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Ivinghoe Beacon

Hillfort

<b>Ivinghoe Beacon</b>Posted by nixImage © nix
Also known as:
  • Beacon Hill

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Bowl Barrows (South of Beacon) Round Barrow(s)
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Bowl Barrow (East of Beacon) Round Barrow(s)

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<b>Ivinghoe Beacon</b>Posted by juamei <b>Ivinghoe Beacon</b>Posted by nix <b>Ivinghoe Beacon</b>Posted by nix <b>Ivinghoe Beacon</b>Posted by ginger tt <b>Ivinghoe Beacon</b>Posted by ginger tt <b>Ivinghoe Beacon</b>Posted by ginger tt <b>Ivinghoe Beacon</b>Posted by ginger tt <b>Ivinghoe Beacon</b>Posted by ginger tt <b>Ivinghoe Beacon</b>Posted by GLADMAN <b>Ivinghoe Beacon</b>Posted by Kammer

Fieldnotes

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Visited 8th April 2004: I've been visiting Ivinghoe Beacon since I was a kid, but back then I had no idea there was a hillfort here. I've got so many memories of the place, it's hard to filter out the sentimentality and describe the 'site'.

OK, there's not much left of the ramparts but you get a good sense of the defensive position when you stand at the top looking out of the relatively flat surrounding countryside. The southern and eastern sides of the fort are the weakest defensively, and this is where the ramparts can best be seen.

This a simple, early hillfort, and it has a distinctly primeval feel to it. There are usually people up on the summit of Beacon Hill, flying remote controlled gliders or walking, but if you get it to yourself there's a feeling of splendid isolation. Not bad in such an overpopulated part of the UK!
Kammer Posted by Kammer
20th August 2004ce
Edited 9th April 2007ce

Ivinghoe Beacon is a late Bronze Age - early Iron Age hill fort which has been settled since the 7th-8th century BC. There are numerous barrows around the site.

One in particular is quite impressive as it is rather large and there appears to be a raised causeway linking it and the top of the beacon.

This is a good place to watch the sunrise on the Summer Solstice, as the sun aligns itself with the above barrow.

Parking is good and it is well maintained.
Posted by GuttBucket
17th January 2002ce
Edited 9th April 2007ce

Folklore

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Tradition says that some shepherds, on a part of the high ridge over Ivinghoe, on the borders of Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire, and at a distance of at least thirty miles in a direct line from Edge Hill, saw a twinkling light to the northward, and, upon communication with their minister, 'a godly and well-affected person,' fired the beacon there also, which was seen at Harrow on the Hill, and from thence at once carried on to London; and that thus the news was given along a line of more than sixty miles, by the assistance of only two intermediate fires.
p310 in 'Some Memorials of John Hampden, his party and his times' by Lord Nugent, v2 (1832).

The battle of Edgehill in 1682 was the first major battle of the Civil War.
Rhiannon Posted by Rhiannon
9th April 2007ce
Edited 9th April 2007ce

Miscellaneous

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Mystery mine of Ivinghoe where ancient Britons worked flints. Amazing finds.

For 3,000 years travellers on the ancient Icknield Way threw anything they did not want into an old flint mine by the roadside. Long centuries of rubbish gradually filled it up, the top caved in, and eventually all trace of the mine was lost. Recent work in laying a waterpipe has revealed this storehouse of the centuries, and the discoveries made there bid fair to cause acute controversy amongst archaeologists.

Sheltered beneath the bluff face of Ivinghoe Beacon - the gaunt spur of the Chilterns overlooking the vale of Aylesbury - runs the ancient Icknield Way, and into its stones is knit the history of Southern England. Today a reporter followed again the road which once resounded to the martial tramp of Roman legions. Since the dawn of Britain's history travellers have stopped at this point. Today they still do so, and but a stone's throw away is the old mine.

To Mr W. Cobell, the one-armed garage man, these remarkable discoveries are due. Badly wounded in the War, an open-air job was necessary to keep him fit, and he now contrives to combine making a living with his hobby of archaeology. Mr Cobell led the way to the old shaft, half-hidden between a hawthorn hedge. Forty feet down into the solid chalk this old mine sinks into what was once a rich seam of fine flints. Four feet across, it is just wide enough for a man to straddle his legs. That revealed how the ancient miners ascended and descended probably 3,000 years ago. A series of footholds had been cut on either side of the shaft, and today young Sam, the enthusiastic excavator and purveyor, clambered down in the same old way, disdaining the modern rope and tackle. With an electric torch he illuminated its gloomy depths - the bottom is not yet reached - and showed where another tunnel leads away into the heart of the hill.

At the bottom of the shaft a magnificent flint axe with a giant left-handed grip has been found. There were also other rude weapons and arrow heads of flint, flakes and chippings, spear points, bones of animals, and similar traces of the ancient British village which once occupied the site. "These were the people who dug the mine and worked it until the flints ran out," Mr Cobell said. "Then it was just left open and became the rubbish pit for anyone passing by on the road." Above the prehistoric debris came traces of the Roman occupation of Britain. A roof tile of unmistakeable Roman make and a chimney tile bear the footprints of a dog that walked over them while they were wet and drying in the sun. Its footmarks can still be seen. A bronze coin of the Roman period has also been found, but its exact date has yet to be determined. Vast quantities of pottery of the early Iron Age were mixed in indescribable confusion with Roman wares, Anglo-Saxon wares, and pottery of successive peoples down to the fine medieval glazes. Fragments of 16th and 17th century glazes lying on top of all this accumulation have definitely been identified.

A few yards away is another curious hole made by these prehistoric miners. It may have been the floor where the flints were worked. The tremendous number of flakes found suggest that it was, but it was also the scene of a great fire, for which there is no explanation at present. Charred bones, burnt wood, and scores of flints scorched and split by intense heat are still there. Mr Edward Holis, curator of the Buckinghamshire County Museum at Aylesbury, said: "I know of nothing in England like this mine, if mine it be. The variety of the debris from so many periods of history is amazing, and until the site has been fully examined by experts it is impossible to say what is the real solution."
In the 'Gloucester Citizen', 25th August 1932.
Rhiannon Posted by Rhiannon
11th June 2023ce

The hand axe in the photos above is actually a cast taken from a mould originally made in the mid-seventies for Luton museum who hold (but don't currently display) the actual axe.

It is a beautiful thing but most wonderful is the way it fits perfectly into your hand with places for each finger.
A truly aesthetic pleasure.
nix Posted by nix
27th March 2013ce

Latest posts for Ivinghoe Beacon

Showing 1-10 of 13 posts. Most recent first | Next 10

Bowl Barrows (South of Beacon) (Round Barrow(s)) — Images (click to view fullsize)

<b>Bowl Barrows (South of Beacon)</b>Posted by ginger tt ginger tt Posted by ginger tt
17th January 2012ce

Round Barrow (within Beacon Hill Hillfort) (Round Barrow(s)) — Images

<b>Round Barrow (within Beacon Hill Hillfort)</b>Posted by ginger tt ginger tt Posted by ginger tt
17th January 2012ce

Bowl Barrows (South of Beacon) (Round Barrow(s)) — Images

<b>Bowl Barrows (South of Beacon)</b>Posted by little stone goddess<b>Bowl Barrows (South of Beacon)</b>Posted by little stone goddess Posted by little stone goddess
19th October 2004ce

Bowl Barrow (East of Beacon) (Round Barrow(s)) — Fieldnotes

Visited 8th April 2004: This barrow is very subtle. We missed it entirely on our walk to Gallows Hill, only spotting it on the way back. It's very tricky to photograph as well.

All that's left of the barrow is a very flat donut shape, just beyond the fence as you walk east from Beacon Hill.
Kammer Posted by Kammer
20th August 2004ce

Round Barrow (within Beacon Hill Hillfort) (Round Barrow(s)) — Fieldnotes

Visited 8th April 2004: This is one of those barrows that nobody notices even though it's quite large. Planted on top of Beacon Hill, within the defenses of the hillfort, I think it's thought of as just the summit of the hill.

A footpath runs over the top of it, and there's quite a bit of soil erosion going on. It looks like this must have once been a rather large barrow. It goes without saying that the views here are great.

According to English Heritage, geophysics have uncovered possible evidence for a further two round barrows within the interior of the hillfort.
Kammer Posted by Kammer
20th August 2004ce

Bowl Barrows (South of Beacon) (Round Barrow(s)) — Fieldnotes

Visited 8th April 2004: These two bowl barrows are the closest to the National Trust car park, and if you're walking to Beacon Hill you pass very close to them.

The larger of the two barrows is very prominent from the surrounding countryside. It's easy to spot and relatively easy to get to, up a steep slope. There are excellent views from the top of the larger barrow.

The smaller barrow lies to the east of the large one, and is much trickier to find. It is a lot smaller and shorter. We visited during the early Spring, but I'd imagine this barrow would be more tricky to find during the summer. Not very spectacular, so if you can't find it, don't loose any sleep about it.
Kammer Posted by Kammer
20th August 2004ce

Bowl Barrow (East of Beacon) (Round Barrow(s)) — Images

<b>Bowl Barrow (East of Beacon)</b>Posted by Kammer Kammer Posted by Kammer
19th August 2004ce

Round Barrow (within Beacon Hill Hillfort) (Round Barrow(s)) — Images

<b>Round Barrow (within Beacon Hill Hillfort)</b>Posted by Kammer Kammer Posted by Kammer
19th August 2004ce

Bowl Barrows (South of Beacon) (Round Barrow(s)) — Images

<b>Bowl Barrows (South of Beacon)</b>Posted by Kammer Kammer Posted by Kammer
19th August 2004ce
Showing 1-10 of 13 posts. Most recent first | Next 10