Latest Miscellany

the Law was the site of a vitrified hillfort probably occupied during the Bronze Age. Remains of a settlement were found where the road was built to the top of The Law in the 1920s. Over the centuries it has been occupied by the Picts and Scots.

Old Dundee (postcards of Dundee) by Andrew Cronshaw.

Details of Barrows on Pastscape

(Centred SY 806863) Tumuli (NR) (four shown) (1)

Two further barrows are shown at ‘E’ – SY 80648630 and ‘F’ – SY 80648628. (2)
A group of six heather- covered mounds, probably all bowl barrows, without berm or ditch, are situated on Blacknoll Hill.
No surface finds were made.

‘A’ – SY 80608632. Mutilated bowl barrow, 17.5m diameter and 2.0m high surmounted by an OS triangulation station. A large trench has been cut in the north half of the mound, probably for military purposes.
‘B’ – SY 80628630. Bowl barrow, 10.5m diameter and 1.9m high is mutilated at the extreme edge of the south quadrant by a small slit trench.
‘C’ – SY 80658630. Bowl barrow, 10.0m diameter and 1.8m high appears to be unmutilated.
‘D’ – SY 80668628. Irregular bowl barrow, approx 15.0m diamter; the height of the east quadrant being 0.8m and that on the west, 2.4m high. The northern extremity has been defaced by a shallow pit dug against the barrow.
‘E’ – SY 80648630. Elongated bowl barrow; the north east – south west axis measures 13.0m and the north west – south east axis 10.5m with a height of 1.7m. Slight mutilation occurs on the south west and at the extreme edge of the south quadrant where a shallow pit has been dug.
‘F’ – SY 80658628. A low circular platform, possibly a bowl barrow, approx 9.5m diameter, which merges into the general ground level on the west side but on the east has a height of 1.0m. There is a slight depression in the south quadrant.

There are numberous small pits on the top of the hill, some of which may have a military origin, anothers probably the result of gravel digging. (3)
Five much disturbed bowl barrows on Blackholl. (4)

‘A’ – (42) SY 80608633. Bowl barrow, about 63ft diameter and 8ft high with trigonometrical station of top. Grinsell No 4.
‘B’ – (43) SY 80628631. Bowl barrow, 33ft diameter and 5ft high. Grinsell No 5.
‘E’ – (44) SY 80658630. Bowl barrow, about 35 ft diameter and 5 1/2ft high. Grinsell No 6.
‘C’ – (45) SY 8066828. Bowl barrow, 33ft diameter and 5 ft high. Grinsell No 7.
‘D’ – SY 80688627. (?) Bowl barrow, 48ft diameter and 8ft high, 20 yds south-east of Barrow ‘C’. Grinsell No 12.

(This mound may be one of the barrows ‘E’ and ‘F’ seen by N.V Quinnell, Authy,3, in 1952). (5)

SY 866863. Five round barrows on Blacknoll Hill. Scheduled. (6)
The bowl barrows now gorse covered approximate to the descriptions and measurements of Authority (3) excepting the possible traces of ditches (see plan).
Corrected N.G.R.’s are as follows:-
‘A’. – SY 80608632; ‘B’ – SY 80618631; ‘C’ – SY 80648630; ‘D’ – SY 80658629; ‘E’ – SY 80638631; ‘F’ – SY 80628629;

Surveyed at 1:2500 on M.S.D. (7)

Details of Barrows on Pastscape

A bell barrow and two bowl barrows situated on a natural hill known as Old Knowle. The bell barrow is situated on the western side of the group. It has a central mound composed of sand, earth and turf, with maximum dimensions of 25 metres in diameter and approximately 3 metres in height. The mound has a hollow 6 metres by 7 metres on the top, which may indicate antiquarian excavation. The mound is surrounded by a berm and a ditch from which material was quarried for the construction of the mound. The ditch is visible as a depression 7 metres wide, although it is partly overlain by a later bank which may represent a tree clump enclosure. The two bowl barrows are situated to the east of the bell barrow and are aligned north west by south east. The north western bowl barrow has a mound with maximum dimensions of 16 metres in diameter and approximately 2 metres in height. This is surrounded by a quarry ditch 2 metres wide and approximatey 0.35 metres deep. The south eastern bowl barrow has a mound 8 metres in diameter and approximately 0.8 metres high. This is known to be surrounded by a quarry ditch visible in the 1960s. The ditch has since become infilled but will survive as a buried feature 1.5 metres wide. Scheduled.

(Centred SY 799877) Tumuli (NR) (Three shown). (1) Three round barrows, damaged by tree-felling, are situated on Old Knowle:

`A’ Bell (79888778). Diam about 90 ft, ht 11 ft, with berm about 7 ft wide. Large tree-clump enclosure lies within and obscures original, probably large, ditch. Top hollowed
`B’ Ditched bowl (79938778) 55 yds E of (A). Diam 41 ft, hit 6 ft, with ditch 8 ft wide.
`C’ Ditched bowl (?) (79938776) 35 yds S of (B). Diam 13 ft ht 2 ft.
`A’ SY 79888777. Bell barrow of overall diameter 46.0m, height 4.8m maximum above ditch. Maximum width of berm 3.0m, but average 2.0 – 2.5m. Tree-clump enclosure bank and ditch 6.5m wide overall; bank 1.0m high and ditch 0.5m deep. Mound damaged on W side. Trees now removed. Very prominently sited on knoll-top.
`B’ SY 79938778. Ditched bowl-barrow; flat-topped and well preserved.
Diameter 18.5m overall, height 2.4m. Ditch 3.0m wide and 0.6m deep.
`C’ SY 79938776. Bowl barrow with a faint ditch 1.3m wide and 0.3m deep extending for 11.0m on the north side. Diameter of mound 6.5m and height 0.8m. Condition fair.
Published Surveys (1:2500) revised on MSD. (4)

Details of Woolsbarrow on Pastscape

Woolsbarrow (SY 893925) on Bloxworth Heath and now in a State Forest midway between the Sherford River and a tributary of the Piddle, is the smallest hill-fort in South-east Dorset. Its anomalous form makes its date uncertain. A single bank with inner ditch surrounds a gravel knoll some 20ft below its flat top, enclosing an area of some 2 1/4 acres. Though the highest point is only 220ft above Ordnance Datum it dominates the surrounding heathland, which falls sharply on all sides except on the SE, where a simple gap entrance leads to a natural saddle connecting the hilltop with a lower spur. The whole site has been much disturbed. Most of the interior has been quarried away to the depth of some feet, exposing a well-formed podsol, but there is no evidence that a bank ever stood on the edge of the inner scarp. The mounds in the SW and NE angles are probably no more than the residue of quarrying; the NE mound was dug by a Mr Groves of Wareham without result (Warne, Ancient Dorset (1872), 87). Soil slip has largely filled the ditch and the bank, at its most prominent, is about 18ft across and only 2 1/2ft above the ditch bottom. A modern trackway obscures the original form of the entrance. The `tumuli’ shown on some maps around the site are probably natural, the result of differential erosion.

(Centred SY 893925) Woolsbarrow (Camp) (NR)
(SY 89389258) Tumulus (NR)
(SY 891925; SY 892924) Tumuli (NR) (twice) (1)

Woolsbarrow (SY 893925) on Bloxworth Heath and now in a State Forest midway between the Sherford River and a tributary of the Piddle, is the smallest hill-fort in South-east Dorset. Its anomalous form makes its date uncertain.
A single bank with inner ditch surrounds a gravel knoll some 20ft below its flat top, enclosing an area of some 2 1/4 acres. Though the highest point is only 220ft above Ordnance Datum it dominates the surrounding heathland, which falls sharply on all sides except on the SE, where a simple gap entrance leads to a natural saddle connecting the hilltop with a lower spur.
The whole site has been much disturbed. Most of the interior has been quarried away to the depth of some feet, exposing a well-formed podsol, but there is no evidence that a bank ever stood on the edge of the inner scarp. The mounds in the SW and NE angles are probably no more than the residue of quarrying; the NE mound was dug by a Mr Groves of Wareham without result (Warne, Ancient Dorset (1872), 87). Soil slip has largely filled the ditch and the bank, at its most prominent, is about 18ft across and only 2 1/2ft above the ditch bottom. A modern trackway obscures the original form of the entrance. The `tumuli’ shown on some maps around the site are probably natural, the result of differential erosion. (2)
“SY 894926 Woolsbarrow camp ramparts. Scheduled”. (3) (SY89319254) Woolsbarrow (NAT) Earthwork (NR) (4)
This hill-fort is now heavily covered by scrub and conifers. About 5.0 to 6.0 metres below the plateau top to the hillside has been scarped to form a ditch up to 2.0 metres wide, with a counterscarp bank 3.0 metres wide and 0.8 metres high. This survives around half of the perimeter, the remainder now appearing as a terrace. The `tumuli’ shown on the O.S. 25” 1902 but omitted from the 1954 and subsequent editions, are natural gravel knolls of varying shapes and sizes. Revised at 1:2500 on M.S.D. (5)

Details of Barrows on Pastscape

The monument includes a group of eight bowl barrows comprising a round barrow cemetery, situated on a ridge overlooking Poole Harbour to the south east and with views to the Purbeck Hills to the south. The barrows, which are aligned north east-south west, each have a mound composed of earth, sand and turf, with maximum dimensions of between 10-25 metres in diameter and circa 0.2-0.8 metres in height. The mounds are each surrounded by a ditch from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument. The ditches have become infilled over the years, but each will survive as a buried feature circa 1.5-2 metres wide. Scheduled.

Seven Barrows, group of eight barrows, all but (’F’) in a near-straight line SW-NE on the summit of a small but sharply-defined heathland ridge above the 100ft contour. A ninth possibly existed at ‘J’-SY 91168857 but no trace remains. Probably all but (13) were dug into by Shipp and Durden in 1844 without result (C.T.D.,cpf, No 1).

A-(8) Bowl (91148864) Diam. 66ft. ht. 3 1/2ft. Top markedly flat, apparently an original feature.
B-(9) Bowl (91168868) 30 yards NE of (8). Diam 64ft. ht 3 1/2ft. Flat-topped as (8).
C-(10) Bowl (91188870). 50 yards NE of (9). Diam. about 37ft., ht. 4 1/2ft.
D-(11) Bowl (91188874) 30 yards NNE of (10). Diam. about 30ft. ht. about 2ft.
E-(12) Bowl (91918878) 60 yards NE of (11). Diam: about 37ft., ht. 4ft.
F-(13) Bowl (?) (91918879) immediately N of (12). Ploughed almost flat.
G-(14) Bowl (91238880) 20 yards NE of(12). Diam about 37ft ht. 4ft.
H-(15) Bowl (91258883) 45 yards NE of (14). Diam 42ft ht 4 1/2ft.(2)
SY 912887. seven Barrows, south of Northport Heath, Scheduled. (3)

Details of Stone on Pastscape

(SY 92168057) Stone (NR) (1) Known as the ‘Harp Stone’, by which name it should be described on OS plans. (2) The Harp Stone (NR) (3)
The Harpstone, a limestone monolith, stands on the bank of a small stream just inside the west edge of Hurpston Coppice.
It is 7 1/4 feet high with a jagged and uneven top and has a maximum width of 3 3/4 feet east-west by 3 feet north-south. The four faces are largely disfigured by vertical grooves and hollows, the result of weathering. Its origin is unknown.
The place-name ‘Herpston’ (1340) may refer to the stone, which stands on the bank between Herpston and Hyde manors and flanks the ancient road from Creech to Kimmeridge. (4) SY 921805. The Harp Stone. Scheduled 735. (5) The Harp Stone, an undated monolith, probably ancient. Scheduled. (6)
The Harp Stone, a weather-worn standing stone, as described. Published 1:2500 survey correct. (7)

There is a possibility referred to in the GGAT SMR that Roman masonry was exposed around the well during a flood in 1799.

This suggests that the well may have been in use during prehistoric times and reused by the Romans.

It is the only known thermal spring in Wales.

Coflein says....
A disturbed round cairn, 13.1m in diameter and i.52m high, having a lesser cairn set upon its summit.

Postman says....
I didn’t go over because time had run out, far too much sitting around gawping. It is over half a mile from the bigger pair to the east, as such I’ve added it as a separate site. None of the cairns are at the summit of Gyrn Ddu but rather on lower subsidiary peaks.

Cothiemuir Hill – Aberdeenshire

Cothiemuir Hill natural burial ground is located on the Forbes Estate in rural Aberdeenshire and is rich in wildlife, history and heritage.

Lying at the western end of the Lord Throat’s road, the ancient wooded hill rises from verdant land, through a belt of deciduous mixed woodland including Scots Pine, to a Neolithic stone circle that crowns it crest. Flanking the hill, beneath the slopes of Bennachie, newly planted trees shelter the burial glades. here, plots for natural burial or the internment of ashes can be reserved, giving mourners the space to connect with nature, and more importantly the people buried there.

From the pamphlet advertising natural burials.

(also a couple of nice photos of the stone circle)

Details of barros on Pastscape

(SU 16317299 & SU 16387305) Tumuli (NR). (1) Two bowl barrows listed by Grinsell. SU 16317299, diam 24 paces; height 3 ft. Has slight ditch. Excavated by Smith and Cunnington in 1879. Primary (?) cremation beneath inverted MBA collared urn, with flint knife. Secondary interments included a cremation and apparently a skeleton, with a leaf arrowhead near it. Urn in Devizes Museum (4). SU 16377304, diam 19 paces, height 4 ft, has slight ditch. (2-4)
Saucer barrow not shown by Auth 1, but listed by Grinsell. (5) SU 16357307, mound dia 38 ft height 1 ft, ditch width 8 ft depth 1/2 ft; outer bank width 10 ft, height 1/2 ft.
Excavated by Smith and Cunnington in 1879. Primary cremation in circular cist; fragments of a small ‘drinking-cup’ 6 ft N of centre. (Grinsell queries whether in soil before erection of barrow). Now in Devizes Museum (4). (6-7)
SU 16317299. A bowl barrow 20.0 metres in diameter and 1.0 metre high; the ditch has been ploughed out.
SU 16387304. A bowl barrow 16.0 metres in diameter and 1.0 metre high, now with no trace of a ditch.
SU 16357305. Vestiges of a mound 0.2 metres high are all that survives of the ‘saucer barrow’. Under crop.
Published 25” survey revised. (8)

One hill, two forts.

Tal y Garreg fort crowns the summit of the hill at SH57400358, while Llechlwyd cuts off the lower western promontory. Both look down on the mouth of the Dysynni river.

GAT details:

Tal y Garreg

This is a fortification in an exhilarating position, fronting the sea and exposed to all the winds that blow! Its date is very uncertain, and it may have been occupied at more than one period.

The defences are built on the very top of the narrow ridge. They consist of two relatively low earth and stone banks enclosing a rectangular space about 45m long and 22m wide. At the seaward end there is a much stronger point the base of a tower or small circular enclosure (10m in diameter) fronted by a rock-cut ditch now virtually filed with stone. If this stone comes from the collapse of the tower, it must have been quite high. Beyond the ditch is a curving bank with another deep rock-cut ditch beyond. This ditch is now right at the edge of the quarry take care! The ring of concrete pegs on the tower once anchored a shipping signal. (Extract from G. Smith: A Visitor Guide to the Main Iron Age Hillforts of Meirionnydd (2009)).

Llechlwyd promontory fort

A promontory fort enclosing 1.5 acres, situated on a spur of land projecting SW from Tal y Garreg Mountain. The artificial defences comprise an inner and outer bank, 3.6m and 3.2m high respectively with an outer ditch now only 0.8m deep, constructed across the neck of a steep sided promontory. The outer bank and ditch have been destroyed at their west end by a modern quarry road, which exposes a section showing that the ditch was originally 1.9m lower than the present day ground level. The large inner rampart is mainly of stone. And has an in-turned entrance at the junction of its W end with the natural defensive slope of the hill. There are no traces of any huts within the fort. Surveyed at 1: 2500.

Only managed a drive-by to see this impressive stone whilst trying to find the B+B. Tempers were begining to fray in the car so I thought it best not to stop!

When near Sannox don’t miss the nearby wonderful re-created Viking ship in the small harbour.

Visible from Cairnholy 2 – across the field to the north east. Large(ish) grass covered mound.

Canmore state:
The cairn sands on a terrace above the west bank of the Kirkdale burn, 140m ENE of Cairnholy Farm. It measures 145m in diameter and 1.7m in height. The centre has been dug into and its sides clipped by ploughing. 1994

Drive-by 30.7.15

Directions:
A short distance east of the Newton Stewart cairn, on the B7079. On the norther side of the road, other side of a stone wall.

There are two cairns here – High Lessons (no sign of it) and Low Lessons (visible as a rough grass covered mound in the middle of the field). There was no obvious place to park in close proximity.

Canmore state:
High Lesson – The cairn is almost completely destroyed, grass covered rubble base, 0.3m high. 1966
Low Lesson – A partially grass covered cairn, half of which has been removed fom its south side. It is 70ft in diameter and 6ft high. 1966

Drive by – 28.7.15

Directions:
A short distance north east of Maybole, along a minor road.

For a change (not) it was raining. It has rained so much this holiday I am now on my second pair of boots. I have had enough of rain for a while. I have had enough of being wet, walking in the rain etc.
A drive by it is then!

The boulder-type stone is easily seen from the A77.
It is on the high point in the field.

Canmore state:
A rounded granite boulder about 1.4m in height. According to historian Mr J Gray its local name is Lyonston – from which the naerby farm took its name.