Latest Fieldnotes

Me and the dog trecked up here this morning to greet the mid-winter sun. Climbing up the muddy slope of Pattersons Bank in the dark was a bit of a challenge but the views from the top was well worth the effort. To the west the urban sprawl of the Tees valley, to the south east the beautiful midwinter dawn sky bathed Beacon Moor in a beautiful chimney red glow.

An interesting note.
The Upleatham Barrow has a cupmarked kerb. The nearest known barrow to contain cupmarked stones is at Airy Hill which is approximately 4kms away and roughly in line with the mid-winter sunrise. Project this (rough) line another 6kms past Airy Hill and you will find youself at the cup marked kerbstones below Freebrough Hill.
I must stress that this is a very rough alignment and most probably a coincidence.

The rock with multiple cups is 120 m North of the other carvings , it is composd of very soft sandstone and many of the cups are probably natural.

I first saw photographs from this site back in 2003 on Graeme C’s wonderful website (link below). At the time the location of the site was a secret at the landowner’s request. When Rockrich posted his images a couple of weeks ago my interest was re-awakened, especially as the location of the carvings was now known.
There were a couple of small details, particularly about the cup and ring carving and the general location of the site that didn’t seem to fit in with the North Yorkshire tradition so I jumped at the chance when Rockrich kindly offered to show me around the site. Looking at the site with Rich has two advantages, the first reason being that Rich has an in-depth knowledge of West Yorkshire Rock Art tradition, the second reason being that Rich is a thoroughly nice chap.
We met up at a car park close to the site and headed off up the footpath to the distant plantation and location of the carvings.
As soon as we got into the plantation Rich pointed out a strange dolmen-like structure hidden away amongst the large rocks of the plantation. The ‘dolmen’ appears to have been constructed by jacking up a large stone to act as a capstone and then inserting an large stone into one side to act as a side wall. The wall on the other side and back of the ‘dolmen’ appears to be natural. A small dry stone wall has been coarsely constructed to fill in any gaps. It has to be remembered that the megalithic folly of the Druid’s Temple is only a couple of miles away. So almost probably not prehistoric but a nice diversion.
A little further down the track we came to the first of the carved stones. This is a large earth-fast rock, the surface of which has been carved with a number of deep grooves at least two of which enclose cups, plus a couple of cups with grooves leading out of them. There are a number of other motifs on this rock, a crudely carved roughly circular motif with a central cup and three radial grooves linked by an outer groove. Next to this motif is a ‘draughts board’ motif. On another section of the rock are a number of grooves and cups plus a roughly rectangular or ‘D’-shaped motif. This rock is amazing and worth the journey alone. Rich and I didn’t really see it in its full glory until the low winter sunlight lit it and the whole rock seemed to come to life. *I don’t want to get all arty here but looking at the carvings on this rock brings to mind 20th century artists such as Mondrian and Kandinsky*. It’s a giant of a piece of rock art.
The next carved rock we looked at was the another earth-fast boulder with a large cup and multiple ring motif. Rich had been told by a local fella that the central groove on the motif was aligned to the midwinter sunrise, guess what? It does!
This motif is a strange one. When I had looked at photos of this motif I had noticed that the carving was asymmetrical, Rich pointed out that this is due to at least two of the rings just petering out, very unusual. Another oddity about this carving is that the central groove on the motif doesn’t terminate at the central cup or on one of the radial grooves, this is highly unusual.
Rich and I gently brushed away some of the pine needles that covered this rock and discovered a couple more cups and grooves including one groove that makes a ninety degree turn to link up with a cup.
There are a number of other carved rocks that we looked at but I’ll not bore you with lengthy descriptions here apart from to say that they are extremely varied and very exciting. West Agra seems to be an extremely important and unusual site as regards the style and distribution of the carvings. I’m sure there are more carvings to be found here especially amongst the dozens of rocks that litter the plantation which are currently covered in a dense blanket of needles and soil.
As for the landscape, the carvings are all on a south facing slope just below the scarp edge of Masham Moor. The views to from the site have two main focuses. The two flat topped peaks to the west are the first. I’m not sure of the name of these peaks but suspect they may be Little and Great Whernside.
The second focus is east along the River Burn Valley towards Masham and Wensleydale.
One thing that does concern me about this site is the lack of any other known prehistoric sites in the vicinity. Rich pointed out that there was a Nineteenth century report of a stone circle at Fearby which is just a couple of miles along the valley but as far as I’m aware there have been no reports of evidence of prehistoric settlements in this area. I wonder if this is because no-one has really looked?

*This my my bid for a place in ‘Pseuds Corner‘

This site is featured in The Megalithic European as ‘Monkey’s Bridge’ though I asked a local from the village and they had not heard the name before.

The reason I was asking a local is because the directions in the book are great, if you are travelling in the right direction. However the book doesn’t specify which direction so if you enter Bweeng from the south there is no way in hell you will see either the shrine mentioned or the sign for Nad. Even on the way back they are hard to spot. Take the first turn left once you come to the village if you are coming from the south, take the last right turn if coming from the north. Keep going until you pass over the bridge then park at the next gate on the left.

The taller stone is huge, the smaller one is still quite a large stone, my photo above does not give a proper perspective so the smaller looks a lot more squat than it is.

I was here for one of the most gorgeous sunsets of the year so far, very pink with high scattered clouds and a huge almost full moon looming up behind the stones. Unfortunately my battery ran out so I couldn’t get any moon pics.

What a dissapointment! I was expecting massive stones jutting out of the horizon magnificently, instead I saw tinchy little stones cowering up to a pine plantation.

Luckily that was just the view from the road. Up close these stones are fantastic! My first large stone row and what an introduction. This is a great site, if the plantation and large clump of trees behind it were gone it would be spectacular. I spent a long time here taking in every angle and marvelling at the stones as the light changed, the row was pointing directly at the setting sun. The fallen stone is a shame but it does show how some things are not set in stone as it would seem and should be taken care of no matter how invincible it looks.

Over one hundred photos later I made my way back to the car with that warm feeling that today I really saw something.

I went looking for a boundary stone called ‘The Long Stone’. I didn’t find the Long Stone but I did happen upon this lovely upright stone on the edge of a plantation. The stone is in an area that is completely stone-less and has as it’s neighbours are a couple of low NYM burial mounds.
The stone is easy to find. Park up at the cattle grid at NZ786138 and then follow the footpath into the plantation keeping to the right branch along the fence. Wellies are definitely recommended.

These two barrows lie near to the Cotswold Way going down to Lower Hamswell. They lie just under the hill and are I believe what is termed “false crested”, in other words they are slightly hidden. Last of the Lansdown barrows, before the trackway descends into the valley across the A46 up to Charmy Down, site of another group of barrows now lost. Rev.Skinner recorded this barrow group/cemetery of about 8. They were ploughed under and lie beneath an old airfield. I believe one was recorded by a Mrs.Williams, wife to Grimes, and the subsequent article appeared in Antiquary in the 1950s., she recorded them as kerbed cairns.
All these bronze age barrows sit on the hills/downs that surround Bath, which must have been very marshy around the river and not suitable for settlement.
Some nature notes, walking back through the fields following some giant hoofprints of a horse, I noticed a beautiful fox in the distance sitting calmly watching the dog, as he lolloped along on a quest for pheasants, he managed to flush two from the hedgerow. They were shooting down in the valley, with a noisy beater and dog, probably that was why the not so stupid pheasants were higher up with us!

Thursday 1/12/05
Well- what an improvement to this lonely site. Looks like the council have finally spent some money and tidied this place up as well as a new ‘Wiches Stone’ plaque on the freshly painted railings and a small plaque at ground level explaining a bit about the stone. All the ivy and vegetation that had almost engulfed the stone has gone to be replaced by a sympathetic rockery round the back and some white quartz around the stone. Great improvement, but this spot still gives me the creeps!

Thursday 1/12/05
Wow- looks like the council have really got their act together with this site too (see the improvements to the nearby Witches Stone). What a difference- for once you can actually walk down to the well house instead of trying to balance above it on an old stone wall then jump into a mass of nettles and brambles. Gone are all the head-high plants and the whole entrance to the well-house has been landscaped and planted. There are also some new stone steps leading down to the well itself. All in all a vast improvement to what was a very neglected but important holy well.

The mysterious circle at last. It really is a magical place, I wish I had been able to climb up the hillside among the dense trees to find this clearing. The circle and its low ditch is like a sacred sanctum, if you look at the photos the surrounding tree branches look like hands reaching down towards the stones...

I met up with the legendary Tom FourWinds in Baltinglass and on we drove down a trackway with pot holes you could bury a horse in. Turns out we share quite a few interests; old stones, photography, fishkeeping, getting the hell out of mountain forests before its pitch dark etc etc. It was great to visit a site (especially one like this) with someone who you dont have to keep convincing that the muddy, trackless trek up to some old stones is worth the time and effort, and it was a pleasure. Sometimes it seems more productive to think out loud and have your thoughts bounced back.

But to the circle... Someone had stood some buried stones upright, little runts that at first made the circle look more complete, then made it look totally off-balance. Without careful observation it seemed that the builders were hedging their bets with the axis alignment here, its definitley close to the mid-winter sunset but which stone is the axial? Hard to tell but all might be revealed (literally) if the trees to the west were removed.

This is a place you could spend many hours at, just listening to the sounds overhead and in the trees, and not feel like civilisation was observing you.

The NMR records “a boundary stone shown on an ordnance survey map may be of prehistoric origin. It was apparently used as a boundary marker from the early Medieval period onwards. The stone was located by Stanhope Whites survey”.
In my book Stanhope White was a giant of a fella, he worked with the Leakeys in East Africa.
After he retired he dedicated himself to traipsing the moors recording everything he found, including the many hundreds of standing stones, ancient and modern.
If Stanhope judged this stone as possibly prehistoric in origin, then that’s good enough for me.
There are actually two stones at Flass Brow both of which have been carved to some degree and both bear inscriptions. I think the larger of the two is Stanhope’s stone.
I should also add that the OS has this spot marked as a tumulus. If it is a mound it’s a low one but kinda fits in with the NYM tradition of placing boundary stones ontop of prehistoric mounds.

Robbed Howe is a large barrow situated quite close to a well made track that runs from the A169 to Louven Howe.
If you are approaching from the north west the path follows the line of the forestry. instead of going through the gate you should follow the fencing to your right and this will lead you to the barrow.
The SMR calls this monument a Bowl Barrow and gives it’s dimensions and 14m across and 0.5m high. The 14m is correct but the barrow with it’s heathery coat is more like 2-3m high.
There is a large stone on the NW edge of the barrow and if you have a poke about in the heather you’ll find a few more large stones. There is also a leaning boundary stone on the top of the barrow.
Robbed Howe is not particularly unusal in either it’s construction or appearance. What makes it significant is that it is part of a chain of moorland barrows that begin at Black Brow on Sleights Moor and then runs roughly south to the Woof Howes. This chain has been used as a parish boundary since written records began, it also forms part of the modern political boundary. It doesn’t take to a great deal of imagination to envisage this boundary stretching back into the Bronze Age when the Monuments were first constructed on the edges of existing tribal territories.

In 1909 Fred Coles mentions two stone circles and two standing stones on Broad Moss . Subsequent visits by the OS and RCAHMS failed to follow up “local information ” that the stones had been dumped “in a den to the N.”
About five years ago I noticed the stones and this is the first visit since . Fortunately Coles had left measurements and drawings of the stones so comparison was easy . The two standing stones are obviously the same . As most of the stones of the circles were still in the ground comparing heights is a wee bit more problematic but width and depth and a guess at potential height show very close fits to the other stones. The area is improved pasture and virtually “stone free” so the stones are quite obvious .They lie in a den NO 19627 47671 .A final irony is on the site of one of the circles is a a present day circle ,but only the result of being where a straw feeder had been left and the cattle had wandered round creating the circle.

After a closer inspection of the monuments record I have found some of these mounds. All are concentrated in a relatively small area and one has narrowly escaped being quarried away (photos to come later, I don’t seem to be able to post them at the minute). At least one is visible on the sky line looking into the direction of the sun.

I had a closer shufty around here today and found what could be an inscribed stone. It is broken but has a definite cross with a border around it. I have a picture and it will appear here shortly.
I found four large stones today, one at least five foot tall but laying prostrate. The other three were between 2 and a half and three foot tall, again, laying prostrate.

This the only well in the north tipp area dedicated to “St. Bridget” which I find kind of odd. I’m a big fan of Bridget wells and always try to visit.

Youghalvillage
“St. Conlans Well”
Holy well and holy tree

Taken from North Tipp Archaeological survey:

Situated on a hillocky area on a SE-facing slope. This holy well is a natural spring which flows into an open pool. Though not marked on the 6-inch OS map a lane leads from the main track right up to the well. Maintained and still visited, the well is enclosed by a hexagonal drystone wall (diam. C. 1.3m; H c.1m) and is covered by a flat slab of slate which has been partially cut to allow easy access to the water. Opening to SE, it is flanked on either side by walling terminating with boulders, with flagstones flooring this entrance area. This walling continues to enclose the hillock for a further 2-3.5m on either side of the entrance. Several small wooden crosses, painted Marian blue, have been inserted on top of this wall and on the hillock surrounding the well, including one fixed to an adjacent ash tree with a small crucifix placed in the centre. There is a rag bush in front of the well and a wooden altar to the rear containing a statue of the Virgin and Child. In the OS Name Books (c. 1840) the holy well was described as a place ‘at which diseases are said to be cured and superstitious ceremonies performed’. According to the OS Letters St Conlan’s festival ‘fell on the 25th or 29th July. Some say it took place eleven days before the 1st August’ (O’Flanagan 1930, vol. 3, 17)

This is a lovely well and is still in use. I remember going down to it with friends to get holy water for sick people because of its supposed curative powers.
It also has a reputation for curing eye problems.

It took me four attempts to find this rock so directions are useful. Its pretty tough terrain and hard to find. If anyone is in the area id be happy to show them the way.
About 2kms after Beal Boru there is a left turn up a Clare Walk way. Its just before a quay on the right. It is a good hike from here id say at least 3km. There is a car-park here, there are two paths from the car-park. One of them could be driven on but it has a forestry bar across it. Take this one as it winds left then right. You should come to a track to the left that isn’t marked on the OS map and again has a bar on. Follow this road for at least 1km until it turns into a forest path. Keep following this basic heading on this path until u come to the edge of the forest. U should be able to hear a stream from here. The stream comes from out of the Crag. Now follow the edge of the forest round into the crag. There are various rocky outcrops (maybe not all are natural) but as soon as I saw Craglea I knew it was the one. Pity its so overgrown. It would look so more impressive if it wasn’t.
Its an unusual place, makes u feel a little uneasy. It definitely has a strange feel about it.

8th July 2013.
I received alternative coordinates for this site over two years ago from a Co. Clare native. I unfortunately put them on the back burner until I received an email inquiring as to the location of the rock. Yesterday I took a visit to these alternative coordinates and found what I agree is the true location of Aoibheals Rock. The updated GPS coordinates should take you straight to it. This location is more hidden while the one I located previously (in error) is more open. I suppose for reflection with your family totem or banshee this would be a better place.
To find it proceed into ballycluggan woods and there is a track up to the last 200m (mainly what seem to be mountain bike tracks). There seemed to have been fairly recent visitors as a faint track to the rock was still evident (for the last 200m).

This stone is really great, its also much taller than I remembered from my last visit. The grooves are very deep and perhaps are enhanced natural features of the stone. Its almost three metres tall and is clearly visible from the road from Tullow to the N80.

While I was taking some sunset photos I heard a very menacing snorting noise very close behind me. While the field seemed empty when I climbed over the gate, I was now face to face with a massive bull who was very unhappy to have visitors. I very slowly gathered up my stuff and paced back to the gate, with the bull and four others walking about three metres behind every step of the way. I could hear the snorting getting faster and faster and about 6 metres from the gate I made a run for it, throwing my tripod over the gate, the bull charged at his point and stopped just short of the gate, stamping and making very nasty noises and I was still not over the top but luckily he seemed satisfied I had left for good so he then turned and charged at another bull.

This is probably the closest I’ve been to serious injury out taking pictures so please, check every corner of the field you are in and adjoining fields if the gates are open, this could have ended up very seriously. I know a guy who lost a kidney and was lucky to be alive after a bull attackd so its so important to be aware of your surroundings even if you are distracted by some amazing stones.

Visited 14th November 2004: This sorry looking stone is easy to find, and easy to get at because it’s right next to the road. The hedge had just been cut when we visited, and I was alarmed at how close the the flail had got to the top of the stone.

This standing stone isn’t in it’s original location. It once stood in the centre of the field, but for the life of me I can’t figure out where I read that (as soon as I remember I’ll post it up).

Visited 29th January 2005: I approached Buckholt Wood on foot from the direction of Nympsfield Long Barrow. It’s a pleasant enough walk, but crossing the main road (the B4066) is tricky.

Buckholt Wood is not the most exciting megalithic site you could visit. Definately one for the hardened enthusiast.

Visited 8th January 2005: Not much to add here except to reiterate Moss’ comments about mud. The coastal footpath is supposed to be part of the route to the chamber from the main road (A487), but we ended up walking on the farm track instead (it runs parallel). We’d have lost the boys in the mud if we hadn’t!

Parking isn’t a problem, but the walk to the stone is about half a mile with an incline towards the beginning. An adventurous wheelchair user might make the distance with some assistance.

Visited this back when my digital videocamera still functioned, not a site suited to still views. The exposed mound of earth and a few stones is still above a man’s height and is easily found topside of the field below the Ring of Bookan that is no great distance away.

As well as small family sized stone circle , there is also a cup marked rock on Faire na Paitig . The cups are very shallow and require the best of lighting for a pic , not the iron grey ,below freezing all day , conditions .

Garsington Church stands on a raised hilltop site, supported by an ancient retaining wall. A footpath runs below this wall, leading to a nearby paved pathway constructed from old stones, some of which are particularly large. In the fields below, concealed within a hedgerow beside a gateway, lies a large stone measuring at least 2 metres in width and nearly 1 metre in height—very similar to the one mentioned here.