Latest Fieldnotes

I hadn’t planned on seeing the stones till I saw them on the map as I was driving past. I nearly missed them too, as it was so misty, visibility down to about thirty feet. Approached from the main path, it was truly a=mazing as they loomed up out of the mist. Everything was grey, but the stones where still awesome.

Easily seen from the road, access through the farm gate.

Visited in August and the place was full of spiders...Big Spiders...and big balls of web hung off the ceiling...spooky.

A glorious late afternoon in August – golden light bathing all it touches forming long shadows and a quick trip with my kids (before we go home and light the BBQ) to the tiny but perfectly formed hamlet of Taston on the edge of the Oxfordshire Cotwolds. Perfect! except that this afternoon the nation learned that two missing Cambridgeshire girls, Holly and Jessica, had been murdered and were never coming home. It felt all the more important to be with my children and go to someplace old.

The 7 foot tall Thorstone stands idly against a garden wall in the middle of Taston, leaning nonchalently as if waiting for a rural bus service that was discontinued years before. Of the same limestone as the Hawk Stone and the Rollrights, this is yet more evidence of the scale and importance of the north Oxfordshire landscape as a megalithic centre. But why here in Taston?

The water source maybe? An enchanting spring at the other end of the village bubbles up and out via a Victorian gothic memorial fountain, hidden away under a canopy of yews and beech trees, creating a delightful shady pond before it tumbles away to form a stream. My son was thrilled to be able to paddle and catch tiny shrimps. We admired the liverworts growing in the water as is tumbles over the lip of the fountain, and put our heads down to taste the cold, cold, pure water flowing straight up from the earth.

The Thorstone stands opposite an old cross on the tiny village green. If you can find Taston (between Charlbury, Enstone and Chipping Norton), you’ll find the stone. See ‘folklore’ for more about the cross and the name.

Visited this site the year before last, pretty impressive but hard to find!

Unsurprisingly its located just off the Holestone road just outside Doagh. On top of a stony outcrop surrounded by gorse bushes and not easy to spot. We finally found it after three visits and with directions from a local historian friend.

If visiting, don’t wear shorts......

Local tourist board lists it as an attraction and states that it was used in the 1800s or there abouts for marriages...

other descriptions can be found at....

www.megalithic.co.uk
countyantrim.com/antrim_heritage_bushmills.htm

We visited the Tibblestone on 4th August 2002, on our way back to Wales after a two week holiday. That day we had squeezed in visits to five other sites in the Cotswolds, despite having not started until lunchtime. Basically we were knackered, and there were still two hours of driving left before we could sleep (except for William who was already asleep).

When we found the Tibblestone I thought it looked a bit lost in it’s surroundings. It’s situated right next to an Esso petrol station with the access road to the petrol station running on the other side of it. In other words, it shares an island of grass with the big Esso sign that has the petrol prices on it.

Across the road is the Teddington Hands pub, so perhaps next time we’re in the area we’ll pay that a visit, and add something here under ‘facilities’.

We visited this stone, and it’s neighbour, in August 1997 in scorching weather. At both sites we were plagued by savage horseflies, that made the visit less relaxing than we’d hoped for.

The cup marked stone is the first of the two that you get to coming from Kinloch, and it’s on the left-hand side of the road under some tress.

The RCAHMS database has this to say about this site:

“A large, earth-fast boulder 5ft long as far as is exposed and 3ft 10ins broad, bearing on the upper surface 18 cup marks of various depths of which the most distinct, 3ins in diameter and 1in deep, is towards the N. The whole length of the stone is not visible but the markings do not seem to extend to the covered portion.”

I think it was the unusually hot weather that brought the hungry horseflies out, so you’ll probably be alright if you visit when the weather is more Scottish.

We visited this stone (and it’s neighbour) in August 1997 and were attacked by horseflies as soon as we got there. It was like something out a B-movie. We were on my motorbike, so we ended up keeping all our gear on to avoid getting bitten. It was stupidly hot though, so stomping around the heather with our leathers and crash helmets on, we were boiling.

The stone is on the left-hand side of the road coming from Kinloch, and it’s not too tricky to find.

Here’s what the RCAHMS database has to say about the stone:

“An incised stone, 1.9m long and 0.2m deep, found during field investigation. It lies N-S and measures 0.9m across at the N end, tapering to 0.5m at the S.”

“The marks incised upon this stone bear no relationship to known Pictish or Early Christian symbols; they form no cohesive pattern or identifiable shapes.”

Strangely, no mention of horse flies on the database.

This is about a mile south of Alton Priors,second turning on the right past the Barge Inn,Hursts Lane is a bit bumpy so take it easy for half a mile.The stone is in a field on the right just round a corner.Among the trees in the middle of the field is a heap of Sarsens.

My favourite site of those near my home in Edinburgh, a wee beauty that you can often enjoy alone if you visit outside of summer. The eerily friendly cows can be intimidating, but clap and they’ll let you pass through to the site.

An almost conical hill a few miles inland from the Firth of Forth, and the highest point for miles around. Your ears pop as you ascend from low-lying Linlithgow village. At the top, panoramic views of Lothian and the Kingdom of Fife in fair weather, and usually a biting wind and thick fog in foul. Best shelter in the latter is within the enclosed central burial shaft with its stone kist. Feels like entering a submarine. A site of worship from neolithic to modern times, as evidenced by the TV mast! We and our ancestors share cultural attachments to high places, closer to the ether.

By Portbury Church not far from junction 19 on the M5.Re-erected here after being found in a pond which was being drained during the construction of the motorway.There is an information plaque beside the stone.

We visited Orkney in July 1997, and made straight for Stennes and Brodgar when we arrived. I was immensely moved by Stennes, which must have once been the most significant megalithic site on Orkney, and still is the most beautiful. The vibes the place gave off were only comparable to Calanais on Lewis.

I proposed to Louise at Stennes, because it seemed like the right place to do it. Five years on I want to go back there and see the stones again. Perhaps we’ll make it soon, with our son William and our, as yet, un-born child [Alfie].

I can’t believe how few people have posted information to this part of the Web site. If you’re considering a trip to Orkney, I can say with all honesty that, for me at least, Stennes justified the trip in itself.

My girlfriend and I Spent an invigorating hour on this site. Finding all the different circles and avenues was a slightly tricky but ultimately fascinating activity- partly made complex by the sheer mass of naturally placed stones in the same area as the man made structures.

When you park in the enclosed car park next to a walled sheep enclosure walk parallel to the road 2-3 hundred metres to find the two avenues that were for me the highlight of the site. The two avenues run parallel though slightly offset and are of very impressive length. The avenue furthest from the road has a beautiful mini circle in the middle with a strange hollow that was crying out to be sat in.

There are countless oddities such as the ‘apple crusher ’ stone which looks much like the grinding stone from a windmill but has been rumoured to be either a sacrificial altar or from a cider mill !!!???
Much like others on this page I’d be fascinated to find out the truth as to what it is !

We found the best way to explore from there is to simply wander pretty much at random around the field uncovering countless gems. There are two large circles towards the far west of the field with large standing stones in their centres – (the stream down at the bottom of the slope is also a lovely walk were we found sparkling springs, baby toads and carnivorous plants !!)

I can’t recommend this site too highly and find it amazing that a site with so many different structures – all of which have an incredible number of original stones is still unmarked from the road. Surely this needs to change !??

The best place to park is in the Bell Inn carpark,opposite is a public footpath,make for the second copse on the hill the stones are in the middle.Afterwards retire to the pub for refreshments.

Westbury White Horse used to be a favourite hang out of mine when I lived in the area (Trowbridge). It’s a fantastic spot, especially if you sleep over night in the car. Many a morning myself and some friends would wake up to find all of Wiltshire, or as mush of it as we could see, under a thick white fog, what a site! Even better when the fog lifts and comes rolling up the hill...
The hangliders and paragliders then turn up, along with the dog walkers and general site seers. Can’t recommend it highly enough in any season. If you get the opportunity go and watch an electrical storm from there, it’s more than memorable.

Not the easiest of things to find, thanks to a local farmer for pointing us in the right direction!
The caves are situated just on the edge of Highmeadow Woods outside of Coleford in Gloucesteshire. See map reference for further details. To find them, come of the A40 towards Little/Great Doward and head for The Biblins campsite. Just before the first car park is a track down to the right, take this, then down to your right again. Caves down the track on your left.
To be honest I was a bit underwhelmed by the caves, though without a torch we didn’t venture too far in, they may hold secrets we didn’t find.
Walking back through the woods we spotted wild deer which went some way to making up for the caves.

When I was looking at the tregiffian burial chamber I glanced over the road and saw this grand stone.

This is a Logan Stone and is shaped like a stone axe.It will move but with great difficulty.You have to fight your way through lots of furze to get there but is worth the visit.

The road is a bit narrow for parking but you can squeeze in by the field gate.The local farm is appropriately named Tremenhere.

I was there in May 2002. The weather was as you [Gazza] described, but the site is stunning.

There was an interesting article in 3rd stone by Jeremy Harte that presents
convincing evidence that the figure is not ancient which i think is the only
conclusion you can come to by looking at the facts even if that is not what you
want to believe. here is a quote from the article:
“no 17thcentury deeds or field names referred to the figure, despite his obvious
advantages as a landmark. Even Giant Hill appears as Trendle Hill, after an
earthwork at its summit, until 1700. Neither the churchwardens nor the estate
managers, as we have seen, record the work of recutting the Giant before 1694. He
is absent, not only from national surveys by antiquaries
like Camden, but from the notes of local scholars such as Gerard who had passed
through Cerne in 1625, and from a very detailed survey of the manor in 1617.”
This is in dramatic contrast to the genuinely ancient hillfigure at uffington
where the first record is of a white horse hill in the 1070’s and of the actual
figure in 1190.
you can read the article here:
thirdstone.demon.co.uk/download/cerne_24.pdf

Mynydd y Gelli, as this site is also known (somewhat optimistically) as “the Welsh Stonehenge”’ (Burl, 1995: 174).

I’ve not heard this site referred to as Rhondda Stonhenge before. Like the English one, though, what’s left is being ruined by pollution. No trunk roads here though just a hole full of stinking plastic bags.

This place is paradoxiaclly grim and breathtaking. At the end of a winding road from Gelli up to a massive landfill site there is a stile. Heading west, the site is easy to miss. You’re instinctively drawn away from the line of the chain link fence that divides the encroaching stenching land fill from the magnificent hillside views to the North over to Rhondda Fach.You then miss the site. At the edge of a plateau some few hundred yards west of the rings are a number of equally spaced partially buried stones. Outliers dot the slopes below. This would appear to be what Burl (op cit) refers to as “the wreckage of three more dubious cists”. Dubious or not, this was once a special place for ritual and ceremony. Look around at the views and the alignments!

Rhondda-Cynon-Taf, the local authority have only vague records of this ancient monument and, with an absence of landmarks for map reading and a Quatermass land-fill getting nearer all the time, finding this site was hard work on a foggy day in March 2002. The rings are next to the chainlink fence on a ENE-WSW axis. Burl reports them as being 10.2m by 9m in diameter.

Ignore Burl’s directions. Follow the road to the landfill site and get out by the gates and lorries. Follow the fence on the brow of the hill to the site. None of the stones are taller than about 75cm, the OS map doesn’t record the circle by name, nor does it record the growth of the landfill (a local politcal hot potato) instead it coyly records “Cairns”. For now Taffhenge or Tiphenge, remains sadly neglected and seldom visited.

I’ve also seen this referred to as Knockdrum. An impressive stone row in a special place. Park at the the School on the road into Castletownshend. The site is visible on the horizon to the west. You’ll want to run there. A breathless gallop to embrace these four scrawny fingers. Three erect and one broken.

This is a special place.

Echoes of the Callanish silhouette here, and Trellech there. The fingers offer brief but welcome shelter from the winds.

Our visit in mid August 2001 was the highlight of a megalithamaniacs field trip. We dodged the recumbent bikes, camper vans and tourists later that day at nearby Drombeg and felt priveleged to have visited Gurranes earlier. We’re going back next week to look where the fingers point.

I almost forgot,there are cupmarks on the stone.

After looking at the fine and user friendly museum at Meigle-follow the signs to Belmont Castle,pass the entrance and at the next left park.Go in the gate and at 50 metres follow the path on the right,you cannot miss the stone it is about 5 metres tall.