Latest Fieldnotes

These four similar sized round barrows are placed at right angles to the Ridge hill group .They run down the north facing slope of Great hill. Widely and equally spaced apart they do not appear to have either ditches or banks surrounding them.

Situated just below Ridge hill , with Maiden castle to the north east , this is almost certainly the only quadruple barrow in Britain. They are all the same size and are very close together , Grinsell says they share a common ditch , I couldn’t see this as there was a crop in the field. Just north of the four is another large , low round barrow with what appears to be a small standing stone next to it.
This quadruple barrow is only a few hundred metres west of a unique bell/disc barrow at the top of Gould’s hill.

This is a more subdued Dorset hillfort than either nearby Hod or Hambledon hills. It shows on the ground as a low bank from the footpath, the site itself is on private farmland. As I was feeling law abiding and being looked at by a bloke on a tractor in the next field, I decided not to climb the gate and go for a look.

What a monster climb it is to get up here , shows how unfit I am. A beautiful clear day , Hambledon is in clear view to the west , and is so massive it looks closer than it probably is. I think because of the steep climb , there are never many people up here ,only saw one bloke walking his dog in two hours. On the way up the hill I found a piece of worked flint near a badgers sett.

This really was the best time to visit these sites, a perfect 20 degree sunny spring day. The bluebells in their first flush of flower and the beeches just coming into leaf. Later in the season, with the tree canopy developed and the understory in full growth, the sites are more obscured and dark.
To add a few comments to Nat’s... The pub has been demolished and if you take the anti-clockwise path from the car park the Banjo Enclosure is first (almost impossible to photo but see FlashEarth link.) then the E barrow (with trees removed), follow the path to the conifers and turn right parallel to the (very noisy!) M3 to the N barrow.
Jim.

Finally made it up to see the “Rolling Sun” at Boheh Stone. It is a very interesting expierence. Talking to a local lady that had seen it everytime in the last 36 years she said that this instance was the brightest she can remember. I would recommend bringing some kind of tinted “welders” goggles with you so that you can observe it better. I think I am still seeing sun-spots after it.
The stone is on the Clew Bay Arch trail as Site 2 and can be found by following the signs for Croagh Patrick coming out of Westport and then following the sign for Site 2.
There is a lot of construction going on close to the stone (which is in someones backyard but access is allowed!) and another spot where it is possible to view the “rolling sun” from the road will be gone as another bungalow is built up in front of it.
It happens twice a year on the 18th April and August 24th. However the locals that were there last night agreed that today the 19th April would probably be better so it looks as if it could be slightly either side of this.

Visited this site again and have found another two barrows in the area surrounding the Hardy monument. One is very low and small and the land owner has circled it with wooden posts , as people used to park on top of it. The other is a much larger round barrow , sadly looking in quite a battered condition. This site is a local viewpoint and gets very busy in the summer , most of the damage done to this barrow is probably done by rabbits , which are abundant on this site , but some of it must be man made.

This is an island I know very well as I worked here for 5 years and can trace family back for several hundred years. I’m not surprised that Mr Hamhead couldn’t find many sites in this pock marked landscape , it is after all a giant quarry, from which many millions of tons of stone have been removed. The Culverwell site, which he mentions is difficult to access , but is well worth the effort. It is a mesolithic ” summer” camp of about 12000 years b.c.e. which has been a largely amateur labour of love , led by local archaeologist Susann Palmer. There is, albeit scant, evidence from paintings of the island that there was a major Durotrigian hillfort on the site of the Verne prison. The current prison is a converted Palmerstonian fortress , which when it’s defensive ditch was dug by convicts in the 1860 / 70 period, was found to contain a great many burials which showed sword and spear wounds. Artifacts recovered from these burials were of the iron age period, and it is reckoned to be a war grave. Contemporary roman documentary evidence (Tacitus) nicknames the island the “isle of slingers”, the nearby Chesil beach providing millions of pebbles as slingshot ammunition. Enormous caches of pebbles from chesil beach have been found in Dorset hillforts many miles inland.

The region between the convergence of the A68 and A696 main roads on their way to Scotland is not known for its rock art and the cluster of 13 panels at Ray-Sunniside in the Beckensall Archive stands out. It is lovely walking country of rolling heather moorland and recent forestry blocks dotted on the map with cairns and ancient settlements of all kinds.
Although only 4km south of the impressive multiple cup and ring carvings of Tod Crag, all 13 rocks at Ray-Sunniside were described as having just single or multiple cup-marks, most were portable but probably associated with cairns. It’s often hard to prove cup-marked rocks as being artificial and not natural features so I visited with an open and largely sceptical mind.
The site is approached from the minor road which runs between Ridsdale on the A68 and Knowesgate, just north of Kirkwhelpington on the A696. The main ridge is about 260m above sea-level and runs SW to NE on a slope south of Ray Fell.
There proved to be a large number of cairns, old boundaries and enclosures with a few remains of round-houses.
Of the Beckensall panels, I failed to find two (b and m) and six (d, e, g, h, k and l) were unconvincing as definite rock art as the cups were shallow. h is a strangely grooved rock but may be the result of natural erosion along the bedding planes. The others though have deep cups and several are located close-to or were closely-ssociated with the cairn-field.
Although many of the cairns may have been for field clearance, a few may have been used for burials and the incorporation of portable cup-marked rocks in such Bronze Age cairns is a well known phenomenon. Rock i, for example, which has a single cup-mark about 8cm diameter and 4cm deep, lies close to a prominent cairn. The Archive entry quotes Phil Deakin that the stone was used as the end stone of a burial cist, facing inward. The cup-marks on a, c, f, and j, and also b and m on Archive evidence, are similar in size and form and I reckon are convincingly genuine rock art, albeit of the not very exciting kind!
A search of the area on Keys to the Past showed two records under Canny Cleugh (the name of a small stream to the north). One is for an enclosure, field system, cairns and hollow ways of unknown date and the other for a field system, clearance cairns and the ring banks of round houses (seen on aerial photos) and assigned to the later prehistoric period. At the west end of the ridge is a very prominent rectangular-banked enclosure with the remains of round houses and a field system (given the name ‘Sunnyside near Ferneyrigg’) which links to a similar site to the SE (’Ray Burn’) by a hollow way. These are both described as Roman-period native farmsteads.

This is a stunning place and a real rarity, most of the bank barrows in the country lay along the south Dorset ridgeway, of which this is a part. At the field margins and where a round barrow gets close to it’s northern side , signs of a ditch can be seen. From the top of the bank the Bincombe bumps set of round barrows can be seen on the southern horizon. To the east there are various round barrows and immediately south is Chalbury hilfort.The island of Portland looms large in Weymouth bay as it does from most of the ancient sites along the ridgeway of Dorset.

I think the best time to see this site is when the trees aren’t in full leaf. There is a definte combination of berm, ditch and bank surrounding the base of the barrow. I’m not sure I like the trees either but they do stop these barrows from being ploughed into oblivion.

Managed a quick visit here following a call to the thoroughly decent farmer to ask permission to wander the fields. This later involved a bit chat about the placement and possible meanings of the carvings. It was this chap who first discovered the carving in the early 1970s, he says he’s scoured the area for others, but none have turned up.

The carvings itself is placed in such a spot that there has to be a high likelihood that it’s creator was making reference to the natural feature of The Piper’s Chair. As Beckensall says, it is very finely carved, it put me more in the mid of the Galloway carvings I’ve seen than of the general style in Northumberland. Quite tightly made, and unusual in this neck of the woods to see 4 penannulars and such a shallow cup.

It’s also puzzling to try and work out what the damage was. I’d always assumed that it must have been quarried, but on close inspection, this seems unlikely. It’s really just surface damage, but deliberate or accidental, who can say?

I can see this cairn from my house in Cahir, originally I thought it was the cairn on Sturrakeen. However it is on Slieveanard, its funny the cairns that are marked on Greenane West and Sturrakeen dont look like cairns at all while this one definitely is a cairn but isnt marked.
The cairn itself is about 2m high by about 15m diameter. There is a fantastic view from it back along the spine of the Galtees. It is a relatively easy climb up. I followed the path marked on the OS map that takes you up to the lower of the two peaks and then walked from there over to the higher one.
The cairn on the higher peak isnt visible from the lower.

This is a great and varied barrow cemetery , having most of the known types included in it .The Ackling dyke roman road runs right through it , indeed it cuts part of the oval ditch of a twin disc barrow off. It looks to me that this may have been a deliberate show of military power on the part of the romans , as a few yards movement could easily have avoided this. Most of the barrows on this site have been excavated , thankfully in a reasonably sympathetic way, it wasn’t done by the local vicar with a shovel .Burials of different types were found within the mounds along with grave goods.

Ackling Dyke:
Although not in itself “megalithic” , being of definite roman origin , this place is surrounded with ancient sites. Everywhere you look there are barrows , including the very impressive Oakley down barrow cemetery which has examples of just about every type of barrow known. It’s siting by the romans appears, at least to me to be a deliberate show of military strength , passing through a major cemetery and close to the great Dorset cursus as it does.

With no plans to stop on my 4-hour trek home, it was with a screech of brakes and a floorwell full of front-seat junk that I decided with 25 yards to go to stop and have a look, as I’ve passed it too many times without paying my respects.

Strangely the tree-planting noted by Stubob only covers the road-side of the barrow, and there seems to have been no additions since his photos from last December, though the unplanted side does seem to have spouting trees of some sort, maybe from coppicing.

Hemmed in by drystone walling, but protected by it, so a double-edged sword, unfortunately not repaired after digging so bearing the scar on the south-east side, which always gets my back up. But this is compensated by the lovely views of the Dales, a far softer and less forbidding landscape than further north. A definite stop-for-a-ciggie place for the future on my A515 slog.

Pay at the interpretation centre at (South) Liddel/Liddle – vital talk there included in the price. On the way to the main objective the BA house at the burnt mound is a must see. As you come closer to the tomb (RCAHMS NMRS record no. ND48SE 1 at ND47048849) there is a low bank of earth and exposed stones in a field by the track that may be the reduced remains of a cairn or barrow. It is about a couple of metres across and at least several metres long (though you can see the end), starting by the field boundary and at right angles to the fence. From this direction the Tomb of The Eagles (the White-tailed Sea Eagle, or erne, called aigle) is only another scruffy mound.

Coming closer you see several smallish stones projecting from this side, the full glory appearing as you move around, with a resemblance to Wideford Hill Cairn. Best viewed from just ouside the fencing – look from the coastal (i.e. east) side and south is to your left and north at the right. A little of the area about the entrance has been eroded, from just to the left of the passage to way over to the right, so that we are missing the actual entrance (there is no evidence for it being a connecting passage anyway. From the the north side of the central cairn a 1.5m wide wall, standing to 0.3m, runs NNE from the outer wall-face for at least 12m that is known about (? ‘death road’). This feature is later than the cairn but pre-dates the overlying rubble mound. On this side there is strong evidence of a hornwork curving to the NE, on the opposite side an apparently balancing earthwork is canny use of a purely natural formation.

In one place there is a short length of higher standing wall parallel to the NNE running wall behind its western face – part of said hornwork? Climbing on top of this side of the mound there is exposed a long dark stone (or possibly two) that looks to be an E/W course of wall, and looks to be shown on the plan in Davidson and Henshall. Others can describe the interior better than I. The south end side chamber has a display of skulls behind a screen. There is a light switch for this, but you have to keep it pressed in order to even attempt a photo. Davidson & Henshall mentions that quite aways from the cairn a ‘storm beach’, again to the NE, covers some kind of stone structures.

Made it up the hill to this fort on Friday evening, so not enough time to make the climb to the top as it was getting dark, but with some fantastic views from halfway and from the quarry side, it was well worth it.

Third attempt, and with stronger legs, I finally found this site, and what a superb place to put whatever it is. Stunning views of Eccles Pike, Whaley Bridge and further on to hilltops and lows unknown [at least by me] especially at 9am on a wonderful clear spring morning.

It measures 36 by 34 feet across, so rather small, with a pronounced bank on the western downhill side. Several larger stones, with many smaller and buried stones found by probing, all around the perimeter, with a single central stone. Highly unlikely to be the result of field clearance, as there are several other stones in the field and a deep narrow gully only 50 yards away downhill. Easily visible from a long distance [so how did I miss it before? Too bloody lazy to walk another 50 yards...steep path though], but alone in the landscape.

I was under the impression it was a hengiform thing, but there’s no evidence of a ditch, it’s far too small, but it would be pretty perfect as a stone and earth barrow that has been robbed out. Suggestions of it being a stone circle are probably based on the stones visible around the edge and the central stone, like a small version of Arbor Low, complete with flat stones. As well as the stones around the field, there is a very large one under the tree in the field over the path to the south. The field has never been ploughed [or the farmer had an unlimited supply of blades to break] so the ridge around the edge survives well enough to give an impression of how wide it originally was.

A skull currently at Tunstall Farm was alledgedly from this site.

Worth the climb.

The first photo is looking south and then the second photo is where the tomb turns almost to a 45 degree angle.
This can be seen from Fourwinds postcard in the misc section.

About 360m high this hillfort is cut into thirds by two walls with two stiles, the grass is kept short by the sheep of which there seems to be loads of round here. I parked by Fonleif Hir C standing stone and walked the track past three more standing stones and at the two cairn circles go straight up hill .
I know this might sound a bit samey but from up here there are absolutely staggering views.

We parked up the lane from the property with the chambers, at an empty house that was being renovated, then a short walk down the lane and up the drive of Tan-y-Muriau house we knocked (no choice really) but no one was in, we did see the donkey and the dog that had harrassed poor old sam last month but they were locked up.
Iv’e got to say if it wasn’t for sams photos I wouldn’t have known what a small wonder this place is so hats off.
The big dolmen is a good one and one can just about sit comfortably inside but the other chamber has slipped and collapsed, so glad I came without the bracken.

This eight foot tall monolith is easily visible from the small lane there’s even a gate right next to it , but the field was full of sheep and their lambs so I was very reticent to enter willy nilly, and with a nearby house and its barking dog I settled for a zoom in picture.
But for once the kids came up trumps and scared all the sheep to the other end of the field and the dog quietened down so I walked quickly to the stone touched it took a decent photo and skipped back to the car.
Tra la la la laaa.....

I really should have asked for permission as a house is only 100m away but I didn’t, instead I parked on the road side and climbed the small tree covered slope and jumped the fence.
This tall slender stone is about two metres tall and has a good view and coflein says it has been shaped towards the bottom

For anyone trying to ‘reconstruct’ this monument, a recent visit with Stukeley and Ashbee’s words in my head cleared it up.

Stand to the east, looking back over the stones and along the access path. The closest stones [the mouth of the chamber] were all pushed over to the north, ie, to the right. The capstones lay tangled between the uprights on either side. The rear of what Stukely described as a semi-circular chamber was pushed in and to the right, and with his plan in my hand it made sense at last. Just don’t expect to see two lines of parallel stones!

Unfortunately, although still graffiti-free, some digging had been done to the north, around a 2’ hole, mostly, from what I could see, the remains of the roots from the tree that stood in that spot, wedged between three stones. Thankfully there was enough spoil left so filling it in wasn’t too difficult, though it did look hand-dug....two fresh smaller sarsen chunks down there tho, was tempted, just for a second, to have a poke around, but managed to reign in my curiosity, and reported it to Maidstone Museum instead.