Latest Miscellany

Details of long barrow on Pastscape

(3779 2375) Hoar Stone (NAT) Burial Chamber (NR). (1) A rectangular chamber consisting of three orthostats opening to the east, the southern orthostat is 9 ft high while the western and northern are 5 ft and 3 ft high respectively. To the east of the chamber are three prostrate megaliths which probably once formed part of the chamber. There is no trace of a barrow at present but Rudge describes the chamber as standing on a barrow 3 ft high (a). (2) Crawford quotes a full description from Dryden and includes his plan (see illustration) and notes that pottery, apparently Roman was found in a small excavation between the fallen stones. (3) In 1956, during excavations connected with a reservoir constructed near the Hoar Stone, a ditch more than 10 ft wide with sloping sides and about 3 ft deep was seen at G (see plan) running SW. This may conceivably have belonged to the monument and been part of a quarry-ditch of a small long barrow running NE to SW. The burial chamber would then lie on its SE flank toward its NE end. (4) The stones are disposed as described by Daniel and as he notes, the barrow has not survived. The site is hemmed in by a plantation and the reservoir is now grassed over. Published 1:2500 survey revised. See LS plan and photo. In care of DOE. (5)

Details of Leafield barrow on Pastscape

(SP 31611541) Leafield Barrow (NAT) Tumulus (NR) (1) Leafield barrow. A round barrow, north of the village, 320ft in circumference, 11ft 6ins high on west end and 8ft on east. Grass-grown and planted with trees, it has the appearance of having been opened. (2) The mound stands in permanent pasture on the highest point of a low hill. It is egg-shaped with the large end towards the north west and has a flattened and disturbed top on which can be seen a low lateral bank that is probably recent. No traces of a ditch can be seen. An OS trig pillar stands on top and the north east side has been encroached upon by a reservoir. Certainly a substantial feature, but it cannot be said categorically to be a barrow. Published 1:2500 survey revised. (3) (SP 31601541) Leafield Barrow (NAT) (4) SP 316155. Leafield Barrow, round barrow, scheduled. (5) SP 31611540. Round barrow, c. 25m in diameter and 4m high, listed. (6) The motte, located on a small hill, measures 38 metres across and is 4 metres high. It has a flat oval summit and there is a square feature with an internal depression which has been interpreted as being the remains of a stone keep, similar to that at the nearby motte and bailey castle in Ascott d’Oyley. The motte is in the centre of a series of earthworks including medieval ridge and furrow cropmarks and the possible remains of a bailey. There is no evidence of a ditch around the base of the motte and the eastern side has been damaged by the building of a reservoir. Please note that the site has been identified as a motte castle whereas before it was believed to be a Bronze Age barrow. The previous sources all cite it as a barrow. (7) The Oxfordshire Historic Environment Record contains the same information stated in sources 1-7 but includes additional references and a number of photographs of the site. (8)

Details of long barrow on Pastscape

(SP 32891651) Long Barrow (NR) (1) Remains of Long Barrow rediscovered Oct 24th 1922. It lies 66 paces east of main north-south ride, at a point 240 paces south of point of intersection of the rides. It is 97ft long (taped) and about 6ft high (estimated). Oriented approximately east to west). At the eastern end are three large stones at right angles:- ‘A’ = 3ft 10ins actual height, 6ft 8ins wide, 1ins thick and 2ft 9ins vert height. ‘C’ appears to be 4ft 7ins wide, and is certainly 2ft 6ins, it is standing upright but partially covered. ‘B’ leans eastwards and is either a fallen lintel or upright of a chamber; ‘A’ and ‘C’ are 4ft 10ins apart. Digging west of chamber only and that evidently only superficial; well worth preservation and eventual excavation. Much black earth to south of mound. (2) Slate pits Copse: Long Barrow. (3) Located at SP 32901652, this barrow is much as described above. The cist is still clearly visivble and stone ‘B’ is almost certainly a leaning upright. The dark earth is at present covered by dense seasonal undergrowth. Resurveyed at 1:2500. (4) SP 330165. Slate pits Copse long barrow, scheduled. (5)

Details of long barrow on Pastscape

(SP 33191688) Long Barrow in Churchill Copse (note name) is a long barrow though a short one (24 paces). Its position is incorrectly shown in the VCH, from which it was plotted here (since corrected). It stands on north side of the long and straight riding (east-west), 115 paces west of the north-south riding. It has been dug all along the middle and across the middle; no ditches or big stones. Maximum height about 3ft 4ins; oriented east to west. (1)
This barrow is at SP 33171685 but is otherwise as described above. Surveyed at 1:2500. (2)
(SP 33171685) Long Barrow (NR) (3)

Details of hillfort on Pastscape

(SP 457138) Round Castle [NAT] Camp [NR] (1) Round Castle: a probable Iron Age hill fort of oval shape covering an area of about 2 1/2 acres. It had two lines of banks and ditches, but subsequent embanking and ditching make it impossible to be
exact about them, or about the position of its entrance. (2) The outer bank is slight, but the inner bank, of which only
a portion remains, measures 5ft in height from the bottom of the ditch. (3)
The remaining features of this probably originally bivallate enclosure are an almost complete internal bank with a recently
recut ditch and incomplete outerwork consisting again of a recut ditch but with a substantial scarp to the inside. These recent ditches pose a problem in that they virtually obliterate, or render difficult to identify, the extent of the original ditches; for this reason they are not, except where certainly part of the earthwork, shown on the survey. A further difficult in identification is caused by digging and surface quarrying around the west and north sides of the earthworks. As a result of material dumped in linear mounds it is impossible from visual inspection to ascertain which, if any, represent the alignments of the original banks.The site falls on the summit of a slight rise and though probably an IA fort the name “hillfort” in this instance is a misnomer. Divorced survey at 1:2500. (4)
SP 4570 1399. Salvage excavation of a section through the rampart showed it was constructed of clay with sand dump line, faced by thin stone walls 6m apart. Burning had taken place at the front of the ramparts. Early Iron Age pottery was obtained from the old ground surface. (5)
SP 45681380. The remains of a small multivallate hillfort known as Bladon camp. The hillfort defences include two concentric oval ramparts with outer ditches, enclosing an area up to 200 metres by 180 metres. Both ramparts are of stone rubble construction, partly levelled. The ditches have become partly infilled over time. The original entrances are not clearly defined but were probably located to the north western and south eastern sides of the site. A partial excavation was undertaken in 1988 and Early Iron Age pottery was recovered from the bottom of the ditch. Scheduled. (6)

Details of long barrow on Pastscape

[SP 3001 1755] Mound shown but not described. (1) Excavations are expected to be completed this year on the site of a Neolithic long barrow near Ascott-under-Wychwood, soon to disappear under a road-widening scheme on the B.4437. Chalbury/Burford road. Starting in 1965, work by the Oxford City and County Museum on behalf of the Ministry of Public
Building and Works has revealed that the barrow seals a number of distinguishable phases of activity. Such a well-stratified
sequence has not been obtained from any site involving a long barrow in the country before, and samples taken for radio-carbon dating from each of the phases should provide an important reference date for many other British sites.
The earliest phase of activity is Mesolithic, suggested by finds of flint tools and other stone implements; these may date
to before 3,500 B.C., and are an important addition to our knowledge of the Mesolithic period in this part of England,
before the establishment of agricultural communities. The next phase is early Neolithic, with occupation on the site
demonstrated by pottery, stone and flint tools, and areas of burning, some possibly hearths, one of which was associated with
what may have been some kind of cooking pit. To this phase also may belong a series of post-holes, but more areas need to be
examined in detail before any definite structure can be identified. The pottery of this phase is as early and as finely
made as any in the British Neolithic, and comprises a most important assemblage.
The early Neolithic phase does not seem to have been immediately followed by the construction of the barrow itself, and there are indications that the site was under cultivation for a time. During this period, enough time elapsed for a soil profile to develop, and this is yielding valuable information about agricultural activity, vegetation and climate in Neolithic times. The most important discovery within the barrow last year was that of at least five discrete, burial deposits, three of which were contained inside stone cists defined by large stones, arranged in an unusual manner across the long axis of the barrow towards its narrower, western end. Provisional totals have reached a minimum of twenty individuals, many represented only by a few bones-a feature which is consistent in tombs of the same period in this country and which is generally attributed to a practice involving the burial or exposure of corpses elsewhere before final interment in the barrow. Preliminary examination of the remains has shown that their deposition took place when the bones were partially, and in some cases completely, free of tissue attachments.
Three of the cists contained undisturbed burial deposits. One cist did not contain burials and there is no reason to suggest
that it had originally done so. The provisional minimum total of largely disarticulated and incomplete inhumations includes two further burial deposits placed against the outer stone of the outer cist on each side of the mound, one being a single
inhumation. Adults and juveniles were recorded from each of the other burial deposits. One cist contained in addition, some
cremated bones. A number of anatomical anomalies have been recognised and a leaf shaped flint arrowhead was found solidly
embedded in the lower part of the spine of one individual. Grave goods comprised one leaf shaped arrowhead, and an incomplete
undecorated Neolithic bowl. The main periods of interest on the site may range from before 3,000 B.C. to 2,000 B.C., but samples recovered for Carbon 14 dating should provide absolute dates for critical phases. (2)
Ascott-under-Wychwood [SP 300 176]. In a final season the remainder of the long barrow was removed and the recording of
its external and internal structure was completed. Preliminary C14 results indicate a date of construction early in the 3rd
millenium B.C. The area between the two pairs of cists located in 1968 on either side of the long axis of the barrow was taken up by rubble packing; there was no central cist. On top of the packing, however, was an unaccompanied deposit of disarticulated bones. Mechanical stripping on the north side of the barrow mound revealed a line of quarry pits some IIm outside the outer wall. Irregular in plan and surface dimensions, these quarries had been dug to a depth of c. 8 ft 6 in. to 10 ft through extremely variable subsoil and had been severely undercut in places. Finds included flint flakes and antler picks, but no pottery. Any evidence for comparable quarry pits on the south side of the mound had been removed by nineteenth-century quarrying and the line of the present road. A combination of environmental and other evidence indicates
several pre-barrow phases including woodland clearance, occupation, possible cultivation and, finally, undisturbed grassland. More small hollows and other features were discovered, but no convincing pre-barrow structures were identified.
In the Roman period sections of the barrow revetment had been robbed out. In the area between the Neolithic quarry pits and
the north side of the mound, were numerous shallow quarries (probably for lime) of the first century A.D. These were sealed
by several ploughsoils of the Late Roman period. (Mr. D. Benson, Oxford City and County Museum). (3)
The barrow has been completely cleared and its site is marked by a patch of rough stony pasture. The anticipated road widening has not yet taken place. (4)
The soil profile beneath the Ascott under Wychwood long barrow is the most intensively studied local sequence and the environmental record stretches back to the early post-glacial times. At first the area had a light woodland cover that gave way to more closed woodland in the 4th millenium BC, and was then cleared in the early 3rd millenium BC. After a brief period as a settlement, the site became grassland until about 2,800 BC, when the barrow was built. A radiocarbon date suggests that the tomb was erected after 2943 +- 70 BC. (5)

Details of long barrow on Pastscape

(SP 45782412) Hoar Stone (NR) (1) A large, flat irregularly shaped sandstone boulder known locally as the Hoar Stone (a), is surrounded by five fir trees at the end of an avenue of beech trees. It measures 3.2m long E-W by 2.7m wide and is 0.8m thick. It has the appearance of a Burial Chamber capstone, but as it is slightly embedded in the ground and there is no trace of a surrounding mound there is no supporting evidence for this supposition. Published survey (25”) revised. See G.P.(a) (2)

Details of long barrow on Pastscape

(SP 46432474) Hoar Stone (NR) (Remains of) (1) ‘A long barrow with some broken stones at its east end: these broken stones are probably the remains of a burial chamber’. (2) Listed under chambered tombs and described as a long mound (at least 50 ft), E/W, with a heap of smashed stone at the east. A 19th century reference speaks of ‘two side-pieces and a lintel’, possibly either a simple terminal chamber or a blind entrance. (The name Hoar Stone cannot be confirmed). (3)
‘The Hoar Stone, formerly called Maiden’s Bower, about which there were superstitions, so that it was deliberately broken up. Mr Hall, owner of Barton Abbey, had the pieces collected into a heap’. (4)
At SP 46422474 there is a low, nearly circular mound some 11.0m N-S by 9.5m E-W and 0.5m high. Its centre consists of a mass of broken sandstone, which is presumably the remains of the Hoar Stone or burial chamber. A vague, unsurveyable ground swelling stretches away to the NW, and may represent the site of the lond mound mentioned by Daniel (2) and Powell (3). Mr Hall (4) is no longer at Barton Abbey, the site is known locally as Hoar Stone, and the only feature hereabouts with a name resembling ‘Maiden’s Bower’ is the wood centred at SP 461235 (a). Published survey (25’) revised. (5)

Midhouse/Mithouse NMRS record no. HY32SW 17 at HY30802000, is a large grassy mound SW of Mithouse, 10~12’ high and 132’ by ~100’ orientated NNE/SSW with many large stones on its slopes. In 1935 a small excavation found passageways and massive walls – it is thought to have been a broch as a shallow 54’ D depression on top is surrounded by a low irregular bank.

Restoration of the Celebrated “Buckstone” Rock.

The above wonderful mass of old red sandstone conglomerate, which was celebrated all through Britain as a rocking stone and Druidic altar, it will be remembered, was accidentally thrown from its position on the summit of a high wooded hill, about three miles from Monmouth, on the road to Coleford, on the 10th of June last. Not only were the people of the immediate neighbourhood indignant, but the London daily papers took the matter up very warmly, the Standard especially.

The huge mass is the property of the Crown, and is too well-known far and wide to again need description in these columns. As soon as he heard of the catastrophe, Mr. C. H. Crompton-Roberts, of Drybridge House, Monmouth, offered £100 towards its restoration. The Mayor of Monmouth and others put themselves in communication with the Crown authorities, who ultimately determined to restore the celebrated rock at the entire expense of the Crown.

The undertaking was one of great difficulty, the huge mass having its chief block, about 50 tons weight, turned upside down, and partly buried in the earth. The enormous top slab, or stratum, had slipped off and fallen beyond the chief block, but right side up.

Messrs. Payne and Son, stone contractors, of Lambsquay House, Coleford, were appointed to carry out the work. The contractors erected two enormous cranes and a powerful crab on the hill above the fallen rock. Then large baulks of timber were placed with the ends under the chief block, and iron rails were laid on these baulks. About six tons of chains were attached to the chief block for the purpose of “skidding” it up to a position for turning, which, after a considerable time, was accomplished. The top stratum was then hoisted adjacent to the chief stone, and the large corner was also brought to a convenient position. This was the work of months.

A plateau for the stone to rest on was then made, with an enormous iron bar let into the solid rock beneath, a bed of cement made of the best material, mixed with similar stone to the Buckstone ground up, having been prepared. The top slab was then raised into its position, being cemented and cramped on, and the corner was afterwards affixed by the same means.

The result is that the work is now completed in a most satisfactory and highly creditable manner. The rock, when the cranes, &c. are removed, will, as it now stands, scarcely, if at all, appear to have sustained any alteration, especially from the road below. Mr K. Tudor Williams, photographer, of Monmouth, has shown us some photographs of the Buckstone both before and after the overthrow and in the course of being lifted. We understand that the rock will be railed round, to prevent future mishap, and that an opening will be cut between the rock and the road, so as to afford a good view of the Buckstone to those who pass by.

From the ‘Western Mail’, December 15th, 1885.

On the 10th instant, this celebrated stone, which weighs about thirteen tons, and which fell from its ancient situation on the night of the 19th October, 1815, during one of the most violent and destructive storms of wind ever remembered in that part of the country, was replaced by the united and indefatigable exertions of Lieut. GOLDSMITH and Capt. GIDDY, with the aid of the materials and machinery employed about the Logan Rock, and which the Honourable Navy Board consented to grant them for so laudable a purpose.

From ‘The Morning Post’, December 16th, 1824. Goldsmith and Giddy must have been on a roll and thought they might as well sort out the quoit after their success at the superb Treryn Dinas. I suppose Goldsmith thought people might then let him off for toppling the logan stone in the first place?!

In 1844 I visited [Anglesey] and took a drawing of the double cromlech at Llanvaelog, one of the best in the island. One cromlech was erect; the other by its side, thrown down: or rather, I should say that the two constitued the remains of a large chambered mound – perhaps of a cromlech with a passage, as at Bryn Celli in the same island.

The cap-stone of that which was erect measured thirteen feet and a half in length by about five feet in depth and width at the thickest part. The cap of the fallen one was broken in two, but when entire it was not less than fifteen feet long. Fortunately this drawing remains in my portfolio; and it shews the importance of preserving memorials of these early monuments, whenever opportunity offers, made with all possible care; for since then the fallen cromlech has utterly disappeard; and the upright one has been so seriously damaged, that its destruction will now be the work of only a few winters – all through the sheer stupidity of men!

I had occasion to pass by the spot last summer, and on going to renew my acquaintance with this venerable monument, found nothing more remaining than what is represented in the accompanying engraving. An “improving tenant” had come upon the farm. He wanted to repair his walls; and though the native rock cropped out all around, he found it more convenient to blast the fallen stone, the very existence of which was probably unknown to either the landlord or his agent. Hence the fallen one disappeared. The tenant, however, seems to have been in some degree aware of the importance of the erect cromlech; for he cut a kind of trench all round it, and by subsequent ploughings has left it standing on a kind of low mound. Formerly it stood in a grass field, among gorse bushes, with no wall near it, and only some broken embankments with Anglesey hedges on the top.

A few years ago the land came by inheritance, on the death of Lord Dinorben, to the present possessor of Kinmel; and the tenant, desirous of shewing respect to his new landlord, determined to celebrate the occasion with a bonfire. This fire he lighted on the top of the cromlech; and though the stone was five feet thick, the action of the fire and the air split the ponderous mass right through the middle, crossways! Of course this injury was not intended; but it was well known and lamented in the neighbourhood, – for several labouring people mentioned the circumstance to me, and regretted it. As it now stands, the combined action of autumn rains and winter frosts will infallibly enlarge the crack, and will complete the disintegration of the stone. The cap, too, stands now on only three stones, and is in the most imminent danger of coming down altogether, for one of them supports it by an extremely small point, very near one of the sides of the triangle of gravity; and so fine is this point, that it is a wonder how it can withstand the great pressure bearing upon it.

The stones are all of a metamorphic character, containing crystals of quartz, chlorite, and feldspar; almost granitic in texture.

Ten men, with three or four horses and some powerful levers, would repair this cromlech in a single day, and guarantee its preservation for ages. But will they do so?

H.L.J.
Oct. 25, 1863.

An impassioned article called ‘Cromlech at Llanvaelog, Anglesey’ in Archaeologia Cambrensis Jan 1864. Both of HLJ’s sketches are in the Images section above.

Details of stone on Pastscape

Bronze Age cup and ring marked rock (in situ). A block of gritstone 12 ft. long, 7ft 6ins broad by 4ft high, on it being carved nearly 50 cups, 16 of which are surrounded with single concentric rings. At the westend.. are a group, 3 cups with double rings and radial grooves. At the other end... is a curious pattern.. somewhat resembling the ‘swastika’... This is one of the few instances of cup and ring marks occuring on a vertical surface.
[SE 1105 4605] Badger Stone [O.E.] (Cup and Ring marked) (1) A block of gritstone 12 ft. long, 7ft 6ins broad by 4ft high, on
it being carved nearly 50 cups, 16 of which are surrounded with single concentric rings. At the westend.. are a group, 3 cups
with double rings and radial grooves. At the other end... is a curious pattern.. somewhat resembling the ‘swastika’... This is one of the few instances of cup and ring marks occuring on a vertical surface.....(a)Sim.inf.(b&c) (2-4)
See GP AO/61/320/8 for Illustration. (5) SE 1107 4605. Carved rock known as the Badger Stone. Scheduled RSM No 25367. (6)

Details of stone on Pastscape

Bronze Age cup marked stone (in situ).
SE 0973 4652. Rock with three cup marks 150m SW of Black Beck Hole.
Scheduled RSM No 25389. A carved gritstone rock, almost covered in vegetation. The visible part measures 1.5m x 0.25m x 0.5m. The carving consists of three to five deep cups on the east vertical face. (1)

Details of stones on Pastscape

Two Bronze Age cup and ring marked rocks (in situ).
[SE 1072 4649]- cup and ring marked rock. (1)
A small rock situated at SE 10764649 with six cup markings on its surface. Each cup is surrounded by a single ring. See GP AO.64.93.6. (2)
SE 1076 4649. Cup & ring marked rock between Spicey Gill & the Ilkley-Keighley road. Scheduled RSM No 25399. A carved gritstone rock measuring 0.85m x 0.73m x 0.38m. The carving consists of ten cups, three with single rings, with grooves running down from them.
SE 1100 4645. Carved rock 100m NE of eastern Grainings Head Quarry. Scheduled RSM No 25368. A partly overgrown carved gritstone rock measuring 1.1m x 0.8m x 0.33m where visible. The carving consists of nine or ten cups. (3)

Details of stonea on Pastscape

Group of five Bronze Age cup and ring marked stones (in situ).
A large boulder bearing cup markings is situated at SE 1037 4703. Found during field investigation. See GP AO/61/321/4 for illustration. (1)
SE 1039 4703. Rock in Panorama Woods with single cup & ring carving. Scheduled RSM No 25358. A partly grass-covered gritstone boulder measuring 1.6m x 1.2m x 0.8m. The carving consists of a simple cup and ring.
SE 1038 4702. Group of four carved rocks in Panorama Woods. Scheduled RSM No 25359. Four adjacent outcrops of bedrock, each with carvingson their upper surfaces. The carvings consist of: on the most easterly rock, six oval markings, eight cups and faint circles and lines; on the next rock, a sub-rectangular groove surrounding five cups, and 28 cups, one oval marking and three large ‘basin’-like cups; on the next rock, one oval cup; and on the westernmost rock, three cups and one depression.

Details of stones on Pastscape

Group of four Bronze Age cup and ring marked stones (in situ).
SE 100 466. Silver Well, Ilkley Moor. Two cup and ring marked rocks, covered with vegetation. (1)
SE 1003 4656. Cup & ring marked rock 370m SSW of Panorama Reservoir. Scheduled RSM No 25390. A carved gritstone rock measuring 0.95m x 0.95m x 0.25m. The carving consists of 14 cups, two with incomplete rings, and several grooves.
SE 1025 4657. Flat carved rock 150m SW of Silver Well Cottage. Scheduled RSM No 25391. A carved, flat, gritstone rock partly covered in vegetation. The visible part measures 4.2m x 2.2m x 0.3m. The carving consists of 16 clear cups, and four other possible cups and grooves.
SE 1005 4658. Cup & ring marked rock 350m SSW of Panorama Reservoir. Scheduled RSM No 25392. A carved gritstone rock partly covered in vegetation. The visible part measures 1.1m x 0.6m x 0.3m. The carving consists of 20 cups, three with double rings, and eight more with an enclosing groove.
SE 1001 4636. Prominent cup & ring marked rock on Coarse Stone Edge. Scheduled RSM No 25398. A carved gritstone rock measuring 3m x 1.9m x 1.3m. The carving consists of a shallow cup with an irregular ring. (2)

Details of stone on Pastscape

Bronze Age cup-and-ring marked stone (in situ).
SE 0907 4700. Cup & ring marked rock known as the Sepulchre Stone, Addingham Moorside. Scheduled RSM No 25352. A carved gritstone rock with conspicuous folded strata, measuring 8m x 7m x 2.3m. It is situated 4m N of the path along Addingham Moorside, between Piper Crag and Woodhouse Crag. The carving consists of several ‘normal’ cups, one with a ring, grooves and also some large basin-like cups.

Details of stone on Pastscape

Named Bronze Age cup marked rock and two adjacent cup marked rocks (in situ).
[SE 1038 4639] Neb Stone [T.I.] (1) The Neb Stone has cup marks upon it. Situated at the upper extremity of the boundary-wall of Silver Well Farm at 1100 ft. O.D. (2) See GP AO/61/320/7 for illustration. (3)
SE 1039 4639. Two carved rocks near Neb Stone. Scheduled RSM No 25393. Two adjacent carved gritstone rocks, both partly under the wall near Neb Stone. The carvings consist of several cups on each rock. (4)