The sign on the front of the concrete reproduction on site.
"Concrete reproduction of decorated cist-slab of the early bronze age (probably 1800 - 1300 BC) now in The City Museum, Bristol."
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Dyer describes this as a Neolithic - Bronze age transitional barrow. It contained a boat shaped rock cut grave lined with dry stone walling holding the remains of at least 28 people.
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Text from the info board at Maumbury Rings relating to its prehistory. There was more about the roman stuff & later.
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A large circular bank was built of chalk rubble on open grassland, with an entrance in the N-E provided with a large standing stone. Inside the bank was a wide and deep ditch. Cut into the base of the ditch was a series of large tapering shafts about 10ft (3m) apart and with an average depth of 34ft (10.4m below original ground level, 22ft (6.4m) from the base of the ditch. Eighteen shafts were located. The spacing suggests there were 45 in total. The shafts were dug using antler picks and spoil was raise in baskets by ropes. The archaeological evidence suggests that each was deliberately filled in with several seperate deposits. Four shafts contained red deer skulls or skull fragments, of possible ritual importance. Carved chalk objects were also found.
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'A remarkable slab decorated with seven foot carvings, ten cup-marks and a horned device ... formed part of a sealed stone cist containing two cremations dating to the first quarter of the 2nd millenium BC. The motives from Pool Farm are largely without parallel in Britain, and most similar to Scandanavian examples (eg Bornholm), though it has been suggested that the destroyed Calderstones passage grave (Liverpool) is a comparison.'
(from here http://www.somerset.gov.uk/somerset/cultureheritage/heritage/swarf/themes/neoeba/index.cfm)
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A gate has been installed in the cave to protect the engraving, after consultations between English Heritage and other interested parties, including the landowner and English Nature. Also note that no visits will be possible until bat hibernation season is over.
(From http://www.ubss.org.uk/news.php)
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Reading another report, UBSS have control over the access.
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Some facts & figures:
- This circle was buried in 1820 by the tenant farmer and resurrected by a local school master in 1949.
- An axe from near snakes pass was found buried close to a North Eastern stone.
- The outlier (currently not outlying) was suggested (presumably by Thom) as a pointer to the star Deneb. It also lay just off true North of the circle.
- When the circle was re-errected a burial cairn was found in the centre of the circle, made largely of red granite cobbles. This cairn contained birch and hazel charcoal, fragments of human bone, bracken and six hawthorne berries suggesting an autumnal cremation. It also contained a jet ring, most likely from the whitby area.
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All righty, Magic.gov.uk gives us the scores on the doors.
The 'oval longbarrow' is only half visible, the other half being under the road. It was measured at 46m x 27.5m in 1938 and oriented North-South. The other longbarrow measures 66mx21m, is oriented NNE-SSW and was placed on top of an oblong enclosure.
These two longbarrows are 2 out of only 5 visible LBs in Norfolk and hence fairly important.
They part of an extended cemetary nearby with a whopper at TF815249 on private land, 4 barrows clustered about TF833255 and Harpley barrow cemetary not too far away.
One more little titbit, these lie very near the Peddars Way, gateway to wessex...
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This is sadly just a cropmark picked up by the Norfolk National Mapping Programme. A palisade ditch can also just be seen together with the possible remains of two longbarrows or mortuary enclosures flanking the enclosure.
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This fort was carbon dated to between 200BC to 250AD and apparently is quite visible on the ground.
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In the latest edition of Aubrey Burls tome 'The stone circles of ...', he mentions this is the remains of two circles & an avenue, something akin to Stanton Drew.
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Swanscombe Man's resting place for over a third of a million years. Site of the oldest human remains found in Britain, dating to approximately 350,000 years ago. 3 pieces of a skull have been found over the years together with Acheulean hand-axes & thousands of flint flakes.
[directions removed]
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According to Burl, this 'circle' had seven stones standing in 1847. Shame they seem to have disapeared into (I presume) the nearby drystone wall...
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Got a bit confused trying to find this place, I recommend you take the OS map of the area. We gave up upon finding Squerryes court was shut, but I think the hillfort is public access anyway. *Shrug* I'll be back!
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Marked as "Long Ditch" on the orange OS map, this was possibly associated with the Iron Age settlement on Nonsuch Park (ADS).
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Unreachable without trespass or prior permission, this fort lies hidden within a 'very exclusive' housing estate. Guards on 2 entry roads, road blocks on the other two and about 100 1million pound plus houses. Ironically enough, this was the original site of the Diggers, the first commune...
Some numbers to try:
01932 223550 - The residents association. More than likely to send you to...
01932 843573 - Elmbridge Museum. Run 3 or 4 visits a year to the hillfort in conjunction with the residents association, I await contact from them as to when the next visit is...
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'There is a fenced mound here, planted with conifers in 1910 (GLSMR 030059),
but interestingly the mound extends both north and south beyond the fence. It
has approximate total dimensions of 45-50m x 20m wide x 1m max height and must
be considered a possible long barrow.'
From "Richmond Park, London. Archeological Survey 1992 by Tom Greeves"
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Another mound in a london park, another mess of modifications & history.
Like Henry VIII Mound, this was last used as a Belvedere. It had a possible 18th/19th century summer house on top, together with a spiral path for presumably easy access.
From GLSMR: Originally it was probably a Roman era mound as it is too large to be a bell barrow. It has a ditch around it, a 10-15ft berm and as far as I can tell it has never been excavated.
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This group of barrows is notable for two things. Firstly it contains probably the largest barrow still standing in Norfolk at 60 metres by 4.5 metres (be impressed!). Also as Rhiannon mentions, it has Wessex culture connections. A barrow now destroyed had a crouched skeleton buried with a grooved bronze dagger & gold sewed to his clothing. All of which shows Wessex culture had reached this far by 1700bce.
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(later) Reading the excellent Seahenge by Francis Pryor, he makes the point that the goods from this barrow were superficially Wessex, but on closer examination they were inferior in standard. Hence this area were Wessex wannabes (as it were...).
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Four? overgrown round barrows with important connections to Wessex culture (apparently). The largest still standing is inaccessible to the south of the road and is 45 metres across, 2.4 metres high. It contained a cremation burial with various bronze & gold covered artifacts.
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Rumours I found one folklore piece to complete my rainbow are true
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