Latest Fieldnotes

Visited 20th April and 24th May 2003: On these two subsequent ‘visits’ to the stone I viewed it from afar. The closest satisfactory view I’ve managed to get of the stone, without wandering into the field uninvited, is from the gate next to Mercury Garage (on the A478). The second view, is much more spectacular, but not so close up, from the viewing point to the south of Dinas Cross.

Visited 20th April: Bedd Morris is situated right next to the road between Newport and Pontfaen. It’s antiquity is in doubt because there are no records of it before the 19th Century. There are two inscriptions on the stone indicating that it was used as a Parish boundary marker (between the parishes of Llanychlwyddog and Newport), and opinion is divided as to whether the stone predates this use or not.

There’s a small car park right next to the stone, and a cattle grid. The stone is over 2 metres tall, so you really can’t miss it. It strikes me that this would be a good place to park and walk to Carningli from, as the gradient isn’t too steep approaching from the west.

Visited 20th April: On our second pass we identified a place to park near Cerrig y Gof. The road (the A487) runs adjacent to the field where the burial chamber stands, but you can barely see the chamber as you drive past because of the hedgerow [not what Jane says, but I’m sticking to my story]. It’s tricky to park nearby (and cross the road) there’s quite a lot of traffic, and the visibility in either direction is poor. I’d recommend you look out for the entrance to Oakfield Lodge and/or a brown sign with Taith Preseli Tour on it, and park on the verge as close to these as possible (both of these signs are on the south side of the road).

Cerrig y Gof was originally covered by a circular mound, but all that remains are five chambers, all facing outwards. None of the chambers have stones covering their entrances, and all but one have identifiable cap stones. The site is thought to be either a transitional type of tomb built in the early Bronze Age, or a special creation designed specifically for burials from five separate groups. Apparently it compares to some tombs on the west coast of Scotland (not sure which), but the likeness is not exact.

The stones are enigmatic, and do look like big cists. One of the fallen capstones looks like a dolmen, but I think this is purely coincidence. I’d like to go back and spend some more time taking it all in, but on this visit we were pressed for time. I only realised after we’d left that I’d totally failed to look for the fallen standing stone that lies in the same field.

Myself and my girlfriend visited this site in the summer of 2001. The visitors centre was very busy and we were told there was a limited number of trips to Newgrange. Luckily we managed to get on the last-but-one bus out to the tomb. The lesson is go early especially if you want to see the other sites in the valley. It is sad that this place has been so commercialised but it is inevitable with the level of interest.

They had rigged a spotlight up to simulate the sun shining through the lintel above the doorframe which was cool, this was accompanied by a knowledgeable commentary by the guide. I can’t remember if there was a ban on taking photos inside, I certainly took some pictures (sneakily mibbe). My only gripe is that the time alloted to see inside the tomb and take pictures of the artwork is only _just_ enough if you are a very quick worker. Don’t expect any time to take in the ‘vibes’. Still, it is worth a visit. The carvings are absolutely stunning (as you can see from the photos here) and the tomb itself is a must-see.

I’m not normally one for churches (I tend to burst into flames!), but I couldn’t pass this one up.

Therer’s a delightful old wooden ‘turn’-stile into the field containing the church, which is contained in the middle of a field.

As juamei says, there’s a trapdoor to the right inside the church proper, and a sarsen can be seen here. There’s what looks like a drill hole, at least 6 inches deep into the stone, and the end nearest the door looks as if it’s been sheared at some point – very flat and angular. Sadly, the other trapdoor cannot be opened due to staging being constructed over it – I’ll try writing to the church conservation people to find out why.

It was a very peaceful and cool place to rest on a warm day though. And there are information leaflets available about the church (which don’t mention the sarsens at all).

Thanks to a friendly local, we had little difficulty in locating the ‘car park’, and the walk up the hill didn’t seem that far either.

First view is amazing as you come to the stile and realise it’s just there in front of you!

I had remembered my torch, and crawled inside, but found the external light was sufficient to see what I was doing. But, being a wuss in confined spaces, I didn’t go all the way in – just past the first side chambers was far enough for me to explore.

I tried a couple of basic chants to test the acoustics before I left, but found that the sound was just absorbed by the stones (the ‘eggbox’ effect).

Sitting outside and facing the entrance I noticed that the hills behind the barrow seem to surround and ‘cuddle’ the barrow itself. Has anyone else noticed this, or is it just my imagination? I was reticent to leave, but with Mikki waiting down below, I reluctantly returned to the car.

Approaching from the East, Lanhill Farm is on the left. Shortly after this, there is a pull in to a gate for a field, with a footpath sign present. I managed to pull off the road, out of harm’s way here.

Instead of doing the intelligent thing and taking the footpath, I walked along the road until I saw the barrow through the trees, then navigated the knee high nettles and jumped over the fence.

The barrow was an absolute delight, covered in buttercups. No livestock in sight. It certainly pays to circumnavigate such things as I wouldn’t have known about the chamber on the southern side if I hadn’t. Taking some photos, I had the fright of my life when I nearly stepped on a pheasant resting in the long grass. It took off like a rocket as I stepped backwards, framing a shot.

Looking in the chamber, some remedial work has obviously been carried out, as iron girders are holding parts of the roof in place.

A nice barrow, in a pleasant setting, on a glorious day.

Went back to Old Bewick to find the hogback... Luckily Jan&Gus had come all the way from Holland to show me the way:-)
It it hard to find as it is sunk below the normal ground level.
.o0O0o.

25-5-03. Visited as part of a group (RAM03), with permission from the farmer.
There are several panels of art here, some very worn, but some very deep.
Lovely feel to this site, set in a wood which today had lots of bluebells. Later in the year the panels may be hard to find through the ferns.
.o0O0o.

Visited 20th April: Easy to spot, right next to the A478(T) just to the west of Dinas Cross, Ty Meini (or the Lady Stone as she’s sometimes called) stands behind bars to the north of the road. Parking is a bit tricky, but you can just about get away with putting two wheels on the verge.

It’s good that the stone isn’t obscured by hedgerow, but why such strange school yard railings? Wouldn’t a nice wooden fence have done the trick? Seeing the stone from one angle is exasperating, and you can’t touch it. Still, well worth stopping for if you’re in the area, and easier to see than Parc Cerrig Hirion.

St Catherine’s Hill Fort – 24.5.2003

There were other sites I could have stopped at on the way down to the New Forest but with limited time this proved a decent bet, and probably more interesting for my passenger that an obscure barrow in the middle of a farm field.

The walk up from the car park (by the old railway bridge at 484280) is pretty harsh, but short, and the main path brings you straight into one of the most impressive parts of the ramparts.

A short walk on and you reach the north-east entrance, which leads towards the mizmaze. The east sides gives great views across Winchester. Fortunately the roar from the M3 isn’t that bad because most of it is in a cutting; and anyway, most people visiting the hill fort have probably just used the same M-way to get here so car drivers cannot complain that much. As you walk across the centre of the fort towards the south you slowly drop, which gave me the impression that the ramparts might not be very impressive on the south side, but they are and use the natural steepness of the hill. Walking down the wooden footpath and right, along the stream, brings you back to the car park.

Longsdale View Barrow – 24.5.2003

To the west of Setley Plain a lone barrow exists barely 50m from the main road, lying on the left hand side of the dead-end track that leads to the view point called Longsdale View. It is quite sizeable, maybe 20m in diameter and 2m high. There are no clear signs of a ditch/bank surrounding it (except a probable modern ditch that runs alongside the track) so I presume it’s a plain round barrow. Several enigmatic trees top the barrow. The view from the car park 200m further along the track is pretty stunning.

Buckland Rings Hill Fort – 24.5.2003

It’s a funny old hillfort this, because it’s barely 30-35 metres above sea level, and not surprisingly is not on much of a hill at all. Does this qualify as the lowest hillfort in Britain?

It also all seems to be on private land and with no friendly ‘welcome’ signs around. Two houses (‘Little Rings’ and ‘Buckland Rings Cottage’ – I think, didn’t write it down…oops) seem to have its roadside part. The driveway and woods up to ‘Little Rings’ contains the ramparts of the north-east corner. I walked along the road side (which has a clear gap in the trees near this north-east corner but also has a ‘private’ sign) to the south-west corner where I made my way through the trees to sneak a peak and some piccies of the southern ramparts.

Beaulieu Heath Barrows – 24.5.2003

I only had time to visit two of the barrows doted around the large Hatchet Moor / Beaulieu Heath area. The first was at SU345012, only 500m from the main B3055 road. It looks a bit ravaged, in a scrubby area populated by rabbits, and it trapped on two sides by old airfield roads. The barrow is about 25m diameter and 1.4m tall. The second is the Pudding Barrow, which already has an individual listing.

Pudding Barrow – 24.5.2003

This is now part of the grounds of Round Hill caravan / camping site, but you can certainly walk straight into the site from Hatchet Moor / Beaulieu Heath.

The barrow is now fenced in, presumably to stop kids and mountain bikes damaging it. It certainly looks a bit worse for wear, but the fence should now protect it, and it’s nice to see a good English Heritage / Forestry Commission info board on the East side which should help educate a few bored campers. A brief conversation with a charming extended family of campers who had been having a piss-up on the airfield suggested that it had only recently been fenced in. The board says that most of the Beaulieu Heath barrows were destroyed in 1941 when they built the airfield. This one is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument. It’s a similar size to the other barrows I saw in the New Forest (about 20-25m diameter, 1 to 1.5m tall)

Bushy Park Barrow – 26.5.2003

I haven’t looked this up on any national monuments record and the OS Explorer map 161 shows nothing, but its provenance seems secure as it is mentioned on the Royal Parks website and by local walker/historian/writer David McDowall.

The Royal Parks website says that “The flat site of Bushy Park has been settled for at least 4,000 years. A Bronze Age barrow & burial mound was excavated near Sandy Lane and the contents are now housed in the British Museum.”

It also adds that the park contains “clear remains of mediaeval settlements, with the finest example found South of Waterhouse Woodland Gardens, where there are traces of the largest and most complex mediaeval field system in Middlesex.”

To find the barrow walk into Bushy Park by the Teddington Gate, turn left and walk along the path for about 250 metres. This is it – only a small hump, and now of an irregular shape, but it is a barrow, unbeknown to all the walkers and cyclists who go straight over its top. David McDowall says that it originally ran beyond the park wall.

Setley Pond Barrow – 24.5.2003

This nice, but poorly treated barrow, lies on the left hand side, 100m down the track that leads to Setley Pond from the main road that crosses Setley Plain. It looks a bit ravaged, with a slightly hollowed top, and is in a gorsey scrubby area populated by rabbits. It’s not totally clear if it is a bowl or bell barrow, but the bank and ditch around it is very strong. The barrow is circa 25m in diameter.

I was on my way to Penryn from Constantine and saw this marked on the map. Easy to get to, park in the church car park and the stone is in the church yard to the right of the church. There was a service on at the time so I couldn’t get any information.

This circle is of the same type as its close neighbour Clach na Tiompan, but is in a better state of preservation (although still quite ruinous). Two stones remain standing, and a further two stoneholes have been identified. The stones protrude from cairn material, which spreads to a diameter of approximately 5.0m. The circle itself is nothing much to look at, but it’s location, between the steep sides of Glen Almond, is stunning.

At a quick glance, one standing stone and some cairn material is all that remains of the Clach na Tiompan stone circle. Considerable damage was apparently done to the neighbouring chambered cairn when the road (on either side of which the cairn and circle sit) was driven through Glen Almond in the 19th century, and it was probably at this time that most of the circle was destroyed.

The circle was originally a four-poster, enclosing a low cairn at the centre. Excavation in 1954 revealed the stump of a second stone, and the holes belonging to the remaining two. The cairn was found to be made up of boulders, amongst which were found more than one hundred quartz pebbles,. At the centre of the cairn there was evidence of burning, with pieces of wood and charcoal. The cairn material extends to a diameter of about 6.0m, spreading beyond the edge of the circle. One of the missing stones was found lying 5.0m to the S.

I’d failed to find this site on a couple of previous occasions, and had been told it’s tricky to find, but strangely went straight to the stone this time round with no problems whatsoever.

From the A229 southbound, take the slip road immediately after the Shell garage, and park. Walk back toward the garage, and follow the path round to the right. There is a bridge across the railway line, the stone is less than 100 yards up the footpath on the left.

I was so angry after visiting this, the last stop of the day. Some idiots had set a camp fire within about 8 feet of the stones (see picture). The ashes were cold, but didn’t look as if they’d been rained on, so were obviously recent and fresh. In addition, one of the rails of the surrounding fence had been broken, presumably during the camp’s high spirits.

On the positive side, I learned something new. This was originally though to be the remnants of a stone circle, as shown by a plaque at the base of the terrace.

Mentioned in Dyer’s “Discovering Prehistoric England” as “a late Iron Age, univallate hillfort of irregular shape and about 10 hectares in extent” .

We drove right by it, according to the map, but couldn’t see much at all through the trees.

I also asked the lady in the garage who looked at me like you do to to the slightly bewildered. I followed her instructions to take the next right and to look for it in the large gorse infested moorland behind the garage. I walked to the end of the road and then found my way into the gorseland. After much searching I found the stones at the high gorse just to the left of the garage. I then saw the mechanics watching me with much amusment, after shaking my fist at them I had a look at the site, I can’t add any more than the other two postees except that if you park just where you turn right then walk carefully scanning the hedge on the right, about twenty metres down you will see a vague path which leads straight to the stones about twenty five metres away, saving you a very painful trip.

It was a rather wet day when I went here,parked in the layby where there is a gate into the moorland.Here there is an information board telling you what is in the area including the Dry Tree Menhir,You walk along the foot path keeping the perimeter fence on your right, when you are faced with a hedge still keep the fence on your right and step into the mud,negotiate this quagmire till you come to the stone.Well worth the grim passage here.I tried to find a better way back but got into worse trouble,go back the way you came is the motto.