The Modern Antiquarian. Stone Circles, Ancient Sites, Neolithic Monuments, Ancient Monuments, Prehistoric Sites, Megalithic MysteriesThe Modern Antiquarian

Giant's Grave

Standing Stones

Fieldnotes

These stone baffle me. Yes, they stand in the foreground of Black Combe which conjures up such terms as ‘ominous’ and ‘looming’, but I’m not sure they have anything to do with it. That mass of rock lurks to the north and the smaller hill that contain the Lacra circles is just to the east, and at first I thought the two stones may be pointing in that direction but now I’m not sure of that either. A report from the late 18th century suggests that they originally stood as part of a burial mound which has now gone but if they are in their original position and orientation then the axis of alignment is roughly southwest-northeast, either pointing out to sea or in the direction of the valley of Whitcham Beck – were they indicating a safe route between the hills or were they just grave markers? If the direction of the narrow edges of the stones is taken into consideration, then its northwest-southeast marking the lowland plain between the sea and the hills – another possible trackway or route? Then there’s the angled tops of the stones – are they meant to be looked along to some celestial phenomenon, or were they meant to channel something down to the tumulus?
As for the figures, the tallest stone to the NE is 3 metres tall while the other is about 2.5 metres high and they stand around 4.5 apart. There are said to be cup marks on the stones including Julian’s pubic triangle (!) but err… I forgot to look for them.
Chris Collyer Posted by Chris Collyer
23rd April 2003ce

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