Latest Fieldnotes

The owners of the farm have turned the site into a commercial attraction by the way that the tractor rides are organised, and it forms part of the greater ‘day out’ experience of Henblas.

That said, I think it is well worth the visit just because of it’s location.

It is very easy to understand why the monument was built there. The views towards Snowdonia on the mainland are spectacular, and without any scientific evidence (no compass with me etc) there is an awsome view towards two peaks in the mountains which one could imagine may form some sort of alignment in the V of the pass.

This stone is visible from the road (over a wall) between Amlwch and Valley not far from Llanfacraeth. It is in a farmers field just outside the tiny village of Llanynghenedl.

Second visit to Torrs and this time we’d done our homework... but of course, we only spotted the path after struggling through the gorse!!

Lovely fine day, clear view over to the sea.

The relief to be out of the way of all that traffic and up on the moors was enough to compensate for the downpour of rain that greeted us as we were looking for the The Plague Market At Merrivale. At first this proved a little difficult as the mist swept in so suddenly and we could only see a few feet ahead of us and could see no evidence of stone rows or circles as we wandered around, although there were stones everywhere. All of a sudden the mist lifted out as quickly as it had appeared and the sun broke through shining down upon one of the stone rows now stood right in front of me. i waved across to charlie and we made our way in awe walking down these amazing stone rows. the stream running between the rows was really high and made an amazing sound that i wish i’d recorded. we spent the next hour or so looking at Merrivale Stone Circle, the menhir and investigating all the hut circles, what a place! it was very peaceful, maybe it the changeable weather but there seemed to be little in the way of traffic or other people about.

we headed off to The Spinsters’ Rock. We found it easily, driving up the tiny lane to the farm at the top and parking in the lay by next to the gate. the site was well signposted both from the road and at the lay by. The field was full of sheep and a beautiful horse that didn’t move the whole time we were there. the sun still graced us with it’s presence only occasionally dipping behind the clouds. The spinsters’ Rock looked perfect, we spent our time just chilling out and pondering on the legends of the spinsters or witches or Mysterious Old Man and his three sons putting up these stones.

There are 9 groups of cup-marks on horizontal or gently sloping outcrop very close to the deserted village of An Carn, 50m above sea level. The settlement was cleared by 1868 according to oral tradition and now lies abot 1km from the road. It seems unlikely that the inhabitants could be unaware of the carvings so close to their houses. One cup-marked outcrop has a larger bowl-shaped carving, 20cm diameter, that may have been used for grinding corn in this modern phase. A corn-drying kiln has also been found in the adjacent woodland. The total number of cup marks is about 100. Many are highly eroded and cut through the rock strata but some examples are up to 5cm deep.

A small bay some 250m NE of the township affords one of the few safe boat landings on the NE coast of Jura. Excavation of a cave at the head of the bay produced finds of late medieval date. There is a Bronze Age cairn about 1km to the NE at Cnoca’Churn Mhoir.

This cup-marked outcrop is very impressive but can be hard to find. It is much further uphill and closer to the new plantation than described in the local book of walks and in the sketch map. My grid reference is: NR 51981 67896.

The outcrop faces E and is in a valley close to a stream junction and waterfall. 28 cup marks have been described, four at the base being unusually large, 10cm in diameter and same in depth, prominently conical in form. They are all mainly on the vertical surface of the outcrop but there are a few carved on small horizontal ledges. The upper marks are heavily eroded (about 65mm diameter and 15mm deep or smaller) and have cut through the strata of the rock similar to the single cup on the Stones of the Glen standing stone and cup-marks at An Carn. The valley hereabouts has clearly filled with peaty deposits and vegetation and there may be more marks on the buried part of the outcrop.

Prominent views are down the valley to the E, past the ancient township of Keils, the islands of Small Isles Bay and the site of the standing stones of Knockrome on the distant headland. Two km to SW are the Stones of the Glen now embedded in a new Plantation. On higher ground close to the cup-marked outcrop the Paps of Jura can just be seen over the closer higher ground.

Jura Historial Society report another cup-marked stone on the slope above Craighouse Parish Church. There is a triangular boulder with interesting markings at NR 52427 67738 which would fit this position. It lies fairly close to a cist and other cairns but I couldn’t be convinced that the deep irregular marks on its surfaces were anything other than of natural origin although not usual on the surrounding rocks.

This cave (also called Uamh na Bantighearna or Lady’s Cave) is in the headland on the NE side of Kiloran Bay, one of the most picturesque beaches in the Inner Hebrides (even in the rain). This is the centre-most of three caves, now situated well above the high water mark. Inside, it feels like early man has only just left to find some shellfish in the rock-pools below. Substantial midden remains both inside and outside the cave consist largely of limpet shells. Heres a link with the Colonsay site: Fingal’s Limpet Hammers. A drystone platform lines one side of the cave.

Below the cave a boulder bears two cup-marks carved several meters apart on the vertical SE face, 6cm in diameter and 4cm deep. You pass by this boulder as you ascend to the entrance.

One of the lower caves, Uamh Shiorruidh or Endless Cave showed evidence of its use by people of the Azilian Culture (7000-5000BC).

I had confused this with another nearby, lower cave Uamh Na Mine (see notes by Feagh below).

There’s an avenue of buried stones leading to the side entrance of Tinkinswood burial chamber and the ground is either worked or walked to make a furrow leading up to the chamber. To the left of this avenue there’s what appears to be (to me, a lay person) the buried beginnings of another burial chamber. From this position, looking straight ahead, there are some stones (behind a hedge). Again, after jumping the fence, these look, to me, to be what could be another collapsed and un-excavated chamber. There are large stones all over this site, in hedges and buried. I got the feeling that there was more to this place than initially meets the eye. I’m thinking maybe these excavation teams dig a small area (the tomb we’ve come to see) and leave the rest of the area be. It is, after all, a burial place. But, hey, what do I know? Maybe I’m getting stone-blind.

Interesting place all the same.

Not a great standing stone – 1.8m and rather spoilt by its wooden fence.

But worth a stop if on the way to the much more interesting Carse.

Access Parking right opposite the gate – which wasn’t locked.

Visited 29 May 2005

The photos speak for themselves – three tall, elegant stones in a superb location.

In an area with several stone settings (Ballochroy, Escart), this is my favourite.

Access Parking a little W of the stones. Unlocked gates into each of the fields.

Visited 29 May 2005

On parking the car nearby these stones some kids were sitting on another large stone and I asked if they knew where the Rocking Stones were. One kid, about 10, said he’d take us to them. His friend asked what the big deal was to which our guide said “they’re really cool and everyone wants to take pictures of them”. His friend said they’re not cool and stayed on his own stone. The first kid was right, the stones are cool and I took pictures. It seems that these stones are a place to hang-out too because they are covered in carved grafitti.

Apparently all of the stone configurations in the fields around are modern and this area does seem to be where modern antiquarians go to make their circles and alignments. I even found what looked like a modern-day version of a burial chamber construction close by (albeit a tiny chamber).

I think this may be the best-preserved stone row in Scotland (ignoring things like Callanish avenues, Caithness “fan settings”, etc which are not directly comparable).

I’d planned to visit it twice before on trips to Kintyre but always missed the turning – and there never seemed to be time on the way back. This time I was determined to see it and, wired to the moon, was able to anticipate its location much better.

Five stones running NNE/SSW measuring 2.8m,3.3,2.4,2.1 & 1.1 (broken). There is a gap between them at the wall where a sixth probably stood. Said to be aligned on the major southern moonset.

The owner was very friendly and talked about the many visitors he gets.

A excellent site, worth taking in along with Ballochroy.

Access Not much room at the end of the farm drive so we parked at a gate almost opposite. Short walk up one of the best farm roads I’ve seen!

Visited 29 May 2005

You pass this stone on the way to Stane Alane where it is a short distance from the road over a low fence.

When it upright, it would have been about the same height as the proverbial double decker bus. Aye!

Visited 29 May 2005

Nice slender stone whose apearance is enhanced by being on a bank so you are looking up at it.

Access Dead easy. Leave the A816 Kilmartin road just N of the cemetery at NR852897. Space to park at the turn off but you could get closer. No gates or other obstacles.

On the way there, you will pass the recumbent Achnabreck stone.

Visited 29 May 2005

I’ve got a similar photo to Moth’s of this stone. It looks a decent enough sized stone from the roadside, perhaps 4ft or so in height. Compare it though to some of Anglesey’s other stones and it’s a bit of a dwarf. I’m afraid to say because of this, there wasn’t any real motivation on my part to find a way through the hedge.

Bryn Celli Ddu just gets better and better with each return visit, although the small restored mound can look a little odd from certain angles....

Opposite the chambers entrance on the outer edge of the ditch are a number of small kerbstones. Excavation revealed them to be the remains of a stone and timber enclosure that contain the burial of an ox (see Rhiannon’s Folklore entry below).

I hope it’s ok to do this but I have called this site Farm as I would rather it remained anonymous due to the rock art being portable . The stones are good examples of re-use in a modern setting . The “Farm” is in deepest Perthshire miles from the grid ref .

latest finds from Craig Hill and a clearer view of a previous one.

All that’s left of this cairn is a large earthfast boulder, split down the centre, that the farmers and stone robbers couldn’t cart off.
Wish I’d ‘a known that before I set off looking for Bedd Branwen.
Read all about it in the museum at Llangefni on the way home.

Obscure, but part of the overall picture, Weetwood North is actually closer to Whitsunbank and Coldmartin Loughs than it is to Weetwood.

There are 2 panels, both nothing to compare with the fancier motifs in the area. Both associated with a robbed out cairn, which is almost impossible to discern these days.

One of the things that intrigued me the most was the ditch that seems to surround the little hillock upon which the cairn is built. If it’s prehistoric (which I have no evidence to indicate one way or the other), then it’s another example of an earthwork surrounding a panel of rock art. Not that I think they’re contemporary with each other, but there may be a causal link. I dunno, it’s something to think about when you’re tromping across moorland in the rain anyway.

I missed the more complex of the two, but details of both are to be found on the Beckensall Archive.

I would possibly have walked straight past this stone, just taking it for another lump of granite. Ocifant had other ideas... and after a bit of examining we decided that it quite possibly was a fallen menhir.

Looking into the field there is what looks like three or four more stones lying in a row going south... towards the Leaze stone circle. A good Bodmin Moor wind, barbed wire... and Ocifants fear of long horned tatty cattle meant we did not explore further.

If the row does run towards the circle it is the first of its kind on Bodmin Moor, although many of the Dartmoor rows end in a circle or a cairn. There might even be a cairn at the northern end (a mound beside the fallen stone is about the right size and is made up of rocks).

Another visit on a sunny day is needed I think.

This is one of those times when I wish I had read the fieldnotes of others before visiting!

I set off up the right-hand path, believing this would offer the best route (or so my dodgy reading of the OS map led me to believe).

Ended up walking for AGES thinking “where the bleedin’ hell is it?“. Mind you, I got to see some amazing scenery and it was a warm and sunny day...

Follow the directions given by the others below and you shouldn’t go wrong... and be prepared for the fact that it is low-lying and not overly visible until you are almost on top of it.

Glorious day in May and I hike off to digitally capture this dun. It is fairly obscure but to me as with mathematics once you get it you get it! This dun stands overlooking the western side of Ardalanish Bay (Unspoilt gorgeous sands) and is at opposite end of the beach from the standing stone (see Ardalanish stone for reference). Built upon gradient but nonetheless sheer cliffs the dun is appx 30m at it’s highest point but stone work can be found from around 20m upwards. The best way to climb to the dun would be by following the sand around to the back side (south west side) and walking/clambering up the gradual slopes, however me being me (still a bit of a tomboy really!) I had to do it the hard way and did a bit of rock climbing on the south side, great fun! The fort measures roughly 65m by 15m though much of the stone is either overgrown or lost. There are remains of stone work to be found both on the NW and SE sides, there is apparently a remaining entrance through a space on the WSW side of the wall, however once again the blasted dogs cut my expedition short so will return unfettered and try to navigate my way around a bit more and get more pictures taken.

Just off a minor road linking the village of Groombridge (and the B2110) with Royal Tunbridge Wells (and the A264 and A26)

Arrived at this site just after sunset on the way back to West Sussex after a look at the Addington/ Chestnuts Longbarrow and Coldrum.

We sneaked in through the open turnstile (You are supposed to pay £2 at the bar of the High Rocks Hotel to view the site, but as it was nearly dark we thought this wasn’t good value!)

These certainly are some huge and impressive rock formations, overhangs and caves, and all the more atmospheric in the failing light. I thought I had seen some big old sarsens at Coldrum earlier in the day, but these great natural forms are giants compared to those.

Excavations in 1954 and 1956 revealed a range of microlith (small flint tool) types and flint knapping debris apparently associated with areas of charcoal and fire cracked flint. These are presumably the remains of fires or hearths, though whether they were contained in an independent structure, or whether the overhang itself provided enough protection is unclear. High Rocks has been carbon dated to around 4500BC, quite late in the Mesolithic. Nothing of the Mesolithic levels themselves can be seen, but you can get a good idea of the nature of the rock shelters that nestle at the base of the cliff.
The overhangs apparently provided shelter for a variety of Neolithic and Bronze Age hunting parties as well.

You can walk through the fissures in the rocks, and then ascend one of the rock cut stairways to traverse the top of the cliff over rickety looking wooden bridges. There is an Iron Age enclosure/ hill fort on top of the escarpment, but we didn’t check that out this trip.

We thought we’d be clever and get back to the car park without going through the main gate, but soon discovered that they have done a pretty good job of fencing in the site, so if you go in the day you may well have to get your £2 out I am afraid!