Latest Fieldnotes

I came across a boundary stone at East Hare Crag NY959168. It was approx 2 Metres tall by 0.75 Metres wide
The face was marked with a date of 17** (obscured) and the left side was marked with a ‘G’ right side with a ‘C’.
Curious thing is that halfway down the front face are a number of cupmarks.
Also on the crag nearby are two abandoned millstones, I know they’re not really ancient but are a good example of recent megaliths. How the hell did they get these things from an isolated Pennine crag? and why abandon them? maybe the arse fell out of the millstone market?
I suppose they could have been used for crushing ore or limestone, there are limekilns about a mile away..who knows?

I arrived at the Loups area via Goldborough. Stan Beckensall and Tim Laurie have documented 11 sites in this area, 8 of which are on MOD land are require permission from the range warden to visit.
Of the 3 sites that are accessable, I have dealt with one in the Goldborough posting, 1 is covered with vegetation so that leaves 1 out of 11 but don’t despair ‘cos it’s a doosie!

To get to this rock you need to follow the Pennine Way across Cotherstone Moor and the pass through the gate at Loups Hill. You’ll know your there by all the MOD signs.
The rock is about 40 Metres from the gate, as you walk down the path it’s on your right just before the boundary fence on your left.
The rock looks pretty unremarkable until....you peel and reveal 4 lovely cups and rings all in a row and pecked grooves.
Don’t forget to put the turf back over the rock, these boys have lasted a few millenia and should last a few more if we keep them covered.

I parked-up at the Blackton reservoir and picked up the Pennine Way at East Friar house, this leads you to the moorland top road and a bridleway onto Goldsborough.
The sandstone crags of Goldsborough are beautiful but devoid of rock art, you need to be on the eastern rigg to find the treasure.
I was using Stan Beckensall and Tim Laurie’s book as a guide, they state that there are 4 rocks on the rigg that have carvings upon them. I only found one, but what a beauty it was.
The rock is zoned by pecking the natural faults, within each zone are cups. rings and grooves.
The stone measures about 1.2M across and 1.0M long. You need to peel back a bit of vegetation to see the whole thing and the more you look, the more you see, at least a dozen cups with rings and at least another dozen cups. A photo cannot do this rock justice you have to feel it and stare into it to see it’s beauty.
If you walk EES to the How Beck you’ll find a sandstone boulder with at least 30 cups carved upon it.
When I found it I was a little disapointed because the cups are very hard to see, this is one that you have to get to grips with, you have to feel the cups, they are there.
Brilliant site with lovely views across Baldersdale and on to the Tees valley.
Get yersel’ there!

I got to this site via Lartington Green Lane. There is a well made path that runs from the lane south across lartington Green. The path cuts through a small wood where you can see hares on the path and hear the lovely tinkling music of the Gill Beck.
After the wood you reach a cow field full of Jet Black Ninja cows and their offspring. These cows are not the big fat-uddered dairy type, they are, stare you out, give no ground, Yorkshire fighting cows. If you have a go at them they’ll stomp you into cattle cake. You can tell all this just by looking at them. Or at least, I could...oh no I’ve got the fear...!
back to the site.
At the end of the cow field you hit a entrance to a wood, this is where you’ll find the rock art. Don’t go through the entrance, stay in the field. About 40 metres to your right, just before the big dying tree, you’ll find an earthfast rock with about a dozen visible cup marks, gently peel back the turf to reveal at least another 30 with a couple of joined cups and long grooves. This is a lovely stone with nice fresh cups.
When you’ve finished, don’t forget to replace the turf properly and cover them up for the next pilgrim to discover.
Now go back to the entrance to the wood, on your left is another gate, go through this gate and you’ll find another earthfast rock that is split in two...peel to reveal... another set of lovely cups and grooves, not so many this time, but lovely all the same.
There is more art in the farmers field but with no right of way, the overlooking farmhouse and my current paranoia I decided to save them for another day.
All in all this is a lovely site with fantastic carvings, well worth a visit.

Situated on the Cotherstone to Bowes road.
The Butter Stone is an ugly little amorphous solitary stone situated on a bland sedge moor about 5 metres from a none descript moorland road. Opposite the stone is a yard with a couple of Nissin Huts and a few JCBs.
The thing that gives this stone some charm, and this will piss off the purists amongst you, is someone has glued a 1950’s Scottish shilling into a single cup mark on the top of the stone.
I normally disapprove of such behaviour but I will make an exception in the case of this sad little stone (with a lovely name).

This site has got everything. Stone circles, alignments, mass rocks, standing stones, boulder cairns. It is difficult to tell what’s really going on here. The site of the stone circle is now regarded as one of the most important in Cork because it is contextualised in a relatively unaltered megalithic landscape.

My photogarphs illustrate some of the sites. Alignments similar to the Plague Market litter the hillside high up above Glengarriff, whilst the lane leading up through Rusnashunsgoe is flanked by a ditch comprised of what looks like discarded megaliths thatb would grace West Kennett Avenue. I’m no expert but there’s an awful lot going on here. I suspect that this site may become even more important if the results of archaeological field surveys were more widely disseminated.

Bulls guarded much of the site, and if they don’t spook you you’ll get stuck in the mud or fall down a ditch whilst trying to follow the alignments. Its hard to tell what’s naturally occuring here and what’s not around this small cirlce but Jack Roberts makes the following comment on the stone circle and its associated sites. “[This] site is central to the megalithic landscape of the whole area. Ancient type of field systems, low walls of quite large boulders with ocassional uprights, and at least ten different types of monuments”. After reading this extract I’m not entirely sure what it is I’ve photographed. I’m sure other visitors will enlighten me.

This is an enthusiastically reconstructed ring fort. Excavated by Boyle Somerville – who is buried with his sister, the novelist Edith Somerville in nearby Castletownsend – in the early 20th Century. The highlights of this site are the fine views of the sea to the south, the views of the three Gurranes fingers to the north, a cup-marked stone, a souterrain, and a cross-inscribed stone.

The souterrain was unlocked when we visited and I was able to crawl well inside both chambers to find two discarded crisp packets. They weren’t Somerville’s. The overall impression is of a site not disimilar to Carn Gluze at Cape Cornwall. The reconstructed walls and the impressive flight of steps make this place seem much more modern than it really is. The site would have been easily defended and nearby Gurranes acts as an impressive welcome or warning to visitors.

This obscure 6 stone alignment shares a ENE-SSW orientation with the nearby Ardrah Row. It many ways it has a similar feel, although the stones have a shape more common to the stumpy pillars of Reenascreena in the south of the county. The tallest ENE stands at about 4 and half feet whilst the smallest is about 20 inches. Five stones stand, one is fallen. Burl, in his 1993 publication, “From Carnac to Callanish” reports that Charcoal dating on peat overlying the site dates to approximately 1600BC. The site was excavated in 1977. The tallest stone “weighs about 2 tons and could have been erected by some eight workers”.

When travelling North or South to vist this site, following the hand-written signs to the nearby Basketry will be a big help. The site nestles on a small hill overlooking the crossroads of two lanes. To the SW is Lough Atoreen and to the NW the familiar peak of Knockboy. The landowner had recently installed a gate when we visited. A refreshing change after some of the real, imaginary (“Beware of the Bull” ) and symbolic barriers so often found in these parts.

The happy face simulacra on the SSW stone was only spotted when the film was developed!

Ardrah Stone Row is difficult to find and access. We sought permission from a very suspicious farmer with the strongest Irish accent I’ve ever heard (we both repeated everything to each other at least twice). The Farmer insisted that we were some way short of Kealkill but after I’d got my map out and explained to him that it was Adrah we were looking for, he positively gushed vague directions. Following the lane northwards, through a gate we entered a field where we could plainly see the row. It was here that I understood why the farmer had asked whether I was intending to change out of my sturdy walking books. Waders might have been more appropriate. Getting nearer to the row than about 500 feet proved almost impossible. After circling the site for about 45 minutes when we attempted to dodge noisy cows, scale banks, ditches, streams and barbed wire we eventually got into the grounds of the abandonned farm house from which the site can be accessed.

Myler’s report on this alignment in his “An Archaeological survey of the Mealagh Valley” includes the following observations “The largest south western stone is 9 ft high, 3 ft wide and 2.5 ft thick. The adjacent stone measures 3 ft high, 2 ft wide and 1.5 thick. The next one is 4.5 ft high, 4 ft wide and 2 ft thick. The north eastern stone is 3ft high, 2 ft wide and 2 ft thick”.

This is the Mealagh Valley’s largest standing stone. It is one of a number interesting sites in the immediate vicinity including, on the opposite side of the road, a ringfort with souterrain and a cup marked stading stone.

In his excellent archaeological survey of the Mealagh Valley, David Myler reports that it stands 15 foot high, is 6 foot wide and 3 feet thick. The stone is rumoured to have markings on it. I noticed none but can report that the stone has began to sprout a fine head of hair. Local rumours also report that the stone was once damaged by a bolt of lightning.

Turn left on the road heading NW from Lough Boffina, turn left again after about a mile and then pull in at the lane on the left. Ask permission to access the site. One of the farms’ many barky dogs kept me company on my visit.

This is the Northern one of a pair of circles at Currabeha. After O ‘Nuallain, Jack Roberts suggests that there is some disagreement as to whether there were originally 9 or 11 stones here.

We visited this low runined cicrle on a wet and foul day. We didn’t realise the second cirlce was so close at hand until reading Roberts’ guide later that evening.

My experience of finding the site was a similar one. The stones dip below the horizon as you approach. I followed the directions suggested by Burl and walked up the lane past a farm. There was no-one there but I did notice a previously un-reported (and certainly not recorded on the OS map) stading stone adjacent to the back garden. The bog is the most fearsome I’ve encountered visiting sites in Cork or Kerry.

It wasn’t until leaving the lane and then turning left and left again to head toward the Healy Pass that I noticed a much easier access point. The fence here is partly trampled and the stones remain in view as you follow the contours to reach them. I guess this is the easy route!

FourWinds has got a point here. Yes, this is the Eastern of the two circles. Four of us spent nearly 2 hours trying to find the other one and in the process got separated from each other. Things became a bit scary then and after we all met up again later to find out that we’d all been shouting at the tops of our voces and had all retraced our original steps out of there and had still not found the stones nor each other. Any advice on finding this site, or some images would be most welcome.

The good news is – there is now a right of access to Five Wells! Go to the end of Pillwell Lane (off the B-road from Chelmorton to Flagg) and follow the news signposts.
About time! From the chambered tomb you can see Minninglow, Eyam Moor (Wet Withins), Stanton Moor, and – unfortunately – the rape of the Mother that is the refuse tip and Topley Pike Quarry. Grrr!

There is some debate as to whether there were originally 13 or 15 stones on this site.

There is an informative interpretation board at this site. The landowner asks for a small charitable donation and the rear of the board incorporates letters of acknowledgement from, amongst others, Amnesty International.

A delight to visit on such a sunny day.

Gurranes stone row actually lies to the North of Knockdrum, a reconstructed ring fort. The alignment is clearly visible from the fort and tracks across the skyline as you descend back to the road. There were, according to Roberts’ “Antiquites of West Cork”, originally 5 upright finger stones here. The missing fifth stone was removed during the 19th Century and installed in a Castletownshend garden.

Our second visit to this site and 53 weeks on from our first trip it still feels like a magical place. This time rabbits scattered into hedgerows as we approached. The views inland were more stunning than I remembered. From the lofty heights of Knockdrum we spotted the cows that share the field with the stones using them to scratch themsleves. A prosaic end to another fine visit. This is still my favourite ancient site.

The reconstruction is free of charge to visit,but let your self be known to the owner.The site is supported by donations.
See WWW.bodrifty.co.uk

In this area are the ruins of 8 roundhouses dating from 600BC -43AD.

Rollright was one of the first circles I visited back in the early ‘90s, and the King Stone was the first time I saw some of the strange offerings that get left at these places.
Hanging from a nearby tree/bush was a silver spraypainted piece of toast.
Yeah, go figure....

‘Trevorgans Menhir’, proper. 8 ft tall.

Burl says this is an 11 metre embanked circle or ring cairn, he also calls it Froggatt Edge, which is what I’ve always known it as.
As Holy says, it is bypassed by most of the walkers on the nearby track, who tend to look at you as if you are loitering with some kind of malicious intent.

If you approach the circle from the farm, at the point where the sign says ’ no cars beyond here ’ a large pointed stone can be seen built into the hedge, right by the pull-in.
Further round the lane on the driveway to the last house there is a small stone slab with a spiral carving it’s probably not that old, but hey it’s next to the path.

Iron Age hillfort next to the coastal path, entrance and some walls and ditches remain. Great views toward Lands End.

Not your usual assortment of fallen stones in a roughly circular shape but a series of diamond shaped fields with hugh earth banks. Best seen from the northern end of Stowes Hill (Cheesewring) on a sunny evening when the sun is over to the west.
The field system is inside a modern field system and is on private land, however a permissable path runs along below them and then turns sharp left to take you up on to Sharptor itself.
When you get close you realise how big the banks are, and then wonder if they carry on under the gorse to the east.
It is worth going up on to Sharptor for the view, on a good day you can make out the whale shaped hump of Lundy Island far away to the north.

This is on the road from St.Keverne to Porthoustock just after Rosenithon.