
Clear shoulder on the wide side.
Clear shoulder on the wide side.
The nearest tumulus is just about visible as the bump in he background.
This is so photoshopped to compensate for bad photography, it’s got quite a bit of the ‘interpretative’ about it.
But you get the idea, it’s a slab, not a pillar.
Tallest standing stone in the county.
Taken 13-4-03. North Face.
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Taken 13-4-03. View to the East
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Taken 13-4-03.
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Visited 20.9.10
This was a bit tricky to find but worth the effort in the end.
Take the turning off the A68 signposted Great Swinburne. Before you reach the castle there is an area you can park near the public footpath sign on the left. Go over the gate and follow the path – woods on you right. When the path forks (in front of a large tree) go to the left and keep walking. You will soon see a stone field boundary wall on your left and a gateway into the field. Through the entrance and follow the tractor tracks up the field towards the brow of the hill heading left. The stone is visible when you get to the brow of the hill but NOT from the public footpath.
** As I was walking through the field I was stopped by a chap in a land rover who I assume was an estate worker. He wanted to know what I was doing and when I explained he reluctantly gave me permission to go to the stone although he did point out that there was no public right of way to the stone. Something I was aware of! **
Like the Matfen and Warrior stones, Swinburne has cups and weathered grooves. Most pleasing to the eye. Unlike all the other stones in Northumberland, this one is of a decent size.
Access isn’t bad, though from the road, the track is bumpy, and there’s a gate. There’s a decent parking spot next to the ex-chapel at Ox hills, and the short walk allows the chance to have a deks at the strange terracing. Permission to sneak off the path can then be sought at Swinburne Castle, where the chap was quite pleasant, and more than happy to allow us to wander, once he’d assured himself we weren’t going to carve out initials on the stone.
This stone is on private land – you can just about see the top of it from the nearest public path. I had come all this way... wasn’t gonna give up...not a soul to ask... it called my name...honest guv
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