or a tall sail in the bow – a huge 3m pillar to establish the direction for the line. There is a curious little additional block rooted in the ground just beside this fallen stone and mentioned in the Inventory, but it’s difficult to guess at its purpose if it was an original feature.

Best to ask at the farmhouse at the end of the track, running up straight from the right angle bend on the by-road, for directions and access details. He’s not the owner but he was kind enough to point me in the right direction.

Archaeological Inventory of Cork, 1992; No.156, 36

Not to be confused with the other barrow on Bulbarrow hill near Rawlsbury hillfort, this heathland barrow is near the small village of Holt. It is in reasonable condition and is 16 metres in diameter and about 1 1/2 metres in height. Around the north west edge is what remains of a 2 metre wide ditch.
It appears to have been opened at some point as the top is flat and has a slight dip in the middle. Two flint scrapers have been found where erosion has affected the mound.

Kerlud dolmen is all that remains of a once great Carnac-Mound. Burl believes that the dolmen itself was probably a later insertion.
The mound, once comparable to Mane Lud or Mane Er Hroek, was dismantled and used to build the hamlet that also bears the name Kerlud.

In the heart of Carnac-Plage it is uncertain if this is truly a prehistoric monument. Burl does not include it in ‘Megalithic Brittany’. However it is included in Gabriel Le Cam’s monumental ‘Le Guide de Megalithes de Morbihan’, he calls them:

“A dolmen and menhir that are certainly not in their original location”

Although the dolmen is super-sterotypical but not, on closer inspection, much like anything else around here, the stones themselves have an air of ‘ancientness’ and do not have the quarry marks and boreholes of many recently erected megaliths.
It could just be that these stones once formed an ancient monument, although whether this was their form is open to debate...

Just above the settlement in a field to the north are three cairns marked on the OS map. They have been robbed out and now lie very low to the ground.
Their position on the hilltop would suggest that in the past they would have been prominent from some distance, alas now they are hard to see even from close by.
A forth cairn sits just downslope to the west. At least i think it is a cairn...either that or a very small stone circle!
The question I ask myself is How come the other cairns are so ruined but this one survives?

Approached from Temple Bridge, just south of the A30, this complex of 94 huts and enclosures is possibly best visited in the spring, before the bracken covers it. I found it quite hard to make out things in amongst the autumnal undergrowth. There are loads of upright stones..presumably all doorways..you get to the point where you have seen half a dozen why go looking for more.
Don’t think many people get out on this bit of the moor...

At least a couple of interesting features here:

There seems to be either two or four stones missing; the northern portal, the stone that would have been immediately to the south of the axial and perhaps two more set opposite each other on the north and south sides. The remains of Templebryan and Knocks S pose the same reimagining problem.

Of the remaining stones, all except the southern portal have, to some degree, flattened smooth tops. It’s not unusual to come across a stone or two like this at any site, but all? Either there was a pressing ritual need for the elaboration or else this building group took particular pride in their work. The second orthosatat to the south of the axial, like that at Knocks N, is the most table-like.

The axial stone is almost a straight lift from Bohonagh; an inward-leaning, smooth top, bisected on its length by a seam and ending on its northern side with a downward slope.

The entrance stone is radially set, a feature shared by Bohonagh, Knocks N, Knocks S, Carrigagrenane S and Maulatanvally – all local circles in the Argideen/Rosscarbery group. Templebryan, Drombeg, Reenascreena, Ahagilla and Lettergorman S have their portals set on the circumference.

The large, clam-like stone, to the north of the circle, is listed in the Archaeological Inventory as a boulder-burial, though qualified in the midst of their description with a ‘possible’. There is no sign of any support stones and the accompanying standing stone is also missing. This may now be the half-covered, ground-level flag on the western side – it would originally have stood only 50cm high.

The landowners live in the farmhouse on the opposite side of the main road, to the south.

Archaeological Inventory of Cork, 1992; No.43 (Stone Circle); No.99 (Boulder Burial); No.242 (Standing Stone)
Cope, ‘The Megalithic European’, 2004; 252

Tremendously impressive ditches and banks on this large site, unfortunately, as others have mentioned, you do need decent weather up here.
We were greeted by a ferocious gale which made exploring the site very difficult and one wonders how the original inhabitants dealt with inclement weather.
Any future research and/or excavation here should be very interesting indeed, if, as noted, much of the site has never been ploughed.

Access Small layby to the SE. Short level walk to entrance, gate, modest slope to interior.

A stiff but shortish climb to the top but any pauses are worthwhile for the views to the south. The southern “entrance” is a bit of a puzzle. The notice board says that the main entrance is in the NE quadrant where the banks and ditches are much larger and deeper as the spur levels off here. At the southern “entrance” the banks and ditches peter out on either side which seems curious as, although the hillside is steep, it seems odd that this part is less defended.
The hill is capped with a layer of clay-with-flints and I just wonder if there has been a slippage down the hill, destroying the banks and ditches.

The tumulus and the pillow mounds are easily visible and the possible dew pond certainly had water in it when I visited.

A great place to visit (in good weather) with buzzards wheeling overhead, sheep peacefully grazing and stupendous 360 degree views.

Well I don’t know about a mischievous pixie...but this stone enjoys playing hide and seek. Standing on the tor above there are a couple of other ‘standing’ stones that could easily fool you. This one is nearly hidden behind a large gorse bush...it can just be seen to the right.

Enjoy the hunt!

Not directly signposted as such, but there’s a beach-sign and a parking lot just next to the road.

You can see the stone from the road if you look towards the sea when driving (not recommended!).

The stone has been moved two times since 1941 as the road has been widened. The area was excavated in 1941 and several graves found near the stone.

The stone is on private land, signposted from the main road, 20 meters down a dirt-road. It’s probably better to park on the parking-lot for the Husabø-graveyard down the slope if you can find a way to get there by car.

The stone is probably Norways highest with 7,87 meters.

The name, Balders stone, is first known used in the 19th century, it has also been known as Fritjofs (probably mythological, known from literary sources such as Fritjofs saga) stone and the Ivar Elda (historical figure killed at the battle of Fimreite in 1184) stone.

Balder is of course the name of one of Odin’s sons.

A typically impressive disc, set on the southern valley slope of the Argideen river; over two metres in diameter and almost a metre thick.

The measurements provided by the Archaeological Inventory for the immediate area are:
Caherkirky – 2.4m by 2.2m; 1m thick / 1.7m by 1.3m; 0.8m thick
Knocks (East) – 1.8m by 1.7m; 0.9m thick / 2.4m by 2.4m; 0.6m thick / 2m by 1.3m; 0.65m thick
Letter – 2.3m by 2.1m; 0.8m thick

One almost wonders if there was a form of Bronze Age grading in effect – an upper limit beyond which the stones would prove too cumbersome and a lower limit to ensure an impact on the landscape. The only significant deviations from this size are in the boulders accompanying the stone circles around Kealkil, although similarly connected sites, such as Gurteen and Kenmare, further north in Kerry, have the typical stand-alone dimensions:
Mill Little – 1.5m by 1.3m; 1.25m thick / 1.9m by 1.5m; 1.3m thick / 1.35m by 0.85m; 0.9m thick
Cappanaboul – 1.6m by 1.5m; 0.7m thick
Breeny More – 1.4m by 1.35m; 0.5m thick / 1.3m by 0.8m; 0.7m thick / 1.8m by 1m; 0.8m thick / 1.7m by 1.2m; 0.9m thick
Maughanaclea – 1.5m by 1.05m; 0.6m thick / 1.5m by 1m; 0.6m thick
It’s an interesting question – did these smaller monuments reflect local restrictions on availability of suitable stone, or was the construction more affected by other factors such as inter-site influence, or local tradition?

Dr. William O’Brien’s excavation at the Cooradarrigan boulder-burial uncovered intriguing evidence of a wedge-shaped post-surround, widening towards the entrance feature on the northern side, which was in turn ‘blocked’ by another post. The open side of the boulder-burial at Bohonagh was found to contain a stone socket with uprooted slab which the excavator, E.M. Fahy, proposed as defining an entrance gap to the north-west. Though possibly not a universal rule, the arrangement of support stones underneath the cover often leaves one side open, varying in orientation from monument to monument.

The structure at Letter opens slightly west of north, tilted upwards like a cannon on just two forward supports, the western of which is further elaborated, double-portal fashion, by a large pyramidal quartz block. If a target was intended, it would seem to have faced directly toward a broad rise in a valley, across the Argideen at Knockea. Visible on the western horizon, but not indicated, is the Carrigfadda range.

Three letters (M/A/T) are roughly scribed on the western side; presumably an acronym or abbreviation left behind by someone as a mark of their presence and noted by Jack Roberts in his 1988 survey.

The owners of this site, which can be easily accessed from an adjacent farmyard, live in the bungalow at the south-eastern corner of the field.

Archaeological Inventory of Cork 1992, No.125; 32
Fahy, E., ‘A Stone Circle, Hut and Dolmen at Bohonagh, Co. Cork’, JCHAS 66, 1961; 94
O’Brien, W., ‘Boulder-Burials: A Later Bronze Age Megalith Tradition in South-West Ireland’, JCHAS 97, 1992; 11-35
O’Nuallain, S., ‘Boulder-Burials’, PRIA 78 C, No.22; 92
Roberts, J., ‘Exploring West Cork’, 1988; Ch.1. No.21; 35

Not all authorities believe in Hedge’s hornworks, calling the north one only a wall (the south being at most modified natural). Inside the fence the exposed wall [which puts me in mind of the Ness of Brodgar] runs so very straight, smack into the outermost cairn walling. Bronze Age bones were found enclosed in the ‘hornwork’ wall, and the suggestion is that this is therefore itself of that date. How it looks to me is that the wall once led near to the cairn at an earlier time only to be later blocked off by the present outer cairn walling. Outside the fence the possible continuance of the wall presents more the appearance of curving. And to me there look to be a few taller fallen stones on either side of this section – the remains of a processional way ?

Straight forward to get to, but a long slog uphill.
Coming south west out of Rhayader go straight past the Elan village turn off and go over the dam. Park as close to the church as possible, take the bridlepath through the forest and up the hill, follow the path all the way through till you come out the other side. turn left and follow the edge of the trees, strike out for the higher ground and the stones are on this wide ridge.
Six stones are close together but only three stand, from the west, stone one is erect, 1.5ft tall, stone two is flat and being covered by grass and moss, stone three is erect and 1.75 ft tall, stone four is almost down but quite bulky, stone five is about 6ft tall, proud and pointy, stone six is down but the biggest stone in the row. Pointing just slightly north of east, so it may not be aligned on the equinox sunrise but to be honest trees, mountains and horizon hugging clouds obscured the true moment of sunrise, but I’m sure glad I picked this unheard of stone row to be at when the sun rose, it was a beautiful morning and my feet were well and truly soaked going round in circles and weaving amongst the stones photographing and trampling down that orrible thick green grass. There is a very battered cairn about 60 metres east. I wish I’d bought my shears as this is a good example of a stone row in a beautiful part of Wales and should be shown at it’s best.

From Llanwrthwl go south west, eventually the lane turns into a track and then becomes impassable so an uphill walk is required. When youve followed the path up to a sadlle in the hills , the hills rise up to the east and west, head east past the diminutive standing stone. Just past the menhir is the first out of at least five cairns, this one is the smallest. Head uphill on the rather vague path and then the two big ones come into view. They did have shelters built into them but I pushed them in (hope they wer’nt original features) Slightly down hill is a ring shaped cairn, but I doubt it is supposed to be so as it is now only a crescent of cairn material. Down hill and towards where the valley drops down is the last cairn I found,smaller than the last three but larger than the first, ( hope that makes sense) it had a stone standing up in the middle of it, probably put up by the shelter builders, its prostrate now.

Heading south west out of llanwrthwl south of Rhayader the small one track lane goes further and further into the hills leaving the valley floor away to my left. We have to leave the car and walk the rest of the way up the hill, the path is well worn so its easy to get there. when we reach the top of the hill, we’re actually in a saddle of hills they rise up to the east and west. the standing stone is 50 metres of the main path, hiding in horrible waist high thick green grass. Although its only half a metre high it seems well proportioned, as if it were just the right size for its intended purpose. Along with the at least five cairns two of which are bigguns, and presumably theres a stone II but its whereabouts are unknown to me.

Having failed to get the key once more (so close, so far!) I was going to visit Sess Kilgreen again when I passed the sign for Knockmany and decided to check it out anyway.

The forestry service guy told me to drive up until I reach the service car park nearer the top, so up I drove. And up. And then nearly drove into the side of the tomb! I didn’t realise it was possible to drive all the way up but the track is steep and not very solid so I would recommend the forest walk instead.

It was a clear, sunny day and the views were amazing, recent rain seemed to have cleared the haze. The enclosing bunker is hideous as lamented elsewhere, but the tomb inside is great, lots of bizarre and surprising carvings visible through the door and from the skylight.

By employing a few tricks (sticking camera on tripod through the bars and perching flash units up on the skylight) I was able to get some decent pics all the same.

Something should really be done about the interior of this monument, it makes the Fourknocks roof look like a work of artistic genius. Whats with the air vent to nowhere behind the backstone? At least painting the walls black would be a vast improvement.

Further to fitz’s post, this stone seems to stand directly in between Traprain Law and Berwick Law – tell me that was an accident!

A bit of a conundrum this one. Jack Roberts mentions a standing stone and boulder/’cromlech’, but the Archaeological Inventory has a stone pair, one fallen. O’Nuallain doesn’t include the site in his survey of Stone Rows.

If it is a stone pair then the northeastern stone would seem to have fallen in such a way as to send its base back up the slope, although it’s possible that it may not originally have stood in line with the flat face of the southwestern stone. This standing stone is slab-like, arrow-tip shaped. The prostrate one is a thick, heavy bludgeon – the demise of older technology mimed in stone. Both stones are substantial, broad on the land.

Certain characteristics, beyond the obligatory NE-SW orientation, are shared with the other local stone pair at Knockawaddra; both sites are screened by a rise to the north – a short distance would have carried them to a position with extensive views in most directions; and both sites are situated on the north side of a tributary of the Argideen, on a line roughly adjacent to the run of the stream. If the row at Knocks really is a pair it would complete the set, to the north of the Argideen itself.

It could presumably be argued that if the rivers were a focus of the monuments, then any other positioning – with a greater view of near-by landscape features, would dilute the desired effect. However the rivers themselves are not visible from the monument platforms. Perhaps the pairs could have represented the water, when seen from above, or have been a destination to walk up to from the river below? The flat face of the standing stone here is aligned on an obvious ‘u’ on the southwestern horizon and may merit further investigation.

The site is located in the second field up, to the right of an old track-way extending straight from the newer road. This road splits at the joining point and permission to visit may be obtained by following the right-hand section, to the farmhouse at the end. Small bit of electric-fence vaulting but no major problems.

Roberts, ‘Exploring West Cork’, 1988; Ch.6 No.14; 134
Archaeological Inventory of Cork Vol. 1, 1992; No.200; 42

Just a slight addition here:
In relation to the blinkered aspect of the two rows, Fourwinds has suggested that a position on the crown of the hill, as opposed to the summit, would make them more visible to people living close-by and from below. To be seen, rather than to see. Tiompan takes a slightly different tack, moving away from considerations of vision, and suggests a ‘protecting’ effect in having the rim above, or that the pairs may have marked a boundary, delineated by the river below.
Thank you both very much.

This is a medium sized bowl barrow, 22metres in diameter and 2 metres high. It is to the north of both Round Pound and the Wardstone barrow and lies just below the crest of the hill. It overlooks nearby barrow cemeteries on Winfrith heath rather than the southern hillforts near Lulworth. I assume it used to have bushes or shrubs on it, hence the name, but now it is clean of all vegetation and is in good condition. The farmer or land owner has surrounded the barrow with thick wooden posts in order to protect it from plough damage.