What a strange place! In a wonderful position on common land near Pontypridd hospital are some natural rocky outcrops, one of which is known as the Pontypridd rocking stone. It is very large – about 5 and half feet tall and round, roughly in two pieces like a cottage loaf. I gave it a push. It doesn’t rock. In recent times a very nice small stone circle has been built round it. The whole place seems rather peculiar though.
Jane
Just 200ms away from Parc le Breos hidden in the wooded cliffs on the right as you approach is this lovely cave which is certainly worth a shufti. It has two entrances, one closed up with railings. The larger entrance, of a tall triangular shape, leads to a huge interior. It goes back a long way into the rock and has a number of chambers within it. I was thrilled and delighted at how cosy and warm it was at the back of the cave away from the frosty winter morning. When it was excavated in the 1960s very ancient human remains were found.
This is a well tended and large restored Severn-Cotswold type cairn. We got there early and the light was streaming through the frosty trees. The cairn has a central passage with two pairs of transepted chambers. The cairn is now roofless so the internal structures are all exposed. It was fabulous just lying there surrounded by woodland in a bright yellow crisp winter valley. We loved it.
You can park very close by and the approach to it is flat so it’d be great for those using wheelchairs or buggies to visit.
Lurking in the dunes on a promontory close to Penmaen village is a small burial chamber.
We parked at SS527885 by the bus stop and post box and walk down the path marked ‘Tor Bay 0.8kms’.
Once on the promontory be prepared for a stomp about! We scoured the hillside on the left of the path where the dunes dip down sharply to the dramatic beach below. It wasn’t there. We searched the tip of the promontory, but no cigar. Finally as we were about to give up, I spotted it 20 metres from the end of main path as it breaks up into many tracks through the dunes, on the right of the ‘mainest’ path.
It has a good sized solid capstone, now fallen on one side, and a few stones making up a short passageway. Surrounded by dead bracken, half buried in a dune, it’s not a burial chamber to write home about, but I loved it anyway. The views down to Threecliff Bay are breathtaking!
Up here on top of the dunes reminded me of Porth Hellick Downs on Scilly’s St Mary’s.
The site is found up on high open moorland with amazing views back over to Llanelli to the north. The moor was crawling with shaggy frozen ponies. As you approach it you can see it’s big but then – woooo!!! This is so much bigger and more impressive than I had ever imagined up close. The capstone is less of a cap and more of a mighty concrete helmet – perhaps weighing 40 or 50 tons (I kid you not!) – supported by really small uprights which look as if they have been driven into the earth under the vast weight of the elephantine lump above. The whole construction sits in a concave rubble cairn, so it’s easy to imagine the original size of this place.
As we drove around, we kept getting sights of the monument perched up there on that chilly heath from miles away.
Sampson’s Jack is a pointy menhir of white stone which soars out of its hedgerow setting! It is the texture and colour of rice pudding. What a shame you can’t see the whole stone – it must be 12 feet tall, but the bottom six feet are hidden in the hawthorn. Without modern buildings it is only maybe 300 metres away from the standing stone at Ty’r Coed farm and certainly on a sight line.
Note for pedants: On the map, the spelling of Sampson has a ‘p’ in it.
Park at the top of the lane by the farm entrance and ask at the farm to see it, because this is on private land.
The farm building is only inches away from this menhir which is made of the same rice pudding stone of Sampson’s Jack. Because it stands in a rise of land its size is deceptive. It must be at least seven feet tall. From here you get a very clear view of Maen Cetty on the ridge to the south about a mile and half away.
The stone is kept in a small enclosure with three dogs so mind where you tread – it’s very shitty!
Two menhirs stand guarding each side of the path up to the tiny old church.
The stones are curious. The ‘lower’ one is undoubtedly ancient. The size, weathering patterns and position all felt genuine. The ‘upper’ one was highly suspicious. It looked as if it were a more recent stone – which for sure had once been used as a gatepost – which had been plonked on top of a larger stone. The larger stone now lies down on the slope, but the size, type and weathering all matched the standing stone still up.
I wondered if they had once been part of an alignment as they followed the dip in the road which looked as if it had once been an old trackway down to the marsh just half a mile or so to the north
Cefn Bryn Great Cairn is just 25ms away from Maen Cetty and is little more than a huge mound of large stones. But it all adds to the atmosphere up there on that amazing ridge of moorland with those staggering views.
Another one like Rock n Rollright, but in this one all the stones are deliberately linked
Image credit: Jane Tomlinson
From BBC online, Wednesday, 2 November 2005:
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tyne/4399194.stm
Archaeologists have unearthed what is thought to be one of the largest Neolithic settlements in Britain. The discovery, which includes buildings, a human burial pit, tools, pottery and ritual objects, was uncovered at a Northumberland quarry.
It is hoped it will boost understanding of the period, which dates back thousands of years.
The discovery was made during routine archaeological investigation of the quarry, which is run by Tarmac.
The settlement, near Milfield Village, Northumberland, includes at least three buildings dating to the 4000 BC Early Neolithic period and three buildings from the 3000 BC Later Neolithic period.
Archaeologists said the find was highly important because remains of buildings are rarely found on Neolithic settlements in England.
Dr Jonathan Last, from English Heritage, said: “To find the remains of so many buildings from the Neolithic period grouped together is incredibly important.
“This exciting discovery offers huge potential to improve our understanding of Neolithic ways of life in the north-east of England.
“We hope that analysis and scientific dating of finds from the site will reveal much more about the date and function of these structures and establish whether they were homes or ceremonial buildings.”
The remains have been found over an area the size of two football pitches.
Archaeological site director Dr Clive Waddington said: “This is one of the most important sites of its kind to be discovered.
“It provides an exciting opportunity to further understanding of Britain first farmers, their way of life and beliefs about the world.”
from www.yorkshiretoday.co.uk 15 October 2005
A team of archaeologists from Sheffield University have revealed significant new insights into the role of Stonehenge after discovering a prehistoric ceremonial road. The team, also from four other universities, discovered the avenue.
It proves there was a walkway between a henge (a circular momument) at Durrington Walls, and the River Avon, three miles away, blowing a hole in the theory the standing stones at Stonehenge were a one-off feature.
The new find supports the team’s theory that Stonehenge was in fact just one part of a much larger complex of stone and timber circles linked by ceremonial avenues to the river.
Radiocarbon dates indicate the henge was in use at the same time as the sarsen stones were erected at Stonehenge. The newly-discovered roadway, with its rammed flint surface, is wider than most modern roads and more substantial than any other Neolithic track in Europe.
It runs for about 100 metres (328ft) from the timber circle within the great henge to the river. Analysis has shown that the avenue was heavily trampled by prehistoric feet, and archaeologists have unearthed numerous finds along its edge.
Prof Mike Parker Pearson, from the University of Sheffield’s Department of Archaeology, believes Stonehenge and Durrington Walls, together with its adjacent site of Woodhenge, were linked by the river to form a single complex.
He has suggested the entire complex was a funerary monument. The work was filmed for a Channel 4 Time Team special, to be screened next year.
From Heritage Action’s Heritage Journal, 24 August 2005
The Rollright Trust, guardians of the Rollright stones on the Warwickshire/Oxfordshrie border has just launched an innovative audio tour facility.
From their website, you can download a sound file for your iPod or MP3 player. But if you haven’t got the technology you can buy a CD with the tour on when you arrive at the stones and they will even lend you a CD player to listen to it on while you are there.
The audio tour is split into three tracks, one for each of the monuments at the site: the King’s Men stone circle, the Whispering Knights burial chamber and the King Stone standing stone.
The audio tour is given by George Lambrick, chair of the Rollright Trust and the leading expert on the site, its history and archaeology.
The Rollright are an excellent example of how ancient monuments can be run to the benefit of all without turning them into a Disneyland-style tourist attraction. It is one of the first heritage sites in the world to offer a guided tour as an MP3 download and earlier this year, access for visitors who are wheelchair users was improved at the site.
https://www.rollrightstones.co.uk/
EXPERTS have come up with a plan to save ancient landmark Silbury Hill from collapsing in on itself but they need up to £600,000 to carry it out.
English Heritage has reached a decision on which option to take to stabilise the ancient monument, the largest prehistoric man-made construction in Europe, and guarantee its continued existence for centuries to come.
It has chosen to re-enter Silbury Hill through the tunnel dug to its centre in 1968, the subject of a BBC film made by Magnus Magnusson at the time.
The existing material that has been used to backfill the various excavations that have taken place over the last 200 years or so will be removed and replaced with chalk to the same density as the surrounding mound material. The temporary capping at the top of the shaft dug into the hill in the 18th century, which is composed of expanded polystyrene, will be removed and it, too, replaced with chalk.
Bob Bewley, south west regional director for English Heritage, said: “The tunnels have never presented the major problem. Most of the subsidence is as a result of the shaft that was dug by the Duke of Northumberland’s men in 1776 straight down through the centre of the monument in the search for gold.
“They found no gold at the base but it has left us with major headaches as it has never been satisfactorily filled in and is the cause of all the major subsidence that has threatened Silbury Hill.”
Mr Bewley and his colleagues are confident that recent work to stabilise the monument will keep it safe in the short term while arrangements are made to undertake the massive effort to complete the repairs.
It has already been five years since a massive hole opened up at the top of Silbury Hill, which was exclusively reported by the Gazette at the time.
But Mr Bewley explained that rescuing a 4,700-year-old construction from dereliction is no short-term matter.
He said: “We have not taken the quick and easy fix but have tried to understand what is happening inside the hill, which is why is has taken so long to come up with our decision.
“When we are finished the hill will hopefully not require any further attentions for hundreds of years, although we will be monitoring it regularly.”
A project board meeting is due to be held in October when a decision will be taken to put the work out to tender.
Mr Bewley said: “We hope to find the right contractor in this financial year and the work will be started in either the next financial year or the following one.
“The biggest thing will be finding the money for the work. We reckon it is going to cost in the region of £500,000 or £600,000 and we are going to have to find that money from somewhere.
“Some of that may come from commercial sponsorship. Large companies and other organisations may be pleased to be involved with this kind of project.
“It is a World Heritage Site and will attract publicity from all over the world.”
From thisiswiltshire.co.uk/wiltshire/marlborough/news/MARLB_NEWS_LOCAL7.html
Pembrokeshire is one of the ‘dig destinations’ for archaeology students this summer.
Dozens of students from all over the world are working in the county at a number of excavation sites, a major one being at Castell Henllys Iron Age Fort, which is owned and run by the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority. For over 25 years, students, led by Dr. Harold Mytum, of the University of York, have been returning to Castell Henllys to help unlock more of the secrets of this unique award-winning heritage site.
Phil Bennett, archaeological heritage manager for the National Park, has worked closely with the York University team for many years. “Each year brings new excitements and findings,” he said. “Gradually the fascinating history of the site is pieced together from evidence recovered from the excavation which gives us an insight to life here over 2,000 years ago.”
“The hillfort is brought to life using information based on the many discoveries made by archaeologists during the on-going dig which is now in its 26th year. This is the only Iron Age hillfort in Britain where roundhouses have been reconstructed on their original foundations.”
Dozens of family events are taking place during the summer at Castell Henllys, bringing the past to life and finding out how our ancestors lived. “It is really nice to see children enjoying themselves and learning about the past in such a vibrant way,” added Phil. “At events at Castell Henllys children dress up in Iron Age cloaks and experience daily life in prehistoric times. Older children can actually go and see how archaeological excavations work.” Further details are available from Castell Henllys on 01239 891319 or by checking out the website www.castellhenllys.com
From tenby-today.co.uk/today/options/news/newsdetail.cfm?id=16416
Tim Cunningham, 27th July 2005
A mile-long human chain will be formed to protest at new plans for a Stanton Moor quarry.
Residents of Stanton-in-Peak were devastated to learn Matlock quarrying firm Stancliffe Stone plans to extend a pre-existing quarry at nearby Dale View.
The news came as residents were celebrating after a recent decision by the Court of Appeal ruled that Lees Cross and Endcliffe quarries are dormant.
Local people and eco-warriors have been fighting to protect the landscape for the last five years.
Julie Kidd, of the action group Stanton Against the Destruction of our Environment (SADE) said: “Everyone thinks the war is won, but it’s not for us.
“Stancliffe Stone are abandoning Lees Cross and Endcliffe to focus on a greenfield extension to Dale View quarry instead.
“But Dale View is already Britain’s largest dimensional stone quarry. It’s closer than ever to the stone circle, and much, much closer to the village.”
The campaigners say that the extension will ruin the most popular approach to the Nine Ladies site and that environmental damage will be much more visible.
Ms Kidd said: “We’re completely mystified as to why the National Park Authority is even entertaining the idea. They seem to think this glorious piece of English countryside has no value.
“We believe when Stancliffe Stone and the National Park Authority see the size of this protest – when they realise we mean business in a big, big way – they’ll understand they have to think again.”
SADE’s chairman Nick Moor said: “We’re not anti-quarrying, we’re anti-greed. The proposed extension is just too big – it’s over a mile round.
“Poor Stanton Moor just can’t take another massive onslaught.”
A spokesperson for the Park Authority said: “The situation remains unchanged – we have received no planning application to extend Dale View quarry.
“If we do, it will be subject to an open and transparent public planning process, entailing a full environmental assessment and scrutiny by the Authority. It would be a completely new full application that would be subject to the highest standards of scrutiny.”
Stancliffe Stone General Manager Mike Jones said: “We held a pre-consultation event for local residents and interested groups so that we could listen to their feedback and use it constructively to help us develop our plans.
“And that’s exactly what we’ve done, revising the boundary of the proposed extension to ensure no quarrying will take place near the woodland which forms a natural buffer between the proposed quarry extension and the village.”
Stancliffe – a subsidiary of building-supplies giant Marshalls Plc – says it will be applying for a reduced number of lorry movements as part of its extension application.
SADE are encouraging people to join the chain on Saturday, July 30, between Stanton-in-Peak and Stanton Lees from 11am.
From: matlocktoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=749&ArticleID=1097027
White Horse Hill
pencil and watercolour by Jane Tomlinson (c) 2005
Image credit: Jane Tomlinson
The Manger
watercolour painting by Jane Tomlinson (c) 2005
Image credit: Jane Tomlinson
Uffington Down
watercolour painting by Jane Tomlinson (c) 2005
Image credit: Jane Tomlinson
First time I’ve ever seen a ‘no horses and carts’ sign!
Image credit: Jane Tomlinson
You can see it from a long way off!
Image credit: Moth Clark
just a quick and dirty scribble in pencil – it was too windy to get the paints out...
Image credit: Jane Tomlinson
Near the great white scar formed by the china clay works at Trowlesworthy is a complex of stone rows and cairn circles not unlike those at Ringmoor. From where you park the car, you can see the rows sloping down the hill. Having sight of them makes the incredibly dull hike over to them slightly more palettable. Be careful how you go – you can access the site from either side of the canal, but there is no path so tread very carefully. The ground underfoot almost got me a couple of times! The are a couple of rows here the main one perhaps just less than 100ms long – hard to say as an artificially cut channel now bisects it.
The cairn circle is charming though and despite the fact you’re overlooking an industrial landscape, I quite liked it.
Just up the hill from Brisworthy are the monuments at Ringmoor which unlike pure joy, we found easily. A corkingly long stone row with a rather nice cairn circle at one end. As I strode down the row it seemed to never end! We also spotted some other stuff up there, including another small cairn circle.
The rows here seem to meander forever taking the traveller past the almighty great nearby tor and point you towards the stone circle 1km at Scorhill. The longest stone row idles its way across the moor with two lines of small stones, some hidden under grassy hummocks. Walking the length is not an option. You have no choice but to do it. The most complete section is actually not part of the main row, but deviates off pointing back down to Batworthy.
Yum! Yum! Yum!
Simply perfect.
I was looking forward to the madness of Yellowmead. It’s not the easiest to get to though – don’t expect a path and do expect to get your feet wet as you go bog-wading. And you need your megalith-antenna on maximum setting to find it- oh and an OS map, of course. It wasn’t immediately clear where the hell it was, although we knew we were going in the right direction.
Suddenly it dawned on Moth that the large herd of ponies we could see had chosen it as a cool place to hang out. We approached cautiously. Though they looked cute and cuddly we were aware they are wild animals and had some very young foals with them to protect. It became clear that they weren’t going to move for us and we’d just have to work round them. It meant we couldn’t walk among the small stones at all but had to walk round and round to try and get a sense of what was going on between the hoofs, sleeping foals, squabbling stallions and grazing mares. Were there four rings? Was it a cairn? The ponies weren’t saying.
Brisworthy stone circle reminded me a lot of Fernworthy in size of stones, diameter and ‘feel’. But whereas Fernworthy is held suffocated by trees, Brisworthy is free to breathe and today was bathed in warm sunshine. It seems to have a close relationship with a nearby tor. It’s on private land and we had to climb over a fence to get to it. Liked it here!
As the road passes Sharpitor there is a tiny tarn and parking place and, if you didn’t know to look, there’s also an incredibly long stone row! Two lines run parallel about 1m apart for more than 100ms, but the stones are so small you’d hardly know. I wish they’d put information boards up about things like this, then people would notice and take an interest. I loved it up here. Right on the top. Felt like I could reach up and touch the sky!
A few years ago, someone sent me a postcard of Scorhill stone circle. I liked the look of its pointy stones and always wanted to see it. Thankfully, the walk is mercifully short and the impact of this monument is mighty!
Corrrrrrrrr! As you crest the hill you down onto it and it compels you completely. Severe, pointy, dramatic, free of trees, bracken and other distractions, this sky temple seems to be indelibly stamped into the landscape and has a more powerful relationship with the moor and the heavens than anything I’ve seen except Brodgar.
From here we could just make out the Shoveldown stone rows, which we would see close up two days later. And Moth looked wistfully moorwards in the direction of White moor stone circle, knowing that I would never be able to walk to it and he’d have to go alone.
When I was 10, I remember seeing a film called ‘The Belstone Fox’ starring Eric Porter and Bill Travers and crying all the way through it. Now here I was in Belstone village. No tears this time.
We’d come to see Belstone Nine Stones, a cairn circle of now only 12 stones up on the moor to the south of the chocolate-boxey village and thankfully not a long walk away. Moth had been here before and had taken a while to locate it thinking it was up near the tor. It isn’t! Stay close to the field wall and when that runs out, keep walking straight and you’ll eventually see it. It’s very pretty and has lovely views down towards a waterfall and up towards a tor, but the drizzle was persistent so there was no chance of painting it.
It’s size reminded me of a Scillonian cairn or Yockenthwaithe and it felt like it was in the ‘wrong’ place to be an independent stone circle. I’d guess it was a cairn.
The short walk uphill on the forestry road from the car park by the reservoir took me 10 minutes (but then I don’t walk fast uphill). The weather was still pretty nasty though the plantation gave us some protection. The circle and rows now lie in a clearing in the trees. This means there are no sight lines or views, but the circle captivated me, nevertheless. It is lovely here – the circle is small but not tiny and the stones are small, too, but in proportion to the diameter. They seemed to spin above the boggy ground and were watched by me and Moth and a battalion of purple foxgloves.
Another 50 minutes walking would take us to the Greywethers, but given the climate today I had no intention of attempting it. It would have to wait.
Just a short five minute walk uphill from the road brings you to this ancient village settlement. Filthy weather prevented us from exploring this site thoroughly as the fine drizzle was blowing at an angle of 45 degrees quite unpleasantly.
The huge low wall which surrounds the long-abandoned settlement maps out the extent of the compound. Despite the looming sense of abandonment it was easy for me to imagine the place in its hayday. As I walked through the ruined ground plans of many houses I imagined the bustle of women working, children playing, goats and sheep corralled, men talking – ordinary things. The layout and size reminded me very strongly of the maasai villages of East Africa today.
Sadly, no African sun here today. Indeed, so bleak did it become that we declared ‘rain stopped play’ and headed back to the car.
I knew I’d hate the walk which even Burl calls ‘tedious’. But I did it in 50 minutes, mostly by thinking about Sir Ernest Shackleton and the fact this was surely better than being at work... wasn’t it?! The weather was shite – very windy and it even hailed once we’d reached the huge circles. Damnit! They’d be no sketching here.
My notebook says: ‘absolutely appalling walk which I’m not sure is entirely worth it, even though this perfect pair of large, complete circles are ‘A’-list Hollywood sites.’ Nevertheless, to see this pair of circles so close together, so even and so big was a real privilege. But the hike and the weather left me feeling so shitty that I couldn’t even be arsed to climb the nearby rise to get some height. Moth did though and got some lovely pics.
I staggered around them like a drunkard wondering: ‘why here?’, ‘why two?’, ‘why so close?’ and ‘how the hell am I going to get back to the car?‘
An experiment in stone lifting by ‘the Stonehengineers’ takes place next to a Stonehenge replica, built for a channel 5 TV show.
Image credit: Nigel Swift