Rhiannon

SOUTHLEY-WOOD, so called from the circumstance of its lying to the south of Warminster, is distinguished by a small intrenchment, denominated Robin Hood’s Bower, which is nearly of a square form, and comprises within its area about three-quarters of an acre of land. Close to the eastern boundary of this wood is another similar earthen work; and on its eastern side is a third intrenchment, resembling an amphitheatre in miniature. This is a very curious work, and consists of a ditch and two valla. The outer vallum is about eighteen feet in height, and is very neatly formed. -- “The breadth of the ditch is seven feet; the height of the inner work from fifteen to sixteen feet; and the length of the area of the inner work on its longest side (for it is of an oval shape) is one hundred and eleven feet.”

I don’t know what they’re going on about, do these other places still exist or has someone got the wrong end of the stick? The quote comes from Hoare’s Ancient Wiltshire (v1 p50, apparently). The second could be the henge at Ivor Farm, but the third sounds so large as to be unmistakeable and unoverlookable. Hmm.
books.google.co.uk/books?id=pi1JAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA307
From ‘The Beauties of England and Wales’ volume 15, by John Britton and others (1814).

On RODDENBURY-HILL, about a quarter of a mile north of Longleat, and close upon the confines of this county with Somersetshire, is a small earthen work called Roddenbury-Camp. It has only a single ditch and vallum, with two entrances on the east and west. Near it, on the western side of the same hill, is a smaller circular work, bearing the name of Hays-Castle. The whole of this eminence, which forty years ago was a naked waste, is now covered with a profusion of trees.

Roddenbury Hill has lately been the scene of a most barbarous murder...

More at
books.google.co.uk/books?id=pi1JAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA303
in ‘The Beauties of England and Wales’ volume 15, by John Britton and others (1814).

On a green hillock, on a moor, called The Todd-Law, north of the river Reed, are three large stones in a triangular order, twelve feet distant from each other, and each as many feet in diameter; sepulchral, in memory of the like number of valient chieftains slain in battle.

An early mention of the stones in ‘The Natural History and Antiquities of Northumberland and so much of the County of Durham as lies between the Rivers Tyne and Tweed’, by John Wallis (volume 2, published 1769).
archive.org/stream/naturalhistoryan02walluoft#page/61
So the fourth one must have been lying down for a long time?

Also he mentions “At Berrenes, is the ruin of an old chapel; a British temple near it, on Berrene’s Knowl; the stones numerous, of various sizes, in a circular order.” – which I suppose must be the cairn on Byrness Hill, not so far away.

I know there’s nothing stoney to see here any more (the ‘Keys to the Past’ site says they were all gone by 1825). But it was such an impressive sounding thing. There’s a lot of water merging and joining the North Tyne very nearby and you can’t help but wonder if there’s some relevance in that. In fact the following makes it sound as though the stones were very near to the water.

[Nunwick Hall] stands on a rising plain, which to the east has the appearance of a park [..] Two brooks unite their loquacious streams to give beauty and ornament to a neat garden [..] and thence take their course by another grove, on a declining hill, to the south front of the house, and fall two or three fields below into the river of North Tyne.

In an adjoining field, called, Nunswick-east-field, were five upright stone-pillars, in a circular order; four of them perfect and entire in 1714, the other broken; the perfect ones eight feet high, and nine feet and an half over; the circumference of the area in which they stood, ninety feet. Mention is made of them by Bishop Gibson in his Camden. In such kind of cirques, the Britons held their public assemblies, both civil and religious.

From ‘The Natural History and Antiquities of Northumberland and so much of the County of Durham as lies between the Rivers Tyne and Tweed’, by John Wallis (volume 2, published 1769).
archive.org/stream/naturalhistoryan02walluoft#page/50/mode/2up

I looked up what Gibson had to say:“The huge heaps of small Cobbles are not the only Monuments which these Wasts afford. There are also large stones erected at several places, in remembrance (as is fancied) of so many battels or skirmishes; either anciently betwixt the Britains and Picts, or (of later times) betwixt the English and Scots. Particularly, near Ninwick, in the Parish of Simondburn, four such stand still erected; and a fifth lyes fall’n to the ground.” (p870)

This must be an early mention of the stones. (The fact there’s still three at the time fits with the older name for the place mentioned in the other miscellaneous post).

We now continue our course from the bridge over Haltweselburn on the military road for near a quarter of a mile, when on the left hand, on the ridge of a hill, we have a view of three upright pillars of whin-stone, two of them broken off towards the middle. Some persons imagine they were set up for rubbing-stones for cattle, but they stand too close together for that end; and, besides, the setting up more than a single stone in one place for that use is not known to have been ever practised. As those at Little Salkeld, in Cumberland, are called Long Meg and her Daughters, so these here are called The Mare and her two Foals. The former are acknowledged to be British. The latter are most likely of the same origin, religious and funereal memorials.

From ‘The Natural History and Antiquities of Northumberland and so much of the County of Durham as lies between the Rivers Tyne and Tweed’, by John Wallis (volume 2, published 1769).
archive.org/stream/naturalhistoryan02walluoft#page/n27/mode/2up

The hills now put on a more bleak and desolate look: the way over barren heaths began to seem tedious; when Kildrumy castle came in view. Even the distant appearance of that noble ruin, dissipated all ideas of fatigue. On going towards it, across a stony moor, passed by a well-shaped, though rude stone obelisk*, ten or eleven feet high; and was directed to some underground vaults, which have their openings in the side of a mossy bank. The best entrance into them was but small, and shewed a long dark cavity within. The access was confined and difficult; but on going in I found the recess to be about eight feet wide, and six or seven feet high, well built up at the sides, and covered with vast flaggs.

One may advance twelve or fifteen paces without interuption, and where the passage is blocked up, seems to be owing rather to rubbish having fallen in, than to the design of the builders. The others are similar; but whether they have been connected together, and had communication at the ends, cannot now be easily discovered. They are said to have been numerous and of great extent.

They were the retreats of the antient possessors; such as Tacitus informs us were used by the Germans as a shelter, as well from the inclemency of the weather, as from the fury of their enemies. Those who used these concealments would, no doubt, have it in their power to block up the entrance with a large stone, so as to have the appearance of its naturally lying there; and the banks in which they are, give no other evidence of their contents. They would therefore answer well for the purpose of stratagem and retreat.

From ‘Antiquities and Scenery of North Scotland’ by Charles Cordiner (1780).
books.google.co.uk/books?id=67NCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PT25

*Lulach’s Stone I suppose.

Some local names at the fort:

The camp itself is very large. It comprises within its area nearly 30 acres of ground. It has two main entrances; one from the north, through the outer portion, called “Fluck’s Close,” and another from the east – this entrance is approached by a deep fosse road, or covered way, from the north, and it is also defended by a traverse and deep fosse in front of it.

The camp is supplied with water from a spring close to the ramparts, and by two ponds in the southern side of the outer fosse. The portion on which we now stand is the bastion guarding the northern entrance, and is called “The Churchyard,” but whether the human bones which have been found in the camp came from here is not stated.

The portion termed “The Camp” is nearly rectangular, with a small projection at the eastern end, called “The Little Camp.” It is nearly 20 feet higher than the western portion. This is called “Peas Hill,” with the narrow portion near the eastern entrance, called “Humble Bee Park.” [..] You will observe an entrance on the western side; this is not an original entrance. The fosse near it is called “The King’s Ditch,” but the origin of this name is lost.

From

Mention of a twin stone?

Kinwardstone -- This, the largest hundred in Wilts, seems to have taken its name from a block of sarsen stone, which remained in situ till about 1835-40, when it was destroyed, partly by accident, partly on purpose. It stood by the south side of the Roman causeway, a little west of Conholt Park, in the angle formed by the turn of Dummer Lane southwards to Chute.

A similar block lies almost opposite, on the other side of the road, worn into a shape something like Assyrian sculpture.

Page 87 in ‘Wiltshire Notes and Queries’, v1 (1893-1895).

[This cromlech in the parish of Burton] was inspected when the Society, in 1864 [..] at which time it was built round with loose stones, and used as a small sheepcot. It has since been cleared out, and is now seen to much better advantage whan when visited by the Society. At that time there were some small remains of the original packing of small stones in the interstices between the slabs – a very unusual occurrence. What was left was but a very small portion, but quite sufficient to give an idea of the firm manner in which this dry rubblework was worked in. [..] It is known as the hanging stone; an unusual name in Wales for such remains, if this part of Pembrokeshire can be called Welsh.

From v III of Archaeologia Cambrensis (1872) ‘Notes On Some South Wales Cromlechs’ by E L Barnwell.

What is called the Camp Stone lies high up on the Braes of Doune, on an eminence in a plantation on the left bank of the Annat, just where that stream leaves the moorland and leaps over a waterfall to take its way through the more cultivated ground below. It is a large split block of conglomerate, such as are scattered plenteously enough over the braes that slope down from Vamvar*, and does not seem to me ever to have been a standing stone. Its length is 9 feet 9 inches, breadth at base 3 feet, and height 2 feet. As to the reason of the name, I have not been able to learn much. It has been suggested that it is connected with the names Cambus and Cambus-Wallace – places further down the Annat.

In 1992 the RCAHMS recorders didn’t find the stone because it was amid a dense conifer plantation. As if serious TMA stonehunters let such things deter them. They could have swum up the stream for a start eh.

From the transactions of the Stirling Natural History and Archaeological Society 1892-3, in an article by A F Hutchison, about ‘The Standing Stones of the District’.

*Uamh Mhor.

On the east side of the Sheriffmoor road stands what is known as the Wallace Stone. Although only one great stone is now standing, five others are to be found at intervals prostrate amid the heath. Several fragments of the same material (dolerite) as that of the most of the stones is scattered about, especially towards the north-east of the line.

One small stone, which stands by itself at a considerable distance from the others, close to the road, a little distance below the hotel, makes a line with the great standing stone of 260 degrees. This stone is altogether different in size and appearance from the others. It does not seem to belong to the alignment, but may, perhaps, have been set up as a boundary stone. It measures 2ft 9in. above ground, and is 9ft in circumference at the base.

The other six seem to have formed a series running in a direction south-west to north east.

The first prostrate stone in this line is 7 feet in length, 8 feet in circumference at th base or thicker end, and 6 feet at the top. In shape it roughly resembles a square pyramid. On the exposed side- which, when the stone was erect, would be the south-east – appear over 20 cupmarks, of from 1 1/2 inches to 2 inches in diameter.

About 75 yards distant, and in the same line with the standing stone, lies a roughly rectangular stone of dolerite, not so shapely as the first one, measuring 6ft 6in in length, and about 10 feet in circumference.

The next in the series is a flat stone 5ft 6in in length, and 4 feet 6 inch broad. It is sunk in the ground, so that the peripheral measurement could not be ascertained. It is slightly out of line with the others. But near it, and in more exact line is a small stone, 4 feet in length. These may be fragments of a single original stone.

The interval between this and the great standing stone is about 150 yards, which gives rise to the suspicion that a stone is amissing in the series. This great stone, the only one now erect, and specially denominated the Wallace Stone, stands 6 feet above the ground, and measures 14 feet in circumference. It is four-sided – the faces measuring respectively, west, 3ft 6in; north, 2 feet 10 inch; east, 2 feet 8 in.; and south, 5 feet.

Beyond this, still in the same line, and at the usual distance of about 75 yards, lies another great stone – a sort of flattened pyramid in shape, 10 feet in length, and from 16 to 18 feet in girth.

Apologies this is so long and involved. But I thought it might help people work out where the stones are supposed to be. It might even help find the ‘amissing’ one – could it not just be lurking under the mosses?

From the transactions of the Stirling Natural History and Archaeological Society 1892-3, in an article by A F Hutchison, about ‘The Standing Stones of the District’.

From hence to Llanfechell we experienced a dirty swampy and fatiguing walk of four miles and the termination of it was rendered still more unfortunate as we found the public house so indifferent we could not think of spending the night there.

Accordingly we hastened by the light of the moon to examine some stones and a cromlech about half a mile beyond leaving our interpreter who seemed to be pretty well tired of antique hunting to eat his dinner, in the interim the host of the public house officiating in his stead.

Under his guidance we first visited three upright stones standing on a rising ground placed three paces asunder forming an exact triangle. They were about seven feet high and two feet and a half wide. These I make no doubt were intended as a direction to travellers as they might be seen from every rising hillock in the neighbourhood and also from the coast, we could not learn that they were called by any particular name.

Two hundred year old fieldnotes from the Rev. John Skinner’s ‘Ten Days’ Tour through the Isle of Anglesey’ (1804).

From hence passing by an old mansion named Cromlech now tenanted by a farmer we came to the spot where many large stones were lying scattered promiscuously on the ground and one nearly square measuring nine feet across leaning against some uprights about six feet high.

From the appearance of this place I should rather imagine that it had been the interior or cistfaen of a carnedd and this opinion seems somewhat confirmed by the accounts of the common people who remember great quantities of stone having been removed to form a wall.

From the Rev. John Skinner’s ‘Ten Days’ Tour through the Isle of Anglesey’ (1804).

Coflein’s visit in 2008 found the stone about 220m east of the burial chamber. They’re prepared to call it a Possible as it’s quite unusual compared to other stones round about. It’s just over a metre high and tapers from 1m at the base to 60cm at the top.

In the edge of this Shire [Wiltshire] between Luckinton, great Badminton (the seat of my noble Lord and Master, the Lord Herbert) is a place called the Caves; and by some the Giants caves, according to the language of ignorance, fear, and superstition. They are upon the top of a rising hill, a number about [??]. And some of them are (or were formerly) cemented with lime. Some of them are deeper and some shallower; some broader and longer than others. They lye altogether in a row. The manner of them is two long stones, set upon the sides, and broad stones upon the top to cover them. The least of these Caves is four foot broad, and some of them are nine or ten foot long.

This is the account, which I have received from some neighbour Gentlemen touching them with which I was fain to content my self, because the Earth and Rubbish is now so fallen in, that (without digging) nothing almost can be seen, but the place where they are the cavities being all filled up, and bushes over growing them. I presume these [??] are nothing else but the tombes of so many Saxon or Danish Heroes, (or it may be Romans) slain in a battle fought not far from the place.

The curiosity of some ingenious men (as it is reported) within these 40 years, tempted them to dig into it, and make a search for some Antick remains, but they found nothing, but an old Spur, and some few other things not worth the mentioning. The broadness of the stones is not at all strange, since the whole Country hereabout is slatty, and in many places affords stones altogether as large as these.

From ‘Britania Baconica: or, The natural rarities of England, Scotland, and Wales’, written by J Childrey (1662).

Some of it’s a little unclear on the scan I read, hence the [??].

And heer, by the waye, I shall remember upon that whiche fell out neer Dunse Law about thes tymes. It was the fallinge of a pairt of a banke upon the steepe syde of ane hill neer by to the Scottish campe, which of its owne accorde had shuffled downewarde, and by its fall discovered innumerable stones, rownde for the most pairte in shape, and perfectly sphericall, some of them ovall shapne. They wer of a darke gray colour, some of them yellowishe, and for quantitye they looked lycke ball of all syzes, from a pistoll, to feeld peeces, such as sakers or robinetts, or battering peeces upwards: smoothe they wer, and polished without, but lighter then leade by many degrees, so that they wer only for shew but not for use. Many of them wer carryd about in mens pocketts to be seene for the raritye. Nor wanted ther a few who did interprete this stone magazine at Dunse Hill as a miracle, as if God had sent this by ane hidde providence for the use of the Covenanters; for at this tyme all thinges wer interpreted for the advantage of the Covenante. Others looked upon thes peebles stones as prodigiouse, and the wyser sorte tooke little notice of them at all. I suppose that at this present the qwarrye is extant, where they are yet to be seen, no mor a miracle; but whither the event has determined them to be a prodigee or not, I shall not tacke it upon me to defyne either pro or con.

‘History of Scots Affairs from MDCXXXVII to MDCXLI’ by James Gordon (1841).

At Moniack Castle [..] there exists a large rockery, composed of curious stones from many places, some from great distances, including India, formed some sixteen years ago by the leasee of the house, Miss CAmpbell, daughter of Mrs. Campbell who excavated the Clava cairn. At the end of the rockery, next the entrance gate, there is an erect block of hard grey gneiss, 2 feet by 2 feet, with at least nineteen cups [...] it came, as Seaforth writes, “from an old dike, which is the march between the farm of Mr. Yule of Maryburgh, near Dingwall, and Bakerhill of Brahan,” and was leant by him to Miss Campbell.

[..] At the other end of the same rockery at Moniack, there stands a monolith about 4 1/2 ft in height, with the outlined figure of a man, having a stick or other instrument in his hand. This stone was brought from a spot where it stood for a time, close to the old parish school of Kilmorack, near Kilmorack Free church. It was, however, removed to this place between fifty and sixty years ago, from a spot about 100 yards farther west, when the ground was then reclaimed. There is nothing known of the stone, traditional or otherwise, beyond this.

The RCAHMS record says there are cupmarks on the symbol stone too. From p341 of ‘On cup-marked stones in the neighbourhood of Inverness’ by William Jolly, in v16 of PSAS (1881/2).

These camps are known in the country by the name of Cow or Kow castle. Mr. Sim was at first inclined to suppose that it had obtained this appellation from being a place of refuge for the cattle, but on further reflection thinks that it ought rather to be traced to the Scotch word, kow, the twigs of any shrub or plant cut and made into a bundle; thus we have broom kow, so well known to every curler, the heather kow, Cowden knowes, etc. I completely agree with this latter explanation, more especially as the Scotch for cattle would not be cow, but kye.

The valley to the west of this Cow castle, though it now consists of good cultivated fields, was in the memory of man an impassable morass, in which a curious place of security had been constructed. As all trace of it has now disappeared, I copy the description given of it in the statistical account: “A mound of oval shape, called the Green Knows, measuring about thirty yards by forty, rises about two or three feet above the surface of the surrounding bog. On penetrating into this elevated mass, it is found to consist of stones of all different kinds and sizes, which seem to have been tumbled promiscuously together without the least attempt at arrangement. Driven quite through this superincumbent mass are a number of piles, sharpened at the point, about three feet long, made of oak of the hardest kind, retaining the marks of the hatchet, and still wonderfully fresh. A causeway of large stones connects this mound with the firm ground. All around it is nothing but soft elastic moss, and beneath it too, for on cutting through the bed of stones, you immediately meet with the moss. Near the spot are the remains of some very large trees, and the whole morass may have been at one time a wood.”

The RCAHMS record says you can spot the crannog as a slight mound. Or at least, they could in 1978 so who knows now. The fort itself has a rock cut ditch and is only easily accessible from the north east side.

From ‘The Ancient Camps of the Upper Ward of Lanarkshire’ by George Irving in the Journal of the British Archaeological Association (1854).

Garreg Lwyd.

A stone upon the farm of Garreglwyd (formerly Tyn yr wtra) standing at the point of junction of the parishes of Aberhafesp, Tregynon and Bettws Ceewen. It bears an inscription which has been supposed to be of early date but the letters are modern, and doubtless stand for the initials of the churchwardens of the three parishes which have been inscribed upon what is probably an ancient boundary stone, in commemoration of an otherwise unrecorded perambulation of parochial bounds.

This is from ‘An inventory of the ancient and historical monuments of the county of Montgomery’ by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments and Constructions in Wales and Monmouthshire (1911).

Today’s Coflein record says the stone is quite small, only 1.1m high. But it concedes that ‘the weathered condition of the stone may indicate reuse of an earlier monument’. So maybe it can still be Properly Old. So if anyone’s passing and wants to take a photo..

There’s a drawing and article here
and here
in the Collections Historical & Archaeological Relating to Montgomeryshire.

The supposition already advanced, that they were merely whetstones, is again confirmed by local tradition; and what corroborates this, while it defines the weapons sharpened thereon, is the name given to one of these stones which lies half a mile from Llynanafon, on the side of the path which leads to the lake from the village of Aber, viz. Carreg Saethau (the stone of arrows). The dimensions of the grooves do certainly agree with the size of an arrow-head, and the lengths of the lines agree with the convenient play of a man’s hand whilst rubbing such an instrument backwards and forwards. The grooves vary in length from an inch to eight inches, and their breadth is not in any case much above a quarter of an inch; the greatest depth is likewise rather less than half an inch. There are also a great number of short incisions, which would be required to give a nice finish to the point of such an instrument.

[..] I may remark that, in all cases where these incised stones are found, there are other stones in the immediate neighbourhood, to all appearance equal to them for the purpose of sharpening tools; and in two cases there are excellent hones close at hand. Consequently it becomes a question of some importance why these particular stones were selected in preference to their less honoured neighbours. If we suppose that they were consecrated by authority, whether civil or ecclesiastical, this difficulty is done away with, as the stones would thus become objects of a particular value. Without some such supposition this partiality is not easily accounted for.

I may add that the majority of these stones already discovered are split into two fragments; and the scars are all upon the larger portion, arranged in three distinct groups, with a few isolated marks; but as there are exceptions to these peculiarities, no conclusion can be drawn therefrom. With the above exception, these favoured stones do not apparently differ in any way from others which surround them.

Between the marks on Carreg Saethau are various alphabetical letters crowded together, and cut across each other; to all appearance the initials of persons. A few of them appear fresh; but the greater number seem to be of respectable antiquity.

From ‘The Incised Stones of Caernarvonshire’ by E Owen, in Archaeologia Cambrensis (1864).

About half a mile off the main road between Newry and Kilkeel, in the townland of Kilfeaghan, in the “Kingdom” of Mourne, there is a field in which stands a large granite block, looking to the casual eye as if it rested on a heap of small stones, and had rolled down from the mountain above. On a closer examination the tops of two large stones supporting the granite block will be seen, proving it to be a cromlech.

On making enquiries, I found that within the last fifty years or more it had been usual for the farmer on whose land it is to throw all the small stones from the surrounding fields not only all round the cromlech, but also underneath it.

I, therefore, had the stones cleared out from the chamber underneath; and, to give an idea of the amount which it took to fill it, I may say that it took three men working hard from eleven o’clock until six to get to the bottom, which was 9 feet below the cap-stone. On digging down they came upon a good deal of black mould, which was very carefully sifted, but nothing was found except some small pieces of charred wood amongst the mould, and some sea-shells; but these may have got in at a date later than the erection of the cromlech, as at some time or other it had evidently been disturbed.*

Indeed, one old man told me that fifty years ago, before the stones were put underneath, his father had dug down and had come upon a stone covering the mould, which he said had curious markings on it; that the stone was thrown out, and a gentleman staying in the neighbourhood at the time saw it and took it away with him, saying he would get the markings on it deciphered; but what became of them no one knows.

... I may also add that it is called by the country people Cloghogle; but as no Irish has been spoken for two generations thereabouts, they are quite unaware of the appropriateness of the name.**

*Sea shells would still be quite peculiar, having not got there by themselves? Although they could have been from a picnic of any era I suppose :)

**The Ulster Place Names website says “Megalithic stone tombs are often called Cloghogle or Cloghtogle from cloch thógala: “lifted stone”.

From ‘Kilfeaghan Cromlech, County Down’ by Stanley Howard, in The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, v15, Sept 1905.

The Rev. B. Williams, of Dowlais, communicates the following facts:- “The idea of holding a prayer-meeting at Morlais Castle on Sunday morning struck these youths.

“Morlais Castle is a place where, on fine Sunday mornings, scores of the worst characters [from the iron-works] meet to drink and fight. They buy the beer on Saturday night, and carry it up there about four o’clock on Sunday morning. There is no house near; they cannot therefore get the drink in any other way. You may imagine what a den of wickedness that place is on Sunday morning. On a fine Sunday morning in June last, about twenty young lads could be seen wending their way thither, and they reached the polluted spot about helf-past five. There were scores of the characters mentioned in the place before them, who had already commenced their evil doings. One young lad said to them, that they had come to hold a prayer -meeting, at which idea the drunkards scoffed. But at such a welcome they were not discouraged. A Testament was opened and a part of a chapter read; a hymn was sung, and most melodious it was in the breeze of the morning.

By this time all had become quite serious. Not a laugh or a jest passed – nothing was heard but prayer and praise. Many a rough face was bathed with tears*. When the meeting closed, every one went home. All was serious and quiet. The beer was thrown away. Many swore emphatically that they would never go to Morlais Castle again for such a purpose. Many of them are known to have kept their word. This was continued for several Sabbath mornings, and in less than a month hundreds met on the highest summit of Morlais Castle to worship their Creator.

*Tired drunk people crying, not that surprising. And as for keeping their word, you might well not turn up again if you thought a bunch of hymn-singing teetotallers were going to be there. I could be wrong.

In ‘The Welsh Revival’ by Rev. Thomas Phillips (1860).

A considerable change has taken place in the position of the stones which form this extraordinary relique of the ancient superstitions of our Countrymen. This change took place on the 3d instant, and is attributed to the rapid thaw which on that day succeeded a very hard frost. The following is an Extract of a Letter from Salisbury on the subject:

“On the 3d inst. some people employed at the plough, near Stonehenge, remarked that three of the larger stones had fallen, and were apprised of the time of their fall by a very sensible concussion, or jarring, of the ground. These stones prove to be the western of those pairs, with their imposts, which have had the appellation of Trilithons. They had long deviated from its true perpendicular. There were, originally, five of these trilithons, two of which are, even now, still remaining in their ancient state. It is remarkable, that no account has ever been recorded of the falling of the others, and, perhaps, no alteration has been made in the appearance of Stonehenge for three centuries prior to the present tremendous downfall. The impost, which is the smallest of the three stones, is supposed to weigh 20 tons. They all now lie prostrate on the ground, and have received no injury from their aerial separation.”

They fell flat westward, and levelled with the ground a stone also of the second circle, that stood in the line of their precipitation. From the lower ends of the supporters being now exposed to view, their prior depth in the ground is satisfactorily ascertained; – it appears to have been about six feet. The ends, however, having been cut oblique, neither of them was, on one side, more than a foot and an half deep. Two only of the five trilithons, of which the adytum consisted, are now, therefore, in their original position. The destruction of any part of this grand oval we must peculiarly lament, as it was composed of the most stupendous materials of the whole structure.

From the ‘True Briton’, January 18, 1797.

Elsewhere that month, in the London Packet, no doubt with what passes for humour 200 years ago: “The falling of the two upright stones, on the 3d of this month, at Stonehenge, which had been interpreted into an omen of the downfall of the Monarchy, is found to have been owing to the burrowing of a few rabbits. Underminers of every description cannot be watched with too much vigilance.”

There are quite a few barrows here on Countess Farm (basically between Stonehenge and Woodhenge), some of them more visible than others of course.

Extract of a letter from Ambersbury, Wilts, dated October 21.
“Last week as a man was ploughing upon an estate called Countess Farm, which lies between this town and Stonehenge, the plough turned up one of the bones of a human body. The man left the plough to acquaint his master, who ordered the earth to be removed with the greatest circumspection, knowing the land in this neighbourhood abounds with antiquities.

When they had dug about a foot deep, they discovered a compleat human skeleton; but the bones were so much diminished and decayed by time, that many of them would break by handling. The skull was least decayed, which, with the other bones, were collected together, and buried in a hole dug for that purpose near the place from when they were taken.

When the skeleton was found, the head lay due north, and on the west or right side of it was a piece of brass, which, though greatly decayed, still preserved the (supposed) original shape of a hatchet; by which it is conjectured this person was a British Druid, and that the piece of brass was an instrument with which they used to cut mistletoe for their religious services.

What will people be saying about us 3000 years hence I wonder (if there’s anyone left that is). From ‘Read’s Weekly Journal or British Gazetteer’, November 9th 1754.

The Hill of Roseisle bounds the plain or “laigh” of Moray to the north. Its top is crowned with a little wart, apparently a gathered cairn, known as the “Tappock” of Roseisle. The plough is encroaching upon it from all sides, and last summer the farmer of Hill of Roseisle came upon a grave with a cist of rough stones about twelve yards north of the Tappock. The soil is very light there, adn the deposit was near the surface.

James Jeans, the very intelligent young man who made the discovery, gave me the dimensions of the cist. It was 2 feet 10 inches in length, 18 inches in depth, and 18 or 20 inches broad. It contained bones and a skull tolerably entire, – the latter carried to the Museum at Elgin; and it contained also the beads, sixty-four in number, and the larger ornaments of jet, which James Jeans still keeps.

I do not know that I should have been so successful in my own person, but Jeans did not hesitate to lend these to Lady Dunbar of Duffus; and that lady has been good enough to make the careful and accurate drawing of these jet ornaments, which I now exhibit, and which she allows me to present to the Society. (The drawing referred to exhibited two triangularly-shaped portions, each ornamented with a double row of punctured lines; and a series of rounded beads of an oblong shape.)

From v3 (1867) of the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, an article by Cosmo Innes.

Coflein says there are two stones here – one inscribed ABD 33, indicating ‘the limits of the Freedom Lands’. The other is a granite boulder which has a ‘roughly cup-shaped hollow on its upper suface’. Is it not nice that they did not hammer the letters into the older stone, but brought a new one to the same place? Or perhaps there’s actually some dull reason like boring regulations for the new boundary stones to be all exactly the same shape and size.

An article in the Oxford Journal of Archaeology in 2000* gives some dates for the barrow, measured with the AMS technique. Tests were made on an antler pick that was found on the barrow’s ditch floor, and this gave a similar result to bits of skull and femur that were also found – giving an average of 3760 – 3645 cal BC. So not as old as the radiocarbon dates that wysefool rightly queries below. But still pretty damn old, in the early Neolithic – building mounds like this one was very much the new fangled Neolithic thing to do. The article suggests the date supports the idea that the change from mesolithic to neolithic ways of life was rapid, though I don’t know how generally believed that is?

More human remains were found amongst the sarsen stones at the head of the barrow – these gave slightly later dates of 3330 – 2885 cal BC. So the barrow still had importance in the landscape later on. And then of course it’s at one end of all the Bronze age barrows of Lambourn ‘seven’ barrows.

*’New AMS dates from the Lambourn long barrow and the question of the earliest neolithic in Southern England: repacking the neolithic package?’ Rick J Schulting (v19, issue 1).

I was here on the lovely High Weald the other day and somewhere very close to the hillfort. Its location’s easy to spot from afar because it has a strange gothic Rapunzel-style tower. So I can’t tell you about the remnants of the late Bronze Age / early Iron Age hillfort at all (yeah yeah, not Saxon, please, despite its name). But I was most intrigued by the amount of crags and caves in the vicinity. They just had that look of having prehistoric significance. I was surprised to see them at all, they were not something I expected to see in this part of the world. Certainly Eridge Rocks (very slightly to the northwest) have produced traces of life in mesolithic times (see here) . I think with a bit of practice I could have been quite comfy there myself. Well on a sunny day at least.

The article here in the Archaeological Journal, v16 (1859) (in the Rev. Harry M Scarth’s Account of the Investigation of Barrows), contains details of Skinner’s speed-archaeology at the Nine Barrows. Time Team had nothing on Skinner you know. He knew how to get things done.

I always like tales of the artifacts found, so much more instantly appealing than layers of unusual coloured earth and ashes: perhaps I’m as bad as the Reverend S. on the quiet. We hear of Barrow Number Two:

The cavity [of the cist] was nearly filled with burnt bones, and covered with a flat stone; in it were found four amber beads in excellent preservation, and a fifth somewhat in the form of a heart, which broke in pieces on being handled. Part of a bronze spear or arrowhead was also found, much corroded, and a ring of the same metal. The appearance of decayed wood on the blade seemed to indicate that it had been enclosed in a sheath. Not far from the cist was found a small oval cup of pottery, 4 inches long, 3 wide, and 2 1/2 deep in the interior, the outside embossed with a number of projecting knobs [..]

The amber beads were of fine rich red, or ruby colour, highly polished, and transparent when held up to the light; a small blue opaque glass bead was found with them, perforated; only one of the amber beads had a hole made through it; the others were bored on one side, probably for the admission of a pin.

He describes eight barrows being dug, then “There was a ninth barrow in this line, but stated to have been removed, in order to supply materials for a wall in the vicinity.”

A bit more from ‘Archaeologia Cambrensis‘ (1866), from a piece by Hugh Prichard:

I have recently been informed by a middle-aged person who was born at the farmhouse, that he well remembers a stone about 5 feet high, and 6 in diameter, situated four or five paces in advance of the south-west upright, and in perfect line with the south-west side of the chamber-entrance; which we may well imagine to have been the last remnant of a once existing gallery or avenue. He also mentioned that a stone, represented as a very large one, was broken up and removed by his father from the north-west side of the cromlech, near to the cap-stone. This we may naturally suppose was one of the supporters.

The objects of interest discovered by my informant in his younger days, near to the cromlech, were -- a small ring of blue glass, an urn containing ashes, and a slab of freestone, 4 feet long, beneath which were two or three barrowsful of ashees without pottery or masonry.

How intriguing is this, another possible chambered tomb so very close to Tinkinswood and St Lythans? According to the record on Coflein, there’s supposed to be ‘four tabular stones associated with a possible mound’. It was excavated in the 1930s and the excavator thought the stones were a natural feature. But, an axe was found, suggesting it could have been an important spot even if it were natural, or maybe even that it wasn’t really natural at all. I can’t spot a photo on the internet...

Coflein’s record isn’t quite sure if this is the genuine article, but it’s quite big at 2 x 1 x 0.5m, and was said to be standing but leaning in 1937. So that sounds pretty standing-stonish? Also it’s on a one-time parish boundary, and even has its own folklore, which is on the Cottrell Park page.

I mention this for the added information about the carvings (1312 rather sounding like the 1612 in Elderford’s post?) – but also because I’m sure we’ve all been places with whining non-believers :)

On the road home a visit was made to the Ty Illtyd, on Manest Farm. This is apparently a cist-vaen, disinterred from the incumbent earth now lying on the south-eastern side. It is remarkable as having several well defined marks on the inner surface of the slabs composing it, figures of crosses of very rude and early forms, and the date 1312; but this date has obviously no connexion with the period of the formation of the cistvaen, and throws some doubt on the genuineness of the other characters.

The above was the course marked out for the excursion, but it may be worth mentioning that some of the party, who complained of being dragged up and down a stony mountain path, at the imminent risk of their horses’ knees and their own necks, only to see a big stone* and an ordinary farm-house, ventured to chalk out a separate excursion for themselves.

*Actually at Kingstone, they didn’t even get to Ty Illtyd, the whingers. From an account of an excursion on Sept. 14th, in Archaeologia Cambrensis, 1853.

Rodney Castleden’s book ‘Neolithic Britain’* says that half this ritual enclosure still exists unexcavated – the rest was lost when the Dorchester bypass was built. He says: “The most striking thing about Flagstones has been the discovery of neolithic chalk engravings, carved in the near-vertical walls of the ditch.” The enclosure was constructed on the same east-west ridge where Mount Pleasant and Maumbury Rings would later be sited.

I was in Dorchester’s museum today, where you can visit one of the carvings.

*What you probably really want is PJ Woodward’s 1988 Antiquity article about the discoveries, ‘Pictures of the Neolithic’. I haven’t seen that though.

Canmore’s record says that this fort has three large banks and ditches, at least on the south-east side. Meanwhile, below on its south-west side is Loch Monzievaird, in which there was a crannog first built in the early Iron Age (and apparently reused for many centuries afterwards), and St Serf’s Water.

Don’t forget your umbrella.

It is so beautifully balanced that the upper stone, though of enormous weight, can be easily rocked by pushing it with an umbrella. ... I think it is one of the finest cromlechs I have seen. --- Annesley.

That’s Lord Annesley to you, showing off his photographs of the cromlech on his land near Castlewellan. From the Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Fifth Series, Vol. 5, No. 1 (Mar., 1895).

A folklorish snippet about the site’s name and some other information:

The locality consists of a series of small plains or glades, chiefly turbary, interspersed with rocky hillocks covered with oak, presenting scenes of singular variety and beauty; while the panorama of the Caernarvonshire hills, which this spot exhibits, can scarcely be surpassed in magnificence.

[...] The name of the field in which the cromlech lies [is] Cae’r Ogof, (Cave-field,) and the monument is known by the name Ogof.

[...] On the under side of the great cover stone is a singular round cavity, about two feet across, closely resembling an inverted saucer, with a clean perforation in the middle right through the stone. This was produced by some one who was barbarous enough to attempt the destruction of this noble slab by blasting; but the hole being bored too deep, the underside of the stone gave way, the laminae being forced out in concentric circles, diminishing upwards, and presenting an object that, if unexplained, might well perplex an antiquary. Another attempt was made, but the hole being too shallow, the blast blew up the charge without injuring the stone. Some person has very lately been trying his pick upon the edge of the cromlech.

[...] On an eminence, a short distance off, an enormous boulder of conglomerate draws attention, but on being approached, it presents no appearances worthy of note.

From ‘Carnedd enclosing a cromlech at Chapel Garmon’ in the first volume of the Cambrian Journal (1857).

Some years ago the compartment under the stone was converted into a stable, by clearing out the side of the carnedd to the west, throwing down the end-stone, and fitting in a framed window. A door was also provided, and a stone manger. All these have since been removed.

From ‘The Conway in the Stereoscope’ by James Bridge Davidson (1860). Sadly there isn’t a stereoscope photo of the site, in the book, though there are of various other scenes.

Situated in a long, dry Kentish valley which runs upwards in a Southerly direction towards the escarpment of the Chalk [...] one may see the forlorn wreckage of Maplescombe church. This church, which had a semi-circular apse, still partially remaining, has been in ruins for three centuries. My attention was first called to the spot by Mr Benjamin Harrison, of Ightham, an archaeologist whose knowledge of his native district is unsurpassed. On visiting the ruins in 1904, I found a large, partially sunken sarsen stone (3’.0” x 2’.0” x 1’.6”) occupying what appeared to be the site of the ancient altar. A few smaller sarsens were also discernible, and other specimens, Mr Harrison states, have been carried off, at various times, by hop-pickers, to build hearths in the fields.

One for the Christianised Sites fans (though one has to surely bear in mind that any stone is useful when building?).

There’s a plan here:
archive.org/stream/bywaysinbritisha00johnuoft#page/39/

and the following page gives details of other Kent churches that might be similar.

from ‘Byways in British Archaeology’ by W. Johnson (1912).

At Western Whitaburrow, the cairn on which Petre’s Cross formerly stood, the men who used to work at the turf cutting, built themselves a little house, using stone from the cairn for the purpose, such being necessary as there is no village, or suitable habitations, nearer than Brent, which is between five and six miles distant. These men were the destroyers of the old cross which was set up on the cairn, the shaft being all that is now left of it. The workman that I have referred to informed me that the labourers used to make incursions into Huntingdon Warren, which is in full view across the valley from Western Whitaburrow, and trap the rabbits, he having sometimes seen, he added with a smile of satisfaction, as many as a dozen being boiled at one time in the crock at the house on the cairn.

From ‘Amid Devonia’s Alps’ by William Crossing (1888).

On the eastern brow of Llanymynech hill “once stood a cromlech measuring 7 feet by 6, and about 18 inches thick,” styled Bedd y Cawr. No trace of it is said to have been discoverable at a later period. Mont. Coll., 1870, iii, 205, note, quoting Camb. Register, 1796, i, 275.

“On the south-western part of the hill stood two rows of flat stones, parallel, 6 feet asunder, and 36 in length. A tradition exists which states that in digging near this place a Druid’s cell was discovered, but of what shape or size it does not relate. There were a number of human bones and teeth in a state of good preservation also discovered. In digging between the parallel rows a stratum of red earth was found, about an inch thick” (Mont. Coll., 1878, xi, 182).

It’s difficult to know what to make of all that, collected in ‘An inventory of the ancient and historical monuments of the county of Montgomery’ (1911). ‘Bedd y Cawr’ means the giant’s grave, though.

Well there isn’t much to see here, in prehistoric terms, to say the least. But it sounds such a great place in the imagination. Peckforton Mere used to be much bigger, and the promontory fort here used the mere and the slightly different course of the river at the time to act as defence. So the settlement was protected on the north, south and west because it was on a promontory into the water, and cut off by a bank and ditch to the east. Apparently you can just about see the bank and ditch, but it’s one of those very vague things so don’t get too excited. It’s all a nice thought though, and it’s surely in a interesting spot with views of the Peckforton Hills and Beeston Crag.

(info from the smr on Magic).

Grassholm might be tiny but it has thousands of noisy stinky gannets on it: about 10% of the world’s population (I can vouch for its impressiveness myself). Consequently you can’t set foot on it, but it would seem intrepid solitude-seeking prehistoric people did, as Iron Age pottery has been found there. Presumeably under a pile of gannet poo. Perhaps the gannets hadn’t taken up residence at the time. Or perhaps they had (what’s for tea, mum? Omlette with gannet and fish. What, not Again??)The island is miles away from any others and about 10 from the mainland.

In Faunthorpe’s Map of Beds (published by Philip, 1873) it is called ”Wayland Bank,” in the Tithe Book (1844), ”Wallards,” in the Ordnance Survey Map (1886), ”Waulud’s Bank;” being popularly named ”Waller’s Bank.”

Henry Cobbs’ ‘Luton Church, historical and descriptive’ (1899).

I don’t know if this has any bearing on your dilemma, Moth:

Accompanied... by one of the hospitable family of the Thornhills, I gladly availed myself of the opportunity of traversing Stanton Moor. From the front of the house [Stanton House], an insulated stone of immense magnitude is seen in the line of the horizon, where it is a prominent object from every point of view around it, and may be regarded as an excellent land-mark for all who wish to visit this interesting district... We soon attained the eminence distinguished by the huge stone that attracted my attention. In the neighbourhood it is known by the name of Andle Stone, though Major Rooke has given this appellation to one of far inferior dimensions, which stands on that same plane, about half a mile nearer the brow of the hill that overlooks Darley Dale. Andle Stone is a large block of unhewn sandstone grit, which appears to be inserted, but not deeply, in the earth: its surface is but little marked with fissures or indentations; the square of its sides is from seven to eight yards, and its extreme height about eighteen feet. Several other insulated stones of a similar description occupy the same high range of ground: how they were originally placed there, and for what purposes they were designed, can only be conjectured.

Peak Scenery, or The Derbyshire Tourist. E Rhodes (1824).

I’m supposing, due to the name and location, that this could be the site mentioned in the chapter about Clatt in the New Statistical Account of Scotland:

Until within the last thirty years, there existed in the northern division of the parish, the distinct remains of a Druidical temple, of which only the supposed altar-stone, and a few of the upright stones, which were placed in the circumference, now remain.

The stone supposed to have formed the sacrificial altar in the centre, was of large dimensions, consisting of 10 feet in length, 9 feet in breadth, and 4 feet in thickness. It was placed at an angle of about 45 degrees with the dip in the direction of the meridian. At each extremity, longitudinally, there stood a perpendicular stone of about 6 feet in height, vulgarly styled “the Horns of the Altar,” and in the line of the circle, of about 25 yards diameter, there were placed, at equal distances, seven upright stones, from 5 to 6 feet in height. The whole space within the circumference was rudely paved with stones to the depth of about three feet. Within the precincts of this heathen temple, no relic of the olden time has been discovered; but at a distance of about a quarter of a mile, in different directions, several tumuli have been opened, some of which contained ornamented earthen jars full of bones in a calcined state.

(please say if you think I’ve picked the wrong site).

A little word about ‘Split the De’il’ that Hob mentions:

An upright slab of porphyry, about 6 feet high, stands on the southern slope of Windy Gyle, in a south easterly direction from the cairns. The shepherds call this rock ‘Split the Deil’. It is not certain that this is a relic of prehistoric times, but the rock has all the appearance of being ‘set up’. A shepherd surprized a golden eagle percehed on this rock early one morning.

I love the final sentence. It’s like the author had been standing talking to a shepherd rave on about the eagle, and felt he just had to mention it in this otherwise quite sober account of stones. At least, that’s the only interpretation I can give it, unless eagles had something to do with the mysterious devil-related folklore attached to the stone.

From ‘Pre-Roman Remains in Upper Coquetdale’ by Mr Parker Brewis and Mr D D Dixon, in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne, v7/8 (1915/16)

Coflein’s record from 2002 describes this stone: it used to stand an impressive three metres high, but when it fell was cleared to the field edge, where, one hopes, you will find it.

Within a tumulus 3 1/2 miles (by the map) N.W. by W. of Penzance, and in the parish of Madron, a Cromleh [sic] was discovered in 1790, of which the following account, by the late Rev. Malachi Hitchins, was published in the Archaeologia:-

“The gentleman who owns the estate of Lanyon, happening to be overtaken by a shower, took shelter behind a bank of earth and stones; and remarking that the earth was rich, he sent his servants to carry it off, when having removed near one hundred cart-loads, they observed the supporters of a cromleh, from which the covering stone was slipped off on the south side, but still leaning against them.”

This covering-stone is about 13 1/2 feet long by 10 1/2 broad. The south supporter, on which it still leans, is 6 feet high and 5 wide: that on the west is nearly of the same height and about 9 feet wide. The east supporter (since cleft and carried away) was 10 1/2 feet wide, and , with the other two, formed almost a triangular kistvaen with a space of about a foot, at the north end, uninclosed.

“As soon as the gentleman observed it to be a cromleh, he ordered his men to dig under it, where they soon found a broken urn with ashes; and going deeper they found half a scull, the thigh bones, and most of the other bones of a human body, lying in such a manner as fully proved that the grave had been opened before, and the flat stones which formed the grave had been all removed out of their places.”

The quote comes from Archaeologia v14. The other remarks are from a piece in the 1851 Penzance Nat. Hist. and Antiq. Soc. Transactions.

Poundbury Camp – “round Pummery” – is said to be Danish: on little evidence, for Celtic and Roman remains have been found in its now rather confused lines: but the Danes once wintered there during a prolonged raid. One other race also inhabited Pummery. From 1914 to 1918 it was filled with German prisoners of war. It was curious to come across the hills of the dead round Dorchester, in the utter dark, and see this old fortress of the ravaging Danes blazing with search-lights; curious also – to me, in the company of an official propagandist cinematographer – to see sturdy Germans in bizarre patched uniforms laughingly loading sacks into waggons, with the shopkeepers of the eighteenth-century street looking on, and cheerful farm girls in breeches helping them.

From the enthusiastically written ‘Soul of Dorset’ by FJ Harvey Darton (1922).

This could be said to be hearsay really about something that happened at some indeterminate point – but it could well be true.

Near Aviemore [...] there are two stone circles. One is two miles and a half from the station, at the edge of a small loch called Loch nar Carraigean in the Ordnance Survey Map. The other is a half mile from the station, near a cluster of small farms called Milton. I was told that a good many of the large stones which had stood at intervals, forming the outer ring of these circles, had been removed a good many years ago, to be used in the building of Aviemore House.

From a letter on p360 of Archaeological Review v4, 1889-1890.

(so this refers to this site and Aviemore.)