Latest Fieldnotes

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!

After a stroll with Mr Hamhead (Mark) across Bodmin to see King Arthur’s Hall, just a short way east from the King Arthur’s Down circle (following the field wall), we came across this fallen menhir.

The stone is almost certainly fallen, as the shape is ideal for a ‘stander’, and the base is thicker and shaped for support, being much thicker in width as well as breadth.

Mark shoved his trusty walking pole under the thin end, and ascertained that the stone is no more than about 9 inches thick at the pointy end.

There is a possibility that this is part of a fallen stone row, as at least two more large granite blocks were seen directly in line with this one on the other side of the wall. Barbed wire and long-horn cattle prevented closer inspection of these other stones.

As it lays, the stone is pointing directly to Rough Tor.

Wanting some respite from urban sprawl, a longstanding mate, Andy and I drove down for sunrise at Stoney Littleton, It’s a wonderful place anytime but dawn is almost magical… …Sometimes it is easy to forget to ask ‘How they built these things? ‘... ‘Why they built them?’ intrigues us all so much. With nearby Bath blinding the hordes of ‘history tourists’ with its Roman swankiness, for which of course I’m eternally grateful, hidden away Stoney Littleton provides us with yet another serene sanctuary littered with clue’s to our past.

I’m no expert but the restoration seems to have transformed the place wonderfully since Julian’s visit in TMA, many years ago and exploring inside relatively easy (next time you go don’t take a torch… a lantern works wonders).

Circles I love. Rock Art I adore. In fact I love, as we all do anything ancient, but there’s always something a bit special for me when you can ‘go in’ (Carn Euny, Kilmartin etc). This place is perfect in every way. The setting on this May morning, the condition of the barrow itself... in the cramped but pretty comfy conditions the sheer physical strength and building skill involved in construction are emphasised and simply staggering. Just stop awhile next visit and let your eyes grow used to the dark. Fossils are everywhere, not just at the entrance as I had read. The sheer human endeavour in just getting it constructed is forced upon you as you manoeuvre through the chamber.

This exquisite May morning sitting atop of the barrow really brought home the simple fact that those of us who have let these places enter our lives are so privileged (but you lot know that anyway!).

Yeah we had a cracker of a morning!!! And if you haven’t been... Go!!!!

To access Castle Dore you will have to park in a layby on the Fowey side of the hillfort and walk back along the road. This is not for the faint hearted... beware of traffic.

On entering the gate the Castle Dore tablet stands nearby giving the usual outdated text...mainly about King Mark and all things Arthurian. It has been thought since the 1930’s that the fort was occuipied on and off since the Iron Age and that the large oblong building that wassupposed to have stood inside the centre of the fort was King Marks hall dating from the 6th Century.

Recent work suggests otherwise...that the fort was only occupied in the Iron Age/Romano British era and that King Marks Hall was actually at Castle a few miles north of Dore.

In 1977 aerial photos showed a round feature to the sw of the hillfort. It has been suggested that this was a henge and that the Tristan Stone was originally from the henge.

The hillfort itself gives spectaculer views out over Cornwall but sadly is becoming a bit of a mess. Cattle are roaming free up and over the embankments and along the ditch and bushes are being allowed to grow on the banks.

Oh....and I can see my house if I look east on a clear day...

Visited 6th August 2005: This site isn’t acknowledged by everyone as prehistoric, but having read about it and spoken to Margaret Ponting about it, I was curious. Cnoc Sgeir na h-Uidhe (pronounced kroc skayth na hoo-ya) is on the way to Na Dromannan:

Starting from the A858, park in the lay-by nearest to Cnoc Fillibhear Bheag. Cross the road and follow it, heading away from Calanais, until you are past the cottages on your left (I think you may cross over a cattle grid, but I’m not 100% sure). Here there’s a gate taking you into a small paddock on the other of which is another gate. From this point on you’re in open countryside.

At this point work your way onto the rocky outcrop behind the cottages, and this is where you’ll find Cnoc Sgeir na h-Uidhe. Don’t expect to find it easily!

There are numerous duns scattered around the coastline of Mull, but this example of an iron age fort has to be one of the finest on the island. Much of the stone has now fallen and has been lost to nature on the hill and down the steep cliffs to either side, many of the stones would have been taken in later years for use in the crofting settlements and dykes nearby. However the base of the walls and steps are still fairly clear. Though built for defensive purposes,in more peaceful times there has been evidence of this structure being used as a grain store and a meeting point for the communities who settled the area. As with all sites on the Ross of Mull the views are astounding and it is easy to understand why from a defensive point of view this site was perfect. Whilst there I tried to tune in to what the feeling of the place was to me, all I could really feel was an unsettled fear, or perhaps it was a touch of vertigo being on such a vulnerable cliff edge! I remember visiting the site and having similar feelings before, but then my local knowledge of the history of this and surrounding area tell me of viscious clan battles etc and my mind could have been imposing this onto my subconscious. Was still a fab day out and a hearty walk, the pictures I took I was dissappointed with though and would like to get back and take more. I had a friends dogs with me and though they had been calm the whole walk there, once there they went nuts and only wanted to kill the sheep and lambs in view, they were on leads so no worries, but it did make photography difficult! Perhaps they felt as I did the blood of history that had been spilt on the soil around us!

29-5-05

Unsure as to what to call this site... answers on an electronic postcard please....

This was just inside the danger area but the flags weren’t up and we reckoned the lambs wouldn’t be there if there was any danger ;)

The panel was very weathered and the surface of the rock was shaped as much by the natural clefts and cuts as by the carvings. A real shame as there were some very nice shapes.

Another one biting the dust...?

There was a ring around five cups which looked like a clover. A bit like the one on page 75 of Stan B’s “British Prehistoric Rock Art” but not quite the right layout...?

29-5-05

The road to the farm looks very rough – we weren’t sure whether it was wise to go up – but glad we did because it was quite a way and there was an actual car park at the top!!

Well sign-posted, over two stiles through open farmland which this day was home to some very excitable young bullocks.

I was initially disappointed with this site, because maybe my hopes had been built up, but like Fitz and Stubob before, this was a “must do” and justifiably so. The panel was very overgrown....

Maybe cups are for growing offerings to the great god of moss.

Not far from High Banks... took a little while to find the right path into this field, had to dodge a couple of electric fences on the way. It’s in an area with roaming cows and the surrounding land had also been recently ploughed roughly, so the ground was hard-going...

The panels are on higher ground near to some gorse bushes (an obvious place for RA really!!)

Some of these were hidden so we replaced the turf. There are surely more under there, too. The bedrock is particularly fragile so I think it’s best these are protected from hoofs etc...

We spotted the best panel just as we were leaving to move on to the next place... there are very good pick marks on it and even some small holes as if the tool slipped and hammered a few pecks by accident ;)

One panel overlooked the little watering hole – a spring or a quarry? wasn’t clear.

Visited 29-5-05. Parked nearby at the junction into a farm. Walked about 50 yards west to a place near a tree where we could get over the wall. The ground over to the hill was a bit boggy in places but not too bad...

6-fig GPS coordinates would have taken us further up the hill but found it on the way. 10-fig coordinates NX 73322 48861

Spent a little while cleaning it up ready for its pictures and the true character was revealed – wow!!! Really impressed by this one. Two cups in particular were really deep, as if they were natural holes that had been enhanced...

The view from the site is towards inland hills, can’t really see the sea from here.

Back at the car trying to decided where to go next a helpful woman (did she really exist?!) came to offer directions...must have been the fact we were wrestling with maps in the car that made us look helpless!!

The barrow, now covered in grass, measures 22m by 19m and stands to a height of 1m, with a slightly hollowed centre. There is one large intact capstone supported by two larger and a number of smaller rocks at the entrance and although I have tried to research as to whether this burial chamber has ever been excavated it remains unsure but I do have a feeling it hasn’t. Whilst there I felt the peace of the location and questions ran through my mind as I sat on the hill overlooking the site, here I pondered whether the ancient Britons mourned or grieved the passing of their dead and did they sit in the spot I was sitting and look out over to Colonsay to the South as I was doing and breath in the vibrant air around reflecting on the dead, or did they celebrate on the hill, joyous in the life cycles around. Will we ever know?

Getting to this stone is relatively easy, however we decided to take the short cut and walked in roughly a straight line from the Uisken stone, steep and exhilirating! From Bunessan on the Ross of Mull take the road behind the Argyll Arms Hotel marked for Uisken. Roughly 2km along this road Ardalanish Beach and Mull Weavers are sign posted to the right, take this road and you arrive at a small parking area which leads to the beach path travelling south. Follow this path to the shore and turn left (East) walk about 400 metres looking to your left, the landowners have placed a style on the fencing a little behind the dunes at this point the stone is visible. This stone amazed me while I photographed it, whether due to wear and tear by the harsh shoreline conditions or whether by design but no two sides of this stone are the same and although now leaning slightly towards the south is an imposing and dramatic sight nonetheless. There is a further stone which lies appx 11 metres to the east of the site but has fallen and not so easy to find due to the blanket of mother nature.

From Bunessan on the Ross of Mull take the road behind the Argyll Arms Hotel marked for Uisken. Roughly 3km along this road there is a farm access road with a cattle grid on the left. If you walk to the farmhouse it is then advisable to ask permission as you have to walk through land belonging to the lovely crofting lady who lives there. Be prepared for a chat! If given, continue walking north-east for 500m, past a small ruined township and over a large well kept dyke, be very careful not to disturb stones whilst crossing this dyke and if any are dislodged endeavour to replace as best you can. On reaching the brow of the hill the standing stone can be seen slightly to the left on the large plateux of heathery mossy ground. To get to this stone is a bit of a ramble and a clamber, the alignment of the stone is apparently best seen at midsummer, but for walking purposes I would advice going either in spring or autumn as the bracken could be difficult to navigate at height of summer. Wellies are advised! Once aside the stone the views are superb, settled on a fantastic viewpoint with views across the Ross, the cliff formation known locally as Gorrie’s Leap being especially clear from this point, views across to Jura, Colonsay and Islay are fantastic on a clear day. A fairly remote and inhospitable spot, really makes your eyes wide in wonderment of how on earth they managed to get a stone of this size there in the first place, never mind why!

This recent visit was on Whit Saturday, 2005. Typical bank holiday weather. The news said it was 33 deg C in London yesterday, 6 deg C on the Lakeland fells today – worlds apart. It was a day of gales, with storm force gusts, blowing me over several times. Add to that the horizontal rain, which arrived just as I reached the circle, and the photos don’t do justice to the grimness of the scene.

Set in a valley head, with the Roman road of High Street on the ridge to the east, and the Moor Divock circles and cairns to the NNE, the only open aspect is to the N. The stones are recumbant now, but possibly once stood. The western sector has no stones, or they are burried under grass tussocks. To the SW of the circle two pairs of stones seem to form an avenue.

The circle is hard to spot, lost in acres of grass and marsh. It doesn’t help that the stones aren’t standing. If you don’t know the area it will be hard to find, and the O.S. map shows it slightly further N and W.

There is a deserted township at Suidhe with panoramic views of the Ross of Mull, this township was last populated in the 1940’s and became a scheduled monument in 2004 due to its importance as a monument in helping understand a settlement that has been adapted over a period of hundreds of years possibly medieval. To the southwest of the township is a prehistoric Barrow, see site posting for more, approximately 7,000 years old, with the two standing stones clearly visible on its NNE side. The two remaining standing stones here make one wonder whether at some point in the past there was a full circle encircling the base of the barrow, however conjecture aside what we are left with are two stones of very different dimensions. The larger standing very erect at appx 2 metres high. The smaller of the two intrigued me, it stands at around 75cm to a metre high, am kicking myself for not taking a tape measure, being a woman my spacial awareness isn’t that great! This stone is small and stubby and has an eyelet about half to three quarters of the way up on the NW facing side, wear and tear or by design? The peace and solitude here is breathtaking, despite being there with two seven year olds and the family cat! I think we all picked up on the positive energy of the site, two fractious children becoming creative and imaginative and the cat becoming very vocal, and me, I just let my mind wander where it would. Even for the views though from the brow of the hill itself it is worth a visit. Suidhe in Gaelic means seat and folklore has it that Columba rested there on his way to and from Iona in the 6th century.

This is a high density rock art site. It’s easily possible to spend a couple of hours wandering about playing spot the carving. There are loads of them, most of them nowt to write home about, many quite seriously worn down. But it’s still fun to hunt about matching them up with their descriptions, just on the off chance that oe has been missed, or that the lighting conditions have revealed ones not recorded before (unlikely, but you never know...).

One thing that is assuredly the case, is that the more complex motifs occupy the higher ground, with the wider views. The main panel, listed as number 3 by Beckensall, has to rank in the top 5 of British rock art sites.

If you’re in a hurry and want to see some fines examples of prehistoric art, then nip up here, and make a beeline for Panels 3, 5 and 6. You could take in all 3, and be back in the car within 20mins.

Alternatively, if you’re not in a hurry, meander across the moor to Whitsunbank and Coldmartin, or if you’re feeling a bit hyper, tromp down to Chatton, then up to The Bowden doors, get a feel for the Till valley, and appreciate the landscape, to try and suss out the placing of the enormous number of carvings around the valley.

I spotted this fella in some burned-off heather about 20 metres north of the Percy Rigg road.
The stone is just over 1 metre high and looks across Sleddale to Cod Hill and Guisborough Moor

Not very inspiring pics but they fill in the picture of this wee rockery.

Set slightly higher up the hill from the stone rows, this is the biggest upright on the downs. The higher upright (of the group of three) can be seen on the ridge to the SE.

The reason why it is hard to find the settings on the downs is partly because of the gorse bushes. Although they do not cover the area they do have a habit of hiding things when looking from one point to another.

The stone row is split into two sections. Both lie on the northern side of the downs and are not easy to find. None of the stones are more than about a foot high. The western row has I think 7 or 8 stones then there is a bog gap to the eastern row which has about the same number. At the far eastern end of the eastern row is a stone about three foot long but now lying in the grass. A grass covered mound beside it is possibly a buried stone..there ia definatly something hard beneath the grass.

Sat 21st May 2005.
Approached from “Pill cycle track” in the Avon Gorge, up through Leigh Woods/Nightingale Valley – hurt my back carrying bike. Probably easier to approach from the other side of the woods just off A369!
Volunteers have done a great job clearing some of the bank and ditch of trees – you can get a good idea of the scale now, but most of the site remains wooded, giving the kind of “enchanted ruin” feel you don’t often get. At one time, I guess, there would have been less trees around.
It’s very peaceful, with only the odd walker or squirrel to disturb you, and there are great views to be had.
This is one of a string of iron age forts (circa 350 bce) in the Gorge, which says something for the strategic importance of the area – a kind of watery, celtic Khyber Pass.
Neolithic and Bronze Age finds have been made in the area, and can be seen at the Ashton Court Visitor Centre and Bristol Museum (which is good and free to enter).

Some more new panels discovered last week.

This site is easily found and well worth checking out, for all those close to South London and have a car, to find the best examples of possible Bronze Age barrows as close to London as you may find (the next being possibly Croham Hurst in South Croydon).

Take the A25 route from Reigate to Dorking and less than 1km from the town centre you will easily see a turn off into the Heath down Flanchford Road – you can park in a dedicated car park a few hundred yards down. Cross the road and heading NE, you are on the heathland and upon the first of the tumuli that are marked on the nearby council information board – though it is very difficult to discern from the rest of the increasingly undulating landscape that unfolds the further you walk on…

Carry on up the main path and into the trees and take your guess and use your instincts as to where exactly the other tumuli might be – despite the claim to there being seven barrows here! There are two more pronounced barrow like formations as indicated on the notice board and OS maps at TQ236504 (picture to follow) and TQ237505, approx. 30 ft in diameter, with no discernable alignment, and a possible 2 or more north of these a little off the beaten path and very close to the edge of the A25/Buckland Road.

It is an attractive area to walk around despite the close proximity of yet another damn golf course! (re: Addington and Gally Hills closer to Croydon) but you can freely navigate this area! – and do take time to venture south west towards and up around the windmill/chapel for a perspective on the landscape, with rewarding views all around, especially the Downs to the north!

For three years Jan & Gus the intrepid owners of the Rock Art in the British Landscape website groups.msn.com/RockArtintheBritishLandscape/home.msnw have been seeking permission from the landowners to visit this site only to be denied. This year the landowner finally relented and allowed us to visit the two lovely panels that are well concealed in the woodland and leaf mould of the North Plantation.
I would not advise venturing into the woods without permission as parts of the site are littered with the remains of clay pigeons so this is obviously a site favoured by shooters.
The rock art here is beautiful. There are two panels both of which appear to be on earthfast or outcropping rocks. The first panel we uncovered was a long outcrop running roughly north to south. The panel has numerous cups cups and rings and grooves, but what was most remarkable about this panel was that it appears that a section of the rock had been quarried away in antiquity and a new carving placed in the rectangular section left by the quarrying.
The new carving is beautiful and appears to be virtually unweathered and leaving the peck marks looking extremely fresh.
It makes you wonder whether the stone that was quarried was used in the nearby Fowberry Cairn.
It’s odd that the grooves on this panel mainly seem to follow the general north-south alignment of the outcrop whereas the new carving runs approximately east- west.
Graeme C made an interesting observation, the shape of this outcrop seems to come to a point, if you follow this point you will see a the summit of a distant hill, the bearing of this hill is exactly due south.
The second panel is a little smaller but is what I would describe as a busy panel with no real orientation – this panel contains and ‘owl face’ or occulus. The rest of the cups and rings are just doing their own thing. A thing of beauty all the same.
Don’t forget, if you want to see this site – book early and be prepared to be knocked-back.

The Graeme C and I stopped off here on our way back from the RAM05 meeting. Our heads were full of beautiful rock art but the sun was still up and we had time to squeeze one more site in on our journey south. The Millstone Burn was ideal as it lay beside the A697 and was therefore on our way home.
We parked up beside the field gate and walked up the bank. Unfortunately I had left my ‘Beckensall Bible’ at home and only had a printed map from MAGIC to guide us.
Within a few minutes we had found a number of cup marked rocks and discovered the boulder that Stan describes as “the most complex and pleasing design of this entire group”. Stan is spot-on with his description, we found it very pleasing.
We searched the outcrops further uphill doing a bit of peel-reveal-replace here and there and discovered a number of rocks with cups and weathered-out motifs.
We then moved over onto the moor to the north of the field. Graeme vaulted the barbed wire fence with one fluid cat-like movement. Not wanting to look like a girl I followed suit only to end up entangled in the fence with a great rip in my duds and a slightly bruised ego. Could have been worse I suppose.
We only found one cup marked boulder on the moor but to be honest with you we weren’t looking too hard in the knee-high heather, I guess we’d seen enough for one day. It’s always good to leave something to come back for, I guess we’ll be coming back to Northumbria for a long time yet.