Latest Miscellany

At c1,722ft Llethr Brith is a reasonably hefty hill for Mid Wales and, in my opinion, well worth a visit in its own right simply for some excellent views toward Teifi Pools, Cwmdeuddwr and, as it happens, Pen y Bannau hill fort. That it is crowned by a substantial, if somewhat vandalised Bronze Age cairn is, as they say, a bonus.

A dead-end minor road heads east from the B4343 at Ffair-Rhos allowing punters access to the shores of the aforementioned Teifi Pools. Just after some enclosed fields to one’s left a path can be discerned ascending the hillside... follow this and ‘up’ is the only real direction needed, to be fair.

According to the OS the cairn, sharing the summit with a lonely little tarn is:

“A round cairn, 14m in diameterb & 0.5m high, having a modern marker cairn set upon its E side.” J.Wiles 26.07.04

According to the wondrous Audrey Henshall (1963) this represents “The heavily-robbed remains of this round, stalled cairn of Orkney-Cromarty type are 80ft in diameter”

Whereas the (equally great doing their thang) Ordnance Survey reckoned the following one year later:

“This turf-covered chambered cairn, 1.6m maximum height and approximately 26.0m in diameter, has been mutilated by an excavation trench in the NE. The top has been robbed revealing seven stone slabs forming the stalls of a gallery grave and two portal stones are in the SE corner of the cairn.” (N K B) 13/11/64

Worth a wander over when visiting the mighty long cairns upon nearby Cnoc Freiceadain.

This pleasingly wooded promontory fort is, according to Surrey Archaeological Society,“a roughly trapezoidal enclosure with the long axis lying north-east/south-west. The position of the earthworks is governed by the shape of the end of the ridge except where their north-eastern leg cuts perpendicularly across the length of the ridge. This north-eastern leg of the ramparts contains the entrance which is set off-centre towards the north-west, and has short out-turned banks on either side”.

Details of a 2008/2009 survey undertaken by the Society can be seen online at:
surreyarchaeology.org.uk/content/hascombe-hillfort-survey

Excellent little cliff fort – one of a linear chain gracing this Glamorgan coastline – overlooking Traeth Bach and most easily reached by a footpath from the minor road to the approx east. Note that it’s possible to park a car near the junction with the Tre-pit Road (a little west of Wick).

Protected by the steep defile of Cwm Bach to the north and vertiginous cliffs to the west, artificial defences are only really required elsewhere.

According to Coflein:

“Two discrete lengths of bank, ditched on the SE, the northernmost c.40m NE-SW by 10m and 2.0m high, the other c.33.5m NE-SW by 8.5m and 1.5-2.6m high, truncated on the SW, together appear to define the SE side of a roughly triangular enclosure, resting on an eroding cliff-line on the SW and defined by scarps above the Cwm Bach on the N. Air photos suggest that the southern rampart segment continues N of entrance gap, behind line of the north rampart.” J.Wiles 26.01.04

Ffridd Bryn Dinas (’Ffridd’ might be described as being the transitional zone between traditional Welsh upland and lowland) is an interesting, relatively minor ridge overlooking Cwm Maethlon – ‘Happy Valley’ – boasting some excellent, sweeping views across the Dyfi for (arguably) limited effort. Not to mention the opportunity to gawp at a certain bearded lake. I ask you?

It also possesses two Bronze Age monuments. According to Coflein:

“Originally (1921) this site was reported as two tumuli, with another reported near-by, all three having cists. Subsequently they were differentiated as a round barrow (SN63989969) and a cairn (SN63869959), with the third not located.” J.Wiles 30.01.02

For what it’s worth I agree with the above succinct statement. To a point. The north-eastern ‘tumulus’ is, for me, the finer of the pair, a steep sided mound just north of a traverse wire fence bearing the clear remains of a cist upon, or rather within, the summit. A great spot to recline for awhile with the low autumn sun playing upon the nearby llyn. The other, to the approx south-west, has much less ‘tumulus’, but much more cist still in situ.

But what of ‘the third not located’? Could that not be what I took to be a cairn with remains of cist upon the bwlch between Bryn Dinas and Allt Gwyddgwion?

This cairn... featuring what I took to be remnants of a cist within... sits between Bryn Dinas and Allt Gwyddgwion (’No shit, Sherlock!’ I hear you exclaim), the latter the elongated south-western ridge of the wondrously be-cairned Trum Gelli. As such, be sure to pay a visit if heading for the western Tarrens, the monument a little to the right of the path – such as it is – when approaching from the main green track traversing these parts.

Coflein gives the dimensions thus:

“The cairn is 2 metres in diameter and 0.6 metres high. See survey report Tywyn Dolgoch, by M.J. Roseveare, ArchaeoPhysica Ltd.” RCAHMW, 14/12/2007

This fort, crowning the summit of Barone Hill, possesses a fabulous overview of Bute and must have been of great strategic importance back in the day.

According to Canmore:

“..It comprises the remains of an oval stone wall (enclosing an area 62.0m NE-SW by 42.0m) with an outer stone wall on the W and S whilst rocky precipitopus (sic) slopes form an additional defence on the E.

The oval wall survives on the W and S where it is 3.0m wide and up to 1.0m high with many facing stones in situ but there are only faint traces of it on the E. The entrance, though not apparent, was most probably at the 4.0m gap on the S side, which is now utilized by the modern wall. There is no evidence of the vitrification mentioned by Hewison.....” OS (TRG) 23/11/76

This is a pretty substantial chambered cairn hidden away, in light woodland, to the left of a driveway/track accessing equestrian buildings from the A836. Not wishing to look around incognito in such an environment, I duly announced myself at the – to judge by the voices – clearly occupied house... but to no avail. I therefore checked out the monument anyway.

Although overgrown and sylvan, the large cairn possesses a clear chamber... not to mention an evocative, wistful vibe.

According to Canmore: “This Orkney-Cromarty Cairn measures 21m in diameter and 0.9m in height. A polygonal chamber lies to the E of the centre of the cairn.” RCAHMS November 1977.

There is at least another cairn sited a little north, not to mention what, to my mind, are the remains of a fantastically sited hill fort upon Struie Hill to the south. Great views from that ‘un.

Canmore reckons the evocative remains of this chambered cairn located within Tongue Wood are:

“...about 15m in diameter. The kerb of boulders survives intermittently, best preserved in the east and south. Several boulders within the kerb form no intelligible pattern.” OS (JD) 26/4/60 and (ISS) 1/7/71

This is a great place to chill out for a while... but surprisingly difficult to locate (perhaps it was just me) if approaching steeply downhill from the A865, such has been the reclamation by Nature. In retrospect keep the tumbling stream to your left and the monument occupies a rise a little before Tongue House.

Yet another monument with remains of cist (most probably) still in situ. The cairn occupies a superb position overlooking the serpentine River Naver.... including an aerial view of the Achcheargary chambered cairn on the other side of the B871. Canmore has this to say:

“This cairn, at the edge of a natural shelf overlooking the plain of the River Naver, measures about 13.0m diameter and 1.2m maximum height, but the west part has been robbed to build adjoining walls. Where the cairn rubble has been cleared north of the centre, a slab edge 0.6m long and aligned NE-SW is exposed; it is probably the remains of a cist”. OS (J M) 25/6/77

Canmore has this to say about this trio of excellently sited cairns easily overlooked in the company of the great Skelpick Long and Coille Na Borgie monuments; easily, but, in my opinion, unfairly so:

“Three closely grouped cairns (’A’-’C’) centred at NC 718 598 on the summit of a ridge overlooking the mouth of Strathnaver.

‘A’ the most southerly.. is about 10.5m in diameter and due to the slope is 2.0m high in the west, but of negligible height on the upper east side. The interior has been disturbed in places, but no cist or chamber is apparent. In common with the other cairns there is no evidence of a kerb.

‘B’ is situated above a small rocky slope. It measures approximately 17.0m east-west by 12.0m and stands to 2.1m high. War-time work has seriously mutilated the cairn on the east side and especially in the centre, where a wall face 2.1m high has been constructed.

‘C’ ... measures approximately 9.0m east-west by 8.0m and stands up to 1.4m high on the west side. Three slabs protruding up to 0.4m through the cairn material suggests this is possibly chambered; their poitions may indicate they are the back slab and possibly two portal stones of an Orkney-Cromarty chamber”. OS (JB) 18/12/78

Visitors to the Achcoillenaborgie broch might, therefore, consider a visit... if so, the cairns grace the hillside to the left when facing away from the road.

Canmore has this to say about this unexpectedly captivating kerbed cairn, set near the beguiling Loch Caladail:

“On a rise, a cairn 10.7m overall diameter and 0.8m high, partly robbed but not deep enough to expose a cist. Six boulders (two displaced) of the kerb survive in the SE arc. The rest of the kerb has been removed, leaving a trench 0.7m wide by 0.3m deep in which the boulders were embedded.” [OS (W D J) 5/4/60 and (I S S) 22/7/71]

The monument can be seen from the summit stone grouping of Cnoc na Moine...

Wondrously located overlooking the Kyle of Durness, I had the good fortune to visit – albeit at the end of a long, packed day – under superb evening conditions. Contrary to usual procedure I’ve taken the liberty of listing successive Canmore entries to highlight how the fabric of our cairns are changing in the course of a few decades:

“A prominent round cairn, 15.5m in diameter and 2.1m in maximum height, which has been robbed to build an adjacent sheepfold. No chamber or cist has been exposed, nor is there any indication of a ditch or retaining circle”. RCAHMS 1911; Visited by OS (F D C) 2 May 1957.

“A disturbed passage of which two pairs of uprights and one capstone are exposed”. Information contained in letters from T C Welsh 24 July and 10 August 1972.

“A bare stone, chambered cairn approximately 14.0m in diameter and 1.6m high; early modern structures built of cairn material intrude on the NE periphery. The passage, in the SE, and the chamber have been partially cleared exposing in the former two sets of slightly displaced uprights, one with lintel slab in situ and the latter a single orthostat”. Visited by OS (J M) 16 November 1978.

The low, coastal hills stretching between Maesteg and Port Talbot are crowned by a number of ancient earthworks/enclosures of which this, to my mind, is certainly the finest... a powerful, univallate hill fort overlooking what is now Margam Country Park.

J.Wiles (11.12.02) reckons it is: “A roughly bean-shaped enclosure, c.270m N-S by 140m, on the summit of an isolated hill, is defined by a bank and ditch, generally reduced to scarps, counterscarped in places.”

The site slopes away from steep, rocky natural defences protecting the southern aspect to the Nant Cwm Phillip covering the north and, despite the presence of a disused reservoir upon the summit, a visit here is a (natural) joy to behold thanks to copious woodland upon all but the eastern flank; there’s also a ‘Minning Low-esque’ copse on top for good measure. The defences are pretty substantial, too.

Now although an approach from the country park seems obvious, may I suggest an alternative? A little east of the main entrance on the A48 a minor road signposted ‘Discovery Centre’ (or something like that) heads north. Follow this to its terminus near Graig Goch where a few cars can be left. Here a path heads westward through the Deer Park – or, if you prefer, ascend to the Ogwr Ridgeway Path above – and will lead you straight to the eastern flank of the fort. Well worth the effort.

Not shown on either the current 1:25k or 1:50k OS maps, I had RCAHMW to thank for highlighting these two wondrously sited cairns. Located upon either bank of the deep gash in the hillside carved by the Nant Mawr as it joins the Nant y Gaseg, Nant y Gwair and numerous other seasonal watercourses in assisting the nascent Afon Dringarth feed the Ystradfellte Reservoir, there are, in my opinion, few less congested spots in the entire National Park.

The downside to this isolation is reaching the cairns in the first place. As it was I approached from the west, ascending the northern aspect of Fan Dringarth to descend steeply toward the prominent sheep folds a little south (downstream) of the Nant Mawr’s confluence with The Afon Dringarth... needless to say this meant ascending the mountain once again upon the return. But there you are. And besides, there is a superb aerial view from Fan Dringarth as compensation. Punters wishing to avoid mountain climbing might wish to consider an approach from the reservoir itself.

Anyway, according to David Leighton (RCAHMW, 17/07/2008):

1) Northern cairn – “...The stony mound... measures 12m in diameter and rises to 1.5m high. An edge set slab on its east side suggests a possible kerb otherwise obscured...”

2) Southern cairn – “...The slightly oval stony mound measures 8m (E-W) by 7.5m and 0.75m high... The interior has been robbed out leaving a hollow of irregular shape about 3m across.”

According to Coflein [J.J. Hall, Trysor, 13 July 2005] this diminutive cairn sited near the wondrous Pistyll y Llyn is:

“The northernmost of two possible funerary cairns on Carneddau Hafod Wnog. A small cairn, probably funerary, 6m in diameter at its base and 0.75m high, and built on top of a natural outcrop...The top of the cairn is flattened, with a slight depression in its centre, filled with numerous quartz boulders. The origin of the quartz is debatable – they may have been added in the recent past”.

An excellent approach to both cairn and waterfall – the latter, to my mind, one of Wales’ finest cascades – can be made from Cwm y rhaiadr at the terminus of the road heading south-eastward into the hills from Glaspwll.

Neolithic Mound

In the South-west corner of the Dronley House Wood (where the 275kV and 33kV electricity lines cross the road) there is a small mound about 26 yards across and 12 feet high with a possible encircling ditch, recently made visible from the road following the felling of some spruce to keep the wires safe. Grandfather thought this was simply a ‘midden’ but an archaeologist friend visiting a few years ago thought it might be a “neolithic burial mound”. He noted the ditch and also claimed to see three indentations in the mound where early grave-robbers might have dug in for treasure. I foolishly mentioned this in a pub conversation to another archaeologist who worked for the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historic Monuments of Scotland and a few months later, in 1992, I received a letter stating that the site was listed as a ‘scheduled ancient monument’! In later correspondence about this “mound” I was told that there is no other reference and that my conversation was the ‘sole authority’ for the listing. The listing comes with a hefty raft of restrictions; be careful what you say!

Roderick Stewart
Dronley House
2014

The monument comprises the remains of a burial monument of prehistoric date surviving as an upstanding mound in woodland.

The monument lies in woodland at around 140m OD on what would formerly have been a site commanding extensive views to the S. It comprises a grass-covered stony mound some 25m in diameter and approximately 3.5m high. It appears to represent the remains of a burial monument of probable Later Neolithic or Bronze Age date.

The area to be scheduled encompasses the mound and an area around it in which traces of associated activity may be expected to survive. It is sub-circular with a maximum diameter of 60m, limited on the S and W by existing boundaries which are not to be included in the scheduling. The area to be scheduled is marked in red on the accompanying map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

A little to the northwest there is a better preserved bowl barrow, Amesbury 40 (SU 13027 42384). It’s situated on a crest just to the south of the Avenue, about midway between New King Barrows and Stonehenge.

Colt Hoare excavated in the 19th century and found “a primary inhumation, a ‘drinking cup’ and a bone pin”.

The Tolmen of Constantine.
Mr. R. Edmonds called attention to this rock – the finest of its kind in Britain; it is ten time as large as the Logan Rock, which is estimated at 70 tons. The Tolmen (or holed-stone) is about 33 feet long, 19 broad, and 15 high. Of this fine relic, Mr. Edmonds said that unless a subscription be immediately set on foot to purchase the rock, together with that portion of the cairn which it covers, there is reason to fear that the fragments will soon form part of the national buildings now in progress at Chatham or Plymouth, as the granite quarries have already reached within a few feet of it. If the three Royal Societies of Cornwall were to interest themselves in the preservation of this noble monument and effect its purchase, the comparatively small sum thus expended would confer honour on all its contributors, but if it were suffered to perish, the disgrace to our native county would never be effaced.

A warning against complacency when it comes to believing other people will look after the best interests of our monuments in their landscape. In the Royal Cornwall Gazette, 12th October 1849.

The following letter from “The Proprietor of Stonehenge” appeared in the Times, of Thursday last:-

In a recent impression of the Times “A Visitor to Stonehenge” complains of the general damage done in thirty years past, and of particular damage done on the day of his visit. I believe no one of our old monuments has suffered less during the period first mentioned, and, considering the thousands who annually visit it, I think the public deserve much credit for the very little damage done.

On inquiry I find that about a fortnight ago an individual of the mechanic class brought a large sledgehammer, and, notwithstanding the remonstrances of a person who is usually at the stones holding horses, persisted in breaking the corners of two of the fallen stones. This is the only recent damage I can find, after a careful inspection. If I knew his name and place of residence, I should assuredly try what the law could do in such a case of wilful mischief; but, speaking generally, and judging from results, I believe an appeal to the public interest in such monuments and to the good feeling so generally entertained is the best preservative.

In the few cases of attempted mischief I am bound to say that the operative class are not those principally implicated. A member of the professional classes was one evening found, in the interests of science, as he asserted, endeavouring to ascertain the depth of the foundations. He apologised in the county paper, and the matter dropped.

A respectable paterfamilias, who arrived in a well-appointed barouche, was heard by a relative of mine asking for “the hammer and the chisel.” On being requested to desist from the intended operation, the answer was, “And who the deuce are you, Sir?” On being told the petitioner claimed to be the proprietor of the threatened institution, he declared he had always believed it “public property.”

In another instance three young men, being found on the top of two of the standing stones, stated they were about to carry off a piece of what is called the Sarsen stone for a relative of one of them, who was a distinguished archaeologist. On my writing to that gentleman, depracating a renewal of his relative’s visits with such intentions, he assured me no relative of his would be guilty of such an act, adding, as a further assurance, that the act was unnecessary, as he already possessed a piece of the stone in question; he added, “given him by a friend.”

I think I can re-assure the public mind as to the question, and I may surely ask those who take an interest in it, when they see attempts of the sort, to offer one of those good-natured remonstrances which will carry weight with the offender, and are sure to enlist the sympathy and assistance of the great body of bystanders.

Re-reported in the Salisbury and Winchester Journal, 23rd September 1871. I love the dry retelling of the anecdotes. And the final paragraph surely still holds as good advice today.

A few weeks since, a labourer employed in digging flints, near Hollingbury Castle (the ancient earthwork or camp on the summit of the hill between Brighton and Stanmer), discovered an interesting group of antiquities, placed very superficially in a slight excavation on the chalk rock. It consisted of a brass instrument, called a celt; a nearly circular ornament, spirally fluted, and having two rings placed loosely on the extremities, and four armillae or bracelets for the wrist, of a very peculiar shape. All these ornaments are composed of a metallic substance, which, from the appearance of those parts where the green patina, with which they are encrusted, has been removed, must have originally posessed a lustre but little inferior to burnished gold. They are clearly either of Roman or Anglo-Roman origin, and probably were buried on or near the site of interment of the individual to whom they belonged.

From the Salisbury and Winchester Journal, 7th February 1825. It seems they’re in the British Museum now: I found their photo here. Not quite so flash as a gold torc but I like them. They’ve got a very modern minimal look about them.

From volume 7 of the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (1870).

December 1866. The Donations to the Library and Museum were as follows, and thanks were voted to the Donors:-

1. By Samuel Gordon Esq. and J T Blackley, Esq, Castle-Douglas, Kirkcudbrightshire.

Large Caldron, formed of very thin plates of yellow bronze, the bottom being formed of one large sheet, and the sides of various smaller portions, all riveted together. It is patched in various places with additional bronze plates of various sizes riveted on. The caldron measures 26 inches in diameter across the mouth, the sides being straight, but bulging out to the extent of 1 inch above the rounded and flattened bottom. Part of the circumference of the mouth, where the handle had been attached, has been torn away.

The caldron was dredged up by the donors from Carlingwark Loch, Kirkcudbright, and contained

an adze, 7 inches in length, 2 inches across the face (Plate 1 fig. 1);

three axe-heads, measuring from 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 inches in length, and 2 to 2 1/2 inches across the face (figs. 2, 3, 4) – each of these tools have small projections of the metal on each side of the half-hole;

four small picks or hammers, with narrow extremities, from 6 to 7 1/4 inches in length (fig. 5) and apparently a broken half of another hammer-head, 4 inches in length;

hammer-head with flattened ends (fig. 6);

portion of a small saw, 6 1/2 inches, with blade 1 inch in breadth – a portion of the wooden handle remains riveted to the blade (fig. 7);

portions of a fine cut saw, 2 1/2 inches in length and 1 1/2 inch in breadth;

nine portions of double-edged blades, with pointed extremities resembling sword points, from 2 1/2 to 6 inches in length, and from 1 1/2 to 2 inches in breadth;

nails of various lengths, one with a large head, with a cross marked on each side (fig. 8);

small slender chisel, 5 inches in length, 3/4 of an inch across the face; portion of another chisel; three punches, 4 3/4 to 5 3/8 inches in length (fig. 9);

four split bats with eyes (figs. 10 and 11);

two large holdfasts; six hooks, varying in size from 2 1/2 inches to 5 inches in length (fig. 12);

iron buckle (fig. 13);

two handles with loops, apparently the handles of a bucket, one rudely ornamented with punched parallel lines (figs. 14, 15, 16);

wooden handle (fig. 17);

an iron implement (fig. 18);

iron tripod or ring, with three feet, apparently for supporting a pot (fig. 19);

and an iron frame, with numerous bars, and having two feet, the other two apparently awanting, the whole resembling a rude gridiron; five pieces of iron handles, one measuring 5 3/4 inches in length by 1/4 of an inch in breadth, has a loop at each extremity (fig. 20);

snaffle horse-bit, with check-ring 3 inches in diameter (fig. 21);

file, 9 3/4 inches in length and 1 inch in breadth; various scraps of iron plates; portions of iron hoops or bands perforated with holes.

That’s a lot of stuff. I started to regret typing the list. There are a few more things listed but I got the impression they were other stuff being donated by the two men mentioned, rather than stuff found in the caudron. There’s a photo of the cauldron here on the NMS database, along with all its miscellaneous contents.

This is an isolated burial in a mausoleum within the remains of an Iron Age fort, which is now densely tree covered. The mausoleum was built in parkland of Crawford Priory, which Lady Mary Lindsay had built in the early 19th century. The mausoleum was a finely-built structure, using quality sandstone ashlar masonry. It has suffered much damage in later years, with walls and the roof structure partly collapsing. The gabled porch with rounded arch doorway survives mostly intact. It is thought only Lady Mary was buried here. Crawford Priory is itself a ruin and the parkland is now mostly farm land.

J Dowling 2017

The open-air Museum of Mt. Ermada offers a chance to discover the Austro-Hungarian defensive line fortified in September 1916 following the Sixth Battle of the Isonzo. The Italian victory had forced the Habsburg Imperial Army to abandon the high ground around Monfalcone and move to this area around the Karst surrounding Trieste. The choice of settling at Mt. Ermada and the surrounding hilltops was not random, but rather driven by strategic and practical reasons.
From here, in fact, you could control both the Valley of Brestovizza (Brestovica Dol, now part of Slovenia) and the passage to Trieste, the Habsburg town claimed by the Italians. The sinkholes, the passages between the rocks and the natural caves of the Karst Plateau perfectly adapted to the needs of the Great War. Trenches, observation posts and housing for soldiers were built in no time, practically creating an insurmountable barrier for the Italians. All assaults of the Third Army between the Eighth and Tenth Battle of the Isonzo were indeed rejected despite the lower number of Austro-Hungarian soldiers.

Open-air Museum of Mt. Ermada

(From here you can see almost all of the Karst Forts which the Austro Hungarians used.)