Photos of both the stones. It may even be that they were blued-up with paint at one time?
Rhiannon
Nice photos of the strange and interesting rocks here, including the Devil’s Burdens and Carlin Maggie.
Joris Hoefnagel drew the stones for volume 5 of a book called ‘Civitates Orbis Terrarum’, published 1598. The engraving shows the names that people had carved on the main stone (including some by famous mapmakers of the time).
These are on the side of Cartington Hill. Tomlinson’s 1889 ‘Comprehensive Guide to the County of Northumberland’ says “About half-a-mile to the north*, on the left-hand side of a moorland road, are two large stones called “Priest” and “Clerk,” from their position, the one being a little below the other.” Derek Harper’s photos show them to be pretty weird looking.
*from what he calls ‘in the direction of Debdon House, a small Druid’s circle of nine large stones‘ – one of the cairns or something else?
It’s confusing up here, there are lots of sites in the same vicinity. The circle was investigated in 2009. The Trust thought it might not be prehistoric at all.
A short film of a procession to the site on Whitsun Monday, 1965.
The Arbor Low and Gib Hill Conservation Plan, drawn up in 2008.
This page has a photo of someone paying their rent onto the stone in the 1920s.
The cross mentioned by Gomme was originally near the boulder but it was moved to the vicar’s garden in the 1860s. In the 1980s it was moved back again.
‘PAST’ newsletter 57 (from November 2007) has an article about excavations at Torbhlaren.
Much information about Guernsey sites. You can contribute your own photos and comments.
Mid Argyll: a field survey of the historic and prehistoric monuments – by Marion Campbell and Mary L S Sandeman.
This article is cited frequently in the Canmore records for the area, and was printed in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland v 95 (1961/2).
Interpretation panels and information from the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust.
This doesn’t look too promising when you initially open it, but scroll down and you’ll see a collection of documents that relate to the site. You’ll see that in 1880 a Mr Jolly found lots of the grave slabs here were covered in cup marks. There are detailed drawings.
Could they be real or was he having one of those over-enthusiastic moments? And to add to the mystery, a visitor in 1965 couldn’t find any of the slabs at all, let alone the cupmarks. Are they under the grass or taken away somewhere, were they not looking properly and the slabs there but the cups imagined? There are seemingly quite good descriptions of the location of the stones for anyone who wants to visit and search.
The current site record on the RCAHMS webpages mentions two bronze age axes that were found buried at the site, over a foot deep. Which is quite interesting.
And there are also two bits of stoney folklore associated with the site – a medieval stone ‘coffin’ that ne’erdowells had to lie in while someone stuck a lid on the top for a few hours, and an 18 stone? granite ball, used for showing off your strength (these are described at the end of the document).
At the bottom of the page there is an aerial photo of the fort.
Photos of the stone on Turton Moor.
M Campbell has taken a photo of the stone for Geograph – it shows the fancy graffiti towards its foot.
An illustrated chapter that talks about the four stones*, in “Old stone crosses of the vale of Clwyd and neighbouring parishes” by the Rev. Elias Owen (1886).
*possibly in an imaginative fashion of course, but who knows :)
Pictures of the barrow, with links to more pictures and information in the menu on the left.
There’s a special talk on Wednesday 28th March to commemorate 100 years since the barrow’s opening. The museum opens properly for the summer at the beginning of May.
W F Grime’s article about the excavation and resiting of the stone, in ‘Reports and Transactions of the Cardiff Naturalists Society’ (v67, 1934).
Advice for visiting the cave (inc map) from ‘Gower’ magazine, v13 (1960).
A map of 1784 (printed in ‘Gower’ magazine, v13) shows three stones in a line near the standing Knelston stone.
In the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of London for 1899-1900, there’s a report about a cupmarked stone near Gignese with a drawing. Other stones are mentioned too, with the amusing detail that rubbings took nine sheets of the Daily Telegraph, and papier mache casts made with sheets of the Guardian. No penny dreadfuls for this sort of work, naturally. Or indeed local Italian papers.
Volume 3 of the Journal of the British Archaeological Association (1847) has engravings of various megalithic remains on the island, along with a tall story that one stone tomb had a giant’s skull with teeth as big as a man’s fist.
History of the Berwickshire Naturalists’ Club, volume 9 (1879-81) – has a list of “The named Stones of Northumberland; being a list of huge stones, single and in groups, in situ and detached, to which local names have been given in the County.” by G. A. Lebour.
This page has drawing of the ‘Upper’ and ‘Lower’ stones at Cuddesdon, which seem to have been at SP604024 and SP607020. “Local inhabitants have stated that the stones were removed sometime in the 1980s.” But I wonder where they were removed to – it’s possible they might be lying in the hedge I suppose. The writer of the website sounds hopeful they won’t have disappeared without trace.
A page from the ‘Fifth Report and Inventory of Monuments and Constructions in Galloway’ (1914) that shows the curious carvings (one is surely an alien?) and the fort’s reputed vitrifiedness.
A whole little booklet about the stone, written in 1907 by F J Bennett.
‘A cup-marked stone in the Roman town of Corstopitum’ – a short article by R H Walton in the 1962 edition of the History of the Berwickshire Naturalists’ Club.
“Only the other day, gang after gang of Irish labourers was dismissed rather than agree to put an air-port runway across some thorn trees which they considered to be free from interference – even in the cause of “Progress.” Perhaps the British workmen thought the same thing, in 200AD.”
Introduction and a link to James Gossip’s paper (click on ‘downloads) which describes the fogou and its rediscovery.
From the London Review, 1863. You wouldn’t believe what the riff-raff are getting up to at St Catherine’s Hill on ‘Tap-Up Sunday’. Four hundred of Guildford’s ‘lowest inhabitants’ were there causing havoc apparently.
The 1898 edition of Brewer’s ‘Dictionary of Phrase and Fable’ points at why:
The Sunday preceding the fair held on the 2nd October, on St. Catherine’s Hill, near Guildford, and so called because any person, with or without a licence, may open a “tap,” or sell beer on the hill for that one day.
Lots more information about the fair (held since the middle ages) can be found in Matthew Alexander’s article on the St Catherine’s Village website.
‘Tumboracos’ sent a letter to The Gentleman’s Magazine in 1789 in response to Bere’s. He sounds very (too?) level headed and he pushes for the date of the barrow to be accepted as pre-Roman. He doesn’t believe Bere’s story about an eight-foot skeleton either, and tells a little anecdote about breathlessly running to see a skeleton found in a barrow dug by three soldiers, who claimed it was that of ‘a prodigious giant’. But actually when he held the femur up to one of them they had to concede it was of ordinary size (it made him feel better to have a little rant). And I guess it’s true that people have “a natural promptness to magnify casual discoveries into the marvellous” as he says. Though that’s quite nice sometimes.
Searchable Historic Environment Record for Kent. If you look at the sites on a map you can also choose historic maps for the area.
Lovely clear interactive maps with links to more information on the Heritage Gateway.
I felt suspicious of adding these because mysteriously they’re not already on TMA. But I think the probable reason is that they’re within a firing range. Maybe they’re accessible occasionally...
Notes on Excavations at Leacet Hill Stone Circle, Westmorland, by Joseph Robinson and R S Ferguson. P76 in volume 5 of the Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmoreland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society (1881). Their investigations found three stones that were buried on the far side of the wall, and several urns. There’s a nice little plan with a table of the sizes of the stones.
There’s not much of the fort left on top of this hill. But more exciting is the “Torrs Chamfrein” found in the immediate vicinity – a superb bit of Early Iron Age bronze work.
Two curly pointy things were also found. Initially they were thought to be ‘horns’ to go with the pony mask. eg p29 here:
ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/PSAS_2002/pdf/vol_007/7_334_361.pdf
And then it was decided that they were the bottoms of drinking horns. But now the NMS record wisely hedges its bets, and says they were from ‘an ostentatious display object’. Very nice whatever.
Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society for 1895 – “The Stone Circles on Chetham’s Close” by Major Gilbert J French. Includes some plans of the stones, and also a report from 1871 when Thomas Greenhalgh’s ‘disgust and astonishment may easily be imagined when I found two of the stones broken almost to fragments, and several others damaged’. Disappointing.
Online versions of the DGNHAS Transactions – from the 1860s to the 1920s.
An article by Jim Leary and David Field about their investigations at Silbury, in the online Jan/Feb 2011 edition.
From the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine for June 1903 – William Gowland’s descriptions of the Recent Excavations at Stonehenge. A fence was put around the area (to protect it from military goings-on), a track through the henge diverted, and a madly leaning stone put upright. Includes a very clear plan.
In the Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall (publ 1886) – twenty pages of Victorian descriptions and drawings.
I was pleased to read (p301) that “Although difficult of entrance most of the company (including some of the ladies) scrambled into it, and made an inspection of it.” Not bad considering you’d imagine women to be encumbered by what they were wearing in those days. And it sounds rather spooky. The description on p246 seems to show a thinly disguised horror of rats, heavy atmosphere, dankness, and a ‘thick dark fog’, not to mention the ankle-breakers on the floor.
This is all very confusing. But there is a large stone here, nevertheless. Which is what you’d hope at a place called Harperstone really.
Hutchison’s article is here
archive.org/stream/transactions34socigoog#page/n135
Dr Silvia Bello explains in this short video how she thinks a skull (found at Cheddar Gorge in 1987) was carefully chipped into a bowl shape (with the implication that it could then be used as a cup).
Her article is here:
plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0017026
‘The Earth Circles on St. Martha’s Hill, Near Guildford’ by E S Wood, in Surrey Archaeological Collections v54 (1955).
Masses of speculation about the Good Friday revelling that used to take place on the hill, plenty of archaeology and lots of leads for the local antiquarian detective.
‘Reliquiae Diluvianae’ – You can read about Reverend Buckley’s exploits in the cave on p82, and then on p274 are his drawings. I was inspired to look it up after seeing Neil Oliver’s enthusiasm on the new ‘History of Ancient Britain’ series.
‘L’Anthropologie’ volume 31, for 1921.
Lots of drawings of the lovely Gavrinis carvings. It’s a shame they’re not photographs. But as even drawings seem to be hard to come by on the internet, I was most pleased to find them.
Supplement to the London Review for Saturday, September 28th, 1861.
Once upon a time the circle had a hedge running through it – “a real good bushy hedge”. If you have a curious whim to see what it looked like, there are a pair of drawings here.
Only a few years after, the hedge had been removed by a more sympathetic landowner (the aptly named Miss Carne from Penzance) who had also popped a fence round the stones and secured them from ‘accidental or wilful mutilation’.
From volume 94 of PSAS (1960/1) – an article about the cist slab found at Badden Farm, with its lovely carved lozenges. There’s a photo at the end. The RCAHMS record says it’s now in Glasgow Art Gallery and Museum. It doesn’t seem to be on their website but I guess they’ve got a lot of items still to put on? It’s rather unusual so you do hope it’s safe don’t you. Judging by the way the (pecked) grooves go through the pattern, that implies the pattern was inside the cist?
More illustrations at the bottom of the page here.
From the ‘B’ cairn – a piece of human vertebra with a stone arrowhead firmly stuck in it. Nasty. You can weave a story around it of murder or warfare or daft accident, a human story from the Neolithic. But one thing is sure, it can’t have been a very pleasant incident for the poor beggar that got shot, can it.
(And I suppose they had to label it somewhere. But did they really have to label it right there?! No sense of aesthetics.)
The Book of Arran by J A Balfour (1910). Contains lots of diagrams and photos of sites and finds from the island – chambers, stones, cup and rings, urns, allsorts. The back page is a rather interesting map with all the locations marked.