Latest Fieldnotes

NT 6263 6503 Friday 23/8/02
The mist swirls across the moorland, the pylons just to the north crackle And then there are these stones. A stone circle? A ritual enclosure? A hybrid ring cairn/stone circle? It really doesn’t matter. What does though is that this is a gorgeous little circle of 30 stones having a diameter of about 12 metres. Many of the stones are earthfast, but some still survive to about 40 cm. Most are set on edge. There is also a central stone- unusual for most Scottish circles. This site was apparently covered in field clearance stones in 1986, but were since carefully removed and theses two large piles sit to the north and south of this circle. At the gate to this field stands another concrete pillar that used to form part of the East Lothian District Council Archaeological Motor Trail- this area being Number 3 (Kingside Hill, Crow Stones, Nine Stanes and two mounds near here; nearby White Caste hill fort was Number 1 on the trail).

NT 6210 6470 Friday 23/8/02
On the way in to the Whiteadder valley through the dense hill fog, I stop just under the pylons. They crackle furiously in this moist air. I head back up the side of the road to Blue House Cairn. This site has been robbed out and is about 13 metres in diameter. Only a small ridge of earth and stones survives to a height of about 13cm.

I found this holed stone whilst looking for the Polisher. It lies at the heart of a Beaker Settlement on the North of Delling Copse which includes the deeply scoured and polished stone. Like Rhiannon, I do not intend to reveal the exact grid reference as going on stone safari on this part of the Downs is good for the soul. I use the safari metaphor with some reason as looking east across the fields to Rockley reminded me of the African plains, but without the Giraffes. Or Elephants.

Perhaps it’s because I’ve recently returned from Cork, but this field reminded me a bit of Canrooksa in Glengarriff. Like that place, this site is important as an example of a relatively undisturbed ancient landscape. Dyer (1981) describes it as “probably the finest example of a prehistoric landscape in Southern Britain”. Also, like Canrooska, the act of searching for a specific stone amongst a jigsaw of the prehistoric built environment and naturally occuring features puts you much more intune with the landscape.

I was staying in Bamff House (paying guest) for a week and came up here twice. The four poster has been put into a little pen – presumably to stop them wandering off – the picture in TMA. I found the best way to approach the site was from the cup marked boulder behind the gate almost opposite the deserted croft (on your left if you go from Bamff to Bridge of Cally). Go up the hill towards the glade of oaks which covers the ruined larger circle. To your right is a rather thick thighed sleeping beauty. When you get to the top of the hill the view explodes around you – it is breathtaking on a clear morning. The top of the hill looks as though it has been levelled to form a flat area about the size and shape of a small ship. The four poster is in the prow. There are a lot of ancient fields and terraces in the area so the builders clearly knew how to shift earth. The area is liberally covered with stones – probably because the area was a hunting forest in medeaval times and was spared the predations of intensive agriculture.

Walked down the Avenue at 9am on a Sunday morning after already having spent a good two hours or so on the henge. As ever we had the place to ourselves. Regardless of the time of day this place is, in my experience nearly always empty. So many people seem to rush round the henge totally oblivious to the Kennet Avenue let alone Adam and Eve on Beckhampton. The belly of Stukeley’s snake looked fine today, the glistening silver dew and the vivid greens and browns of the surrounding fields conjured up a child’s felt-tip picture of this Solemne Walke.

The early morning light made the stones glimmer and encouraged me in my pathetic photgraphic attempts to emulate Max Milligan (more like Spike Milligan said Mrs RBD). The RBD children were delighted to find the axe marks at the south-eastern base of stone 19.

The excavations at Falkners Circle were in full swing when we passed again later that day on the way back to Marlborough.

Much has been written about this place but I wanted to reflect upon what Burl (1993) regarded as the minor mystery of the 16 missing stones. Between Aubrey’s 1663 visit and Stukeley’s 1723 visit, 16 large sarsens (stones nos. 5a-12b) were removed. There is no evidence of burning or burying. The familiar ugly obelisks now stand in their place at the Northernmost part of the Avenue.

I only noticed the trick whilst I was driving away, but I reckon that if you approach the hill from the right angle the horse/bull/dragon beast appears to spring out of Dragon Hill. As the animal is not fully visible from any other land point this is the best explanation for its siting and the carving of the minor hill away from the escarpment. Has anyone else noticed this effect?

I was here on Sunday the first of September. Whilst I stood on the mound with my wife a man who had obviously been mixing his drinks, or worse, reeled up to us and explained the amazing trick of perspective the barrow forms. Seen from the thin end the sides appear to be parallel. I have not seen this phenomenon noted anywhere else.

Visited this site for the first time at the weekend. A sorry admission since I spent 18 years of childhood and youth in Swindon a few miles up the road and was a regular visitor to the Avebury henge and environs during that time.

Harvesting was well underway this weekend. Whilst walking up the field boundary to the dolmen, a farmer, presumably Kommisar Clatford, drove headlong towards (to the untrained eye damaging his own crops whilst doing so) to remind us that we were on private property. This is the field that Evelyn Francis, in her cute Avebury Wooden Book, suggests should be dedicated to St Pesticide. Mmm.

This farmer was angry as hell and pompous as well.

Deja vu at the Devil’s Den. This was all too much like our recent experience in Cork and Kerry. I explained that little boys in shorts and 4 foot high stinging nettles don’t make for a happy day out and he responded that that wasn’t his problem. I enquired as to whose responsibility the management of the public footpath was and we then had a really fascinating exchange of opinions about the rights and wrongs of permissive access to national treaures.

After a sincere empathetic recital of the country code on my part – a useful skill I picked up when having a similar chat with a Corkmam farmer a few weeks ago – he gave us permission to walk on to the dolmen. His summing up, concluded “Technically no-one should be allowed in here as it [the Dolmen] is on private land. Still I suppose some people are better than others”. Not sure what to make of that but I resisted the temptation to say the same thing to him!

This encounter detracted somewhat from the experience of visting this most un-Wiltshire-like place. More like the Dorset Hellstone than say, Devon’s Spinster’s Rock, this gnarled little specimen was a nettly oasis from the Combine Harvesters which surrounded us. I wasn’t AS “moved” as others have clearly been here (but then my heart and soul really belongs to Gurranes) and was surprised to note the large slab of concrete holding the edifice up on its eastern side. Still a wondrous place mind you.

Stukeley’s Itinerarium Curiousum (1724) includes one of his marvellous sketches of a “Celtic Temple” here at Winterbourne Bassett. The illustration, which is reproduced in John Michell’s Megalithomania, depicts an 8 stone circle.

Only three stones now remain visible in the field to the south east of Lambourne Ground. The OS Map suggests a field with 7 stones, but curiously doesn’t record the massive outlier at the junction of the road from Clyffe Pypard to Winterbourne Bassett.

A bit of investigative work at this site pays quick dividends. I counted what I took to be three of the missing stones partially obscured by lichen and summer undergrowth in ditches and boundaries around the junction.

The larger outlier can be seen on the horizon to the west in the photograph above.

What the....?

Bless. My boyfriend chose this spot off the OS map himself as somewhere to take me.
Although you seem to travel for miles down a dead-end road to get to it it’s not exactly one of those isolated sites – in fact it’s part of a country park so it’s got quite a big car park, but you can get away from other visitors nonetheless, and it was really peaceful. It’s so easy to get to and would be ideal for anyone with mobility problems / prams etc – you can drive up onto the ridge (the edge of the Marlborough downs), park your car, and walk along the level Ridgeway to the hillfort.
Barbury Castle is surrounded by two impressive banks and ditches (more in some places) and has 360 degree views. The castle’s iron age, but there are bronze age bowl barrows and even a disc barrow nearby, which maybe I’ll get back to some time. The site is on chalk grassland so there are lots of chalk loving plants and the butterflies they’re associated with. Sarsens were used around the two entrances, and you can see some of them poking through the soil.
A farm near the carpark has a little outdoor cafe selling food and drinks which I was very grateful for at the time – all this is the opposite end of the ridge to the hillfort and it’s fine, don’t be put off by thinking the place has been ‘countryparkified’.

7.00am on a  Monday, and you can have the place to yourself. After the hoardes of folk up there on Saturday afternoon it was a completely different place. And it gives you time to clear up the tea-candles.

This is a fabulous site. It is another where you follow the map and think you have missed the plot only to find this Welsh wonder.

I bumped into Robin Williamson locally and I told him I had been the previous week to see these stones, he casually replied that the Incredible String band used to live near here. Of course I knew that they had made a film and part of it was here (Be Glad etc)

This site is another bit of an oddity as it doesn’t appear on the 1:50000 series OS maps (Pink Cover) but does on the 1:25000 (Orange Cover).

It lies about 5.5km north of Avebury itself and is, undoubtedly, the remains of a substantial stone circle.

I counted three stones in a southern arc with one opposite in the remains of a northern one.

I’m also sure that there is an entrance avenue leading away from this stone away to the field entrance in the gap between the trees.

What a great place to visit.

I’m going back soon and I’ll post some more. Chill out here look at the tin mine in the distance and dance around for a bit.

Fantastic.

Why can you buy postcards of Lanyon Quoit and yet in Wales nobody knows this exists except those in the know.

A classic of it’s kind with the fabulous cows looking on at all the strange visitors and their urgent visit to their stone neighbours.

Well worth a visit and much better for the soul than the nearby out of town shopping centres.

Visit relax and enjoy.

I found this by driving across Gelligaer common towards Deri and looking for the stone without a map, I looked along the horizon and felt the vibe and then saw the stone.

I’ll post some pics soon, Deri was Julian’s home town as a very young drude was it not?

This site has been an important cross roads since the beaker folk took residence on near-by Danby Rigg.
Close to this site are Old Ralph Cross, Young Ralph Cross and White Cross. These crosses make the confluence of major moorland pannier ways and also link the ancient sites of Danby Rigg, Castleton Rigg, Westerdale Moor (mesolithic) and Blakey Rigg.
Flat Howe is a minor round barrow but the nearby boundary stone is lovely.
It stands beside the road and is visible for some distance. The stone does not have the usual appearance of the local stones (see Blakey Howe) it is marked as a boundary stone with the Initials of the estate but from it’s appearence alone predates any of the Cleveland landed gentry.

Located just beside the Lion Inn on the Castleton to Hutton -le-Hole road.
Blakey Howe is easily mistaken for one of the many mine workings that cover High Blakey Moor.
If you check it out you will find a dug-out round barrow topped with a boundary stone.
The usual boundary stones for this area are about .5m tall, rectangular and fairly uniform. This fella is 1.5m tall and doesn’t look like any of the other stones.
The carved letters on the side proclaim the boundary of whoever owned the moor (and probably still does) but the stone implies a greater antiquity.
Whilst your there call in at the Lion Inn, great beer & decent grub.
There are excellent views across Rosedale to the Victorian Ironstone workings and the calcining kilns.

I’ve visited Hirnant a couple of times before. Yesterday I thought I’d pop up again after work and get some photos, but by the time we got there (about 8pm) it was nearly dark, so the end result isn’t very good.

The field that the circle sits in is covered in a type of reed that is common around here, to the extent that (at this time of year) the stones are almost entirely obscured by undergrowth. I guess this is what Grendel was referring to in his last post.

Like Dolgamfa to the south, Hirnant is situated on a plateau above the Rheidol gorge (now partially flooded by the Dinas Reservoir). The name Hirnant means long stream in English, so there may be some echo of a connection between the river and the monument that has lasted down the years. As with Dolgamfa there are beautiful views of the surrounding hills from the circle.

Went to Eastbourne during the first weekend of August for the pagan Lammas festival. Cisited the Long Man the day after. It looked well impressive from the road especially as behind the wall we espied druid rites happening. Some of us went. Some of us went to the pub.

Also checked out the churchyard. Noticed the tree had been dressed in many coloured ribbons.

Our fieldtrip was well worthwhile but mostly for the fun of being witih the folk we were with from Ken Rees’ Mythology, Folklore, and Witchcraft class which happens in Notting Hill. If you want to check out this class you can phone Ken on 020 8671 6372. Tell him Rich told ya.

Visited in June 2002.
Part of the cealing of the first creep on the left has now collapsed (you can see into someones garden). Around the whole is a view straight out of Indiana Jones – HUGE spiders with cocoons. The cealing and walls look as if they are moving! Moving on past this you come to a dead end with a big (alter?) stone and a small creep leading to a small chamber on the left (just big enough for 2-3 people). Further back, the creep oposite the entrance can only be accessed on your belly. Follow this down a short way and you come to a large chamber which is bricked up at the far end.
This place is fantastic!

NB: there is a notice at the entrance warning that the fogou is used by bats (i.e. protected)

This multiple stone circle was, according to a local I met whilst visiting, “rediscovered” about a decade ago by the person responsible for establishing the Sheep’s Head Way long-distance walk. Apologies, I forget the name, but he is commemorated by a memorial which was unveiled by the American Ambassaodr at the steps leading to the site. A real rarity this in Cork, I think only Drombeg and Kealkil can steer the megalitamanics gaze quite so clearly with such signage. The site is well sign-posted from the village of Ahakista and is a short walk from the fabulous tin pub. It is the only significant site on the Sheep’s Head peninsula – a finger of land which is much less frequented by humans than either the Mizen or the Beara.

Since the Sheep’s Head way was established the circle is now much easier to access, the site being partially cleared of the bracken and ferns which cover the low hills nearby.

Despite this it is still difficult to get a real feel for this place. Vegetation hems you in on all sides and the circle is in a ruinous state. I want to suggest that this is an 11 or 13 stone circle, and is about 7 yards in diameter. I was unsure about its orientation but I would suggest it was approximately SSE. The axis stone is now sheltered by a tree which has clasped its roots around the feet of the stone. Travelling on the road back towards the village of Ahakista I noticed a good example of an increasigly common site in Cork front gardens, “the pop stone row”. Rather worryingly these looked like the real thing. I wonder if in millennia to come whether megalithamaniacs might be seeking out the stones currently located at the entrances to industrial estates?

If you go to this stone circle don’t forget to vist the tin pub.

Visited 26th August 2002: The Cwmere Farm Stone is off the beaten track, on a loop road that runs from the village of Cwmere to Bont-Goch. You can approach it by car from either end, but from Bont-Goch the road is gated.

The stone is marked on the Ordnance Survey map, so it’s not too tricky to find. You can see it from the road (on the right coming from Cwmere) and there’s just about space to park a car (in a passing place opposite the gate to the field that the stone is in).

There’s no footpath to the stone, but we decided to exercise our right-to-roam (perhaps a bit prematurely), and take a closer look. If you decide to do the same, please act responsibly, and be courteous to the farmer if he turns up (I’m probably preaching to the converted here).

The stone itself is striking, with a distinctive taper to it. There are smaller recumbent stones nearby, but they don’t appear to be positioned in any way.

This stone circle consists of an almost continuous ring of stones no more than 3ft tall, with a diameter of about 25ft. It’s in a beautiful spot, on the flood plain of the river Wharfe.

Turn off the B6160 at Buckden (signposted Hubberholme and Hawes) and follow the road (carefully – it’s a popular spot for walkers and mountain bikers and mainly single track) for about 4 miles. After the cattle grid, you’ll see Yockenthwaite Farm over a tiny bridge – keep going along the road for less than half a mile then cross the river by whichever stepping stones look stable and not too slippy. The circle is just behind the dry stone wall on the far (north) side of the river and should be visible.