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.
Latest Fieldnotes
October 17, 2007
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.
October 16, 2007
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.
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.
October 15, 2007
This once great long barrow is now very low and difficult to see, I assume it’s been ploughed for many years. The current farmer seems to be trying to protect it’s whereabouts by placing a series of marker poles around it, but sadly the damage has been done.
Close by are several round barrows, two of which I have included, a third is just visible in a dense hedge.
One major bonus on this visit to what could have been a disappointing site was the finding of a beautifully crafted discoid flint scraper.It is 4.5cm wide and 5.5cm long with one very sharp edge and a blunt end.
October 14, 2007
Seeing as there was no photos of the Long Stone, armed with an OS map printout – i set off to find it. I parked up next to the cattle grid and followed the footpath through the woods (this track can get quite boogy, so wellies are a must). The stone is about 50 metres down from the first right hand turn – about 3 metres right from the footpath. It’s a small stone (about 0.5 metres high) and has a cruciform groove carved in about an inch deep. I didn’t have my compass with me today so i can’t show if the grooves are aligned in any way. Overall, a nice little hidden away stone – you’ve got to be a bit eagle-eyed due to its size (i walked past it once) but worth checking out if your in the area.
From Olbia airport, head west and watch out for the sign to Loiri – even though you want to go south and logic says that’s left, it’s a right turn.
Second time lucky, we got on the right road – the SP24 – and turned off at the sports pitch mentioned in TME – the tomba is signposted from here.
We parked in the area probably designed for those visiting Pedres castle, on the hill overlooking the site, having seen the state of the bumpy, sandy track, and walked the last 200 metres. There was a red Renault parked just by the gate in the low wall, and it turned out that it belonged to the site guardian – a lovely man! You can buy a ticket for 5 sites round Olbia for 7,50 – the others being:
Pozzo Sacro “Sa Testa”
Acquedotto e Cisterna “Sa Rughittola”
Nuraghe “Riu Mulimu”
Fattoria Romana di “S’imbalconadu”
but we only had time for this one, so paid 2,50 euros each. They may not get many visitors – the tickets had their prices overstickered for last year, if not the year before’s charges.
This is one of the largest tombas in Sardinia, 28 metres long. As at Li Lolghi and Coddu Vecchiu, it’s thought to be a reworking of an allée couverte.
The esedra is huge; the stele has been broken off and removed, leaving a stump of stone with a ridge down it on the left of the entrance, giving a good view down the funeral corridor.
An unloved tomba not far from Santu Antine. It’s not signposted, but is easily visible from the road running south east from the easterly railway crossing near Torralba. After the crossing, you go over the river on a bend, and when you see a track to the left, stop – the tomba is in the field just after the turning.
We climbed over a wire fence to get access.
The stele, though weathered, is impressive. About 3m high, with relief carving and that pink tinge to the stone we’d seen at several other tombas. The area is quite overgrown, and it’s hard to work out much of the burial chamber.
Yet another (!) nuraghe visible from Santu Antine. Quite ruinous.
Nuraghe less than 1km north west of, and visible from, Santu Antine – partly demolished to use the basalt blocks for building a nearby road.
Yet another nuraghe (11 metres in height) alongside the railway line near Torralba station and Santu Antine. We didn’t get close, but apparently you can get to the first floor and there’s an underground room and nearby springs.
Less than 1.5km east of Santu Antine, though we spotted it from the road running parallel to the railway line rather than from that nuraghe.
This is a single tower structure 8 m high and with a diameter of 11 m. If you get up close (we didn’t!) you can see through the entrance to its interior room.
Another nuraghe clearly visible from Santu Antine. It has a single tower – diameter 12.5 m, height 4.6 m – and some huts surrounding it.
A nuraghe right next to the railway line, about 700 metres from Torralba station – and visible for miles around. Being the wrong side of the tracks, it’s classed as being in Giave though. Apparently it’s possible to visit, but it’s recommended to take care on the railway!
October 13, 2007
If you only visit one nurahge, make it this one! Just take a look at its aerial view from Google ...
Signposted from Sant’ Andrea Priu and south of Torralba, on the SP121, in the valley of the nuraghes – they are everywhere! We’d taken some binoculars and spotted the nuraghes of Fraigas, Oes, Bonzalzas, Mura Coloras and Cabu Abbas with little difficulty – all under 1.5km away. Fig 29 in Margaret Guido’s book shows the distribution of nuraghe across the island – and here it’s over 0.6 per square km. Crazy!
There’s a fair bit of parking in the layby, a simple cafe, ticket booth (entrance fee 3 euros, ticket also valid for the Valle dei Nuraghi museum in Torralba) with information leaflets and an extra hut selling local produce of all kinds.
The site has been managed by La Pintadera Cooperative since 1992, when the town council assigned Santu Antine to them.
We stopped for a toastie and a drink, while talking to an older couple trying to persuade a small scared white kitten to drink the cup of milk they’d bought for it, and then went past the reconstructed round hut at the gate and to the southerly entrance.
There’s a settlement surrounding the nuraghe and it’s possible to make out maybe 10 huts, with some later Roman building too.
The nuraghe itself is built on a triangular plan out of basalt blocks. As you go in, there’s a guard post or sentry box to the left – this area now houses the visitors’ book – and then the courtyard. It might make more sense if you have a look at the plan .... but ....
The furthest left is the entrance to the west tower (B), then a passage which joins the passage which runs from the west to the north tower (D). There’s a flight of stairs up to the second level with a well just in front of it, then an entrance to the central tower. The pattern repeats itself with another staircase, a passage to the passage that runs from D to C, and entrance to the east tower (C).
We checked out the ground level first of all, amazed at the illuminated corridors, and saw the second well in the north tower, which also has a secondary – now barred – entrance to the nuraghe. Then we took the left hand stairs which lead to a walkway round the perimeter wall and then back down the right hand stairs.
The central tower or keep used to be about 25 metres tall, but is only about 17.5 now. Entering this from the east-west courtyard, there’s a corridor that rings the chamber to the right and a staircase to the left. The ground floor chamber has an impressive tholos and is 5.25m wide and almost 8m tall. Following the winding staircase up to the second level, there’s another tholos chamber on top of the first one and this room has several storage niches visible and a low bench seat along its walls. Up again to the third level – this room is now open to the air, hence the reduced height of the tower – with superb views over the surrounding settlement and across the valley and the numerous other nuraghe in the vicinity.
The light had changed in the ground floor corridors by the time we came back down again, from the initial warm orange to a beautiful cool blue grey.
A stunning place!
From Bonorva, follow the signs towards Bono (also signposted for the site) on the SP126 and then the SP43. About 6.5km from Bonorva take the right fork and proceed carefully – we hit the bottom of the hire car on a ridge and pothole combo and though fortunately nothing fell off, and no leakage occurred, it made some very nasty noises for the rest of the holiday and didn’t do much for my nerves! – for another 2.5km. Park on the road by the big tree opposite the site.
Open 10:00 – 13:00 and 15:00 – 19:00 (all day in July and August, I think), entrance 3½ euros per person including guided tour of the main tomb – in Italian!
From the ticket hut, follow the path up the slope and double back on yourself past the steps and tombs to the “tomb of the head” which is locked when the site is closed. This tomb is deep and made up of several different rooms: the vestibule area has cists cut in the floor on the left and cupels the other side of a central rainwater channel. The two rooms behind each have two pillars and numerous side chambers, and on the ceiling you can see the original red paint, and later murals as the tomb was used through Roman times, and then used as a church, and was still in use in the Middle Ages. There are numerous friezes from its Christian period on the walls. There’s also a light well, and the floor in the central chamber has been carved to collect the rainwater that this also lets in, probably used for baptisms.
You are free to wander around the rest of the site – to the right is tomb VIII with its carved roof, meant to resemble the rafters of a hut, and right from there in tomb IX someone’s added graffiti “Ciao Lucy” in red paint.
The steps to the right lead to a small gate, and then a rock cut path to the hilltop, where you find more tombs / dwellings cut into the rock, and the rock cut dolmen, described as being known locally as “the Elephant” in TME, but also listed as a Taurus in my research.
1.4 km east of Mores, on the 128bis, turn south onto the SP47. After 6.3 km turn right, and then after another 3.15km turn right again past the farm to the dolmen. All turns are signposted!
Just before the final junction, we were held up for a while by, but then inched forward through, a flock of sheep and barking dogs, actually herding a few stragglers with the car when we turned to the farm.
The first gate is 730 metres further on – we drove through and parked, walking the last couple of hundred metres.
It’s huge! My notes say 2.7 metres tall, 5 metres long, and the capstone used to be 6 metres by 3 metres by 60 cm, weighing in at 27 tonnes.
The rear wall is missing; the front has a small portal as though belonging to the stele of a tomba di gigante, and inside there’s a niche carved into the side wall.
Whoever had visited the dolmens such as Ladas around the village or Luras had been here, or maybe it’s a local custom, but yet again a potted plant had been left recently.
Free and open access – but watch out for livestock on the approach road!
Well worth a visit if you are in the Winchester area, these are off the Alresford road in a nature reserve for butterflies opposite St Swithun’s School and next door to the masons’ lodge. You can easily walk there from town (well, you do have to puff up a hill of course). Wonderful view across the hills and over the Chilcomb valley. Believe it or not these were the first barrows I ever encountered, so they are in part to blame for my interest! I still like coming up here early in the morning to reset the brain. It’s not exactly a secluded spot but it’s very peaceful. MAGIC gives lots of details, including archaeological finds. There are five barrows here though you are likely only to count the easternmost three as the others are a shadow of their former selves. There is also a further barrow at the east end of the down.