Rhiannon

Whilst at Hetty Pegler’s Tump or Uley Bury you may like to consider the presence of a Romano Celtic shrine between the two, at West Hill. The 1992 EH book ‘Shrines and Sacrifice’ by A Woodward has lots of details. A possibly Neolithic burial feature was reused and extended in the late Iron Age -there was an enclosure round a wooden temple that lasted well into the Roman era. A lot of bits of goats were found, along with some curses on metal tablets, and a stone carving of Mercury – the latter seen at the ‘Curse Tablets of Roman Britain’ website.

About half-a mile east from Alloa, is a large upright stone, known by the name of the Stone Cross. On each side, the figure of an open cross is cut from the top to the bottom.

- from the New Statistical Account of 1845 (v8, p42).

According to the RCAHMS record, the slab is on a knoll, and stands 8 foot high, with fairly large packing stones around its base. This record also mentions the Statistical Account of 1791, which notes that “old people used to speak of the figure of a man on horseback which they had seen on it.” A carving on it? Or a ghostly figure near it? The idea of a man on horseback on the stone is too surreal.

Perhaps the crosses can still be seen, though even in 1950 they were described as much weather-worn, and winterjc only mentions one on one side.

ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/PSAS_2002/pdf/vol_023/23_153_164.pdf

..Arrived in a field on Claverton Down, near the old race course, those who chose left the carriages and proceeded over the down.. accompanied [by] the Rev. Mr. Scarth, who pointed out the line of the Belgic Boundary (the Wansdyke), and also the trackway through the camp, which was traversed from the south end to that on the east. Standing on the brow of the hill overlooking Bathampton, the rev. gentleman read a portion of a paper on the Belgic settlement, indicating the direction in which the camps of Mays Knowle, Stantonbury, and Little Solsbury stood, and giving of them and other parts of the settlement many particulars of an interesting character.. In traversing what was formerly the stone avenue leading to the temple, or site of judicial assemblies, Mr. Scarth expressed regret that the only few remains should be carried away to form ornaments in gardens, and stated it was only a fortnight previous that a waggon was on the down carrying away the stones. A ruined cromlech, the spring that supplied the camp, and the junction at Batheaston of the two Roman roads from Cirencester and Marlborough, were pointed out to the party..

From p479/480 in The Gentleman’s Magazine, July 1856.

This is part of a letter from James Norris, Esq. to Dr Withering. Nonesuch-House, Feb. 9, 1798. The idea of a moat reminds me of Silbury and its seasonal moat. Growing crops on the mound seems a bit bizarre. But maybe in pre-combine days it was easier to harvest.

.. near the village of Marden, is a remarkable tumulus called Hatfield-barrow; the only work of the kind, I believe, to be found in this lowland vale, although so very frequent on the elevated downs on both sides. It stands in an enclosure, and is above the usual size, and nearly hemispherical; it is surrounded by a broad circular intrenchment, which, from being constantly supplied with water by innate springs, forms a sort of moat, which does not become dry even in the midst of summer; a circumstance I have never found attending any other barrow. In this water ditch, the Menyanthese trifoliata or bogbean, plentifully grows: a plant which I have not seen elsewhere in that neighbourhood. The whole of the barrow is at present ploughed over, and is said to be more fertile than the surrounding field. I have seen it clothed with wheat ready for the sickle; when the richness of colour, and the beautiful undulations of the corn, formed an object as pleasing as it was uncommon.

From p236 of The Miscellaneous Tracts of the Late William Withering. Vol 1. 1822. Online at Google Books.

I liked this slightly surreal anecdote from p453 of Dec 5th 1857’s ‘Notes and Queries’. Its truth can only be guessed at.

Stonehenge.-- I visited Stonehenge in October, 1850. A man with one leg, who got his living by lionising visitors, told me that one of the larger stones had recently fallen (being the third that had done so within the memory of man): pointing to the prostrate giant, he said, in his fine old Saxon, “my brother was at work drawing yon barrow; and he was handy and saw it swerve.” [..] C. MANSFIELD INGLEBY.

A little more on the name of the barrow. Not that the local antiquarians were necessarily that aware of what the locals called the place. But it does fit with the mention of ‘giant’s bones’ elsewhere..

Mr. Edward Freeman invited the attention of the Society to the existence of a remarkable sepulchral chamber at Uleybury, Gloucestershire, partially excavated some years since, when some remains were found, now preserved at Guy’s Hospital. This burial-place has been designated as “the Giant’s Chamber,” and it appears to be in some respects analagous to the surprising works in Ireland, at New Grange and Dowth, on the banks of the Boyne. Mr. Freeman proposes to bring the subject before the notice of the annual meeting of the Institute, at their approaching assembly in Cambridge [..]

From the ‘Archaeological Institute’ section of the 1854 ‘Gentleman’s Magazine’ (online at Google Books).

Quite in the early part of the present century, a Mr. J. C. Langlands noticed some curious figures, very much worn and defaced, upon a sandstone block near the great camp on Old Bewick Hill, in the county of Northumberland. Mr. Tate, Secretary of the Anthropological Society, etc., who has rendered excellent service in describing the sculptured rocks of the north of England, says that though strange and old world looking, these figures then presented an isolated fact, and he (Mr. Langlands) hesitated to connect them with by-past ages; for they might have been the work of an ingenious shepherd, while resting on the hill; but on finding some years afterwards, another incised stone of a similar character, on the same hill, he then formed the opinion that these sculptures were very ancient, and probably the work of the same people who erected the strong and complicated fort cresting the hill. To him belongs the honour of the first discovery of these archaic sculptures.

from the (rather unusual) Reverend Hargrave Jennings’s ‘Archaic Rock Inscriptions’ of 1890. So, Old Bewick – spiritual home of the rock art spotter?

Immediately on ascending the hill called Whitesheet, we find ourselves surrounded by British antiquities. The road intersects an ancient earthen work, of a circular form, and which, from the slightness of its vallum, appears to have been of high antiquity. Adjoining it is a large barrow, which we opened in October 1807, and found it had contained a skeleton, and had been investigated before.

On a point of land near this barrow are three others, all of which, by the defaced appearance of their summits, seemed to have attracted the notice of former antiquaries. No 1, the nearest to the edge of the hill, had certainly been opened, and appears to have contained a double interment. The primary one was an interment of burned bones deposited within a shallow cist, in an urn rudely formed, and badly baked. Above it was a skeleton with its head laid towards the south, and which from its position and perfect preservation appears not to have been disturbed. Its mouth was wide open, and it “grinn’d horribly a ghastly smile,” a singularity we have never before met with.

Surely Colt Hoare was not unsettled by his grinning friend?! This is from p42 of his “Ancient History of Wiltshire” v2, 1812.
online here at Wiltshire County Council
wiltshire.gov.uk/community/gettextimage.php?book_no=056&chapter_no=03&page_no=0012&dir=next

Excavations at Mother Grundy’s Parlour, Creswell Crags, Derbyshire, 1924.
A. Leslie Armstrong
The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 55. (Jan. – Jun., 1925), pp. 146-175.

This article suggests the carvings show a bison, a reindeer and a rhinoceros. The rhinoceros seems the least convincing interpretation, especially when the other animals are carefully observed. To me it looks more like baza’s photo of the bird carving in Church Hole, perhaps; it has got a line down the middle of the ‘beak’.

I see no mention of these carvings on the Creswell Crags website?

I have added tracings of Armstrong’s drawings to the ‘diagrams’ section above. The carvings are an inch or two across. The photos in the article aren’t very enlightening for extra detail because the outlines of the animals have been highlighted in some way.

***

Today (21/3/09) I have been reading an article by Paul G Bahn – one of the discoverers of the Palaeolithic art at Cresswell. He says (rather as I had thought) that the three finds I’ve traced are Rather Dubious. Armstrong was very apt at finding art in all sorts of places, including Grimes Graves – at one point he believed it was a palaeolithic site. The thing is, he might not have been cheating, he may just have been the victim of wishful thinking. It’s easy to see all sorts of things in a mish mash of lines if you want to. He was there when the famous ‘chalk goddess’ was found at GG – Bahn says “it’s by no means clear whether Armstrong made the piece himself [...] or was the victim of a hoax.” The famous ‘Pin Hole Cave man’ mentioned by stubob below is also one of Armstrong’s ‘discoveries’.

All very interesting anyway. The Bahn’s article is ‘The Historical Background to the Discovery of Cave Art at Cresswell Crags’, which is in the book ‘Palaeolithic Cave Art at Creswell Crags in European Context’ (Pettitt, Bahn and Ripoll) 2007.

Bahn also discusses the engraved horse that was found in the Robin Hood cave – there was controversy about it over many years. Consensus seems to be that it is genuinely palaeolithic – but just that it might not really have originated in the cave. It might have travelled very recently from France and been Planted. It was found by the Revd J. M. Mello.

Well. As Bahn says, “it is supremely ironic that the very objects which drew us to search Creswell Crags for cave art and to discover it there [...] may perhaps be a planted intrusion in one case, and illusory and non-existent in the others.”

Mr F W L Thomas brings the antiquary’s activities to life in ‘Account of some of the Celtic Antiquities of Orkney, including the Stones of Stenness, Tumuli, Picts-houses, &c., with Plans’.

The only example of the eliptical or long barrow existing in Orkney (that I am aware of) occurs upon the shore of the North Loch, 100 yards to the eastward of the Ring of Brogar. It measures 112 feet in the direction of its major axis, while its minor is but sixty-six feet, that is, it is twice as long as it is broad. The level ridge on the top is twenty-two feet, and its height twenty-two. The west side is so steep as to be difficult to clamber up. On the opposite side it has been dug into, but not recently, and it may be that from this one the fibulae mentioned by Wallace were obtained.

There is a fine spring of water at the foot of the tumulus upon the loch side, and not unfrequently in summer a group of hungry antiquaries may be seen gazing with fixed attention not into the musty recesses of a kistvaen, but the still more interesting interior of a provision-basket. All these large hillocks are covered by a short green turf, which renders them picturesque and pleasing objects.

p110 of Chapter 13 in: Archaeologia, Or, Miscellaneous Tracts Relating to Antiquity By the Society of Antiquaries of London (1851).

This can be read online courtesy of Google Books.

A word from your hard-working 19th century Orkney correspondent (whom you may feel some kindredship with and sympathy for):

In the winter of 1848 I undertook a survey of these antiquities, wishing to leave a permanent record of their present state and position, while they were yet in tolerable preservation: but, although a labour of love, it was not accomplished without much difficulty, principally owing to the uncertain state of the weather and the distance of the locality from my residence.

After a long ride, there was first to lay out the surveying poles, then shoulder my theodolite, and march from station to station through the most insinuatingly melting snow that I ever remember to have felt, often being obliged to leave my instrument and run for a quarter of a mile to gain a little warmth by the exertion.

It was, however, sometimes exceedingly romantic to hear the wild swans trumpeting to each other while standing under the lee of a gigantic stone, till a snow-squall from the north east had passed over; but, could I have attuned my soul to song in such a dreary situation, instead of raving with Macpherson, my strain would certainly have been something in praise “of the bonnie blythe blink o’ my ain fireside.”

Occasionally there is some fine weather even in this inhospitable climate; but I can only remember the many nights, dark, bleak, and cold, in which I have been urging my easy-going quadruped over that weary road while the snow fell into my eyes upon any attempt being made to look a-head.

At last, however, the survey was finished; with Mr. Robert Heddle, the dimensions and an outline figure of every stone in the Ring of Brogar was taken; and Mr. G. Petrie assisted me in measuring the diameters of the circles, trenches, &c. The General Plan was made by triangulating with staves, and a base measured by a land-chain on the level point of Stenness.

p97 in ‘Account of some of the Celtic Antiquities of Orkney, including the Stones of Stenness, Tumuli, Picts-houses, &c., with Plans’ by F W L Thomas.

Chapter 13 in: Archaeologia, Or, Miscellaneous Tracts Relating to Antiquity By the Society of Antiquaries of London (1851).

This can be read online courtesy of Google Books.

During the Civil War many people from the surrounding areas were so fed up of their land, livestock and crops getting trashed by the Cavaliers and the Roundheads that they got together as the ‘Clubmen’ to oppose both. At one point they encamped on Hambledon Hill, about 3000 of them apparently. Also they’d been assembled at Badbury Rings. Unfortunately Cromwell was easily able to oust them, calling them rather patronisingly ‘poor silly creatures’. At least they were standing up for what was important to them.

Here is an excerpt from a letter from ‘your most humble servant’ Oliver Cromwell, to Sir Thomas Fairfax (the commander in chief of the Parliamentarian army). It reminds you that Hambledon is not always quiet and windswept.

We marched on to Shaftesbury, where we heard a great body of [Clubmen] was drawn together about Hambledon Hill; – where indeed near two thousand were gathered. I sent ‘up’ a forlorn-hope of about fifty Horse; who coming very civilly to them, they fired upon them; and ours desiring some of them to come to me, were refused with disdain. They were drawn into one of the old Camps, upon a very high Hill: I sent one Mr. Lee to them, To certify the peaceableness of my intentions, and To desire them to peaceableness, and to submit to the Parliament. They refused and fired at us. I sent him a second time, To let them know, that if they would lay down their arms, no wrong should be done to them. They still (through the animation of their leaders, and especially two vile ministers) refused; I commanded your Captain-Lieutenant to draw up to them, to be in readiness to charge; and if, upon his falling-on, they would lay down arms, to accept them and spare them. When we came near, they refused this offer, and let fly at him; killed about two of his men, and at least four horses. The passage not being for above three a-breast, kept us out; whereupon Major Desbrow wheeled about; got in the rear of them, beat them from the work, and did some small execution upon them; – I believe killed not twelve of them, but cut very many, ‘and put them all to flight.’ We have taken about 300; many of which are poor silly creatures, whom if you please to let me send home, they promise to be very dutiful for time to come, and will be hanged before they come out again. The ringleaders which we have, I intend to bring to you...

It’s interesting how he refers to the ‘work’ and ‘passage’, so the Clubmen were clearly using the prehistoric earthworks for defence.
From p174 of Oliver Cromwell’s Letters and Speeches: with elucidations By Thomas Carlyle, published 1845, online at Google books.

At the bottom of the hill we met a man with a musquet, and asked whither he was going; he said to the club-army; we asked what he meant to do; he asked what we had to do with that. Being required to lay down his arms, he said he would first lose his life, but was not so good as his word, for, although he cocked and presented his musquet, he was prevented, disarmed and wounded, but not killed. Then we marched up the hill, which had been an old Romane work, deeply trenched. The lieutenant-general sent before a lieutenant with a party of horse to require an account of their meeting. He was answered with half-a-dozen shot, and could get no other answer...

... the club-men shot from the bank of the old work, and kept the passage with musquets and other weapons, which was no broader than for three horse to march abreast. Upon this attempt we lost a man or two, had eight or nine wounded, six or seven horses killed. Upon this, Major Desborough, with the general’s regiment, went round about a ledge of the hill and made a hard shift to climbe up and enter on their rear; which they no sooner discerned but after a short dispute they ran, and the passage formerly assaulted was opened, and all the clubmen dispersed and disarmed, some slain, many wounded; the rest slid and tumbled down that great steep hill to the hazard of their necks. There were brought away 400 of them to Shrawton, of which number 200 were wounded in this skirmish.

I think this writing brings to life the fight – and perhaps has echoes of previous fights that went on at the site?

‘The Knolls’ is the apt name of the big Victorian house in whose gardens these two round barrows can be found. They’re 60 metres apart. Unfortunately they’ve both been damaged slightly by an Edwardian urge to build a tennis court, but they’re still 1.5m and 2m high, according to the information in the scheduled monument record.

Something else to throw into the Medway mix. I’d not heard of these pits before, perhaps they’re not prehistoric at all, but their proximity to Kit’s Coty and the rest is interesting, and they are to do with flint..

At several places in this part of Kent, especially on and near the high ridge which runs to the westward, there have been observed deep pits, evidently of a very remote antiquity. They consist of a large circular shaft, descending like a well, and opening at the bottom into one or more chambers..

On Friday, the 23rd of August, 1844, having obtained permission to excavate in the estate belonging to Preston Hall, which extends over the top of this hill, I took some labourers with me.. to examine the ground behind Kits Coty House.. I proceeded further on the top of the hill into what I knew to be the Preston Hall property, and on the ground just within the limits of Aylesford common I found single stones, closely resembling those of which the cromlechs below are built, but lying flat on the ground.

My first impression was that they were the capstones of cromlechs, or sepulchral chambers, buried under theground, and, having singled out one of them, I set the men to dig under the side of it. When they got under the edge they found thye were digging among a mass of flints, which had evidently been placed there by design; I then caused the men to continue the excavation to a greater distance round, and, to my surprise, I found that this immense stone was laid over the mouth of a large circular pit which had first been filled up to the top with flints. To proceed any further without a greater number of men than I had with me would have been useless.

But, just as I was leaving it, some of the cottagers on the top of the hill – squatters – informed me that these pits were frequently found on that hill, and that they generally had one or two of the large stones at the mouth. When, a few years before, a new road was made over the brow of the hill, and flints were sought for that purpose, the labourers discovered these pits and partly emptied some of them, which they found much more profitable than seeking the flints on the surface of the chalk. One was shown to me which had been emptied to a depth of about ten feet, and had been discontinued on account of the labour of throwing the flints up.

p565 in The Gentleman’s Magazine for 1852, in an article on ‘The Valley of Maidstone – Kits Coty House and the Cromlechs around’ by Thomas Wright.

Norman’s Law (the hill of the northern men) is in height 850 feet above the sea level. It commands a most delightful prospect, especially to the north, where the Carse of Gowrie and the Frith of Tay appear in full view in all their richness and variety. There are three concentric circles of rough stone near the top, supposed to have been a fortification of the Danes to cover their inroads into the country, or perhaps erected by the natives to repel these invaders.

From The New Statistical Account of Scotland By Society for the Benefit of the Sons and Daughters of the Clergy (1845) v11, p49.

It seems from the RCAHMS record that the two outermost rings are the oldest, and delineate the prehistoric hillfort. The innermost possibly postdates the Roman invasion and was built to protect the huts of the settlement within.

Could this refer to the same stone? The area sounds convincingly between Bratton and Edington.

The following occurs in a Perambulation of the Hundred and Parish of Westbury, temp. Eliz., 1575:

“And so by a straight line between Eddington Field and Bretton’s Field to a stone called ‘Patten’s Stone’ (anciently Padcanstone; and so straight along the way to a little ball where once was a stone cross, called Lealland Cross, standing on the highway between Devizes and Warminster.”

A contribution on p278 of Wiltshire Notes and Queries, June 1894.

Magic doesn’t yet have any information on this location, though it does list it as a scheduled monument, being a prehistoric cemetery. The Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro has some of the finds. The following are extracts from chapter 9 of ‘A Book of Folk-lore’ by Sabine Baring-Gould [1913], online at:
sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/bof/bof09.htm

In September 1900, I received a summons to go to Padstow in Cornwall, as at Harlyn Bay near there a prehistoric necropolis had been discovered in blown sand that had been carried some way inland and was hard compacted. A gentleman had bought a field there, and was about to build a house. I found that he was impatient to get his dwelling ready before winter, or, at all events, have the foundations and walls got on with, and he would not allow a slow and careful exploration. It had to be done in a hurry. What was more, and even worse, the fact of the discovery got into the Cornish and Devon papers. The season was that of tourists. The owner charged sixpence a head for visitors, and they came in swarms, pushing everywhere, poking about the skeletons and skulls with their umbrellas and parasols, scrabbling in the graves in quest of “finds”, and from the moment this rabble appeared on the scene no work could be done save protection of what had already been uncovered. A more distressing and disappointing exploration could not be imagined. However, some points were determined.

More than a hundred graves were uncovered; they were composed of boxes of slate in which the skeleton sat crouched, mainly, but not exclusively, on the right side. Some were of females, some of mothers with their infants in their arms. No skull was discovered that indicated death through violence, and all skeletons were complete. Some of the coffins were in layers, one above another; rudely speaking, they pointed east and west, the heads being to the west; but what governed the position seemed to be the slope of the hill, that fell away somewhat steeply from the south to the north.

Some bronze fibulae were found, finely drawn armlets of bronze wire making spiral convolutions about the wrist, a necklace of very small amber and blue glass beads strung on this bronze wire; a good deal of iron so corroded that, what with the friability and the meddlesomeness of the visitors, who would finger everything exhumed, it was not possible to make out more than that they did not represent fragments of weapons...

There were found at the time a great many needles and prongs of slate, which were afterwards exhibited on the spot and sold to tourists as stone spearheads. They were no such thing. They were splinters of a soft local slate that had been rolled by the wind and grated by the sand into the shape they assumed, and such are found all through the district...

On the right hand of the way, coming from Padstow, probably more of the necropolis remains, and it is earnestly to be desired that it may at some time be scientifically examined, without the intrusion of the ignorant and vulgar being permitted...

From Castle Combe I took a northerly direction, in order to investigate another fragment of British antiquity, recorded by Mr. Aubrey in his manuscripts. He distinguishes it by the name of Long barrow, which is situated in the parish of Luckington, Wilts, adjoining to the Lord Marquisse of Worcester’s parke at Badminton: [“] it is long, and some oakes and other trees and boscage cover it. [“]

“Here were accidentally discovered, since the yeare 1646, certain small caves, about five or six in number; they were about fower foot in height, and seven or eight foot long; being floored, lined and rooft with great plank stones, which are plentifull hereabout.”

From the experience I have lately had in similar antiquities, I can with safety pronounce this to have been a long barrow with a kistvaen (as at Lugbury), placed at the east end; and it is very probable that the oblong stone enclosures on the sides of the barrow may have also been appropriated to sepulchral purposes..

From Richard Colt Hoare’s ‘History of Ancient Wiltshire’, online at Wiltshire County Council’s website:
wiltshire.gov.uk/community/gettextimage.php?book_no=057&chapter_no=05&page_no=0006&dir=next

Here is Richard Colt Hoare’s description of the same excavation:

A little to the west of Alfred’s Tower is a large mound of earth, vulgarly called JACK’S CASTLE, and generally considered as one of those beacons, where in former times, fires were lighted to alarm the neighbourhood on the approach of an enemy:
“And flaming beacons cast their blaze afar,
The dreadful signal of invasive war.”
Its elevated situation over the great forest of Selwood, commanding a distant view of the Severn, was well adapted to such a purpose, and might have been so used; but I always had considered its original destination to have been sepulchral, and so, on opening, it proved to be.

After digging for some feet through a soft sand, we came to a thick stratum of picked flints, under which was deposited an interment of bones very minutely burned, enclosed within a cist, and amongst them a small lance head of brass, and an axe or hammer of a species of stone, called Sienite.. The lance head had been esteemed valuable by the Briton its possessor, for it was protected by a sheath of wood. The axe is one of the most perfect we have discovered, and is very nicely formed. The high antiquity of this tumulus, which I shall call SELWOOD BARROW, is satisfactorily proved by the articles found within it.

From ‘The History of Ancient Wiltshire’, online at the Wiltshire County Council website
wiltshire.gov.uk/community/gettextimage.php?book_no=056&chapter_no=03&page_no=0009&dir=next

This fort is on a sticky-out finger of land just above Stourhead, which was where Richard Colt Hoare lived.

The first [object that deserves attention] is a camp in Stourhead Park, double ditched, and of a form nearly circular, with entrances towards the east and west: it occupies the whole ridge of the hill, and is naturally defended on each side by steep and precipitous ground. The area within the outer ditch contains seven acres: the circuit of the ditch is three furlongs 20 yards, and the sloping height of the vallum, where deepest, is 27 feet. A little beyond this camp rises the river Stour, from six springs or wells, which the Stourton family take as their armorial bearings: the ancient park wall ran between them..

From ‘Station 1’ of Colt Hoare’s “History of Ancient Wiltshire”, online here at the Wiltshire County Council website
wiltshire.gov.uk/community/gettextimage.php?book_no=056&chapter_no=03&page_no=0007&dir=next

On Watch Croft, one massive cairn was built on the very summit of a hill that lacks any tors. On the western edge of the summit area another cairn was built. This cairn incorporates within its structure a series of grounders. The most massive of these is to the north, and is enclosed by the kerb of the cairn. This grounder is 4.5m long, 1.5m high, and has a water-filled solution basin on its upper surface measuring 20x30cm with a depth of 15cm. W C Borlase dug into this cairn. At the time of his excavation the stone with the solution basin was ‘uncovered’. Judging from the amount of cairn material now present within the cairn, and the amount surrounding it that was dug out, this stone was never completely covered. Its uppermost surface, with the solution basin, was meant to be seen.
[..]
This is the only area on Watch Croft where solution basins occur. What is particularly significant is that the cairn overlooks the Men-An-Tol, another culturally transformed solution basin, from which the hill is dominant on the northeastern skyline.

[later in the article it is suggested:]
The incorporation of solution basins within cairns, as at Watch Croft and Boscawen Un, or the placing of cairns in their vicinity during the Bronze Age, may be all about connecting the purity of rain water with death rites involving a requirement for purification in relation to the potential pollution of death. The circular form of many of the basins in turn connects them with the circularity of the sun that dies a dramatic fiery death in the sea every day in the west, only to be reborn perfectly formed in the cool air of the eastern morning. Water is thus conceptually connected both to death and the regeneration of life. It both extinguishes fire and gives birth to it. Given that cremation appears to have been the primary burial rite, this general metaphorical connection is of particular interest.

An Archaeology of Supernatural Places: The Case of West Penwith
Christopher Tilley; Wayne Bennett
The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Vol. 7, No. 2. (Jun., 2001), pp. 335-362.

Tilley and Bennett’s article describes the unusual ‘solution basins’ (rocks wiv big round holes in) that are a product of erosion in the West Penwith area, and the apparent relationship between rock outcrops (where these basins are) and nearby Neolithic sites. This excerpt suggests an origin for the holed Men-An-Tol stone:

The southwest face of the [holed] stone is virtually flat, while the northeast face has a distinctly bevelled edge. It has been variously suggested that these stones formed part of a circle here or are the remains of a chambered tomb. Neither explanation is very convincing. It would seem best to maintain that this monument is a distinctive stone setting associated with the Boskedan stone circle, which is sited on the skyline and visible from the Men-An-Tol stones on top of a hill 750m to the ENE. The overall axis of the Men-An-Tol stone alignment is NE-SW, the direction of the midsummer sunrise and midwinter sunset.

The holed stone almost certainly rested originally in a horizontal position on the very top of a tor stack, with its flat southwest side forming the flat bottom of the basin while the bevelled northwest side was the uppermost surface holding water until the base eroded through. Thus, the Men-An-Tol holed stone, set upright, is a direct inversion of the original position of the stone in its natural state. A form that once held water has now become dry and transformed into a material metaphor for the setting and rising sun. This conceptual transformation is strengthened by the stone’s alignment on the rising and setting sun at important times of the year.

The rocks nearest to the Men-An-Tol with solution basins of the requisite size and form occur on the southern end of Zennor Hill, 4.75km NE. Here, there is an extant example which has completely eroded through of slightly larger dimensions: 50-80cm in internal diameter and about 30cm thick. The overall alignment of the stones might thus also be making reference to the origin of the holed stone in the complex, a mnemonic statement.

Holed stones of the type used at Men-An-Tol and found on Zennor Hill are extremely rare. In almost all instances solution basins erode through the sides. We should also note that the main process of erosion effectively ceases when water can drain out of the basin. Large holed basins are therefore very special and almost certainly of great antiquity. The Men-An-Tol needs to be considered as a very special stone which has been curated in a uniquely meaningful way.

An Archaeology of Supernatural Places: The Case of West Penwith
Christopher Tilley; Wayne Bennett
The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Vol. 7, No. 2. (Jun., 2001), pp. 335-362.

On a high point of [this] hill.. is a very interesting monument of antiquity, and by far the most complete of any we have yet met with. I have taken notice of these circles amongst the earthen works in my Introduction.. but the one on Codford Hill so far exceeds all these in symmetry of form, and beauty of situation, that I have purposely reserved my description.. for the present occasion.

This earthen work, is situated on the summit of a hill commanding a most extensive and interesting prospect. It forms nearly a complete circle, the area of which contains above nine acres, and the circuit amounts to three furlongs and one hundred and ten yards. It is surrounded by a neatly formed vallum and foss, which, together with the area, have been much defaced by the plough.

It is vulgarly called OLDBURY CAMP, but the smallness of the enclosure, as well as the slightness of the ramparts, evidently contradict the idea of its either having been made or used for military purposes; it has no signs of any entrance, nor is the ditch within, as we frequently find to be the case in the earthen works appropriated to religious purposes. That this work was dedicated to some juridical or religious ceremonies, the nature of its plan, its size, and elevated situation seem to indicate.

[Colt Hoare goes on to describe how the Persians and others worshipped (on) hills, so tacitly making an analogy with places like Codford]

.. for they say, that the Gods are extremely delighted with such high and pleasant spots. This practice in early time was almost universal, and every mountain was esteemed holy. The people who prosecuted this method of worship, enjoyed a soothing infatuation, which flattered the gloom of superstition.

The eminences to which they retired, were lonely and silent; and seemed to be happily circumstanced for contemplation and prayer. They who frequented them were raised above the lower world, and fancied that they were brought into the vicinity of the powers of the air and of the Deity who resided in the higher regions. But the chief excellence for which they were frequented was, that they were looked upon as the peculiar places where God delivered his oracles.

From chapter 5, p13 of the ‘History of Ancient Wiltshire’ by Richard Colt Hoare.
Online here at the Wiltshire County Council website:
wiltshire.gov.uk/community/gettextimage.php?book_no=056&chapter_no=05&page_no=0013&dir=next

The first object of our attention, near a clump of trees called ROBIN HOOD BALL, is one of those ancient circles which I have before mentioned and described.. This, like the generality of them, is placed on an elevated and commanding situation, but has this peculiarity, of having one circle within the other, with an entrance towards the north.

We have to regret the great injury these circles have sustained by the plough, as in their original state they must have been highly curious, and are the more remarkable, from representing a double circle.

On the north-west side of this work are some barrows, one of which had been opened before, but in exploring it our men turned out the fragments of burned bones and a singular whetstone. Lower down on the south are some other barrows; in one of which, was found a brass dart or arrow head. To the east is a long barrow.

From p82 of “The History of Ancient Wiltshire” by Sir Richard Colt Hoare, which can be seen on Wiltshire County Council’s website here:
wiltshire.gov.uk/community/gettextimage.php?id=2049

It sounds like the poor thing was being ploughed recently:

... the plowing up, in 1984, of a Neolithic settlement by Robin Hood’s Ball, not for pressing reasons of military imperative or national security but as preparation for the planting of kale to feed sport-shooters’ pheasants. Fortunately this unplanned catastrophe was put to good use by an intensive archaeological survey of the plowed zone, providing the first systematic information about the settlement.

(from Managing for Effective Archaeological Conservation: The Example of Salisbury Plain Military Training Area. By Roy Canham and Christopher Chippindale, in Journal of Field Archaeology, Vol. 15, No. 1 (Spring, 1988), pp. 53-65.)

Things were different in prehistory. Contrary to rdavymed’s modern assessment, this long barrow has been inspiring at times. It seems to have been the focus for a later cemetery of Bronze Age round barrows – there are four close by and a number of others in the vicinity. It didn’t escape Roman attention either, as a burial with Samian pottery was found in the mound: it is after all but a step away from the Roman road and remains of the aqueduct that took water to Roman Dorchester. The barrow may also have a view over the confluence of the Cerne and the Frome below?

(info from the s.m. record on Magic).

This long barrow is on a spur of Bere Down, and overlooks the Bere valley below. It’s about 55m long but has been reduced to less than a metre high. Five sarsens protrude from the middle of the mound, so it’s a bit more exciting than your average ploughed longbarrow. The area is liberally scattered with groups of later round barrows.

(facts from the sm record on Magic)

Between these two [Kit’s Coty and the Countless Stones] a third dolmen is said to have existed within the memory of man, but no trace of it is now to be found.

In the rear of these groups, nearer the village, there exists, or existed, a line of great stones, extending from a place called Spring Farm, in a north-easterly direction, for a distance of three quarters of a mile, to another spot known as Hale Farm, (When I was there four years ago I was fortunate enough to find an old man, a stonemason, who had been employed in his youth in utilizing these stones. He went over the ground with me, and pointed out the position of those he remembered.) passing through Tollington, where the greater number of the stones are now found.

In front of the line near the centre at Tollington lie two obelisks, known to the country people as the coffin-stones – probably from their shape. They are 12 feet long by 4 to 6 broad, and about 2 or 3 feet thick. (It is extremely difficult to be precise about the dimensions. One is wholly buried in the earth, and its dimensions can only be obtained by probing; the other is half buried.) They appear to be partially hewn, or at least shaped, so as to resemble one another.

Besides these stones, which are all on the right bank of the river, there are several groups at or near Addington, about five miles to the westward of Aylesford. Two of these in the park at Addington have long been known to antiquaries, having been described and figured in the ‘Archaeologia’ in 1773. (Archaeologia,’ii. 1773, p. 107.) The first is a small circle, about 11 feet in diameter, the six stones comprising, it being 19 feet high, 7 wide, and 2 in thickness. Near it is the larger one of oval form, measuring 50 paces by 42 paces. The stones are generally smaller than those of the other circle.

The other groups or detached stones are described by Mr. Wright, (Wanderings of an Antiquary;, London, 1854, P. 175 et seqq.) who went over the ground with that excellent and venerable antiquary the Rev. L. B. Larking. They seem to have adopted the common opinion that an avenue of such stones existed all the way from Addington to Aylesford, but it seems to me that there is no sufficient evidence to justify this conclusion. Many of the stones seem natural boulders, and in no place is any alignment distinctly perceptible.

From chapter four of James Fergusson’s ‘Rude Stone Monuments’ (1864) which has been graciously added to the Olivaceous Megalithic Portal, here:
megalithic.co.uk/downloads/rude_stone/Rude_Stone_Monuments_Chapter_4.pdf
megalithic.co.uk/download.php?op=getit&lid=77

There are two Bronze Age barrows about 100m apart on Chipperfield Common: one at TL047012 and one at TL046012. They’re apparently on a marked ‘heritage walk’ so there’s no excuse to get lost. Also there are some nice heathy areas and some ancient sweet chestnuts to see.

There are three barrows in this wood. One is a Bronze Age bell barrow at TL214208. Two more barrows lie close to a public footpath at TL217209. They might be close together, but interestingly one is Bronze Age, and the other unusually dates from Roman times. The Roman one has steeper sides and is about 1.5m high; the native version is lower at 0.5m. There aren’t many of the Roman variety about and they do tend to be in this part of the country. It’s interesting to think about the occupant’s motivations for building such a barrow. Its adjacent model would have been 100s (if not 1000s) of years old at that time.

(info from the scheduled monument record on magic)

You’ll only see one round barrow here, and it’s quite sizeable, being 3.5m high. But there was actually another 25m to the east, which was lost by ploughing. I wonder what twist of fate led to one gaining itself a name, and the other disappearing. Can the ‘Ickle’ be to do with the ‘Icknield’ Way, which is close by? But it’s on a hill so I don’t know where the ‘ford’ must be from.

Some excavations were made in 1816, when a cremation burial was found, along with two bronze spear heads and a copper blade. A skeleton was also found in or near the mound – perhaps this was from a later era?

The barrow is not far from Wilbury Hill and the Icknield Way. You can probably see it quite well from the train between Hitchin and Letchworth.

(facts and figures from the scheduled monument record on Magic)

Wilbury Hill bears the traces of a univallate hillfort which was begun in the Late Bronze Age (c700BC). The banks and ditches were improved in the Iron Age, and the site was occupied in Roman times too. You might not be able to see much of what’s left of the two adjoining enclosures, but you’ll certainly get an idea of the fort’s lofty position and views. The fort is right on the prehistoric Icknield Way.

More details can be found in the scheduled monument record here:
magic.gov.uk/rsm/29387.pdf

The scheduled monument record calls this a bowl barrow, and there is another nearby on a similarly prominent point on the hills here, at Tingley Field Plantation. Knocking Knoll was partially excavated in 1856 by William Ransom from Hitchin, and pottery from the site is apparently held in the Hitchin Museum.

The Sandy Lodge fort would have been first occupied in the very early Iron Age (according to information on the ‘Magic’ schedule). It probably just had a wooden palisade rather than a more hefty earthen bank and ditch. Now the area has been disturbed by quarrying in places, but as the fort used a natural promontory, it might not be too difficult to work out where it might have been . It would only have been 150m from the Galley Hill fort, but this was probably used later? It’s a nice place to visit (nature trails go through this area – it is part of the RSPB headquarters)and you can get a feel for the view its inhabitants would have had, out over the flat countryside below.

I found this article in the Biggleswade Chronicle (11th July 1969):

Students excavate Middle Stone Age site at Sandy.

A spur of land at The Lodge, Sandy, headquarters of The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, was the scene last week of an archaeological excavation by 20 students from Putteridge Bury College of Education, Luton. The excavation, or ‘dig’, was led by Mr James Dyer, a lecturer at the college and editor of The Bedfordshire Magazine.

Mr Dyer explained that the site, a sandy spur overlooking the Ivel valley at Sandy, was first occupied extensively by Middle Stone Age people about 8,000 BC. These people lived by fishing in the Ivel and hunting animals and game in the pine forests on the greensand ridge. Excavation carried out last year and last week produced many tiny flint implements which formed the tips to arrows and spears. The settlement area of these people was extensive, and probably stretched as far north as the present site of the TV mast on Sandy Heath.

Mr Dyer said during the Iron Age period, a farmstead was constructed on the hill-top, and pottery and more flints found by himself and the students revealed the date of occupation as about 300 BC. He went on: “For some unknown reason it was considered necessary to defend the hill-spur and a great bank of sand was thrown up, 10 feet high and 30 feet wide, held in position by a dry stone wall on the outside, and a ramp of turf on the inside. Material to build the bank came from a great irregular ditch dug into the sandstone, which measured some 40 feet wide and eight feet deep in places. The defended farmstead was entered along a rock causeway, which had a stout wooden gate at one end.”

It is thought the farm was probably superseded as a defensive position by the hill fort known as Galley Hill, on the adjoining hill-spur. Both are in view from the Roman fort on Biggleswade Common, which was excavated about 14 years ago. A third Iron Age defensive work, misnamed Caesar’s Camp, overlooks the railway station at Sandy. all of which indicate a rather restless population in the area prior to the Roman conquest.

In 1540 Leland described Dray’s Ditches, three miles north of Luton, as “longe trenches, as they had been for Men of warre”.

I have not read the original, but found this exerpt in Notes and Queries for January 1962, p2.

E. M. Forster first visited Figsbury Ring in September 1904. The site acts as an important site in his novel ’ The Longest Journey’, in which he calls it Cadbury Rings. He met a shepherd boy there who had a ‘club foot’ – he also incorporated this symbolically into the book.

At Winterbourne Abbas, four or five miles from Dorchester, is a small circle called the “Nine stones,” 28 or 30 feet in diameter (not in height as stated by the Post Office Directory); six stones only remain, two of which are 6 feet high, the others half that size or less; there are a road and a ploughed field close to the north of this circle, so that if there were ever an outlying stone there it has probably been destroyed or buried; according to Gough’s Camden’s “Britannia” there were formerly a large single stone half-a-mile to the west of this circle, and four smaller ones half-a-mile west of that, but I could hear nothing of them.

You can’t get the staff these days. p119 in
Remarks on Some Archaic Structures in Somersetshire and Dorsetshire.
A. L. Lewis
The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 11. (1882), pp. 117-122.

[tending to the conclusion that] these northern invaders and colonists overcame and killed or ousted the former possessors of the lands, which they then proceeded to rename [..]
A like change took place in respect of one of the most marked natural features of the entire Cleveland district, namely, what is now called Roseberry Topping. Between the dates 1119 and 1540, I find the name of this conspicuous hill written Otneberch, Ohtnebereg, Othenbruche, Othenesbergh, Ornbach, Ounsbery, Onesbergh, and, more corruptly, Hensberg (1119), Hogtenberg, Thuerbrugh, Thuerbrught, all (except the two last) manifest corruptions of an original Odinberg (a name which could only have been imposed by Danes), but never written Roseberry.

p360 in
On the Danish Element in the Population of Cleveland, Yorkshire
J. C. Atkinson
The Journal of the Ethnological Society of London (1869-1870), Vol. 2, No. 3. (1870), pp. 351-366.

Mr. McCombie Stewart (a man of diverse talents) confirms the strange qualities of the largest stones:

Mr. McCombie Stewart, the station-master at Dyce, who should be consulted by any one visiting Dyce for scientific purposes, informed me that there was formerly a hole in the middle of the circle, which might be suggestive of the former existence of a kist; he also told me that there was supposed to be iron in the largest stones, and this seems very probable, for, on working my rough plans out at home, I found a disagreement in the compass-bearings. In this emergency I applied to Mr. McCombie Stewart, sending him a plan and asking him to verify my compass-bearings and some other particulars. He was so kind as not only to do this, but to get one of the Engineers of the railway to make an exact plan of the circle, showing the bearing of each stone from the centre. I am happy to be able to say as showing the accuracy of my own methods, that my plan superposed upon his gave practically the same results.

In the letter accompanying the plan, Mr. McCombie Stewart, who is qualified to speak as a geologist, says, “We were unable to account for the peculiar ringing sound of the altar stone, unless it be caused by the flat shape of the stone, having its side firmly fixed in the ground, the projecting part having a certain vibration – or if it were from the hard heathen substance of an iron nature – but one thing is certain, the stone is not of the same nature as those belonging to the neighbouring quarry.

From p45 of
Stone Circles Near Aberdeen
A. L. Lewis
The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 17. (1888), pp. 44-57.

This information comes from ‘The Date of the Three Shire Stones near Batheaston’ by AJH Gunstone, p210 in the Trans Brist/Glouc Arch Soc v82 (1963):

‘Most field archaeologists who have studied the site in recent years have suggested’ that the megalith was built in the early 18th century reusing stones from some ruined chambered tomb in the district, possibly the one drawn and described by Aubrey in the mid 17th century (see TBGAS 79 p1/18 for a sketch).

There are three small dressed stones inside, each dated 1736 and with the initial of one of the three counties.

“Completion of the project in February 1859 was given wide publicity in local newspapers and national journals and these reports added that in the hole excavated for the upright stone on the Gloucestershire side three skeletons and a coin of James II were found.”

And here is part of a letter referring to the newly spruced up monument:

Bath. Nov 17th 1858.
Sir.
For the last 120 years the only index to mark the junction of the 3 Counties of Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire on Bannerdown [..] consisted of three Stones of the dimensions ordinarily used for mere stones in Common field lands; and they were in such a position that travellers could not possibly be attracted by them; and that even those, who knew of their existence, could not at once discover them.

[..] it was resolved that a Cromlech should be erected over the old stones [..]

The total cost was £34 5s and 8d. I thought it was rather nice that “Dinner to the Workmen” was listed as one of the expenses.

Eleven stones, twelve stones? who knows.

The local name for the stones is ” The Twelve Apostles.” When the rustic believer in Druidism is asked, why so, when there are only eleven stones ? the reply usually bears upon the treachery of Judas Iscariot. Further inquiry is, of course, rendered useless. That there were a century ago really twelve stones I have already shown : that there are now only eleven is equally true. The oldest observer whose testimony has been accessible to me firmly alleges the removal of one stone, and within the memory of living persons eleven has always been the number. It was with the greatest surprise, therefore, that, on consulting the O.M. 25” scale, I found twelve stones marked—the extra stone being shown some 40 feet or so N.W. of stone F—its position is quite immaterial.

At a loss to account for this resurrection of a stone in 1850, which in 1837 was non-existent, I bethought me of writing to my friend Captain C. F. Mould of H.M. Survey, now stationed at Chester. His reply is somewhat startling’ in its suggestiveness :— “There should only be eleven stones. The drawn plan shows only this number; but there turns out to have been an accidental blue spot on this plan which has been reproduced by the’ zincography on the published plans.”

On such trivial mechanical accidents may the most mystical theories in archaeology repose !

From Coles, Fred. R: “The Stone Circle at Holywood, Dumfriesshire.” p84-90 in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
Volume 28 (1893-94).
ads.ahds.ac.uk/cfm/archway/toc.cfm?rcn=1340&vol=28

There is a theory that Gower takes its name.. from the many stones or rude columns yet found there. A pitched stone of considerable size, when I last saw it, was lying opposite the gate of Llanrhidian Church. This stone had been removed from its original position upwards of sixty years ago. The speculation is that an ancient people, the Cymry, when settling in Gower, finding so many stone pillars, called the district Gwyr, or, as is stated, ” Meini Gwyr” (the land of the stone men). Many learned archaeologists assign these stones to a period carrying us to prehistoric times.

Flimsy theory I’d say, considering the ‘gower’ bit doesn’t mean stone. It’s funny that he should only mention one stone? as Jane found two. And that it was lying down – is it the stone underneath in her photo? It’s interesting that it should be said to have been removed from elsewhere. All very strange.

From Alfred Chas. Jonas, in Notes and Queries H. P. L. s10-XI (266): 95. (1909).

According to the dictionary, ‘addwyn’ is an old fashioned word meaning “gentle, fine; good, brave” – so this is a fine stone indeed. Samuel Lewis, in his 1833 ‘Topographical Dictionary of Wales’ calls it ‘the blessed stone’.
genuki.org.uk/big/wal/AGY/LlanfihangelTrerBeirdd/index.html

Dr Stukeley, writing about the middle of the last century, says: ” At the south side of the town of Shap we saw the beginning of a great Celtic avenue on a green common; this avenue is 70 feet broad, composed of very large stones set at equal intervals; it seems to be closed at this end, which is on an eminence and near a long flattish barrow with stone works upon it, hence it proceeds northward to the town, which intercepts the continuation of it and was the occasion of its ruin, for manyo f the stones are put under the foundations of walls and houses, being pushed by machines they call a ‘betty,’ or blown up with gunpowder; . . . houses and fields lie across the track of this avenue, and some of the houses lie in the enclosure; it ascends a hill, crosses the common road to Penrith and so goes into the cornfields on the other side of the way westward, where some stones are left standing, one particularly remarkable, called the ‘Guggleby’ stone. . . I guess by the crebrity [sic] and number of the stones remaining there must have been 200 on a side...

Stukeley quoted in
On the Past and Present Condition of Certain Rude Stone Monuments in Westmoreland.
A. L. Lewis
The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 15. (1886), pp. 165-170.

The Proceedings of the Spelaeological Society of the University of Bristol for 1923 relate that various Roman artefacts were found here, as though the Romans had taken it over for their own purposes. According to the EH Excavation Index for England (via Heirport), most of the excavation records and artefacts relating to this site were destroyed during WW2.

The fort isn’t tucked into the curves of the adjacent stream as you’d perhaps expect. But then I’m not an Iron-Age fort builder.

A path (the long distance Community Forest Path / Frome Valley Walkway) crosses the fort.

A mere hair’s breadth from the M5, this fort has a single bank and ditch, damaged by quarrying.

Facts and figures courtesy of the South Gloucestershire SMR here
ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/search/fr.cfm?rcn=SGLOSSMR-SG2273

“About a mile from the church, on a farm called Bachwen, is a cromlech, remarkable for its large superincumbent stone, which has numerous small holes on its surface and two large ones, and for having four instead of three supporters.”
The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)

I suppose these holes must be the cupmarks to which Kammer refers in his post. Coflein says there are about 110 cupmarks on the upper surface of the capstone, and a further eight on its East face.

But as no-one’s mentioned the stone below, I suppose it must have met its fate at some point.

“In a field at Bachwen is a very large cromlech, and near it an upright stone, about nine feet high. ”
A Topographical Dictionary of Wales
Samuel Lewis, 1833

(I found these on the Genuki website here:
genuki.org.uk/big/wal/CAE/ClynnogVawr/Gaz1868.html )

According to this information from the South Gloucestershire SMR, ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/search/fr.cfm?rcn=SGLOSSMR-SG2402
the field in which the stones lie has been variously called Chestles, Chissels and Castles. There used to be a mound associated with the stones, and there were five stones here until about 1760. (It’s not immediately clear to me which references given on the webpage refer to which bits of this information).

According to the South Gloucestershire SMR, here
ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/search/fr.cfm?rcn=SGLOSSMR-SG2335
a large stone used to stand somewhere between here and the Toots fort. In the 1950s it was seen lying across a small stream (somewhere near ST611923) but when it was sought for in 1982 it was not located, and the owner of the land had never heard of it. Not that that means anything. How can you lose a stone 8ftx2ftx1ft? Can it still be about?

This site has been known as Penning or Avebury Down ‘Stone Circle’, but it’s actually thought to be the remains of a bell barrow. It has a 3m berm between its mound and its (now faintly perceptible) ditch. Today there are six large sarsens which make up the 16m diameter circle, with a number of smaller stones towards the still slightly raised middle. However, when the site was visited by Merewether in the 1840s he made a sketch that showed 8 stones and four pits from which others had been removed. He found pottery fragments and animal bones on partially excavating the area. Only about 250 bell barrows are known in Britain and most are in Wessex, though ones with such large stones making up the peristalith are unusual around Avebury. They were generally the pretty impressive final resting places of important men from the community.

(details from EH’s record of Scheduled Monuments on Magic)

In the article below, A. L. Lewis calls this stone ‘the Goon Rith or Longstone’.

Prehistoric Remains in Cornwall
The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 35. (Jul. – Dec., 1905), pp. 427-434.