Latest Fieldnotes

‘The stones which intersect are much larger than the others; some are topped with white quartz crystals, others are of white (red) granite. The whole alignment is on an area of grass, everywhere else around here is gorse. There are odd stones occasionally throughout, perhaps dispelling the little cairns as field clearance. Sheep graze the grass, perhaps thats why there was a house built just up from & overlooking the alignment. Three of the lines stud the hillside prominantly, the other three only obvious when you walk toward them.‘

- 26 March 2002

‘Weathered & lychened. Land side flat (west), sea side angular (east). Not very tall. On the bank of the sound.
From the approach road to the ferry, you can see it on your right across the fields.‘

- 26th March 2002

‘A sturdy, concentric standing stone. Tall (7’) and wide (4’), 2’ deep. Very flat faced on one side, flat on the other but for a ripple. Extremely clean square corners. A slight lean; slightly tapered from top to bottom; a slice taken out of the perfect oblong from one corner down and across creating a chisseled shape when looked at from one side.
Right beside the road (dead-end road along White Ness, off A971), on the left hand side.
A collection of stones clumped together around its base, two large (one of which very(?) large and irregular, the other square but irregular), a few medium sized stones and a pile of small stones at the base of the standing stone. Perhaps these have been moved to make way for the road but they seem too odd a shape.
From here you can see just the tip of the other stone around Wormadale Hill on the other side of the voe, but only if you know to look for it. Its on the side of Whiteness voe, as other stones have been, but this time not on the bank but way off on the flat top of the rise (White Ness) up from the voe. You can see out toward the sea, and hills, and back along the valley (the standing stone is aligned with this valley, ever-so-slightly off) but its kindof an obscurred view, with little rises preventing it from being the best place for a good view.‘

- 20th March 2002

‘A fairly average location, except for the view of the sea. One 5’ stone, triangular shaped from halfway up; some distance away a typical straight stone of 7’ (they’re not the 6’ and 8’ that Copey reckons), flat faced one side, rugged the other, two boulders helping it stay upright at its base.‘

- 9th March 2002

‘Stones helped erect by setting stones at their base. Few remains of oval cairn right behind them, an enormous broad stone flat on the ground completely covering its centre, flat on both ends too. The largest is a brilliant big stone, whose face is flat and back is a fur of green lychen. A crack runs its length, back and forth. perfectly upright.
The stones sit within and overlook a bowl that opens out into the sea at one end, a rocky face right behind the stones.
I’d been driving past and to my left seen some upright stones, got out and there was a long old wall and beside it slight remains of some structure. driving-on just a little way later I spied these stones not so obvious with the hill as their backdrop. The sheep are really friendly here and come over to say hello.
The chambered cairn close by, closer to the road, made of red stone, is fallen in but most of its stones remain. from near to that cairn, between the standing stones and it, there’s clear remains of a stone sided road (which doesn’t reach as far as the standing stones and runs close to the chambered cairn). Telephone wires run nearly exactly overhead of the standing stones, which are directly in line with the poles. Also between the standing stones and the cairn are two stones of prime standing stone material layn upon the ground.
I think I can still make out the remains of the wall from further back. If the red stone remains, further back from the stones and cairn, is the cairn marked on the map then its a lot larger and constructed of smaller stones than others I’ve seen. I didn’t think it was a cairn atall but thought maybe it was when I got back to the car cos of where the map puts it. I think the map mistakenly puts the one beside the standing stones half way up the cliff face.
Copey reckons the smaller stone is 6.5’ tall but its more like 4.5’.‘

-9th March 2002

RCAHMS NMRS No. HY50SW 1.
Described as a possible broch within a ringwork this site reminds me now of Tingwall, something extensively modified. The photos I shall add only show the main portion – it has been cut through by a ‘modern’ track and what remains on the right of the track is rather inconspicious. Difficult to make sense of the transect, this ‘wall’ appears too linear for a circular structure.
It lies off the main road about half-way between Toab and Campston and on the same side of the road, and though called after the latter it actually lies on a track going down to ?Venikelday. It may be of significance that it lies roughly half-way between the Mine Howe and Dingieshowe sites.

Friday 28/11/03
Another site which I have visited, passed by and played around as a kid on countless occasions, but never got round to writing fieldnotes or taking piccies until now. Plus, many times I’ve passed by with my camera in the summer the front of the well has been sealed off (to prevent folk drinking the water which gets full of algae in the heat of the summer). Well, the summer has definitely long gone and the iron shutters are off allowing you to see into the mini-vaulted roof of this well through the black grill. The water flows from a spout built into the main supporting pillar of the roof. The whole structure has a certain flowing feel to it due to the black railing which curve round both sides of the well house.

In a rocky area covered with linear clearance banks on Gibbet Moor are 2 small standing stones, several metres apart. A much larger square set stone can be seen 40m away to the NW-ish.

Barnatt and friends debated whether the stones could be the remains of another four-poster....the size of the stones and the distance apart are much the same as Gibbet Moor North.

11/04.

The three stones are now thought to be what is left of an alignment.

Visited 24th August 2003: Sadly there are no spirals on this stone [or at least that’s what I thought – see Captain Flint’s post]. It rests in the hedge bank of the lane leading into the tiny village of Ballaragh from the north. I have no idea how it got its name.

The Spiral Stone is thought to be a Bronze Age standing stone. Presumably it’s no longer in its original location. Parking is a bit tricky because the road is narrow, but anyone who’s happy with viewing from the car won’t get interrupted by much traffic.

as Mr Brand says below, the photies aren’t too clear, but “in the flesh” it’s much easier to make out. it looks as though it’s one central cup-mark surrounded by a ring of others (similar to photies I’ve seen of ones in Argyll) or perhaps an unfinished rough ring

This seems to be a high round cairn with a long barrow protruding from it, according to the professional opinion (thanks Irene!). It sits in a field by the farm of Kilmorich, quite near to an old well, but isn’t marked on any maps, or noted anywhere that I’ve seen.

I’d spotted this from the road a couple of years ago, and wondered about it ever since. It certainly looked suspicious from a distance, but whenever I’ve passed since, a combination of rain, foot-deep mud and cows have prevented further exploration. It’s not marked on any of the current (or the 1867) OS maps, and I’ve not seen a reference to it anywhere.

I finally got in in September – there are three stones on the corners of a rectangle. The place where the fourth should be appears to have suffered soil erosion, so the stone has maybe toppled down the hill. There are a few likely candidates in the vicinity of what is definitely a ruined four-poster.

The stones stand on a small mound on top of a big spur of land, which looks like it might have been accentuated artificially, although I think it’s too big to be entirely man-made.

It reminds me of the “igloo” at Kilmorich on a larger scale, but only in shape – the majority of this one is almost certainly natural.

There are 2 larger stones, and one smaller. The 2 large ones are aligned N-S, while the smaller one is aligned with one of the larger ones E-W. The size of the rectangle is approximately 3m N-S by 1.5m E-W

The OS position is imprecise because the site lies on a very plain stretch of the road alongside the Loch of Skaill. It seems strange that in this general area there is nothing noted apart from a quarry. I have called this a natural rock formation (despite its regularity) just to be on the safe side. But it does stand out as possibly man-made, perhaps the corner of something that mostly still is hidden by the road overhang on this section of road. Could it be a step in a wall? To me what one can see presents the appearance of a triangular niche for some unknown purpose of its own.

I’ve visited the two ‘barrows’ in Oaken grove wood in 1996 to find:

There is a small layby to park. Follow the footpath into the wood.

The first barrow which I called the west barrow is shrouded in bushes however the ditch is still visable. On my visits the ditch of this barrow was water logged.
The ditch is broken by two causeways opposite each other .

The summit of this squat mound has a deppression in the centre. Suggesting it may have had excavations in the past. The record of Buck suggests it was done in Tudor times.

The second barrow at the east is much more impressive looking very similar to a Norman motte. It has a shallow ditch with the same two causeways. The summit has been dug out to a deeper level.

Intresting point is that small pieces of red tile are scattered down the side of the mound, some can be seen in the ditch. A building with a tiled roof presumably existed on top of the mound. The records of Bucks records that the mounds are Saxon Block houses to defend against the danish threat.

The earthwork of Grim’s Ditch passes a few feet south of both mounds. A third mound exists west in the field across the road. In the grounds of Hampden House.

Two barrows can be seen within a few minutes walk of each other.

The first presumed barrow is detectable on the grass lawn directly in front of the Bridgewater monument. The barrow here is virtually destroyed as it exists simply as a bump about 20 feet across and a few inches high. A better view of it can be obtained if you can go up the tower.(Bridgewater monument)
The other barrow is about a few minutes walk north of the Bridgewater monument. Its just left of the path and far more obvious. It sits on the side of the hill with several trees growing upon it. Oddly it can be stepped onto from the path side but is quite steep on the opposite side. A huge deppression in it’s center tells that it was dug out in the past. No ditch exists that can be detected.
For barrow enthusiasts it’s not bad and a nice walk.

Very close to the site of Mosley Height. On the roadside embankment right next to the wall is a standing stone about 3 feet in height

Dave 25th November 2003

A roughly circular area of stoney embankments, with a curved “avenue” heading up the hill, probably well trashed by wall builders but it is very recognisable.
Walk north 500yds from Worsthorne Hill Stone Circle over stile and it is on the right.

Dave 25th November 2003

From Worsthorne head east along a straight lane and park up as this becomes a bridleway. Take the second public footpath to the north and walk to the summit of the hill. Here you will find two boulders on a raised circular area marking out a barrow, tumulus, cairn, circle. There area at least 4 large stones a few feet below the banks as outliers or kerbs.
10 yards to the north of this is a raised circular embankment made of stones covered with turf, cunningly marked by a belfast sink at the moment.

Dave 25th November 2003

In the field so aptly described by Treehugger there are two areas that attracted my interest before finding what was actually the circle. Firstly a raised circular area, about 25 foot across right at the apex of two streams. This is not anything significant as it is on top of a area of landfill. But further to the north in the same field, next to the path is a circular banked area which looks quite interesting.
I found the actual circle after reurning from the other sites in the area. There are three low stones (9 inches), two clearly visible whilst close and one covered in moss. According to another site there remains two other stones hidden and the stumps of a stone row. I will take another look. Fantastic views.

Dave 25th November 2003

HY 44 09. RCAHMS No. HY40NW 5.
Not being found in the Crantit region RCAHMS have referenced this to a structure in Upper Scapa. Not easy to get to, lying in a valley field. If it isn’t a souterrain it could represent the remains of a chambered cairn. It has been suggested to me that it was made for cattle but I reckon the line of very short stone orthostats along the length would risk their laming.
The reason Ordnance Survey found no memory of the site with the farmer in 1966 is that the Bichan’s only bought Crantit in 1949 .

HY 2963 1331. RCAHMS NMRS No. HY21SE 13.
From the main road this outlier is the first object you come to in the site that contains the Ring of Brodgar. Described usually as a standing stone the two short stumps on the same mound make this present more the appearance of another, much smaller, stone circle. Archaeologists have said that the two stumps are the remains of a cove in front of the main stone, but on the ground it is not obvious how more stones could fit into such a pattern here. What is very evident is that the Comet Stone itself stands in a fairly large circular depression atop the mound. I wonder if originally it stood by itself and then later was made into the centre of an observational platform?

HY 4011 2286. RCAHMS NMRS No. HY42SW 3.
As you go to the pier for Rousay this site lies on the left-hand side of the road just before the farm that overlooks the pier. Tingwall or Thing-voll was almost certainly a broch (another example of a broch associated with a thing is Dingy’s Howe Broch [Dingieshowe] at the isthmus between Upper Sanday and Deerness) but the mound is much mutilated. Close to the top of the mound is what looks like a megalithic entrance but I am suspicious of its antiquity as I can find no reference to this. It has certainly been much extended since the ‘Broch Age’. This site still repays the use of even the simplest form of magnification to ‘bring it out’.

HY 2537 2678. RCAHMS NMRS No. HY22NE 4
As you go up to Birsay only just past the A967-B9056 junction there can be seen the remains of the Oxtro Broch in the field to your left. Not many courses remain (five at best) and it is best viewed with some form of magnification for it to stand out from the road. It is strange that a site so close to the road is unmarked. If it weren’t for the cattle on my visits I would have popped into the field to get to the other side.

Saturday 22nd November, 1545 hrs – dusk is looming over the surrounding mountains and Gwernvale lies coldly at the side of the main Bwlch to Crickhowell road.

Parking at the entrance to the hotel we wonder back and weep at what was once a beautiful site, its back now broken by progress. As cars whoosh by I study the restored stones that trace the ghost of the previous tomb. Is it right? is it correct? All we can safely say is that a road passes through it, the rest remains conjecture.

This is a lonely highway, with more than a fair share of accidents. My companion shivers, she feels that anyone who builds a road through such a location is asking for trouble. I feel that a photograph is asking too much of this place, and leave a blessing, hoping that one day it will find peace. Great disturbance and energy lie buried deep here. We drive on, into the welcoming lights of Crickhowell, where we stop for a needed drink, before continuing on, home to the borders.

The site is within 10 feet of the main road, parking is easy as long as you are the only visitor, and access is good. Not a safe place for children or animals to visit due to proximity of the road.

Cana Henge (Saturday, 22.11.03)
This is no longer named on OS maps, but the 1854-56 map calls it Cana (see old-maps.co.uk). That map also describes it as a camp and calls the building to its SE Cana Barn.
Cana Barn seems an ideal place to park, and the footpath, jinking left then forward, takes you past a field of very high cabbages, then to a pea field. Somewhere in this pea field the henge must lie, but there are no indications, and the contour of the land, sloping gently away westwards, makes it an unlikely henge site (level ground being the norm).
The old map places it firmly in this field, though the Getmapping aerial photograph (see old-maps.co.uk) shows nothing. I can’t help wondering if the henge was misplaced on the old map and should be further east, half in the field on the other side of the pathway. This would then place it on level ground.
Some way into the pea field is a slightly raised area, and I dowsed the energy flow as passing over this in a NNWSSE direction, with a width of 14 paces (about 7 yards). If the old map is right, this raised area is probably the henge’s eastern bank. (But if my level-ground guess is right, it might be the western bank.)
The energy line seems to have a few effects on neighbouring vegetation. The hedge north of the pea field has a 7 yard gap exactly where the line goes. The cabbages in the field south of the pea field have a yard-wide no-growth pathway running through them which exactly coincides with the energy line.
All in all: no henge visible, but energy detectable – so that’s half a result.

(See Hutton Moor Henge for notes on dowsing.)