Latest Fieldnotes

Poor poor stones. Had I not found them they doubtlessly would have been lost forever. I know, not really, but that’s the way they looked. Uncared for to say the least.

Found (?) behind houses on the east side of the B4310 north of the river Towyl Afon Tywi. Two stones about 2ft apart , the eastern stone is about 4ft tall and the western stone about 7ft tall I think (hard to tell under all that nettles and brambles). Nice if someone knew how to use shears or even wanted to. There’s not a standing stone within 20 miles of my house, if only...

Another beautifully located single stone on the highest point of this extraordinary finger of land between two deep gorges. Like it’s cousins Maen Bach and Maen Hir it stands marking an ancient trackway and point to the valleys below and beyond

The two cairns are next to the stone and nearby is what looks suspicously like a complex of round barrrow needing further investigation

DIMENSIONS:
1.6(h), 0.8m(w), 0.6m(d)

There is a large menhir at Berrisbrook farm in a field boundary. There is another which has been has less convincingly been described as its pair which is now used as a gatepost in te adjacent road

DIMENSIONS:
1.8m(h),1.2m(w), 0.7m(d) the isolatesd stone
1.8m(h),0.7m(w), 0.7m(d) the gatepost

The stones lie on a line tangential to the ring cairn and are roughly aligned in the directions of the midwinter setting or midsummer rising sun

DIMENSIONS:
3 stones av. 0.5m(h), 0.4m(w), 0.4m(d). 2.0m and 0.4m apart

This little barrow competes the complex of circle, ring and alignment. It has a small depression in the top which may be a sign of previous excavation

DIMENSIONS:
11m(diameter), 1.5m(h)

The cairn is buried and mainly hidden under the long grass and almost impossible to photograph although you can feel it under foot. Two crescent of stones remain. On one lies the quartz boulder thought to have possibly been a standing menhir

This is another unrecognised site requiring confirmation. Set high on the hillside and orientated approximatley south west – north east, it marks the route to the Cefn Gwwynerd complex

DIMENSIONS:
0.8m(h),0.4m(w), 0.6m(d)

There is also a possible fallen and half buried alignment adjacent – again to be confirmed

The site is hidden deep within a plantation on a ridge on what would have been open moorland. The stones are half buried. One was probably much higher but is shattered by frost. There is additional stone set within the circle.

How did something so delicate survive so long? It is almost impossible to photograph the small stones in the long grass. Some are so loose you could pluck them like teeth with one hand. Morgan and Ruggles examined this whole complex for astronomical significance in the seventies and Burl briefly became very excited about it but really, you would have to be a gnome to be able to use these stones for astronomical observation (I’m not discounting that possibility by the way – there are so many fly agarics around here and it feels so strange that this truly must be a fairy circle) – what could you do here but meet and dance?

DIMENSIONS:
20 stones of average height 0.4m in a diameter of 24.5m

Another large forgotten lonely slate flat slab on the upland plateau said to be an ancient boundary mark. Orientated approx. east-west and flanked by fence posts

DIMENSIONS:
2.0m(h),1.3m(w), 0.3m(d)

Set adjacent to the present track and within the precinct of the nearby Ty Newyyd stone

DIMENSIONS:
approx 40m long with approx 20 stones up to a height of 0.8m

We discovered this recently and it needs to be confirmed by others with more expertise. If it is a stone row it is extraordinary – a Dartmoor sized hidden secret

Set within small cairn (3m in diameter and 0.3m high) this beautiful massive stone stands quietly under trees keeping itself (and its secrets) to its self. It is marked on no maps

DIMENSIONS:
2.6m(h),3.2m(w), 0.7m(d)

Two large cairns set 100m part sited on natural rises on a ridge at the highest point of Mynydd Mallaen (459m). Both are highly visible from the south. Cairn A (the western) is mainly intact apart from channel cut through it for observation by the OS. Cairn B (the eastern) was excavated ‘without profit’ in 1930 and is now occassionally used as a sheep shelter.

These are two strange sisters indeed. Perched spookily above a natural ampitheatre, with Maen Bach and Maen Hir, they form a mysterious prehistoric complex high on this lonely plateau.

Note: The cairns are further than they seem if you are walking from the standing stones. Follow the faint track – the direct route is boggy with hidden dips.

Dimensions
A 25m(diameter), 3.0m(h)
B 25m(diameter), 4.0m(h)

Another isolated, splintered slate slab surmounting a small cairn of packing stones on the mountain. It is intervisible with Maen Bach and the Crugiau Merched cairns and is the most prominent of this ritual complex.

DIMENSIONS
1.4m(h), 0.3m(w),0.4mm(d)

This is a strange pointed triangular sandstone slab surmounting a cairn 6.0m in diameter and 0.2m high which marks the community / county boundary. It is on the summit of a ridge and orientated north – south. Although relatively small (1.3m(h) 1.3 – 0.4m(w),0.2m(d)), it is visible from long distances and several directions. and is intervisible with Maen Hir and the Crugiau Merched cairns.

DIMENSIONS:
1.3m(h), 1.3 – 0.4m(w),0.2m(d)

These places are huge-after Cairnlee yesterday, this one has a better view, but still has a house about 3 inches away from it.

You may think its just a pile of stones, but this monster can be seen a mile off, and there’s some beautiful quartz pieces scattered over the cairn.

Not worth a special visit perhaps, but if you’re visiting the Buchan RSC’s, its got to be worth a stop.

I never met an RSC I didn’t like, and this was no exception. Lots of fun walking up and down the conifer plantation was had in trying to find it, but it was well worth the effort.

The photos tell most of the story, but can’t convey how big the ring was, and how impressive it must have been when complete. Several complete stones are laying, fallen, and the stumps remain of the others. The recumbent has a banded crack running around it, which suggests it may not remain whole for many more winters: see it while you can.

Of the three remaining stones still upright, they seemed an example of each of the common types you seem to see at most sites in NE Scotland. The flanker is a rounded stone, with a tapering top, one of the stones is definitely triangular, and the other is oblong, with squared sides. Given the re-occurence of these shapes (to my eyes at least) across the RSC’s I wonder if the stones were shaped and erected to a common specification in addition to the grading of heights, quartz pavements, cup-marks & SSW alingment of the recumbents. Nothing was random.

This site is now signposted from the road, but you are left very much on your own in the forest. I would recommend: OS map, compass if your SOD is not up to much, waterproof boots in all but the driest conditions and waterproof clothing. The forest tracks are ok, but the grass can be thigh high when you leave them. You will see that the circle is marked to the north of the main track, opposite a southerly track. When you stand at this junction, two paths to the north will greet you: take the left hand one and in 75-100m look for a path to the left-this will take you to the circle in less than 30m. I would say that the circle is slightly to the west of where it is shown on the map.

Should you visit? If you’ve one day to fit in as many sites as possible. then no. If you’re here for the week, then absolutely – it is an essential companion to Strichen, Berrybrae, Aikey Brae and Netherton.

This place is huge! So many cairns have been robbed out or reduced, that I wasn’t fully aware how big they can be. And what a charming setting!

So many of our sites have been urbanised, but at least they’re still here. Yes there are the usual broken bottles & beer cans around, but not too many, and the estate doesn’t look too bad (and I’ve seen a few).

This cairn is great-an overpowering physical presence, big stones and numerous chunks of quartz scattered about, the view over the Dee valley must have been fantastic, and glimpses can still be seen.

Do visit this site: its about 150 yards off the A93 a few miles outside Aberdeen: if you’re visiting Aberdeenshire, you WILL drive past this.

Access: In Cairnlee Avenue, off Cairn Road, off the A93 in Bieldside, near Milltimber. The road is in the local atlas. I must give a recommendation for the Phillips blue road map books: They show every road in Aberdeenshire, and as they’re based on OS data, most circles and cairns are in them (except this one! but Cairnlee Avenue is) – invaluable on a day’s Stone hunting.

Visited 24th April 2005: I found it tricky to park on the A4120, then a bit scary walking the boys along the road. There’s not a lot of traffic, but nobody is really expecting pedestrians.

The fort itself is extremely small, only really big enough to contain one family. It’s the hillfort equivalent of a farmstead, built on a small promontory above the Rheidol valley. There are one or two hut platforms visible within the defences, but they’re too subtle to photograph.

The remaining defences are pretty meagre, and unfortunately the strategic position of the fort isn’t as obvious as it might be because of the surrounding trees. It’s still a beautiful place to visit on a fine day.

Although I wasn’t aware of it during my visit, there is permissive public access to Pen-y-Felin Wynt (hats off to the land owner!). If you want to see the approved route, visit the Countryside Access in Wales web site.

I was up there this week and must say that it was a real joy. The footpath from the end of the tarmaced road at SK120705 is now clearly signposted and there is no longer any sight and certainly no smell of the former landfill site! The tomb itself was looking majestic and well cared for by the landowner and the national park – lets dream of the same happening elsewhere!!

This site has just about everything you could wish for in one place. Stone circles, burial mounds, outlying standing stones, kerb cairns, cup-marked rocks and a very peaceful setting make this a place you could linger for hours. Although there are over 60 known ‘Clava Cairns’ as a type in this part of Scotland, (Corrimony being one) these are the originals the others were named after.

Three beautiful cairns in a wooded river valley, each surrounded by their own Stone Circle. Although all of the cairns are now roofless, this does enable you to see and understand their construction better. Different coloured stones were deliberately placed for effect, and several stones were decorated with ‘cup-marks’ for reasons we can only guess at. All in all a wonderful site, and I can think of no-where better for your final resting place.

Settlement excavated by Scarborough Archaeological & Historical Soc. 1957-1978.

At least eight rectilinear enclosures were found, most lined along an earlier dyke. Not all enclosures were excavated internally, but some contained huts. The most likely dating for these enclosures seems to be 1st. century a.d.

One of the enclosures (enclosure D) seemed to be specifically for the purpose of iron working, and contained evidence of three furnaces.

The high iron content of the ores analysed, and especially its magnetic properties, suggest that ore was brought from the west side of Rosedale (8 miles to the west) rather than extracted on Levisham Moor itself. Rosedale is the only known source of magnetic ore in N.E. Yorkshire, and this occasioned a massive mining operation in c19th. a.d.

The Levisham Moor ‘furnace house’ is the oldest evidence of iron working known in N.E. Yorks. – by about a thousand years!

You pass this little stone box on the wooded hillock just to your left as you go from Ri Cruin to Templewood. A quick scramble up from the rusted gate involves hopping about in the mud.

It looks strange at first, as the side facing Ri Cruin is exposed, with the side slab popped out, giving the impression it could be some sort of letterboxed cairn-viewing-platform for very small people. Apparently it’s not though. Seemingly there are enough traces of jointed grooves to indicate that when it was built, it had four sides, as per normal cist construction. No cups visible on the capstone. Bruach na Cuirte means ‘Brae (hill) of the Court’.

The RCAHMS entry can be found here.

Coombe Hill (or The Combe) certainly warrants a visit if you are in the South East Of England. I found it best to approach walking from the village of Jevington and following the South Downs Way, and if armed with an OS map (recommended!) you will notice there are plenty of other barrows marked on the way.

The top of the Hill has spectacular views and the three barrows are indeed impressive and extremely well looked after, so much so that the disc barrow is easy to define. If you walk south east then south from the enclosure you can be treated to further barrows, that are less impressive but worth a visit. I got to the large one at the top of Bourne Hill (TQ577009) before heading back to Jevington after an exhilarating and breathtaking walk on a fab summers’ day in the East Sussex countryside.

Visited August 2005

This one gets half marks for accessibility. It’s right next to the track up to the main bit of the moor, so you can’t miss it, but it has an annoying gate that prevents easy wheelchair access.

It’s one of the most tightly manicured lawns I’ve seen at a site in a good while. Quite a contrast to the other bits and bobs on the moor, which have a nicer wooly ambience.

The big stone also has some cup marks.