The date of this site is debatable - it is quite possible, due to it's proximity to the other barrow at Winckley Lowes, that this is a Bronze Age site. However some have claimed the mound to have been built after the battle of Billington in 789ce.
Simeon of Durham gives an account of that battle:
"A confederacy was made of the murderers of King Aethelred; Wada, chief in that conspiracy, with his force went against Eardwulf, in a place called by the English Billangahoh (Billington), near Walalege (Whalley), and on either side many were slain; Wada, the chief, with his men, was put to flight, and King Eardwulf regally achieved victory over his enemies."
The Anglo-Saxon chronicles of that year state:
"In this year in Spring, on 2nd April, there was a great battle at Whalley in Northumbria, and there was slain Alric, son of Heardberht, and many others with him."
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Images and a short description of this site.
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Many superstitions were attached to the barrow and its destruction in the 1860s, with the country people speaking of the place being haunted by boggarts and children having been known to take off their clogs and walk past barefoot at night.
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The following information is taken from a book published in the mid-eighties - things have changed quite a bit since then. Well the barrow's reappeared for a start...
No physical evidence remains of this Darwen barrow. It was destroyed during October 1864 as foundations were dug for Ashleigh House, itself since demolished in 1986.
30 yards in diameter, the barrow sat on a promontory of an undulating plateau overlooking the Darwen Valley. It's height was said to vary from around 12 feet to the E and 2-3 feet on the W, the centre being about 6 feet in diameter and consisting of a slight hollow. Ten internments appear to have been made. Two urns contained 'incense cups' and another a 7 1/2" bronze dagger. An excavation of 1986 found only evidence of the original lie of the land, the naze apparently being levelled during the construction of Ashleigh house.
The Whitehall Urns are on display in Darwen reference library.
From the case containing the Whitehall Urns:
"Three Bronze Age pottery urns from Whitehall, Over Darwen. They were discovered in 1864 in a large mound. Originally there were ten urns in all, but most of these were fragmentary, and nine of these contained cremated human remains.
Ritual burial sites of this type, that is, under a burial mound or barrow, are known from elsewhere in the county, as far afield as Chorley, the Pendle Hill area, Clitheroe and the Burnley moors. They date from the early to mid bronze age, that is from around 2,000 - 800 BC."
Additional note 23/1/3ce
It was with reluctance that I changed the name of this site from my original Ashleigh Street, Darwen to the correct name above...
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When the ring cairn at Cheetham Close was excavated in 1893 it was claimed that the bank was faced both internally and externally by large gritstone slabs set around the kerb. A possible entrance exists to the NE, where an approx. 1m gap is flanked by a much thicker section of the bank. A low cairn at the centre is clearly defined on the W and partially destroyed by illicit excavators. A small satellite cairn, 2m diameter, lies in the NE quadrant. Two other smaller cairns lie to the NE and SE of the stone circle and ring cairn respectively.
In 1954 a Bronze Age saddle quern was found 80m NE of the stone circle with three barbed and tangled arrowheads.
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Peat digging on Charters Moss revealed many Bronze Age finds, the best examples being a perforated stone hammer and a bronze palstave. Other finds include a looped socketed spearhead with part of it's original wooden shaft, a more developed palstave with handle and a bronze loop headed spearhead.
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Images and details of this fantastic complex of sites.
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This site is just about discernable in it's overgrown state, but not worth the effort to come here for it's own sake - the view however is something else.
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A great monument, which along with the Great X forms a centre piece to the sacred landscape of Kilmartin. If you're spending a few days in the area, it's definitely worth coming back here a few times, at different times of day and in different light and weather conditions, this site seems to change more than most sites...This post appears as part of the blog post " Kilmartin Retreat, October 2002ce" |
Yet another great cairn sitting on the plateau above the sites immediately surrounding Kilmartin village. The cist at the N side of the cairn lies open to the side, giving the impression of a low chambered tomb - this would have been closed off with a slab, access being original from the top. I got the usual urge to crawl inside... a few minutes later a family of german tourists struggled to reconcile their urge to do the same with the damage this may cause to their pristine jeans - the teenage daughter eventually gave in, and got down on her belly to peer inside, much to the horror of her mother!This post appears as part of the blog post " Kilmartin Retreat, October 2002ce" |
Arriving here it really struck me that walking from The Glebe Cairn to Ballymeanoch (or vice versa), picking off each site in order you'll always see the last site from the next... The carvings here are great, just a bit more subtle than at some of the other sites in the valley and the setting - wow!This post appears as part of the blog post " Kilmartin Retreat, October 2002ce" |
This place gave me goosebumps as I approached - there is so much more to the place than meets the eye. The setting is difficult to place in relation to the other linear cemetry sites, as unlike the others it is completely surrounded by trees. This does give it a unique feel though - something like Wayland's Smithy. I took a long break here as the sun streamed through the trees.This post appears as part of the blog post " Kilmartin Retreat, October 2002ce" |
The sun was just starting to melt the frost making this cairn glisten in the clear, bright morning sunlight. The chamber looks great.
I moved to a safe distance while a group of kids played around the chamber for 10 minute, and just took in my first taste of this incredible sacred landscape. Later on, in the pub, I overheard a group of local kids playing pool, talking about 'the tombs'. A mother of one of the kids, sat chatting with two american tourists, spoke of how 'the kids round here really love their stones!'This post appears as part of the blog post " Kilmartin Retreat, October 2002ce" |
This was probably my favourite of the cairns in this group. It's ruined and the cupmarked stone is difficult (to say the least) to see, but the shape and condition of the whole site is wonderful. Again, the frost made this cairn look amazing. I felt so lucky to be here, completely alone and at peace - what a day!This post appears as part of the blog post " Kilmartin Retreat, October 2002ce" |
A great example of a modern reconstruction of a site, done well. The main feature, the slab cover, is fantastic and once sat down in front of it, studying it's decorated surface, was a real bind to leave. Opening the wooden door and descending into the cairn is quite an experience, too!This post appears as part of the blog post " Kilmartin Retreat, October 2002ce" |
This site is definitely worth seeing! Okay, like landells says, it is a pile of old stones, at the end of the day - but seen up close and in context with the other sites in this group it completes the picture. This is more like the other sites would have looked in their final stages of development, after all. The cairn looked wonderful in the frost.This post appears as part of the blog post " Kilmartin Retreat, October 2002ce" |
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