Latest Fieldnotes

My second visit was much more successful. There are 4 remaining stones in the circle plus the large cairn. The stones are located as follows:

(i) immediately north of the cairn
(ii) south west of the cairn
(iii) and (iv) on the opposite (ie western) edge of the field to the cairn, immediately in front of the stone wall – I shall refer to iv as the more northerly of this pair

Two further large stones are confusing outliers – one of these is south of the cairn (about 50 metres ESE of stone ii), and the other is just the other side of the wall to stones iii and iv, though a gate.

What makes it clear that this monument was a true stone circle is the presence of numerous socket holes which clearly housed further large stones. These are particularly clearly visible between stones i and iv. Just to the north west of these are traces of a shallow ditch which seems to have partially encircled the stone circle itself.

Running in a southerly direction from the centre of the stone circle, and just west of stone ii, extending about 100 metres south beyond the perimeter of the stone circle itself, appears to be a hollow way.

The sheer scale of this circle makes it harder than most to understand. It must be about 150 metres in diameter, and the slight rise in the middle of the circle means that not all the stones are visible from all viewpoints. Once you get the hang of it, this is arguably the finest remaining stone circle in Lancashire. The stones themselves are huge, and it’s a pity that no more of them remain. The location is fabulous.

Visited 21st June 2003: We’ve been to Stanton Drew a few times before, but this was my first visit to the South West Circle. We were all a bit tired after watching the Solstice sunrise, but I persuaded Lou and William that it was worth seeing how close we could get to this circle.

We walked from the Great Circle, back into the village, then headed out of the village again on the public footpath that I’d seen on the map (the map that I’d cunningly left in the car). When we got to the right sort of place I realised that there was good access from the path into the field where the circle lies, through a wooden kissing gate. It all looked very much as if we were allowed to be there, which I gather didn’t used to be the case.

The circle looks a bit shabby compared to it’s neighbours. All the stones are fallen, and the grass around the was either under-grazed or badly cut. Hardly surprising given the obscurity of this circle in comparison to the others. There were signs that other people had been there already that morning (offerings on the stones), but on the whole it looks like not many people visit this place. The quiet was pleasing, but we were all so tired and hungry that breakfast and a cup of coffee lured us away.

Visited many times as I live nearby. It is a long walk up steep hills from Huddersfield (as indeed is any walk of any distance from Huddersfield!). Dramatic earthworks are in evidence, you wouldn’t want to be attacking it, that’s for sure, and great views of the Peaks and the town are to be had. . The tower on top is a memorial erected in the tradition of Queen Victoria, it is not of any great age. You can drive and park right on the very top as there is a hotel. Take yer kite, take yer picnic and enjoy.

I logged on a while back and Joanna asked me to say a few things about myself and my experiences at Maiden Castle. We’d packed the Nissan with hol’ stuff and took ourselves (pregnant girlfriend, 3 other kids and self down to Dorset. “What the hell is that?“, me trying to keep eyes on road and simultaneously crane at biggg earth mound. Wonder if thats what the Romans or come to that any army thought as Maiden Castle came into view.

Nil desperandum. That’s where we’re going. Several days later after scouring local maps, off we set. Overcast, damp grey, rebellion in the offing but I managed to persuade the 2 boys in our party to walk up with me. Wind whipping up around us, really atmospheric. I loved every moment. This is an important part of our historical landscape that I, as a South London boy know nothing about. Pre-history is not exactly on many curriculums. Why do these places make us feel the way we do? I am so pleased that the MA helped to cast light.

We visited this on our way home from Boscastle.

Access is via the Arthurian Centre, and there is an entrance fee.

I think there is a public footpath you can take. I don’t mind paying to see things (as most landowners have to pay public liability insurance, etc), but that just detracts from what is essentially a wonderful artefact in an attractive setting. Or it would be if it weren’t for the awful fairy-tale pictures of Arthur, etc scattered around the place blahblahblah... and the limited access due to a viewing platform (which is probably a good idea, safety wise).

That said – it’s a cracking inscribed stone! I might see if there’s another route to it on the other side of the river...

We had been to Tregiffian Burial Chamber a few years ago, but as newbies to Cornwall, stopped there, took some photos, went home. Didn’t know Gun Rith was here, and didn’t even know Merry Maidens or The Pipers were close by!

So, armed with our spangly OS maps, we thought we’d return. What a pleasant surprise! Apart from being so wet we could have been wading through water (very rainy May 2003), and the poor thing had fallen, there was still a subdued atmosphere here. Felt like we were seeing something rather special. Just had to touch it. Was I wrong to feel the urge to stand in the hole it fell from? I did it any way and felt good about it. ;o)

We stayed a while then returned, via Tregiffian Burial Chamber and a final glance at Merry Maidens. Bless em all!

Still – now it’s back standing, I’ll have to go and have another look – hard life, innit?

Visited 21st June 2003: Having spent a short hot night in central Bristol we drove to Stanton Drew in the early hours, with William tired and bemused in the back of the car (Alfie is used to waking up at silly times in the morning). We nearly didn’t make it, because the Police had closed the A37 because of a serious motorbike crash.

We got to the stones just as a small group of Druids arrived (presumably the lazy ones who couldn’t get up on time). We crossed the Great Circle behind the tardy Druids joined a small group of their pals, standing in the middle of the North East Circle. The Druids started invoking the Sun, and I took the opportunity to explain to William what a Druid is (“you know how Grandma goes to church...“). These were noisy Druids (are they all like that?) so we sidled away and found a quiet spot next to one of the avenue stones. From here we watched the dawn, with a scattering of other people (maybe thirty) around us doing the same.

The sky was a beautiful wash of colours for a while, with purple and pink and blue and orange shades mixing together. Then it slowly brightened, becoming more bland and less beautiful. The Druids seemed a bit restless, and said a few more things to encourage the sun to rise. This must have worked, because it did. Through the trees to the west it lit us up, and lit the stones up. The freshness of the morning was suddenly right in our faces, and there were ripples of content from everyone there.

After a while people began dispersing. The Druids gathered under a nearby tree and made even more noise. Louise distributed chocolate and we wondered around the stones. This was our first celebration of the Summer Solstice for 5 years, and it was well worth the effort. I don’t think we’ll miss it again in a hurry.

This is a note to Martin “Pure Joy” and I hope it is in the right place. You mentioned that you live in Hounslow and therefore the Coronation Stone in Kingston is you nearest ancient relic. As a boy I grew up in Hounslow and distinctly remember there being a Sarsen Stone in Lampton Park on Lampton Road. I cannot say whether it ( the park or the stone) is still there. Neither can I testify as to the true origins of the stone however the priginal “Plaque” simply called it a Sarsen Stone (whatever that means). Given your travels I hope you find someting to be of interest under you nose. Kind regards, James

Shianbank NW is at NO 1555 2730

Shianbank SE is at NO 1556 2729

Visited 20th June 2003: I found the stone more tricky to find than I’d expected. From the A40 it was shielded by trees, and some patchy map reading on my part meant we over-shot the turning. There’s parking next to the old training camp reception building (a strange 1960s construction) and from here you can hop over the service road to the stone. There were a couple of army vehicles way off at the end of the avenue, behind a typical MOD fence, but it does look like this camp is closed.

The Growing Stone (aka the Cwrt y Gollen Monolith) is surrounded by cobbles, and the remains of a wooden rail are still partially intact on one side of it. Now it looks a bit shabby, but I’d imagine the MOD were very pleased with it when the work was done (nice and orderly). In the Modern Antiquarian book Julian describes removing a rusty sign from the stone, and I could make out the place where this used to be fixed.

The monolith is made from a very large piece of sandstone (apparently 4.17 metres high) and has the strangest strata running along it’s length. You can see why people thought it had popped out of the ground. As with Gwernvale, the A40 intrudes on the site, but at least the trees give it some degree of separation from the traffic.

Sunday 29 June 2003
Hadn’t really looked at King Arthur’s Round Table before and could’ve done with a bit of time on this occasion. It’s a really nice example of a henge, but couldn’t be much more different to Mayburgh.

Anywhere else it’d be pretty damn impressive I reckon. Here in the ‘shadow’ of Mayburgh, it’s difficult to give it enough spotlight, but I reckon it’s pretty damn impressive anyway!!!

Sunday 29 June 2003
Heading north from Shap on the A6, we visited Shapbeck Plantation circle. As we reached the point on the left where a bridlepath is marked on the OS map at approx NY556188, we turned right, down the road opposite the bridlepath.

We parked at a bit of gravel just over a bridge and walked back up the road to the A6. Crossing carefully (!) we followed the signs for the bridlepath.

Using a printout of the Streetmap.co.uk page linked from the appropriate page on this site we could see that the circle should be right on the path. But the fields were in full crop, so we as carefully as possible skirted each field, picking up the path each time it crossed a field boundary.

As we reached the top of the (fairly) gentle incline up to the trees of the ‘plantation’, I noticed a bit of uncultivated vegetation peeping over the pop of the actual crop. Once we reached the top and looked back down the hill we could see this patch clearly. It was circular….

Slowly making our way down tractor tracks we reached the uncultivated patch, and as expected, found the stones of the circle. Too difficult to make sense of them though. Winter visit necessary.

Sunday 29 June 2003
From Shap we went north to Shapbeck quarry for a quick ‘recce’ for any prospects of finding Wilson Scar circle. Being Sunday (hardly anyone about) we were able scout around the complex of entrances and car parks to the quarry in the car looking for any hints.

But as far as we could tell, anything that’s left is beyond the entrance to the quarry itself – beyond any point you could get to a) in a car, and b) without getting stopped.

If there is anything left, I reckon the only practical way other than a guerrilla-style raid would be to write to the quarry company and ask. Unless their PR’s completely crap, I should think we’d stand a chance. Unfortunately I can’t remember who it bloody was!!! If I remember or find out I’ll give it a try.

Having messed about on the web, I think it may have been Hanson. I’ll try to get round to emailing:
Carol Ann Walsh
Group Corporate and Investor Relations Manager
Tel: 020 7245 1245
Fax: 020 7823 1430
[email protected]

Sunday 29 June 2003
We parked atthe bottom of the hill where the road turns left into a tree-surrounded farm.

Following the path south up onto the moor, there’s a nice bit of particularly ‘old-looking’ (if you see it you’ll know what I mean) limestone pavement off to the right.

Walk past this and still looking right, you’ll very quickly see various lumps of rock, including 2 ‘erratics’ that are noticeably bigger than anything else. Wait until these 2 biggest stones line up with each other and strike off the path towards them.

Walk straight past the erratics, perhaps a couple of hundred yards keeping in as straight a line as you can. This should lead you to a point where you can’t miss the Oddendale circle, if not to the circle itself!

And we’re back in Gunnerkeld territory – a double circle, but this time under a really, really HUGE sky!!!! On such a sunny clear breezy day it really was like standing on the roof of England!!!

Burl’s description of Oddendale calls it (and by implication, Gunnerkeld) a ‘composite ring’ and likens it to some on Dartmoor that I don’t think I’m familiar with. His description makes it sound almost like it was originally like a ‘mini-Clava Cairn or something….

The actual stones here are generally fairly small – smaller than Gunnerkeld, anyway I think. Otherwise, again Fitzcoraldo’s said it all! A beautiful place, though pretty inhospitable in bad weather and boggy a lot of the time, I suspect. Liked it a lot.

Sunday 29 June 2003
From Castlehowe Scar stone circle, we continued south to the end of the plantation on the left. It’s worth noting that the lane does a sharp left and then turns right to continue south to avoid the revolting newish Hardendale quarry. (Older maps show it as going straight on.)

For Iron Hill we simply parked at the second of these corners and walked up the overgrown lane that goes straight on at the corner.

As you reach the brow of the hill after a couple of hundred yards, tops, the bizarre ‘Iron Hill north’ cairn ‘chopped in half’ by the wall appears on your left. To the right is Iron Hill south.

Can’t add much to Fitzcoraldo’s description, except to echo that it’s worth a visit if you’re around. The views must have been beautiful pre-quarry & still are if you manage to look in a direction that excludes the damn thing. Still, won’t be there forever I guess.

Sunday 29 June 2003
On the way to Oddendale, stopped at Castlehowe Scar Stone Circle. Strange (to us) little circle this one.

There are about 9 or 10 fairly large low ‘boulder’ type stones that make up the ‘circle’. It certainly is quite like Iron Hill and Little Meg (though I’ve personally yet to go to L’il M).

Given that, it’s no surprise that it seemed to us more like a ruined cairn ‘kerb’ circle. Nice on a sunny day though! Shame the locked gate suggests people aren’t very welcome. Didn’t notice the alleged row though. Bugger, I’ll have to go back now.

Sunday 29 June 2003
We decided to go to Gunnerkeld via Shap town itself, to get (in my case) and renew (in John’s case) our ‘bearings’ for the local sites.

We made our way to the public road past Gunnerwell farm, parking on a bit of gravel and verge. I guess you could drive down to the farm, but that always seems a bit intrusive to me, especially if you end up parking actually in the farmyard or whatever. I prefer to arrive on foot, it seems less presumptuous somehow.

Anyway, we were greeted cheerily (‘Stone circle I assume…!’) by a lass of around 16 or 17 (my guess) who had been mowing the lawn at the back of the farmhouse as we approached.

She told us to follow the path we were on, past the house and diagonally down through the trees. Get to ‘an old red gate’ and the circle was straight up the slope. And guess what? She was blummin’ right. And what a groovy thang ‘the circle’ is!!

I’m ashamed (not a new feeling!) to say that I didn’t notice the ‘standing stone in front of the house’ noted by broen, but I’m preeeety sure that nothing else on the short route described above is of any particular significance.

So, the circle? Circle’s’ actually. ‘Tis certainly an interesting site. Vaguely reminded me & John of Croft Moraig in Perthshire, in as much as it’s a circle within a circle. I notice though that Burl seems to say that (unlike Croft Moraig) it was all built at the same time.

He also draws dimensional parallels to Castlerigg and ‘stylistic’ parallels to Oddendale.

Go there. I for one found it more pleasing and more interesting than I expected from reading about it and looking at pictures.

Oh yeah, nearly forgot, it’s got this liiiiiitle road by it called the M6. It’s quite weird but JUUUUST far enough away!

Sunday 29 June 2003
I had previously had a very cursory half-attempt to find this one.

We parked by the side of the lane leading towards Knott Hill – a fine ‘mother hill’ if ever I saw one!

As we walked down the track I was scanning the surrounding fields for a clue with no luck. After about 200 yards, John said ‘There it is then…’ and I looked expectantly to the right (where I knew it should be). Nothing.

‘Jump!’ said John looking at me with a not altogether pleasant smirk spreading across his face. ‘How hi…’ I started to say (no, not really). ‘Shortarse!’ grinned the Ginger one.

So I jumped. And there, for a moment, was the elusive Gamelands circle.

The unpalatable truth was that when visiting on my own before, I’d missed it – not for the lack of looking, but for the stupid yet almost unavoidable reason that I couldn’t see over the bloody wall!!!

Well, it was worth the wait. This must once have been one SERIOUS circle. Still is if you look.

I won’t say much about it, but although many, many stones are missing and all (as far as I could see) that remain are fallen, it seems clear to me that the circle certainly has much in common with the beautiful Castlerigg and Sunkenkirk (or Swinside) circles.

It’s dimensions, proportions and the (short) distances between many of the stones speak immediately of those 2 much better known and, admittedly, better preserved circles.

Even its setting reminded me of Castlerigg or Swinside, though possibly less dramatic in more forbidding weather conditions than both of those places can be!

Just before we left, to my surprise, John suggested this might be a site that would be interesting to see ‘restored’. Unusually as far as my feelings about restoration are concerned, I thought for a moment he might just be right.

But then I though ‘it’s not gonna happen though is it!’ and was quietly glad. If it was restored anyone could see it! I want to keep it for them what can reallysee!

This mound and disrupted circle has an ‘Aberdeen’ feel to it. There’s a certain amount of field clearance here, but the small, tight circle and several of the surrounding kerb stones still have a nice aura about them. Not a typical Perthshire site though.

You have to pluck up the courage to to go a long way into private land, and across a steep valley. There was a man on a quad bike hovering around so I cursed my bad luck as my friends and wife cycled on in the distance

My wife and two friends gasped with trepidation as I suggested we cycled left into a densely forested area, “we’ll get shot!” as a nearby bird scarer blasted off. This complex is marked by red posts of which there are several areas. As you cycle down the slight incline, just before a left hand turn there is one part to your right, and a little further on, on the bend to the left another. I fail to see how the circle was destroyed for this plantation.

This standing stone stands to the north-west of the Monzie stone circle, linked by the castle drive which meanders in an S-shape between these ancient monuments. In 1936 the stone stood “in the middle of a causeway 6 yds wide, like a Roman road” but there is no visible evidence of this now. Also disappeared is a possible barrow immediately the to the south-east of the stone, which has presumably been ploughed away. The stone leans heavily to the north, away from Kate McNieven’s Craig which points towards the Witches’ Stone from the Knock of Crieff.

Visited 20th June 2003: We stopped off at Garn Goch on our way to Bristol, and it turned out to be a bit of a coup because William was convinced we’d stopped so he could try out the playground. It was lunchtime, so we took the opportunity to have something to eat, let Will stretch his legs and investigate Garn Goch.

Next to the site is a small information plaque, that says:

This is a burial mound probably of Neolithic date (about 4000 – 2500 BC) containing a stone chamber with a capstone.

I’ve seen the site described in a variety of ways, including chambered cairn, chambered long barrow or just cairn. Child and Nash describe it as, “a ‘hybrid’ Severn-Cotswold tomb, similar to Gwernvale“. The remaining mound is almost circular in plan, looking more like a round barrow than a long barrow, but this may be because of damage to the tomb from archaeologists and tree roots over the years.

Although there’s less stone to be seen here than at Gwernvale, the tomb feels marginally less defiled. Despite the playground and adjoining football pitch, this is a pleasant spot. How many Neolithic sites of this calibre can boast their own park bench and public toilets?

Visited 5th June 2003: To round off a half day of combined child care and megalith hunting, I stopped at IGER to see if I could get permission to see one of the two Cerrig Llwydion. There was a woman working in the same field as the eastern stone, so I wondered in with Alfie on my back and tried to look harmless. She turned out to be very friendly, and said she didn’t think it would be a problem for us to go and take a closer look at the stone.

It was weird being up close to something so familiar from a distance. The packing stones around the base are very striking, but probably date back to the excavation in 1986. The ploughed down round barrow was surprisingly easy to spot from the stone. We were a bit short of time, so I decided not to ask about seeing the western stone (something to save until another time).

This stone measures 2.5m by 1.5m, and is a prostrate outlier of the Monzie circle. It was connected to the circle (3m away) by a rough cobbled causeway. On the stone’s upper surface are around 60 cup marks, some up to 40mm deep. Many of them have rings, some as many as 4, measuring up to 400mm in diameter. There is also a carved dumbell.