Latest Fieldnotes

Bogleys in August 2004 must be one of the saddest stones in Scotland. As luck would have it, the stone appears to have found itself in the middle of an open cast coal mine and its situation is much changed since just a year ago when the first pictures of it were submitted to the Modern Antiquarian. Now the stone may be seen presiding over mounds of earth, with construction diggers in the background. When the opencast mining stops, this 140 acre site is further earmarked for development as Fife’s Kingdom Park – for “high quality retail, leisure and industrial use”.

Three Howes seems to be an overused name in this neck of the woods. This particular Three Howes is on Spaunton Moor above Rosedale Abbey. Approach from a  small lay-by at the top of Rosedale Bank, where a private track leads off to the north-ish. From the road, strike out on foot eastwards for a rough tramp across the heather to reach the barrows in a commanding position on the eastern skline. I visited in a Force 10 gale in July 2004. What an airy place! These ancient people certainly knew how to choose their burial grounds in relation to the landscape. Excellent 360 degree views of the moorland horizon, complete with approaching storms! In my mind, more evocative than our finest cathedrals.
jeby

Approached on foot from the south, on the cycle track, 19 August 2004. The tarmac surface of the track did not please me but it’s still worth walking in that way to get that first magic glimpse of the huge limestone bluff looming out of the trees high above the river. That view created a wonderful prehistoric vibe. I could imagine a plume of smoke and the shouts and cries of a paleolithic tribe living around the cave, which nestles high up under the cliff. The walk up to the cave is worth the effort, tremendous views up the valley. A very commanding position. Not a very comfortable cave for a permanent habitation but, because of it’s position, it surely must have been occupied by hunting groups. Imagine the post- ice-age scene while your’re up there, with herds of elk and maybe a mammoth or two roaming down the valley!

Went to Mine Howe for the open day and was delighted to hear they were also excavating a Bronze Age cist on Long Howe. Though the general area has possibly suffered damage from livestock it is a little beauty, 50x20 by 50cm deep, atop the barrow at the end nearest Round Howe. I imagine this to be the known cist mentioned in the NMRS.

There is a small area excavated around it and a bigger area downslope, mostly to the left of the cist, in which are exposed several (what for the moment I’d call) flags contiguous in a circular manner. The young lady said they found flint chippings on the cover slab and on the inside, but nowhere else in the vicinity. No human remains have been found as yet, though as the bottom is a bit smashed up they believe these could be in a pit further down still.

What marks the cist out as unusual is that there is no back slab. I was minded on the Nev Hill round cairn. However on re-reading Davidson and Henshall I find that there it was the back slab to a chamber which was absent and an arc of drystone walling thereabouts apparently continues as part of a semicircular rear wall.

Most of the exposed stones are unseen from the road as they are at the back, so I was glad of a chance to finally see them. I don’t know aboot kerbed but it certainly feels a little ‘terraced’ and the lines of stonework, if we may deign to call them that, seem to bear this out. The stones become more obvious as you near the Mine Howe end. In 2005 terracing on the geophysics proved to be from medieval farming.

At HY51010599 they are especially big and present a structured appearance. Two stones are one above another at an obtuse angle, though not fully overlapping, and visible of the top one on the left is 1.8x0.9x0.2m and of the lower one 1.5x0.2x0.2m. There is a space of about half a metre beneath them but no void to be seen, only comparatively smaller stones. To the right of this ‘overhang’ are yet more stones, though I could not tell whether these were in connection with or seperate or perhaps more of that ‘terracing’. P.S. 2005; Though Nick Card said these are more likely to do with the boulder clay there are attached to Long Howe stories of subterranean chambers, so we’ll probably never know for certain.

Visited here on 19th August 2004, my 50th birthday! Access not brilliant and it takes a while to work out the lie of the land cos of the wall running along the length of the barrow. Nevertheless, an uplifting experience. A superbly positioned site with wonderful eye-level White Peak horizon and long, open views. Added bonus – delicious puff-balls, but please don’t trample the pastures looking for more, they were a special present!
jeby

Came down from St. Margaret’s Hope and took the other end of the Herston road, the one marked Sandwick and Herston. The big pile I came across first on the left was simply a farmer’s spoil heap, the cairn lying shyly by contrast not many yards ahead and the standing stone downhill to its left. Weather mostly damp whilst I was there or I might have tarried further.
Immediately apparent is a roughly circular depression about 5.5x4.4m that I presume to have been left by the ?unofficial excavation, though it certainly has structure beneath. I assume the smallish boulders that I can see about the depression include the NE arc mentioned by NMRS. To the left is one 0.4x0.4x0.3m, at the right back a shaped boulder (some straight sides but not rectangular) 0.7x0.5x0.3m by the fence. On the right three more that include one 0.3x0.4x0.3m. In front of these on the bank of the depression there is an excavated rectangle 1.6x0.9x0.6m whose sides reveal an earth-and-stone matrix.Still looking at it from downhill the cairn seems to tower over you, certainly feels like there was more than a metre of something on the hillside. Can feel stones most places underfoot and wonder if the grass will die back at all to show more later in the year.

Coming down from St. Margaret’s Hope take the other end of the Herston road, the one marked Sandwick and Herston and the stone is very obvious just a little downhill from the road. Nice, clear and calling for a photo. Couldn’t see a setting but there is a dark green grass ring about that might be more. Uphill slightly back from that annular mound is a large boulder, the one mentioned by the NMRS I guess, which I naturally forgot to measure. I think there is another such boulder hidden in the grass about the same distance downhill of the stone. Perhaps there are more. Of course these might have the same origin as postulated for the NE arc at Clouduhall Cairn. Methinks in neither case are these boulders merely thrown up by roadmarking, for surely this would have been from some structure that would have been remarked.

The Mutiny Stones date from the third millennium BC and are identified as a long cairn, aligned NE-SW. They are situated about 4 miles NW of Longformacus in a very remote spot. Believed to be a burial mound, but, in fact, evidence of burials has never been found, so perhaps they have a wider, different significance. To get there, take the B6355 from Gifford, then branch off onto a narrow windy road which heads in the direction of Duns. From the narrow road, avoiding the numerous sheep along the way (the road is unfenced), you are looking for an unmetalled track that goes south to a place called Killpallet. It is a little confusing because there is an official footpath marked to the left of the track you want. Ignore that, head on the right hand track to Killpallet, park your bike at the furthest point, then stride out south across the moor. It is not suitable to ride your bike across the moor. The heather and vegetation is quite thick, but also there are grouse and other ground-nesting birds. The Mutiny Stones are at the place indicated in the OS map ref . There are a couple of small cairns that you pass on the way.

The Mutiny Stones are 85m long and between 7 and a half and 23m wide. This long cairn used to be bigger but some of the stones have been pilfered for various uses, including constructing the sheep pens that you can also see in my pictures.

Visited 8th April 2004: I’ve been visiting Ivinghoe Beacon since I was a kid, but back then I had no idea there was a hillfort here. I’ve got so many memories of the place, it’s hard to filter out the sentimentality and describe the ‘site’.

OK, there’s not much left of the ramparts but you get a good sense of the defensive position when you stand at the top looking out of the relatively flat surrounding countryside. The southern and eastern sides of the fort are the weakest defensively, and this is where the ramparts can best be seen.

This a simple, early hillfort, and it has a distinctly primeval feel to it. There are usually people up on the summit of Beacon Hill, flying remote controlled gliders or walking, but if you get it to yourself there’s a feeling of splendid isolation. Not bad in such an overpopulated part of the UK!

Visited 8th April 2004: This is the most impressive of the surviving barrows in the area around Ivinghoe Beacon. It stands some way to the east of Beacon Hill, beyond the Ashridge Estate boundary fence, surrounded by arable field.

There’s a path up to the barrow, and the views from the top are pretty good. Gallows Hill has retained some of its character though, which can’t be said of all the barrows in the area. I guess the stories of it being used for executions lend a certain notoriety to the place as well.

Visited 8th April 2004: This barrow is very subtle. We missed it entirely on our walk to Gallows Hill, only spotting it on the way back. It’s very tricky to photograph as well.

All that’s left of the barrow is a very flat donut shape, just beyond the fence as you walk east from Beacon Hill.

I assumed the eastern end was the front of the cairn, as it seems to be the highest. It definitely slopes down towards the west end.

Toyed with the idea that the ditch may have been part of the orginal setting, but couldn’t convinvce myself. Summer probably isn’t the best time to visit, probably better in winter with less undergrowth, it would be easier to make out more details.

Revisit March 26th 05

Lack of undergrowth helps a bit, but makes things even less clear in some ways. the stones are easier to see as is the overall shape, but this just muddies the water as it makes the front (Eastern) end look like it has a platform at the front.

Saw a Harris hawk in the trees on the cairn, presumably from the nearby Bird of Prey Centre. Nice.

There’s space to park a car just on the other side of the A6, by Mount Clifton farm. The follow Tinklers Lane, over the M6. Not a long walk, easy going, gates not stiles.

I think these would be OK(ish) in terms of disabled access, though the track is a little rutted in parts.

I couldn’t help wonder if the larger stones is related to the pink granite of Shap.

Visited 8th April 2004: This is one of those barrows that nobody notices even though it’s quite large. Planted on top of Beacon Hill, within the defenses of the hillfort, I think it’s thought of as just the summit of the hill.

A footpath runs over the top of it, and there’s quite a bit of soil erosion going on. It looks like this must have once been a rather large barrow. It goes without saying that the views here are great.

According to English Heritage, geophysics have uncovered possible evidence for a further two round barrows within the interior of the hillfort.

Visited 8th April 2004: These two bowl barrows are the closest to the National Trust car park, and if you’re walking to Beacon Hill you pass very close to them.

The larger of the two barrows is very prominent from the surrounding countryside. It’s easy to spot and relatively easy to get to, up a steep slope. There are excellent views from the top of the larger barrow.

The smaller barrow lies to the east of the large one, and is much trickier to find. It is a lot smaller and shorter. We visited during the early Spring, but I’d imagine this barrow would be more tricky to find during the summer. Not very spectacular, so if you can’t find it, don’t loose any sleep about it.

On to the bay side of Skaill House to try and locate the Knowe of Geoso. Even using the map I had a terrible time finding my bearings, as if the two regions of paper and land held only the flimsiest of connections to one another. Walk to the edge of the far house wall corner and look across uphill. It is easy to see the triangular scar of quarrying in the top right corner of a field. The cairn is just by the top right corner of the field diagonally opposite (though outside of it a fraction). Might have made it out on the horizon from here, wasn’t sure. Spent so long thrashing out my bearings making my way through fields of cattle to it felt beyond me. Saw drivers going to Skaill House Farm, which looked a simpler option, but making the grand detour to get onto that road in the time remaining was problematical. So I gave up for now at least.

Up past Skaill Church take a left at the very next junction, a farm road that takes three sides of a square that brings it back to the proper road again. On the first side is the farm track down to Lenahowe. Here is the Linnahowe Mound just as advertised by the NMRS, a long prominent mound occupying most of an enclosure, many stones revealed by the pit but nothing resembling any kind of structuring. I only saw a few stones in the undug bit, nothing you could make anything of in the slightest.

Friday 6/8/04
I drive up a small forested road to Menzion. The pine trees line either side of the singletrack, but give way slightly as the road passes through three standing stones. I park up and walk back. Two of the three stones are on the N side of the road, one to the S. The most northerly stone is almost square in section, 1.1 m high by about 67 cm square with an almost flat top. The corners of the stone are aligned perfectly N/S pointing to the stone on the south side of the road. Approximately 17 m S to the next stone. This one is 1.3 m high and 1.5 m by 70 cm at the base. The whole stone tapers up to the sky and is aligned E/W pointing to the third stone. Approximately 15 m west to stone three. This stone is the smallest of the trio and leans slightly to the SE. It’s 90 cm tall and 60 by 69 cm on plan. I put the compass and tape measure away, take some pics and then just look at this site and walk around the stones. There are blue skies above us now and sweltering heat. There are no sounds except from nature- flies, songbirds, crows and buzzards echoing through the forest. This is a very atmospheric site. Very remote, quiet and peaceful.

Going towards Skaill Church a tiny stretch of very minor road leaves the B9056 to continue following the coast before a track leads you into the fields to the Knowe of Verron. The track fades away soon but it’s easy going. Don’t mind the cows. I came across a tumbled line of stones going to the coast. A little too spread for a plain wall it seemed to me, and if it had been a curve (it could have been a very slight one I suppose) I would have taken it for part of the boundary of ? a ness-taking or a promontory fort.

Of course the Knowe of Verron HY231198 is a broch, though I harboured slight doubts when I was there. It is in a similarly precarious position to the Broch of Borwick at Yesnaby but without the wall height to keep you out. As I came to the broch remains all I saw was a short grass mound, and in the modern-times excavated cliff edge I could see a gallery wall sticking out. The ‘back’ of the site is well protected by a sharp deep sea inlet to the cliffs, calling to mind the Brough of Bigging in Yesnaby. There are traces of early diggings when you are on the broch (even on the grassy top I was careful). This I found out about back home but this doesn’t tell you about the square pit there, so could it have been revealed not long ago ? Smallish relatively deep slab-lined square pit and stones surrounding the top. Exquisite. [RCAHMS agree a cist is low down the list and suggest that it all could be collapsed medial walling]. Nearer the cliff edge there are other areas of stone I could make nothing of, could find not even the slightest viewpoint to make them worth a photo.
Looking over the cliff at the recorded excavation is a vicarious thrill. I could see the slabs of a rectangular structure and I thought there was something alongside. I could also see the edges of black material coming through the cut, placed there after the exploratory excavation of the eroding section. The weather still being fine and dry I gingerly crept down onto the cliff exposure using some of the bigger stones as lightly as possible in order to disturb nothing. I had hoped from down here that the nondescript stone scatters above might show something but still no. You can still see some of the midden material on the ‘floor’. Looking from left to right there’s the slab-sided structure, the seeming outline only of another structure, some of the gallery wall sticking out (as is often the case with these cliff-eroding sites) and then further up the cliff face a couple of spaced small protruding boulders (including a well-rounded ovoid) that gave the appearance of being the ends of a ‘cupboard’ or niche.

The end of a long confusing day or I could easily have been on to this. From Dounby starting out on the Birsay road and passing the Swartland junction is a significant space between the housing on your right. Look across and there is a burn at the back of a house where you can make out the much mutilated mound, 24m by 1.7m high. Certainly looks more interesting than the last burnt mound I glimpsed about Dounby. No go here but as I came to the end of the gap there was a flat area with a couple of barred metal gates that would have let me get up and around to it.

Seen from afar roadside as it appears to be in a marshy area and the waterloving plants are rather lush at the moment. Stands at the loch edge a little to the west of where the loch connects with the Burn of Kirbuster.

Seen from afar. Quite obvious sticking out into the east shore of the Loch of Boardhouse as you come down to Kirbuster on the road that side. I saw caravans parked on smaller pieces of land in that area so it should be easily reachable. But at the moment the prominent mound is covered by dense vegatation or bushes or else I’d have essayed it.

The first mound is at the top of the stone-walled field in which the Knowe of Buttquoy and frankly is a damn site more interesting. I wouldn’t have identified it from CANMORE if I hadn’t matched it with the NGR from the teeny-tiny circle that must be the circular sheepfold HY24462835. Muddled up as the stones may be I still wisg I could have found the way in – there must be one ! Don’t remember seeing the second mound but the third HY24432826 is in the field next door to the brough side.

From Birsay village going to the Brough of Birsay this mound is difficult to miss on your right. Perhaps my time of the year again, because I could see no features in it. Then again, I couldn’t gain ingress to the field unless I clambered over the wall and risked damage. The best of the Point of Buttquoy mounds is in the same field.

More than the average energy here. Tie off, jacket off, back from work, meant to visit and spend a short time, not expecting much but bought a couple of beers anyhow. Sat in the sun aiming for solitude, two girls arrive one Ukraine one Australia. Aussie lass, “what’s the significance?“. “Dunno”, I still haven’t touched the beast yet. It’s a bit too hairy. Next two more girls come, better, both well into it . She into energy being blasted, me sympathetic but not really able to get too close to Maen Llia, sit in sun, drink ale, try again. Not all uppity about whole deal but understand enthusiasm. Quiet hour is filled with people, but they’re all good folk. Calm moment, go for it walk round, touch, energy drops, still explosive, very rare place this, hard to fathom, beneficial, still living off it.