Latest Fieldnotes

This large bowl barrow, paired with a smaller one, is to the west of Ackling dyke. On the crest of a hill, to the north is Oakley down and to the south is Wyke down barrow cemetery. This area is covered in barrows of all types including several long barrows. To the east of the barrow is the Dorset cursus, indeed on Bottlebush down is some of the remaining cursus bank.
Incidentally the Anglo – Saxon naming is quite rare in Dorset, the Saxons, it’s reckoned didn’t fully conquer the area until about 700c.e.
The word berende means plentiful or productive and may refer to the large size of the barrow. Beorh is the root of the modern word barrow.

A few sad notes about the roundhouse erected in July 06.... Vandals have pushed out two sections of the painted wattle and daub walls and have pulled out chunks of the thatch.

It would be interesting to know where they got the inspiration/source for the carvings and painting from. Decorated bowls perhaps?
Jim.

Located this panel safe and sound after some helpful guidance. It had been buried under a pile of small rocks and was a little muddy. After cleaning it by pouring lots and lots of water over it, the full designs became easy to see.

This is a very nice example, both cup and rings are kind of egg shaped and one has a gutter that runs uphill, the other has a large and deep natural hollow that was incorporated into the outer rings of the other design. An odd little panel.

I covered it back up as found, putting some sods of grass and mud on the designs to ensure I didn’t damage them when I placed the rocks back over the panel. Great to see the panel is safe and sound, hope it stays that way.

I approached the hillfort from the north, passing close by Lanceborough, the massive bell barrow below Maiden Castle. I was hoping to see a long barrow which is shown on O.S and Magic, this now appears to have been completely ploughed out.
Once inside the hillfort I decided to look mainly at the neolithic origins of it. Still visible is the very long bank barrow or possible cursus feature which curves across the northern part of the interior for about 550 metres. It now shows as a low ridge, this area has been ploughed in the past. The original causewayed enclosure is now no longer visible on the ground and is thought to be overlaid by the first phase of the hillfort.
Also visible in the south west corner is a low bronze age bowl barrow.
From the southern rampart I counted twelve round barrows on the ridge of hills a few miles to the south, one of these is a unique hybrid disc/bowl barrow.

Cheshire Wood Cave is located on a high crag at the top of the woods, about 15ft below the ridge line. Access is pretty tricky from below although if you have a head for heights approaching the cave from above is easier and was possibly the original way of entry.
The mouth of the cave is large and impressive with a further crawl in the back of chamber.
Getting a good photo of the cave was almost impossible such is the steepness of the slope below the cave mouth.

Visited in Aug 2007 with my mum in tow. Lucky to have quite a fine day and the views across the water were breathtaking.

The visitor centre is interesting; certainly from my mum’s point of view she found it helpful to have some info about the landscape, geology and the history of the site. Without this, I imagine the actual arachaeology side of it would be rather dull! The huge Scots Pine which is located in the centre is also pretty stunning.

When you get out, you walk among the bog past lines of stone walls; I actually got a bit excited about it all but can appreciate why it may be beyond the interest of the casual observer!

There are the remains of a domestic enclosure which is also really interesting but overall the most spectacular thing about this site is the location. Amazing.

In a green area just off the Stillorgan dual carriageway, this is a great little stone. Over a metre tall, it sits north of a few tennis courts in an area popular with dog-walkers. The limestone rocky outcrops in the field are a surprise: how they have survived, and how the stone has survived, all the ravages of house and road building is a miracle.

A great, semi-buried stone, grafittied and otherwise ignored. The basin is huge, after the soil and broken glass have been removed. Bullauns always fascinate me; how were the basins carved? How long did it take? Were they worked with a denser, harder stone? As is mentioned in Monumental About Pre-historic Dublin (I wouldn’t have found the stone without it!) it would be great to see it raised and the basin enabled to collect rainwater again.

To update the the access situation, the ‘unofficial’ side entrance from the adjacent farm field is now shut off by fencing, so all visitors must follow the official route from the car park.

In winter the path is very muddy and the steep slope leading down to Coldrum Lane from the car park track is very treachurous, so wear good boots and if possible take a walking staff.

The access to Coldrum Longbarrow is now effectively non existent for people of limited mobility, particularly in winter. :(

I would prefer to see some special arrangements made for people with walking difficulties so that they could gain access to at least the lower part of the site by driving up Coldrum Lane, but a key to the gate would have to be made available for such visitors by the locals.

Whilst in general the gate on the lane is a good idea and keeps too many people from driving up the lane, (and has thus reduced vandalism and littering thereby), in this day and age of allegedly improved disabled access policy the changes of late to Coldrum are a retrograde step. :(

Many Blessings.
Oriondruid.

Viisted this last week with Mr Hamhead and Scubi63. I wasn’t previously aware of this site, but took some photos on a glorious autumn morning and stitched the pano photo together.

The circle consists of 15 low granite stones and has a diameter of 20m; it is sited next to the well preserved remains of a Romano British Enclosure into the walls of which some of the stones on the Western side have been incorporated. The circle although quite ruinous is easily recognized, although a number of the stones are hidden by tall grasses.
The extensive site, of which the circle is a part, bears evidence of long term occupation, containing not only the circle and enclosure but four substantial cairnfields, several stone banks, an ancient trackway, hut circles, and the remains of a medieval field system.

This barrow is only really visible from Shapwick churchyard. It is situated on a flood plain next to the river Stour, Badbury rings is about two miles to the north of this site.
The barrow is relatively well known for the engraving of its excavation in 1838. The person responsible for the dig was the Rev. Charles Wools, the then curate of Sturminster Marshall. Wools wrote that “the examination of the Barrow was continued for Eight Days with an indomitable spirit of perseverance.” Work had to stop when they dug below the level of the river and the trench began to flood. A possible Bronze age cremation burial was found.
Wools wrote up the dig in a book called “The Barrow Diggers; a Dialogue in Imitation of the Grave Diggers in Hamlet” a mixture of farce and serious scholarship.

All I can see in this area is one low bowl barrow covered in brambles and scrub. What looks like ditch in the photo is a rut in the track which leads to a gateway into a field. There should be another three barrows in the vicinity, I suspect they’re over a slight rise in the field. As this is private farmland with sheep grazing I didn’t go further into the fields to look for them.

In His book ‘The Stone Circles of Cumbria’ John Waterhouse describes three circles at Gretigate that were not identified until the late 1950’s “by which time they were in a very ruinous condition.

I parked up in Gosforth, crossed the A595T and walked down the track to Seascale Hall. Waterhouse’s sketch map locates the circle on a trackway that runs off the main track at a cottage called Sides. I called in at the cottage and was met by an old fella who was working on his immaculate gardens, obviously a labour of love for him.
“Howdo, do you mind if I have a walk down your lane to have a look at the stones circles?
“Don’t mind at all, if you can find it” he replied and then promptly disappeared into his shed.
Waterhouse’s sketch map places circle A about 100 metres from the cottage and circles B & C another 50 or so metres beyond that.
The only remains of circle A was supposed to be a ‘chord of the circle, about 30m long, which has been incorporated into a stone wall along the edge of the field. Unfortunately this wall is now covered on both sides by a dense overgrowth of every thorn bearing bush known to grow in the British Islands. I managed to hack away at some of this and found a number of large boulders at the base of the wall. Unfortunately boulder based walls are quite common around these parts so in all honesty it was difficult to say if these were the remains of the circle. Examination from the field side was equally impossible, hindered even more by a barbed wire fence.
One possible candidate for a stone was a large plum-shaped boulder that had been dumped amongst a bunch of bramble strewn rubble of the opposite side of the trackway.

As for circles B & C. The lane petered out at a large farm dump that contained decades of accumulated rubbish. Behind this was a narrow wood of low trees that had once been used as a pheasant rearing area. The wood was badly overgrown and the terrier and I spent a good three quarters of an hour hacking our way around it being ripped to shreds by brambles and thorns in the process. After that we turned our attention to the bordering fields. The result of all this activity was that we found absolutely nothing. I can only assume that all visible traces of the three circles are now either beneath the dense woodland mat, ploughed out of the adjacent fields or dumped in the nearby stone dump.

All in all our visit to Gretigate failed to yield any concrete evidence of the stones, we found a couple of possible stones but that was it. Definitely one for the enthusiast.

If you do find yourself in this area, I would recommend a visit to the Gosforth Bakery, a small house just opposite the car park; it’s a pie lover’s paradise. There’s also the beautiful carved Saxon Cross in the parish churchyard.

This is a truly huge earth work. It is higher than some hillfort ramparts I’ve seen and the northern ditch is still at least a metre deep. The southern ditch is less evident and may be the footpath itself.
There is a bowl type barrow with a still visible outer ditch about two hundred yards east of the long barrow.

This long barrow is a couple of hundred yards north west of Buzbury rings. It’s right next to a footpath, I parked in the golf club car park, nobody seemed to mind.
The barrow is in a fenced off area and apart from being rather overgrown appears to be in good condition, with ditches on both sides. It is orientated on a northwest / southeast axis as is the nearby Race down long barrow. It is 125 feet long, 80 feet wide and 6 1/2 feet high.

This long barrow is on M.O.D. land, part of Blandford camp, but public footpaths cross the site so access is allowed. I got there via Tarrant Monkton, drive up a dead end track with a turning circle at its end, park and follow the footpath.
The barrow is well worth the effort, its in great condition, this has been an army camp for two hundred years, so agriculture hasn’t harmed it. It has a very wide base, I couldn’t get close enough to see any side ditches.

I’d never visited Greycroft before yesterday, its unsalubrious neighbour and other peoples bad experiences had always given me an excuse to be somewhere else. However I decided to put all this aside and get myself there.

The circle can be seen from the road and access was a doddle and hassle free. I parked up on the main road just beside the bridge and took the signed footpath along the stream past the ruined mill house. The lovely farmer has erected a stile on the field beside the circle with a noticeboard highlighting the permissive pathway to the ring.

The stones themselves are a bit knocked about but lovely all the same. Nine of the ten stones are agglomerate which has weathered with a pinkish patina. A number of the stones have been damaged and you can see the original colour of the stone is a dark grey. The most southerly stone is sandstone and continues the Cumbrian ring builders liking for including an ‘exotic’ in amongst the natives.

The great thing about this circle is the views and the way it balances the sea on one side and the distant fells on the other. It was also nice to see that the woods that line the bank between the ring and the power station have now matured and block out most of the view of its dark satanic neighbour.

All in all, a lovely circle with nice views, well worth a visit. Access may be a problem if you are unable to climb a couple of stiles or negotiate a narrow, irregular path.

Approximate long/lat coordinates only

Access: See the Menhir de Cisternette and Menhir 1 de Coulet. Less than 300 metres east, on the north side of the road. Also less than 1km east of the Menhir de la Levade.

As with all the menhirs here, there is a fence at the side of the road, so I’m not sure how easy it is to get right up to the stone, but it’s very close to the road.

‘Visited’ Wednesday 5 September
One web source I have seen since we got back suggests that there are two menhirs here, but gives no more information.

We could only see one from the road, though looking closely at one my photographs there is what I had previously taken as a dead tree beyond the stone. I now think it could well be another stone. The one we definitely saw is a fairly chunky, tapering monolith around 3 metres tall and 1.5 metres wide. As with Menhir 1 du Coulet, it is set on the high plain surrounded by low hills.

Approximate long/lat coordinates only

Access: See the Menhir de la Cisternette. This one is right opposite, on the north side of the road, but ‘Cisternette’ is probably easier to spot (it’s unmissable!) Also only about 600 metres east of the Menhir de la Levade and less than 300 metres west of the Menhir 2 (?) du Coulet.

As with all the menhirs here, there is a fence at the side of the road, so I’m not sure how easy it is to get right up to the stone, but it’s very close to the road.

‘Visited’ Wednesday 5 September
A nice-looking, slim monolith 3.25 metres tall and 1.35 metres wide, set on the high plain surrounded by low hills.

Approximate long/lat coordinates only

Access: See the Menhir de la Levade. The Menhir de Cisternette is easy to spot and the only one of the four menhirs we found that is to the right (south) of the road. Heading east on the D130, it is only about 600 metres past the Menhir de la Levade, which is on the left (north) of the road. (Less than 300 metres west of the Menhir 2 du Coulet).

The Menhir 1 du Coulet is to the north of the road at the same point, but is probably harder to spot while moving....

As with all the menhirs here, there is a fence at the side of the road, so I’m not sure how easy it is to get right up to the stone, but it’s very close to the road.

‘Visited’ Wednesday 5 September
This one’s a fairly beefy slab of a stone, 2.3 metres tall. It’s set on the low slopes of the hillside surrounding the open high plain.

Some marks on its north face have apparently been interpreted as a possible cross and attempt at christianisation. I’m not convinced, myself.

Approximate long/lat coordinates only

Access: For directions, see the Petit Dolmen de Ferrussac. Heading east from the Petit dolmen, we spotted four menhirs from the road. In order, they were this one (on the left/north of the road), the Menhir de la Cisternette (on the right/south), Menhir 1 du Coulet (on the left/north) and one which I guess is Menhir 2 (?) du Coulet (on the left/north).

Starting from the Petit Dolmen, go east on the D130 past the Grand Dolmen de Ferrussac. After passing the Grand Dolmen, once the countryside ‘opens up’ on the left, keep your eyes open (on both sides) for menhirs.

I say look out on both sides because if you miss this one, the next one is the Menhir de la Cisternette on the right. As that’s the only one we saw on the right, it is very helpful in working out where you are in relation to the others!

The Menhir de la Levade is around 3km east of the Grand Dolmen on the left (north) of the road. There is a fence at the side of the road, so I’m not sure how easy it is to get right up to the stone, but it’s easy to see from the road once you spot it.

‘Visited’ Wednesday 5 September
Despite being 3 metres tall, we only just spotted this one in the scrub on the plain. But if you miss it, it would be easy to find by retracing your steps/wheeltracks from the Menhir de la Cisternette, which is very easy to spot on the right (south) of the road a little further along. We didn’t stop, as we had traffic behind and weren’t planning to stop at single stones....

I now regret this, as from the glimpse we got it looks like a fine menhir. Admittedly it seemed very much like the others on the D130, which we did get a chance to stop at and photograph.

Only metres away from nuraghe Longu but not as well preserved.

A single tower structure, diameter 13.5 metres, height max 4.4 metres.

Another of the numerous nuraghe visible from Santu Antine!

I started at the road (S767536) where there is a forest track and headed up. It’s about a 150m climb but not too strenuous until you have to negotiate some field walls at the very end of the track. Over 2 walls and you’re in the field that reaches the summit and the hillfort.

There are a few small hills like this to the west of the Blackstairs. One is at Rathgeran with its hilltop enclosure and its wonderful rock art. You can see Rathgeran from here. Presuming that the hillfort on Knockscur is of iron-age vintage, and given what’s at Rathgeran, I scoured the rock-littered slopes west and below the hillfort in a vain attempt to find some carved rocks.

The enclosure itself is very visible at this time of year. The bracken is dying away leaving the rubble ramparts visible, especially on the western side with its curious (to me) entrance. The circle of the fort is split by more modern stone wall field boundaries, but the ramparts follow on into the neighbouring fields, though these are overgrown with gorse and hard to make out.

There is no date given for a site visit in the Arch. Inventory and their entry is taken from ‘Carloviana 1986, 9’, leading me to believe that the site has never been properly surveyed.