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How to get there:
A595. Burl (A Guide to Stone Circles...) states that it's 5 miles N of Millom. What you're interested in is not the junction where the A5093 goes to Millom, but the unclassified road further to the east (via Lady Hall). At this junction there is a large church.
A little east of it on the other side of the road is a signposted junction for Broad Gate (which you are interested in taking).
Dyer (Discovering Prehistoric England) states "take the road to Crag Hall". Just keep on keeping on a mile or two (past a small layby/passing point on your left) and you will pass the track (on your left) signposted "Swinside Farm: No unauthorised vehicles", directly ahead on both sides of the road are grey farm buildings. This is Crag Hall, not so much a hall but a farm house.
Half a mile or so beyond it there is enough space to park a car or two off of the road at a bridge.
After walking back to the track for Swinside Farm, the sign also informs you that it is a public bridleway and that it leads to Swinside Stone Circle.
Follow the track, over two cattlegrids, when it reaches the top of the hill, look over to Swinside Farm and you will see the stone circle in a field close to the farm house.
If you're feeling cheeky or disabled, there is a patch of bare gravel land just outside the farm house proper boundary wall which appears to have been used as parking space for visitors to the circle. That said there is still one more cattle grid to negotiate to gain access to the circle.
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SO 029 303
If you're in Brecon, Powys, well worth a visit. Great example of what you'd expect a hillfort to be.
Commanding the top of a hill, several concentric rings of banks and ditches, a single entrance and to the north a steep drop of over 100 metres.
It is easy to imagine defending the site and watching attackers having to deal which a succession of rising banks before reaching the scrap which in some places is still 5 metres.
Bracken abounds, but now (in February) it has died back but the wind is a bit cutting on the summit of the Crug.
To reach it: B 4520 north out of Brecon. This road rises all the way and as you approach the northern end of Brecon, take a left. As you continue to climb, on your left is a housing estate (Bron Y Crug and Maes Y Fynon), to your right trees followed by open countryside.
Just past a mini-roundabout there is some parking, infact all along this road there are no yellow lines.
I mention this approach because the walk begins at Maen-du Well, an ancient well, the site is now rundown and vandalised, but the spring is still there housed in an 18th century building of local stone. This is the nearest source of fresh water to the hillfort.
Behind the building is a stile, and it is simply a matter of walking up through the middle of the fields heading for the each stile in turn (about 6).
The Cadw guide for the region gives the total defended area as 182m by 134m. Nearby Slwch Tump is easy to spot, just look for the TV Antenae.
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SO 057284
An iron age hillfort that is close to the centre of Brecon, Powys.
It isn't a sensible idea to try and drive up to it as it is along a mud trackway. The site is pasture, so there shouldn't be a problem with bracken, but if wet the track to it will be muddy.
A public footpath circles the site, I met a landowner/worker when I was off the path and he was friendly. From the B4602 it is a 15 minute walk to the site (all uphill).
B 4602, just to the north of the hospital is a public footpath on the right.
Take it, and when prompted by a sign for a Youth Hostel, follow that until you pass a TV Relay Station on your left.
Shortly afterwards you will come to a gate and stile, up and across the field is Slwch Tump.
It has a single scarp which the Cadw guide for the region states is between 3 and 4.6 metres high. there is no ditch or counterscrap. It is possible to walk completely around the site on the bank. More recent field boundaries divide the enclosed area of the hillfort.
Cadw guide gives the defended area as 242m by 187m.
The area inside the bank gently rises, there are signs of quarrying. Field entrances give the impression that it has two entrances, but the Cadw guide believes the original one to be the most northerly one.
"...the hill was formerly known as Penginger or Pen Cefn y Gaer, the hilltop ridge with the hillfort".
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Information taken from "Prehistoric Sites of Breconshire", Monuments in the Landscape, vol 9. Children/Nash, Logaston Pr, 2001
Precise location: unknown, destroyed.
"...George Clinch remarks in 1854 that about 250 yards north-east of a medieval enclosure within St Margaret's Park Wood is a flat, horizontal slab of limestone like the upright of a cromlech"
capstone 9m x 3m, in places more than 1.8m thick
1804 "...stone slab stood wholly free from the ground on certain upright stones, there is still at the west end of the slab, but at a slight distance from it, an upright stone, flat at the top, which may have originally been one of those on which it was supported. It seems probable that these may be the remains of a cromlech".
Grid reference is given for a lime stone slab found on a recent visit, which authors believe may once have been part of the capstone. May represent the south-eastern limit of the Black Mountains Group.
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SK 044128
The site is on the southern edge of Cannock Chase, and is reached by unclassified roads, which are well signposted (brown heritage signs).
Ample parking (25 or so spaces), but a popular spot with walkers and can get busy at weekends.
The highest point on Cannock chase (801 ft/244m above sea level) according to the guides 3.4 hectares.
The bank is extant and can be walked around the full circumference. The original (and largest) entrance is to the east. Parts of the bank and ditch are still impressive (up to 4m).
Internally: trees have been cleared, there are stone foundations (NW sector), but these are from a later period and ridges and furrows (SE sector) probably from ploughing, but I expect these are also from a later period. The ground rises upwards from the south to the northwest.
Externally: impressive series of banks and ditches, from the carpark heading in a anti-clockwise direction (E) we counted at least three banks, whereas Dyer (Discovering Prehistoric England) could make out five. As you make your way around to the north only the main bank and ditch remain, continuing back to the carpark (W) two banks and ditches are clearly visible.
We visited late january and the entrance from the carpark was waterlogged, I would imagine in spring/summer the ferns will be a problem. Also prepare yourself for the view of Rugeley Power Station's cooling towers.
The carpark is just beyond the Park Gate Inn which serves food.
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119 223623
There is a convenient layby just below the site on the B5056 at 229619.
Cross the road and over the stile and follow the track up the hill.
Keep an eye out on your left, for a slim, leaning standing stone in the hedge line. It's not marked on the map, and upon closer inspection has a hole cut through it (as though to receive a bolt) and I would imagine it was once a gatepost.
Upon reaching the site, if you're up for it, a direct assault is possible, but there is a path on the right hand side, which makes for an easier ascent around the back.
A wonderful natural landmark, fluid, eroded masses of stone, rising up to two stacks set either end of a horizontal top. It has a pleasing organic quality to it. Large boulders seemingly weightlessly leaning on one another and out into thin air.
Also lacking in official heritage status as there are no protective railings or warnings on it, and although you can't fall more than twenty or so feet, please take care.
Great view down to the four stones of Nine Stones Circle.
There is so much 'territorial pissing' grafitti of names and initials carved all over the faces of the stones on it from past centuries, I didn't know where to begin looking for the prehistoric rock-art carving (...a large carved ring...on the south-eastern side of the outcrop on a wide horizontal ledge).
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119 2249635
Not much to add really, from the other posts and what I've read elsewhere, about casual vandalism of the site (whether ritualistic or through carelessness), I've been put off visiting this site for a long while, and I dare say I brought this attitude with me.
A sweet small stone circle (local millstone grit, none taller than 1m) in a wooded area, which has become incorporated into an easy circlular walk across Stanton Moor, with nearby convenient free parking.
The surrounding area is beautiful, and includes many cairns, but the area directly surrounding the site has several blackened remains of campfires and the tops of nearly every stone which make up the circle show signs of heat damage where fires (tealights, etc?) have been set upon them.
V & P Morgan (Rock Around The Peak) mention that the circle was once surrounded by a bank, and at the centre of the circle was a stone cairn, both of which have now all but disappeared.
As far as I can tell the site has three parties looking out for its interests (English Heritage, Peak National Park Authority and the land owner), but as it is open access and is '...one of the most well known sites in Derbyshire', it's looking a bit torn and frayed.
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Unclassified road between Birchover and Stanton in Peak.
From Birchover head north on an unclassified road to Stanton in Peak, a little ways north of the entrance to the the quarry, there are two laybys; the first on the right, the next on the left. Park up in either.
To your left is the Andle Stone, a large natural alter stone on a mound surrounded by a retaining drystone wall in the middle of a field. It is large and cannot be missed.
Maintained by English Heritage and Peak National Park Authority, Doll Tor may be, but there are no public rights of way marked on the OS Land Ranger, so...
Over the padlocked gate and head toward the Andle Stone, keep it on your right and walk past it.
When you reach the field boundary (drystone wall), head for the gateway (infront and to your right) which leads into the field beyond.
If you stand at the gateway, there should be a coppice directly to your left, a field infront and beyond that (to the left) a metal fivebar gate which gives access to another coppice of fir trees.
Head for this gate (again locked). Beyond it is a trackway, the fir trees are to its left and a drystone wall to its right.
Follow the trackway a 100m or so, keeping look out ahead for the white/reflective English Heritage information board (about the size of a tea tray, set at an angle, a couple of feet off of the ground).
My impressions of Doll Tor is that it is pretty cute, which I am aware is inappropriate. At a guess you could fit a kingsize double bed into the circle, or that the circle might just fit in a single car garage. It is tiny.
To the eastern end was added a rectangular-ish cairn, which it is possible to make out and understand from what is left at the site.
One stone is double the length to its height. All the stones are low in height.
There are many surrounding stones (there are in the whole area, perhaps that's why it's wooded?)
Well worth a visit if the nearby Nine Ladies stone circle is busy, secluded and peaceful.
CAUTIONARY NOTE (from 'Rock around the Peak', V and P Morgan)...be aware of a hidden deep quarry within twenty metres (to the south-west) of the circle.
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SO 240 178
Grwyne valley near Llangenny, approachable in either direction on unclassified roads from Crickhowell and Glangrwyney.
Park in the carpark for the Dragon Head Inn at Llangenny*. On the opposite side of the road there is a public footpath marker which leads to a stile and gate. Enter the field and look ahead on your right. The stone is situated toward the field boundary on a slight rise.
The stone is approx four feet high and stands straight, oblong with a flat top, wider face towards the river.
Cadw guide for the area states that 'While not all of these stones are definitely ancient, they can plausibly be seen as route or territorial markers of some sort'.
*Ask permission - see 'Comment' from landlord! TMA Ed.
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OS 161 SO 211192
From Crickhowell, take A40 towards Brecon, take the right for the Manor Hotel (large white building up on the hill). There is a single parking space, site is practically on the road.
'The Illustrated History and Biography of Brecknockshire' Poole, E, 1886, mentions the destruction of the 'finest cromlech in Breckonshire' by Sir Richard Hoare and others in 1804. Dr Nicholas said of the capstone which was removed '...magnificent..., fourteen feet long and eighteen inches thick, with an average breadth of nearly seven feet, standing on four supporters'.
All that remains is a single chamber (minus the capstone mentioned above) and parts of its entrance chamber.
The extent of the site is marked out with miserable concrete markers, which reveal it as a chambered long cairn of the Severn-Cotswald type, with a horned fore-court (imagine Belas Knap). One of the horns is now under the A40.
What remains reveals a polygonal chamber and that the entrance passage to it has a bend, another two chambers discovered in the 1978 excavation (because of road widening) are also indicated by markers.
An unfortunate site, the proximity of the main road sealed its fate, although now fully excavated and in the care of Cadw, the busy road makes it rather forlorn, but easily accessible.
The 1804 destruction of the capstone resulted in neglible finds: 'charcoal and a few bones' (Cadw guide).
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OS 161 SO 232168
From Crickhowell, take A40 towards Abergavenny. 1.4 miles from town centre. Clearly visible from road.
It would appear that Cwrt y Gollen Army Cadet camp is now closed.
Park at the now closed entrance to the camp: large white metal gates, with a white fence on either side, behind the gate is the guard house, on the opposite side of the camp drive is the Growing Stone.
Since Julian's visit, the four-sided fencing around the stone has mostly been removed (the plaque hasn't been re-attached to the stone either).
The area now has a feeling of dereliction (the empty guard house is 'to let') giving a sensation that the Growing Stone abides whilst the usage of the land around it is about to change once more.
An impressive stone, over 4m high, imagine a thickened blade with a blunted tip. Cadw guide for the area states that it is made of red sandstone.
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The guide in the church tells how maidens would place a cake they had baked upon it on All Saints' Eve, and that night they would dream of the man they would marry.
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Well worth a visit if you have arrived at Avebury during rush hour, and could do with connecting to the past and the environment and would like to have a one-to-one experience.
If you want to touch the dolmen, you will have to trespass.
Although I have the utmost respect for St. Julian, the MA is quite selective at times regarding condition of sites. This dolmen has some spectacularly intrusive restoration, in particular the large concrete slab which shores up one side of the base of the monument, and that it was re-erected according to Dyer 'Discovering Prehistoric England' in 1921.
That said, it is a beautiful, and peaceful location. From reading the posts on this site and my own experience of trying to find a footpath nearby where the land owner(s) had left an overgrown unwalkable 12" death-strip between two barbed wire fences as a sorry excuse for a public right of way, access to our heritage is not high on their agenda.
All that is there now are two uprights and the enormous capstone. On the footpath which runs alongside the field containing the dolmen are several very large stones, which are almost certainly those featured in Stukeley's illustrations from the 1720s showing the dolmen with 3 to 4 other large stones around it. We stood on the one nearest to the barbed wire fence to get a better look at the dolmen (and possible landowners) and discovered that some delightful soul had thoughtfully cut away a section of barbed wire.
The precariousness of the capstone is wonderful, even though upon closer inspection it is concreted to the supports with no attempt at subtlety. No hint of the earthen long barrow remains. Stukeley's illustrations show the stones set upon a mound, but this is no longer visible. Intriguingly the site hasn't been excavated, but it has been plowed level for so many years now I'm not surprised.
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114 462669
Fabulous site. Unlike the famous (restored) Anglesey monuments, this one is pretty much ignored in the CADW guide and promotional 'places to visit' brochures. The powers that be haven't signposted it with a 'this way to the ancient monument' sign, even though it's only a minute's walk from the nearest A road.
From Brynsiencyn on the A4080 heading for Newborough, drive past the layby parking for Castell Bryn-Gwyn. A short distance beyond this, to your right, it is possible to see the stones from the road through a gap in the hedge. Park at the next right. This lane is a overgrown and ends in a dead-end so don't worry about blocking it. There is a derelict stone cottage in the field. Follow the footpath over the stile and follow the hedge, you can't miss it.
We approached the stones with the tall hedge on our left, this way you can see only one stone, and it's an Avebury like stone, much wider and more square than the usual Anglesey stones. It is only when you are almost upon it do you see the other stone revealed at the end of the hedge you are walking along, and it is impressive a massive broad, flat, grey blade.
These mis-matching pair of stones will set your imagination alight. Firstly they are larger than anything else you will see locally (4m x 3m, 3m x 3m) and then after you can think coherently again there is the possibilty that they were once part of not one but two adjacent large stone circles. Then there is the longing for what has been swept away, but comfort at what remains.
A great site. Two stones used as gate posts (although thankfully the gate has gone now) on private land, ignored by CADW and the tourist board, as far as I can find out, an unexcavated site, but maybe the remains of the largest stone circle in all of Wales. Good for the soul, go visit.
Additional: CADW's guide to Anglesey and Gwynedd(p.38) has an 18th century illustration of the stones when they were incorporated into a cottage, the taller stone apparently still has notches on it, where purlins for the roof were attached.
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114 364917
There is combined parking area,picnic benches and children's play area in the village of Llanfechel.
The standing stone at 114 370917 is worth a look at. The field it stands in has a public right of way through it. I would imagine at one time it would have been possible to stand at Mein Hirion and look down across the hill to it, but the view is now obscured by housing, although it is possible to guess at its location as it stands close to an electricity pylon. The CADW guide to Gwynedd and Anglesey says it is on private land with no access, but footpaths are marked on the OS Landranger map.
Park in the parking area, there is a tourist map showing the location of Mein Hirion, but not the standing stone, or nearby burial chamber. Walk through the village and past the church. As you walk up the hill, take a right for the standing stone, take a footpath that runs along the edge of housing, you should in a minute or two reach a field with a large set of wooden steps and footpath marker, the standing stone is in view in the middle of the field (usual for Anglesey, a grey, broad, flat, blade shape)
For Mein Hirion, go back to the 'main' road and continue up the hill through the village and take the next left. A few houses along on your right you will see a house, with adjacent parking, this has a double gate, next to this is a single metal gate, this is the footpath which runs between neighbouring property boundaries.
Follow the footpath into the field and walk down the hill. We visited in August and it was a bog at the bottom of the hill, although stepping stones and planks of wood had been laid, so don't wear your best shoes.
Walk up the next hill and Mein Hirion will be directly ahead at the top.
Lovely site, very close to a field boundary wall, which hems it in on one side, looks complete with just three stones, all tall and slim.
The council(?) have re-built a handsome boundary wall, with stone steps and cutaway where the public right of way crosses it, but the farmer has (recently) strung several lines of barbed wire across it, so don't approach the site from the other direction unless you have bought wire cutters. In this field is a burial chamber, we tried approaching it from the road on the other side, but at the footpath marker before we entered the field an aggressive bull came over to let us know what he thought about us, so we couldn't enter the field.
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Just a few tips really:
Take a torch, otherwise you won't see the carvings.
Ignore the CADW guide to Anglesey which informs you that the key is kept at Beaumaris Castle (a dozen or so miles away).
It is kept at the Wayside general stores, just up the road a mile or so, in older guides it is called the Wayside Cafe (which it isn't anymore).
Believe it or not there is only one key, and whoever has paid the deposit can keep it all day.
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114 501861
Straight forward to find, cast iron Ancient Monument sign on road next to kissing gate. The capstone is visible from the road beyond a gap in the hedge.
We visited this summer and the gate to those spiked railings was open, so thankfully no vaulting was required.
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127 881177
There are not one, but three stones in Bradley. They all lie in a line along the road which descends through the village heading south (by heading in this direction you'll reach the most impressive stone last).
Best place to park is in the carpark of the Red Lion PH in the village.
Best place for information is the church, look for the guide 1000 years of Bradley, which mentions the stones.
first stone: At the entrance to the pub carpark (usually hidden between two A-frame pubsigns), a blunt-pointed stone about 2ft high.
second stone: Turn left from the first stone and walk down the hill, it is on your right. The old post office butts right up behind it. On the side which faces the road it is well worn from the backsides of a milennia of weary travellers. It looks like a medium sized boulder, more wide(2-3ft) than high(1-2ft).
the third stone: this is the Webb Stone. From the second stone carry on walking down the hill, just around the corner is a junction on your right leading to an equestrian centre. The Webb Stone should be infront of you, it now has a flower bed behind it. It stands approx 4-5ft high and it a little to big for a person to put their arms around and touch fingers.
Nearby:127 889190 Littywood farm: circular bank and ditch earthwork now with a house in it, on unclassified road with public right of way around it, large stone (field clearance?) at entrance to property.
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127 707379
Best approach is from the Mucklestone side off of the B5415. The other approach South of Norton in Hales ends with the footpath/track ending at a farm with two shut gates and a STOP sign beyond because it is a rare breeds minimum disease area.
B5415, heading south, just beyond Napley is a red telephone box set back from the road, opposite is a junction. Turn right into it, about 20 metres ahead on your right is ample parking (the owner of the large house opposite told us we could park there).
Walk along the single lane tarmaced road (lined with young oak), follow this road around a left bend until you see two keeper's cottages either side of the road.
Just beyond the cottages there is a clearly marked bridleway stile and gate on the right. Cross into the field.
Keep to the hedge until you approach a coppice, which is unfortunately fenced off with new barbed wire. On the other side of the fence are fir tree saplings, some dead, with more mature trees behind them.
If you have decided to trepass, walk through the copice, within moments you should reach another barbed wire fence. Walk along the fence and you will reach the stones, again within moments.
The stones lean, the one without the porthole slightly infront of the other. It is worn with deep vertical grooves from weathering and stands to a height of approx 6ft. The porthole stone is more squat, roughly a little more than half the height of the other. The hole appears intentional, rather than weather worn, and is big enough for me to climb through (I'm 6'5"). A word of warning if you do climb through, remember there is a rusted barbed wire fence behind it.
I found it difficult to imagine the pair of stones in their present position as part of a chamber. The way one stone stands slightly infront of the other gives an impression that they have been moved.
In addition: Norton in Hales church stands in a circular churchyard.
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