Latest Fieldnotes

Knocktwo is about 105m high and really dominates the surrounding landscape.
The best way in seems to be to the rear of a stud farm so I havent been to the top yet.
There arent that many lakes in Limerick so it is interesting to see this site located near to one.

Its not every day you find an unmarked standing stone of this size and height.
This is about 3m high and probably the tallest stone in Limerick so you never know what is out there until you go looking for it.
Amazingly this site is just beside a back-road not far from Bruff and it also has the fairy hill of Knocfeerina in the background.
The stone itself has some unusual looking cup shapes on one side.

This is listed as a possible henge in www.archaeology.ie.
However after both looking at google earth and visiting the site there really doesnt seem to be any sign of this on the ground or from the air so I will be interested to see what the Limerick inventory says about it when it comes out.
The ruins on Bulgadenhall seem to be of medieval date however there is a long cursus feature to the east of the possible henge that is interesting.

This standing stone is about a mile south of Bruff. The stone is one of those thin ones that seem to be around this part of limerick and is about 1.2m high.
In the picture you can see Knockfeerina in the background.

This seems to be marked as a ring-fort for some reason but this has a water channel around it which to me would suggest barrow rather than ring-fort.
Also the size of it and its proximity to Ballinascaula make this a possibility of being another one of this part of Limericks jumbo size barrows.
It must be about 5m high and Im not sure of the diameter but its big.

This standing stone is about 2 fields in from the road and trickier to get to than the map suggests.
It is pretty non-descript maybe about 0.5m high just alongside a farm track.

I met the farmer who lives near here on the way back from this mound. He told me it was a motte, however judging by the size of it I’m not so sure. What he did tell me that was interesting is that there is a natural rock swimming pool near to this mound and this got me thinking of ceremonies and all that kind of stuff.
Another thing interesting by this bit of a mound is the echo effect that the river valley across from it produces.
The mound itself is covered in scrub and really could be anything!

This is an interesting looking standing stone about 1m high. Its very gnarled and phallic looking. It is adjacent to a lovely stream down a track that is used by the Kilfinnance Outdoor Pursuits centre so the farmer doesnt seem to mind people being in on his land.

This is marked as two cairns on the OS map and the hill itself is over 500m. There is a good track up to the cairns and I believe it is part of a Kilfinnane Outdoor Pursuits area.
The cairn itself isnt that impressive about 1.5m high and could be mistaken from a climbers cairn very easily.
No sign of a second cairn however there was something that may have been the remains of a cist near the cairn.
Great views of the Galtees and two peaks that if im correct are actually called Cnoc an Tairbh and Cnoc an Tairbh beg. Hill of the Bull!

No sign of this standing stone.

This stone is tricky to find, I walked right by it because its so close to the tree beside it. It is to the rear of the village of Herbertstown and you have to cross a small river to get to it.
The stone itself is about 0.4m high and seems to be highly polished in the top right hand corner or maybe there is a clunk of metal in it. Im not sure really.

Not marked on the OS map this standing stone is near the bridge in Rossadrehid. The stone itself is about 0.5m high.

This barrow is visible on the closest horizon when approaching Minninglow by way of the High Peak Trail from the NW. The roman road, The Street, passes within a few metres of the barrow.

The carvings are set in within the grounds of a special place. The setting of the carvings looking back towards the ruins of Poltalloch House, makes it one of the most impressive settings for any rock art carvings i have visited.
The carvings are still covered in thick moss, hopefully protecting them. A nearby part of the same hillock has had its turf lifted by someone looking for the carvings, and because the main carvings still have their moss covering them, i would assume they didn’t manage to find what there were looking for.
The grid refs are almost spot on, easily found, and also has the added benefits of the ruined house and nearby church to visit.

Two unusual large disc type conjoined barrows. These are a rarity anywhere, but espescially in the New Forest. They sit atop a low plateau on the north west side of Setley plain. The northern is the smaller of the two and is overlapped by the larger southern barrow. They are of a similar size to the disc barrows on Oakley Down in Dorset. These barrows have larger mounds in the centre than most disc barrows, M.A.G.I.C. calls them “fancy barrows”. There is a single example south of the pair.

The jewel in the crown of this area. Not only is this a wondeful example of a cist but the wall of stones around it just make it all perfect...and all this with the backdrop of Kilmar Tor.

It can be found on the south (left) side of the track leading to the farm. Head upslope just before reaching the farm gate, the cairn is about level with the change of direction with the field wall.

I did not test how deep the cist was as it was full of water but it is fair to say it is compact in size.

Not a true quoit as in those at Trethevy, Zennor, Lanyon or Chun but more in keeping with the one at Leskernick.

The cap stone sits balanced on one boulder and one very large rock. From the wetern end it looks as if the base has been cut away to allow space...or was it chosen because of this feature?

I will endevour to find out more about this stone setting.

Found upslope of the Twelve Men’s cairn this wonderful lump sits proud on its base just as if someone had sited it there.

Easily found on the left beside the track to the farm shortly after leaving the wall on the right. The cairn itself is in a ruinous state but the lovely little cist sits snuggled under a low earth bank.

In theory Twelve Men’s Moor covers a large area to the north of Minions from Sharp Tor to Hawk’s Tor. Its name supposedly came about when the land, owned by the Priory of Launceston, was divided up between 12 tenants in 1284. As several sites in this large area are already posted then I will use this site to feature those that lie to the north of Kilmar Tor and south of Trewortha and Hawk’s Tor.
The easiest way to reach this area is by taking the minor road off the B3254 at Berriobridge.
Be careful on this minor raod as there are several large humps.
A parking space can be found at the top of the road where a gate leads onto the track to Trewortha farm.

visited pikestones last month. no more visible damage. somone had built an enclosed stone altar close by, inside of which was a sheep skull

Kilmogue is a fabulous portal tomb and should be on anyones list if they are in the South-East.
Access is easy although you will need a map to find the place because unless your very close there are no sign-posts. It really is surprising how big it is, much bigger than it looks in the pictures.
Also you really have to ask yourself why and how they got that capstone up there.

Mount Wood Fieldnotes – Sunday 13-04-08

Seeing site listed on TMA web site, decided to visit while cycling around Cherhill / Oldbury area. I Know some of the bridleways of Yatesbury and Compton Bassett as they lead out towards Avebury. Leaving the A4, opposite track to the White Horse, go down Park Lane to the farm by triangle wood. Up the bridleway and the mount is on the left, just over the fence, as the ground levels off.

I’ve seen many barrows before but this one is truly different. 8 Feet high and 25 feet in diameter, it looks like a mini Silbury Hill. It’s conical shape and steep sides seem to have never been dug by man or beast. As a consequence, it is undated, but is thought to be Romano-British. (Looks like it slipped through TMA Roman net!). As you can see from the pictures, it has a number of beeches and sycamore trees growing on and around it, but is still in perfect condition. Maybe, and this is a wild guess, it is a bowl-barrow with another burial on it’s top. LVG didn’t seem to know what to make of it either as it’s marked down as Ba, Roman or later. It is Scheduled Monument No.SM12338. It must had always been known for being different. Why else would it be called Mount wood rather than Barrow wood or Barrow copse? I have included a picture looking towards Oldbury Castle from the site to illustrate it’s prospect.

On leaving, I travelled down the rest of the bridleway and on towards Nolands farm and Jugglers Lane. I was struck by the width and straightness of the later track. It screamed Roman to me with the area towards the end may be a ruined building of some sort. Needs more investigation, me thinks.

I know that the site of Cherhill Church is built over a Roman villa or shrine. I also know that a major Lay-line passes through this same site, as it does the church in Calne, Stanley Abbey, Lanhill and the temple of Apollo at Nettleton. In the other direction, the Lay-line travels through Silbaby and the Sanctuary before going through Savernake forest and the middle of Tottenham house.

Chance – April 2008

This stone is now in storage in Collins Barracks in Dublin with the decorated face facing the wall.

*Important*
The landowner of this site can be very hostile to unannounced visitors, please do not attempt to visit this site without securing proper permission. Please be warned.

This is a very eroded panel on a lozenge shaped outcrop. Eight cup and ring marks are reported in the Co. Louth survey but I noticed some parallel lines that look suspiciously artificial. The whole panel is about 1.5m long and on two levels.

Description from Co. Louth Survey:
“Lozenge-shaped tabular rock outcrop, with eight cup and ring motifs. These range from a triple-ringed example to simple cup and ring. There is a much-eroded single cup and ring mark on a nearby rock outcrop. (CLAJ 1981, 111)”

On our visit on 12/4/08, the whole site was very overgrown and required quite a bit of clearing and careful removal of dead foliage before the markings became apparent. Permission was not easy to obtain, only for the fact that he remembered Blaze from her previous visit did we finally get the ok. The landowner lives on the main road, not down the lane, look for the boarded up windows and bullet holed windows and do approach with caution. Do not park near the stones blocking the driveway as he does not like this.