Latest Fieldnotes

In search of the protomegalith

This was one of several visits to this wonderful, evocative and photogenic pair of Clyde cairns. Today’s visit was enhanced by being the only visitors for nearly one hour and some of the bluest skies I have seen for a long time.

In addition to the usual pleasures, this trip had a specific purpose: to examine the theory of Clyde cairn evolution and the role of the protomegalith.

This theory suggests that some cairns did not develop beyond the early stages while others were built as fully-developed versions.

At Cairnholy, it is possible to see all the evolutionary stages. See one of the picture captions for more details.

Visited 8 September 2004

At last I saw the other side of the ‘bridge’ where the burn meets the coast. It is quite magnificent, the aspect megalithic shining through. If it were not for the timbers I would have no hesitation in saying it is Iron Age at the latest. This side on the left of the waterway there is something reminiscent of a guard cell 1.2x0.8x0.9m beneath the ‘bridge’, but only having two sides it is more of a full-height niche I suppose. Shoreside the passage is 1.2x1.1m, the walling either side extends 1.3m and it is possible there is a RH projection from the base of 1.8m (including beyond the tumble a stone 1m long). There is much rubble of varying ages to the sides, in front of the passage the water makes a small but deep pool which could well indicate an old ground level or simply the original stream bed’s continuance.
Could it be that the timbers were inserted later to make the crossing level, possibly at the same time the area between the two sections of burn was covered over ? Though it could be the remains of a sea-wall sluice, grander and in better preservation than the one downstream of Tankerness Mill, the size of the bridging roof stones does incline me to see this as re-use (the sluices shown on the map below the main road are purely modern as it turns out).

[visited 11/9/4] As I was bombing past here on my way to Toller Porcorum, I stopped for a shufty. Basically its 2 (or possibly more) large stones together in a crop field. Luckily the crop was gone so I shinnied over the gate and went for a closer look. I presume this is the remains of a long barrow and in fact The Ancient Stones of Dorset has a picture from 1872 suggesting these may form two sides of a chamber. One thing is for certain not much is left to talk about. Good views though...

Access to the edge of the field is easy as its on a road, after that its a field...

[visited 10/9/4] Not much to see here that is recognisable really. As you approach from Bokerly Farm, the cursus is conspicuous by its absence on the right in a field where it once stood. And then in the next field where the goal should stand, Bokerly Ditch rises like a false dawn in the distance.

Now given that the remains on the map look like a C with long barrows attached, with supposedly the earthwork of Grim’s Ditch just behind, one long mound took me a bit by surprise. I contemplated for a good 10 minutes whether the elongated mound in the middle of the field was actually part of the cursus and I think on reflection it probably is. It does kinda point at the obvious long barrow on the hill to the South and does also have a couple of dips, kinda like the map.

But ffs what damage and destruction the plough has wrought here. This monument was once one of the greatest ever built and I get the feeling 200 years (or even less) ago, we would have seen something of that greatness rather than the sad remains today. This field is still being ploughed, all thats left is the bizarre mound, the two sides are gone forever, as has Grim’s Ditch it appears.

Worth a visitish, personally though, if you only see one bit of the cursus chose the middle bit by Oakley Down. Access is on flat ground via public footpath and probably through crops in summer. I parked in Woodyates village.

[visited 11/9/4] Those that know me know my sceptical nature and I’d hate to disappoint. Umm... the church is certainly higher than the surroundings. There are certainly a couple of large stones in the entrance to the churchyard. It has a kinda circular churchyard. Thats about it really.

Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood for a church, but I left feeling cheated in some way. On a plus note Access could only be easier if the place had a moving walkway taking you round it.

[visited 11/9/4] September in Dorset can really get chilly, especially on top of the southern hills. Don’t let that stop you coming to look at this beauty however. Two bank barrows are marked on the map though only one is really obvious and its a delight. It points just to the North of the Long Bredy Bank barrow which is clearly visible on the hill to the west. Whilst not as big as that one, this is still longer than most long barrows and holds an unexpected delight. Unmarked on the OS map is a large round barrow with a huge sarsen stone on it top, a definate bonus. Looking at The Ancient Stones of Dorset, Peter Knight calls it “Kingston Russell Barrow 5”.

Look to the South from up here and you can see the extended hill containing the Grey Mare and Kingston Russell circle. Poor lot is below you to the North and you can see to the horizon in most directions. I’ve been thinking a good deal about the purpose of these Bank Barrows and indeed similarly placed Long Barrows. Riding the crest of a hill, a man-made white streak visible for miles. A sign for the gods or a marker to all who enter these parts that this is taken. Access is up about 3 fields from the A35 carefully avoiding cowpats...

[visited 11/9/4] Quick look about after hearing of a metal detector in the Dorchester area digging into barrows. No real sign here, but a couple of the barrows have patches of bare soil, presumably from the sheep as they didn’t look like shovel dug holes. I also had a quick chat with the owners of the house next door, who say they keep an eye on the place and certainly wouldn’t tolerate treasure hunters.

Whilst you visit Poor Lot don’t forget the woods just to the East, though watch out for gamekeepers as these be pheasant woods. There is a circular banked structure just before you enter the woods to your left, it used to be in the woods, but the landowner has removed the woods to iirc turn it into pasture. I preume this is the remains of a disk? barrow, similar to one at Oakley Down cemetary, but I’m not sure.

[visited 11/9/4] The idea that this sad stone could be part of a circle has excited me since I heard it, so I thought as I was site hunting about this way, I’d have a good walk about. I visited the actual stone again; its sad slow disapearance under vegetation & creeping topsoil continues. Never mind resurrecting it, I’m thinking a visit with a couple of shovels would be a good start.

I found one stone in the field next door and another in the field next to that. They are much smaller than the Broadstone, but as at Nine Stones of Winterbourne Abbas about a mile away, the size differential between stones is greater, its not a problem. I didn’t see Moth’s circle markers in the field and tbh if the circle existed, I imagined the road went straight through the middle of it. But I think thats just my fatalism.

Access to the Broadstone is from an AA layby along the verge of a very busy A road. Not for the faint hearted. Access to the other stones was (by me) over a fence from verge.

[update: december 2005] Was here to clear the creeping topsoil again and noticed the field next door is now being ploughed. A cursory look failed to locate the other stones, they may well have been removed...

September 28th my objective was to measure and more fully photograph the pit I found before. Now I observed more closely the hole is most probably two spaces, one above the other (a twin ‘cupboard’ ??), and I’m not sure they are fullly box-like. But it is still a thing in itself rather than simply a result of collapsed medial walling (though there is possibly a collapse about one edge at least, where a slab appears to back onto earth). At right angles a jumbled line of stones head towards the excavated area of coastal erosion, specifically to one of the structures. Trying to make sense of my measurements of individual stones in terms of the whole before my film is done and back is not as easy as I thought ! Approximately 0.4-0.7m by 0.3m, the first space overlapping the second a little at the coastward end, and both seemingly 0.3m deep.
Coming down from the mound there are stones poking out of the ground about 15m away. On my last visit I’d seen them as exposed parts of a rocky outcrop but now it looked more like the remains of a (slightly curving ?) man-made line. From where I was it went in the direction of the RH end of the gateway behind which lay my putative stone arrangement one way and off to the coast the other. It stopped being intermittent 4.5m from the cliff edge, then after maybe half-a-metre became the remains of a fairly substantial wall that at the coast turned a right angle left and continued another 7.7m virtually straight. At 0.9m across this looked like the outer wall of some structure. Back home CANMAP showed a line near here that went from a field to the coast and then went on a zig-zag course. Did this show the modern fence line and an idealised boundary or was it this structure (so HY23081980 to 23061976 and ultimately to 23141973) and the intermittent boundary wall I saw further along ? It could be argued that it is simply the large foundation for a vanished drystane wall, but it had a depth to it and the other bits did not go straight, instead hugging the cliff edge sinuously (unlike my ‘corner’). For what it’s worth, a few days later I saw similar lines on CANMAP by the Grimsay Wheelhouse..

Leaving Skara Brae this is along from the second passing place by the Loch of Skaill. Had to remove a veil of grass to ascertain it really was the thing I had previously found. To the right of it a stone is marked with that official bear’s-paw ‘sunburst’ symbol, look for that. Still not 100% certain it is not geological or adapted natural still. IIRC it faces across to a very small unmapped ‘islet’ in the loch. Stone ‘block’; straight 0.7m then ‘niche’0.8m across and then it goes behind at an angle. Enclosing sides 0.5m and 0.7m long and 0.35m high, slab above 0.2m deep.

Some new finds from yesterday , they are a mile and a half west of the RCAHMS stones named Urlar Burn ,as they are in the area of the burn I have left the name , a more appropriate name might be Craig Hill. The Bolfracks stone is on the Northern slopes of that hill.

At the east end of Holywell Bay and below Kelsey Head can be found the Holywell that gives the area its name. Only reachable at low tide, the well or wells are found inside a large cave that can not be seen from the main part of the beach.

Many pools have been formed by natural build up of minerals more in common with the mendip cave systems.

How and when they got the name holy well I am not sure but as with many of the other wells in Cornwall there origins are pre Christian.

I great place to escape from the excesses of Newquay or Perranporth.

Balfarg Riding School Mortuary Enclosures

Situated between the Balfarg henge and the Balbirnie stone circle, this reconstructed site comprises a sub-rectangular ring of posts with an inner “avenue” of thicker posts.

It has been interpreted as a mortuary enclosure in which the inner posts would hold platforms on which the dead would be laid out to be defleshed before burial.

The reconstruction is one of two similar buildings excavated in the area – the other, almost identical, site being some 70m to the SW.

These monuments went out of use around 3200bce and a henge (earlier than the main henge at Balfarg) was built around the area which now houses the reconstructed mortuary enclosure.

Visited 2nd May 2004: We approached Carn Briw in a straight line from Carn Ingli Camp. It’s easy to spot on the horizon, but mainly because the cairn material has been seriously re-arranged. From a distance it looks like a crumpled cone.

On closer inspection the extent of the damage is obvious. One side of the cairn has been piled up high, presumably by walkers. Where the cairn remains at something like its original height an enclosure has been made in it.

Despite the mess, Carn Briw is a pleasant place to visit. It’s off the beaten track for most people visiting Carn Ingli, so relatively tranquil. Also well placed for visiting the hut circles to the south west.

Visited 2nd May 2004: We parked north of Bedd Morris (approximately SN039367) and after a picnic lunch headed of to find the hillfort. The route I’d chosen was based purely on keeping the gaps between the contour lines as small as possible (with Alfie on my back I had a good excuse). It took about an hour to get to the fort, but that was at William’s walking speed.

The fort is an impressive but disorientating jumble of rock. We approached when the cloud was low, so it wasn’t possible to see the summit of the hill even from close up. There is an entrance to the fort, which would have been the best place to get into it, but we only figured this out once we’d clambered over the ramparts at the south end. The terrain inside the fort is tricky, and not recommended for anyone with limited mobility. It was fun to explore, but the drop to the east was significant enough to worry me.

There’s at least one discernable rampart within the boundary of the fort, and something that looks a lot like a hut circle. Outside the boundaries of the fort, especially to the east, are a number of structures that represent huts and areas of cultivation contemporary with the fort. As with everything at Carn Ingli, it’s tricky to figure out what’s what.

We visited this site for the first time a couple of months ago with Pete G and his friend Mick as our guides. The views of Silbury and West Kennett long barrow are fantastic from here as is the whole of the landscape. Just a short walk up from East Kennett long barrow, though i would never have found the place without Pete. We parked the car at a farm below East Kennett longbarrow and didn’t have any real problems although we were warned we were on private land and that we left our car there at our own risk of the threat of runnaway tractors! Although the stones are scattered it is still a great site due to it’s views of the landscape and great positioning.

Oct 2nd 2004

Windy but sunny, I sit on the northern edge of Berry Castle and have a snack. Great views of most of Bodmin Moor.
This site is hard to interpret, very overgrown, square? in shape with loads of rocks lying around all over the place inside it. At one point I think I found a hut circle but....

I don’t seem to be able to find any literature that agrees on a date for the place...anything from neolithic to iron age.

Hidden from the road by trees and the fact that the menhir its self is covered in moss.
It’s a big one!
You will need an OS map to find it, take the road that leads up towards the China Clay workings north of St Neot. When you get to the right hand turning to Northwood Farm stop and go over the gate opposit. The menhir is built into the hedge on your right.
Why is it here?
Only other sites in the area are a cairn on Mutton Down and Berry castle. There seems to be an argument as to how old Berry castle is, Iron age or earlier?
Off the usual route but I am glad I visited.

Yet to be convinced about this one although the photos look convincing. There are a lot of stones lying around both inside and outside this circle and it fails to occupy a particulary flat plateau (that is to say it is on a hill). There is an outlier which is directly south of the stone in the photograph.
A few more trips there are needed me thinks
Dave

It’s been about 10 years, so memory does not serve too well. To be totally honest I don’t think I was at the site of the factory, which isn’t surprising, as at the time I didn’t know it existed. But a couple of things stand out in my mind from wandering about the Langdale Pikes.

If you go the long way from the Old Dungeon Ghyll, up Mickleden Beck, following the Cumbrian Way, there’s a great long linear earthwork thing on the lefthand side, at the bottom of The Band, running up to Green Tongue. It looked a bit heavy duty for such an out of the way spot. No idea how old it might be.

At the very end of the valley, where Mickelden Beck splits to become Little Gill and Stake Gill (NY262074), there’s a sheepfold with a strange lobed footprint. It has a couple of little rooms added to the side. I couldn’t help but wonder if this was the remnants of a prehistoric house. It’s such a wonderfuly remote spot that the ground plan might just have survived, the walls having been re-built maybe hundreds of times after the roof fell in. Pure speculation, but in such a place, I couldn’t help but let me mind wander.

The ODG is an abso-effing-lootly great place to base yourself. Good food, good beer, decent rooms, a giant Jenga set, and even facilities for a small conference.

We stayed at the marvellous Clansman Hotel on the banks of Loch Ness. Continuing up the road toward Inverness, we noticed a settlement marked on the map, so took a diversion.

On the A82 from Fort William toward Inverness, just under 2 miles after the Clansman Hotel is a left turn to Abriachan. (You need to go right first, onto a funny little turning bit, cos the corner is so tight!). Continue up the steep, wniding road for about 2 miles, and you will find the small parking area with noticeboard. To your right is the remains of the prehistoric village.

It’s in a beautiful location, but to be honest, at the time of year we were there (early September) there wasn’t a lot to see! A few stones, presumably from the huts, were poking out from the heather here and there, and you could *just* make out a few circular outlines... A very peaceful place. Boggy. Unspoilt. Worth a look if you’re in the area, but not really worth going out of your way for! Might be better at other times in the year when the heather’s lower..!

The best bit was the view, continuing along the road to get back on the A82! Didn’t realise how high we were!

Access: Parking by the information board, the site is across the very quiet road, through a gate. Paths had been cut into the grass, which were surrounded by low lying heather.

I have added these four pictures as they are seen from the four sides of the dolmen, I made no effort to show the land scape setting, others have provided those better than I can.
The pub is great after you return from the walk, and the church of St Bueno is worth a look, if your muscles ache after the walk visit St Bueno’s well just down the road for relief, so they say.

What more can I say. I found this by accident but I’m glad that I did. It doesn’t seem to get many visitors. The view from the chapel is magnificent.

I had to beat a quick retreat from this field, the farmer told me they were young and not used to people. So this is all I got, from the other posts it looks similar to a lot of other chambers in this area. I did get some useful info on other sites from the farmer though.

I was here in September, these are big stones. I walked down the farm lane, by the house is a stile.From the distance they are your usual standing stones but when you reach them their size is unbelievable. If you are on the island check them out.