Rhiannon

Archaeologists have uncovered what they believe is the broadest range of elaborately decorated prehistoric pottery ever found in Scotland, at the site for the new Kincardine Bridge. Other finds included ceremonial and working axes made with stone from the Ochil Hills.

The finds demonstrate just how far the River Forth has receded, as the “highly cultivated” site, which is three-quarters of a mile inland, was once on the waterfront.

see the rest of the article by George Mair at the Scotsman.com
news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=900472006

“Kingship & Sacrifice” will be officially opened by Arts Minister John O’Donoghue this afternoon at the Museum of Ireland in Dublin.

It’ll include the recently found bog bodies from Oldcroghan, Co Offaly and Clonycavan, Co Meath.

Admission is free. There’s a tour on the 24th June from 14:00-15:00.
museum.ie/index.asp

(spotted at online.ie
online.ie/News/News.aspx?newsId=385385

It seems you can go on a tour of the fort on the 29th June:
rspb.org.uk/england/central/events/index.asp?id=tcm:5-99339

also, from Biggleswade Today
biggleswadetoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=182&ArticleID=1529221

Excavations to try and unearth buried secrets of an Iron Age fort began at a Sandy nature reserve this week.

Archaeologists are carrying out a one-week dig on Sandy Warren’s Galley Hill Fort in a joint project between English Heritage and the RSPB.

It is hoped the £12,000 project will shed light on who lived there and what the area, believed to date back to 250BC, was used for.

Peter Bradley, RSPB site manager, said: “The reason for the work is, as far as we know, it has never been dug in the past and we would like to know more about it, particularly for when it is opened up to the public in a couple of years’ time.

“The idea is it would be seen from a very long way away by other tribes. It could have been defensive or a market place, or where people lived. We don’t know yet what use this fort had.”

A JCB digger is being used to excavate the banks and bore holes will be dug to uncover any remains.

[Lots of the land at the RSPB site here is being cleared of trees to return it to heathland – so it should be easier to see how it fits into the local landscape?]

“Aerial Photography and Archaeology – 100 Years of Discovery”

This travelling exhibition will display historic and modern photos and illustrations. It will be at Stonehenge from August 1-7, when a Virgin balloon will give ‘some visitors’* the chance to take their own aerial snaps.

The exhibition will also be shown at Old Sarum, the Alexander Keiller Museum in Avebury, Salisbury Museum, Devizes Museum, and the Royal Engineers’ Museum in Gillingham.

*whatever that means.

courtesy of Hob, two links to more information:
24hourmuseum.org.uk/nwh_gfx_en/ART38599.html

english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.6591

A new pecked chevron design has been found at Barclodiad y Gawres – bringing the total of decorated slabs at the site to six. It was initially discovered by amateur archaeologists Maggie and Keith Davidson, and officially recorded by rock art experts this month. The carving is very faint, which is why it was probably overlooked when the tomb was excavated in the 1950s.

see
arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1760335,00.html

(Well. Probably not.)

The man who created the Lightwater Valley theme park wants to turn the ancient Thornborough Henges into a tourist attraction.
Landowner Robert Staveley outlined his ideas at a public meeting called by West Tanfield Parish Council on Wednesday.

Mr Staveley said he aimed to create a car park and visitor centre, build a ‘transport system’ around the site and recreate the southernmost henge so visitors could see how it would have looked when it was built more than 5,000 years ago.

He said the henge mound would be covered in a membrane and earth added on top so as not to harm the archaeology.

“At the moment, when people come here they are so disappointed because there is so little there,” he said.

He added his plans were at a very early stage and more discussion would need to take place.

George Chaplain, of heritage campaign group, TimeWatch, who was at Wednesday’s meeting, said: “Mr Staveley’s proposals were not quite as frightening as they could have been.

“But I am concerned about recreating the southern henge. I would like to see entry to Thornborough Henges remain free of charge – I worry he is looking at it purely from a commercial perspective.”

Last week quarry firm Tarmac was refused planning permission to expand its current operations near the henges because of the importance of the site.

Commenting on Mr Staveley’s tourism scheme, a spokesman for the firm said: “We see no conflict in principle between tourists visiting the henges and continuation of our quarry at Nosterfield with the useful employment it provides.

“Visitors already come to the Nosterfield Quarry visitor centre and viewing area which opened last year – it is free and is popular with birdwatchers and walkers.”
03 March 2006
nidderdaletoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=22&ArticleID=1372826

A boat dating back to the Iron Age has gone on show at a Lincoln museum. The log boat, which has undergone four years of conservation work, is now on display at the city’s new archaeological museum – The Collection.

It was discovered in Fiskerton, Nottinghamshire in 2001, while the Environment Agency was carrying out improvement work on flood defences.

The 7m-long (23ft) oak boat will complete the museum’s display of Iron Age finds from the region.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lincolnshire/4756986.stm

The gallery’s website is
lincolnshire.gov.uk/ccm/
There is a search facility so you can see some of their archaeological objects.

See a picture of the beautiful stripey (part-of-an) axehead at The Courier:
thecourier.co.uk/output/2006/02/12/newsstory8018512t0.asp

There are contact details if you want to go on the next visit to the find site with the Kinnettles and District Heritage Group, on the 19th Feb.

From the TimesOnline article at
timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,61-2037531,00.html

At the Fumane cave on the southern edge of the Alps, an occupation with tools of Aurignacian type has been radiocarbon dated to between 34,000 and 32,000 years ago. In the Aurignacian deposits painted rock fragments were found which had spalled off the walls of the cave because of the freezing of water in cracks: erosion of the paint showed that the art, in red and yellow ochre lines, had been on the walls for some time before it fell and was buried.

Among the motifs is an “anthropomorph”, a humanoid figure, according to Dr Alberto Broglio. It is full face, with two horns which “may be a mask” on its head; the arms are by its side and the legs are spread. “The right hand is holding something which is hanging downwards, probably a ritual object,” Dr Broglio says. Another figure shows a four-legged animal seen from the side and “resembles the profile of a small statuette from Vogelherd”. Radiocarbon dates from the Vogelherd caves, near Ulm on the upper Danube, also give dates between 36,000 and 30,000 years ago...

Archaeologists examining a Bronze Age burial mound on the Black Mountain in Carmarthenshire found meadowsweet pollen grains.
“Adam Gwilt, curator of the Bronze and Iron Age Collection at the National Museum of Wales, said the discovery shed new light on ancient burials. He said: “It gives tenderness to otherwise remote and impersonal burial rites”. Mr Gwilt said the same burial ritual had been found as far away as the Orkney Islands in Scotland. “(does this mean using meadowsweet specifically?)

More at
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/4697748.stm
and
britarch.ac.uk/ba/ba88/news.shtml#item1

(If you want to grumble about geocaching at the site also page down and read at
britarch.ac.uk/ba/ba78/news.shtml

Groups campaigning to stop quarrying around Thornborough Henges have slammed a recently published conservation plan. TimeWatch is disappointed with the proposed Thornborough Henges Conservation Plan announced last week, saying it neither includes the entire Thornborough complex nor addresses all the important issues.

“The consultation group and the proposed conservation plan are a response to a number of concerns raised by many people regarding the preservation and appearance of the Thornborough Henges complex,” said George Chaplin, TimeWatch chairman.

“In particular, people are concerned that the wider archaeological landscape is being quarried and many thousands have signed the petition calling for a one mile ‘no quarry zone’ around the henges. The proposed area fails to address this.”

TimeWatch says that in early consultations the conservation plan area was shown to cover a stretch of the landscape from Kirklington to West Tanfield. Now they say the proposed conservation area is barely larger than the scheduled areas at Thornborough and omits Ladybridge Farm (the proposed site for further quarrying by Tarmac) and other areas known to hold archaeology related to the henges.

“In addition, there are concerns about the ongoing impact of the landfill site next door to the central henge, on the setting of the national monument in terms of looks and smell,” said Mr Chaplin. “This landfill site is outside of the conservation area.”

The group says it will be responding to the consultation and requesting that the plan be redrawn so that it addresses these fundamental concerns.

More of the article at Ripon News
nidderdaletoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=18&ArticleID=1338713

rspb.org.uk/action/stonehenge.asp

The RSPB says that the two proposed overground routes would destroy nesting and roosting sites of the stone curlew, which only has two UK strongholds.

“The southern route would destroy two-thirds of the RSPB’s Normanton Down Reserve and split the remainder, reducing its value to wildlife. The reserve is part of the Stonehenge World Heritage Site and boasts Britain’s most important Bronze Age barrow cemetery. The site is also an invaluable feeding ground for stone-curlews before they leave on migration. Last year 19 birds were seen together, using the area as a direct result of improved habitat management.

The northern option would run close to the Salisbury Plain Special Protection Area (SPA), a site protected by European wildlife laws. The road scheme would damage the potential of that land for increasing stone-curlew numbers.

Stonehenge lies close to the SPA, which together with Porton Down and Normanton Down forms north-west Europe’s largest network of chalk grassland. Corn bunting, skylark and lapwing are amongst declining birds using the area together with butterflies such as the grizzled skipper, one of several disappearing chalkland specialists. The harebell and dropwort are amongst thriving plants that are rare elsewhere.

The RSPB believes the government should not consider the northern or southern over-ground routes as viable options and hopes that the review process will lead to the adoption of route less damaging for the area’s wildlife.

TimeWatch has called for international support in the battle to save the Thornborough Henges from the threat of quarrying nearby.

Quarry company Tarmac Northern Ltd was granted a delay to the planning process while it carried out further archaeological investigations at its proposed quarry site at Ladybridge Farm, half a mile from the triple henge complex. These have now been completed and there is a new consultation process ahead of the the North Yorkshire County Council planning meeting on February 21 which will determine the firm’s application.

“As a result of Tarmac’s latest work, English Heritage have confirmed that the proposals will destroy archaeology of national importance,” said TimeWatch chairman George Chaplin this week. “This has vindicated our position and proves the area needs to be regarded as part of the setting of the Thornborough Henges complex”.

“NYCC have already confirmed there is no need for the gravel, and that the application fails several planning policies, but we are still concerned that any perceived drop in public concern may have a detrimental outcome on the decision. We are therefore asking the international community to show support for our campaign”.

Responses to this latest consultation should be sent to Mr Shaw, at the Minerals and Waste Planning Unit, County Hall, Northallerton, DL7 8AH by February 3 February.

nidderdaletoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=18&ArticleID=1321648

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4589638.stm

The two men (one a giant 6’6” compared to the other who was 5’2”) met their sticky ends (no pun intended) in bogs at Clonycavan and Croghan in the Iron Age. They were both found in 2003.
There will be a ‘Timewatch’ programme about them on the BBC on 20th January.

Archaeologists are currently studying the hoard found at Silk Mills Bridge near Taunton in the summer, before the items go on public display.

“Steven Membery, archaeologist for Somerset County Council, said of the site: “It appears to be an island in a large river. It was used seasonally probably for hunting ducks and fish. It’s rare to find hunter gathering communities like this anywhere so this is an important discovery.”

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/4576710.stm

northamptontoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=255&ArticleID=1300655

So this is how it should be done – with Chinook helicopters.

[One to sigh and shake your head at]

Rare bronze-age treasures were sold on eBay for £205, a coroner heard yesterday. Five bids were made and the axe heads were shipped over to Dutch collector Jeroen Zuiderwijk, who paid just a fraction of their real value. Luckily however, the archaeologist, an experimental metallurgist at a theme park, got in touch with UK museum authorities. The find was described by expert Ros Tyrrell as only the second ever bronze-age collection to be found in the Buckinghamshire area.

The series of 15 axe heads was believed to have been dug up using metal detectors by a couple known as Stuart and Tracey, from the Milton Keynes area of Buckinghamshire. When the couple moved to France in 2004 they gave the find to friends John Couchman and Lorraine Ayton who promptly put them up for sale on eBay.

“It would have been such a waste if they had been sold individually,” Ms Tyrrell told the inquest in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. “Now the hoard will stay together and will be available to see if people want to study it. You can only study what is available and this will be a valuable addition to our collection.”

The axe heads, held by the British Museum, are set to be handed to the Buckinghamshire County Museum in Aylesbury. Yesterday at the treasure trove inquest, Milton Keynes coroner Rodney Corner formally declared that the treasure belonged to the Crown. Since the 1996 Treasure Act, finders are no longer keepers and must report any objects more than 300 years old. However, the coroner heard that a lot of treasure was never handed in by unscrupulous metal detectors known as “night hawks” who only operated under cover of darkness.

“We are very grateful to Mr Zuiderwijk. He could have kept quiet and we would never have known. We would have lost our ability to study them,” Ms Tyrrell added. “These axe heads were high-tech in their day. They looked really swanky with their gold colouring.”

edited from the story by Fred Attewill at
news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=2450782005

A gold torc made from 25 metres of twisted wire was found in Sedgeford, Norfolk in the 1960s – but it had a bit missing. It went on display in the British Museum (who don’t care if things are a bit battered). Now Steve Hammond, a local amateur archaeologist, has found the missing section, about 400 yards away from the original find spot. Happily, the British Museum has been able to buy it with money from their Friends and the National Art Collections Fund – so the two bits are reunited once more. Ahh.

https://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1922526,00.html

It has beautifully snazzy La Tene style ends – you can see a picture on the British Museum Compass website.

The Chairman of TimeWatch, George Chaplin, is unhappy with the way the further examination of the Ladybridge farm site is being conducted.

“This newest digging will not produce the eight to ten per cent sample required by English Heritage and, in fact, is focused on an area where artefacts have already been found,” he said this week. The researchers appear to be focusing only on Neolithic archaeology in one location while additional important archaeology is likely to be located where they are not looking.

“We are concerned that the current digging is being done in a hurried manner, in bad weather, using heavy equipment, and without the constant supervision of an outside group of archaeologists who have no vested interest in the outcome.”

But archaeologist Steve Timms, who is heading the team conducting the additional archaeological investigation at Ladybridge, has dismissed the group’s claims.

More at knaresboroughtoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=18&ArticleID=1244009

There is an open morning at the site tomorrow between 8am and noon.

Unusual designs have been found on a 5000-year-old stone slab discovered inside a cairn near Beauly. The sandstone slab formed one side of a burial chamber within the cairn, and was discovered after Highland Council ordered a quarry company to undertake an archaeological survey on the site at Balblair prior to extracting rock and gravel.

Andrew Dutton, a senior archaeologist with Headland Archaeology, said:
“It has certainly got people scratching their heads, ” he admitted. “It is unique. There is a lot of rock art around here and the cup and ring symbol can be seen in the open air at several sites but the curvilinear lines on this slab are very strange. Also the cup marks have been worked through from both sides until there is a perforation that, perhaps, people could look through to see inside the kist or to let light inside.”

The stone is now in a store at Inverness Museum until more of its story can be unravelled. Conservation officer Jeanette Pearson is making its surface stable to preserve the carvings.“It is very unusual, ” she said. “I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s certainly not Pictish so we are seeking specialist advice from the National Museum to help us identify it.”

From the Inverness Courier article here.

The excavation of an Iron Age site at Sand Wick on Unst, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Historic Scotland, was initially aimed at training volunteers how to excavate eroding coastlines. However, archaeologists from Glasgow University, the Scottish Coastal Archaeology and the Problems of Erosion Trust (SCAPE) and local volunteers have excavated many artefacts and an interesting skeleton. The skeleton was found lying on its back with a polished stone disc tucked inside its mouth. Near the arm was a tiny ornament formed of rings of copper alloy and bone which the team believes was some kind of pendant.

Dr Olivia Lelong, excavation director and project director of Glasgow University Archaeological Research Division, said: “The skeleton was a totally unexpected find. It was a beautifully composed burial, obviously put together with a great deal of thought and care, from the way the body was placed to the objects buried with the person.”

Full article at the Scotsman website:
news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2136632005

Kate Wilson, inspector of ancient monuments for English Heritage North-East has called for action to stop arsonists on Eston Moor who are destroying the heather which protects archaeological sites. Trials bikes and off-road vehicles are also damaging the earthworks.

Detective Constable Trevor Smith, of Cleveland Police, who said: “By building a closer relationship with English Heritage, we can reduce the number of incidents of damage to scheduled monuments and, where necessary, secure convictions against those responsible for the damage.”

The organisations are also concerned that fences have been ripped up and used as bonfire fuel, while earlier this year two sheep were slaughtered and one farmer’s cattle were stampeded through a neighbour’s crops.

Police recently seized an air rifle, an axe, a 6in combat knife and lock knives from rival gangs of children camping around landmark rocky outcrop Eston Nab in groups of up to 40. Over one weekend last summer, Cleveland Police rounded up 22 teenagers, with an average age of 14, of whom six were armed.

full article at
thisisthenortheast.co.uk/the_north_east/teesside/news/NEWS0.html

A study has highlighted how rural development and drainage for agriculture in the Somerset levels has badly damaged nationally important archaeological sites.

When ground water levels drop in the summer, the waterlogged remains dry out: current farming methods don’t leave enough water inthe peat to protect them.

The study focused on 13 of the most important sites near Glastonbury, including prehistoric trackways and villages. Some sites had already been lost while others were suffering gradual decay.

Vanessa Straker of English Heritage said: “We are encouraging as many farmers as possible to apply for Defra’s environmental stewardship scheme, which gives them payments in return for conserving the countryside.”

taken from the article “Farming endangers prehistoric roads” by Norman Hammond
in the Times
timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,61-1818469,00.html

The survey was jointly carried out by English Heritage, the Environment Agency and Somerset County Council, and will be reported in detail in the November issue of British Archaeology.

Rock Art project officer Tertia Barnett said: “It is
fascinating work and we are uncovering more all the time. Help from volunteers has been invaluable so far and we are looking to recruit more.”

The one-day training programme is at County Hall, Morpeth on October 21 and anyone interested is asked to contact Tertia on (01670) 533076 or [email protected]

The volunteers will be working in small teams using a range of methods to document the rock art, including a ground-breaking 3D technique developed for the project by English Heritage that will allow the carvings to be viewed and studied in great detail.

from Berwick Today
berwicktoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=970&ArticleID=1196540

Archaeologists believe they have uncovered the first Iron Age burial on the Isle of Skye.

The skeleton from about the 1st millennium BC is thought to be that of a young female. It was found recently in an open stone-lined grave as the archaeologists worked to re-open the blocked entrance to the High Pasture Cave.

The discovery is extremely rare. Iron Age burial sites have been found in several locations on the east coast of Scotland, but this is among the few occurrences along the country’s Atlantic seacoast and the first on Skye.

“The discovery of the human remains at the High Pasture’s site is a very important find and will provide a unique opportunity to study a wide range of aspects of Iron Age life and death in the region,” said George Kozikowski, a member of the High Pasture Cave Project.

This article: heritage.scotsman.com/news.cfm?id=1907512005
Also see the news item below, and the website at
high-pasture-cave.org/

The remains of seven humans have been found in a large pit in the mouth of a cave on the Goldsland Wood site, near Wenvoe, in the Vale of Glamorgan. The pottery and flint blades found with them date the remains to about 3000 BC.

Archaeology students from the University of Central Lancashire, in Preston, had been digging there as part of their course. “The Goldsland caves have never been excavated before,” said Dr Rick Peterson, the course leader. “We went there hoping to find undisturbed evidence for whatever ritual took place 5000 years ago that led to peoples’ bones being put in caves and we seem to have found it.

“At the moment our understanding of these rituals is that first the large pit was dug, probably to make the small cave mouth look much bigger and more impressive. Then the dead were placed in the pit with some of their possessions such as pottery and stone tools. Then once the bodies had become skeletons it seems that most of the bones were then moved to other ritual sites, like the nearby chambered tomb of St Lythans. The pit containing the ash from a cremation is evidence for a different sort of rite – although it probably took place around the same time.”

The team plan to return to the site in 2006 and excavate a much larger area.

From the BBC news site
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/4185966.stm

The wood is at ST108718, along a footpath from the St Lythans dolmen.

Westbury residents are facing a long wait before their cherished landmark can be restored to its former glory. The famous White Horse has become covered with lichens, causing it to lose its gleaming appearance. The plight of the monument was recognised by English Heritage in July last year and work began to restore the discoloured surface.

Several previous restoration projects had been carried out, including laying reinforced concrete over the image in the hope of providing a resistant surface to the elements. Eight years later, the monument had to be steam-cleaned by English Heritage to remove biological deposits.

The organisation is now keen to find a longer-term solution which means residents may have to put up with the horse’s bedraggled appearance for some time yet. Technical investigations have been carried out on the site to establish the cause of the deterioration.

Three different paint samples were tested on the horse and are being monitored to measure the rate of deposit. English Heritage said these trials now have to be repeated to ensure the right approach is adopted to achieve a white surface which will stand the test of time.

An English Heritage spokesperson said: “The trials are going to take place again over the coming winter. We need to go through two full winters to make sure we have the right results and we are looking positively at next spring to make a decision.”

The organisation said it does not have the money to restore the monument annually. Pending the success of the trials, the surface will be cleaned and treated subject to funding.

The Mayor of Westbury, Cllr Michael Hawkins, said it was vital the monument was restored as soon as possible. “The White Horse is very important to the town,” he said. “It is the main association of the town and one of the key things people think of when they think of Westbury. The horse in its current state lets the town down badly. It needs to be sorted out sooner rather than later.”

From
This Is Bath.

Sounds great until you hear it was only discovered because someone wants to turn the site into a quarry..

from The Times:

An excavation has turned up flint tools and cooking pots from about 10,000 years ago at a site on the North Downs in Surrey. The area, which bears the remains of cooked meals, campfires and flint tools, is believed to be one of the most important Mesolithic excavations in Britain.

Andrew Josephs, an archaeologist and the project’s consultant, said: “The most extraordinary thing is that people gathered here for 4,000 years. It’s over a period of time that is very hard to comprehend. We think of the Romans as a long time ago, at 2,000 years. Mesolithic man was coming here for 4,000 years, which is 200 generations of people. It suggests a tradition passed down from generation to generation.”

Within hours of starting to dig yesterday, archaeologists had unearthed an adze, an implement used for shaping wood. The buried land surface is littered with evidence of communities that came to the area from around 8,000BC to 4,300BC.

So little is known about Mesolithic man’s way of life that the artefacts will greatly improve archaeologists’ understanding. The site is at North Park Farm, Bletchingley, a medieval village in East Surrey. It emerged when WBB Minerals, a mineral supply company, applied for planning permission to quarry in the area and an archaeological investigation was undertaken as part of the process.

WBB Minerals and English Heritage are funding a full excavation at a cost of £350,000. A series of public open days has been planned.

Jonathan Last, English Heritage’s head of prehistory research policy, said: “This excavation provides an invaluable opportunity to enhance our understanding of Mesolithic chronology and settlement. What’s really interesting about this site is the potential to have undisturbed remains of activities from this period.

“We find quite a lot of Mesolithic flints across England, but they usually turn up in plough soils on the surface. It is unusual to have undisturbed remains of occupation, where we can refit pieces of flint and find them in relation to hearths and cooking places.”

The Mesolithic period, also called the Middle Stone Age, began about 8,000BC and lasted until about 4,000BC. Across England there were only 10,000 people, who led a mobile existence, hunter-gathering in woodland. They would have followed herds of animals or moved to riverside or coastal locations to catch fish.

Archaeologists are working side-by-side under the guidance of Surrey County Archaeological Unit and ArchaeoScape, at Royal Holloway College.

timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1749059,00.html

From the article in ‘This Is Wiltshire‘
thisiswiltshire.co.uk/wiltshire/salisbury/news/SALIS_NEWS4.html

An English Heritage spokesman said: “We believe the grounds for refusal are ones that can easily be addressed and we will be discussing with Salisbury district council when to resubmit the scheme.”

Salisbury MP Robert Key said it was important that meetings to resolve concerns about the scheme were held quickly, to ensure the funding remained in place: “There is a worry that, if there continues to be this time-slippage, the lottery funding for the project will be allocated to the Olympic Games, which would love to get its hands on these millions of pounds,” he said.

The Heritage Lottery Fund says it will stick by this project for the time being, but something must be resolved. “If English Heritage does appeal against the council’s decision, it could take up to a year and Salisbury district council – and therefore the council taxpayer – could be facing a bill of £500,000. “It will save a lot of time and money if these issues can be resolved and the plans are resubmitted.”

The National Trust echoed the view, adding that the fundamental solution to Stonehenge’s problems was “resolving the current stranglehold of the A303 and A344”. Fiona Reynolds, director-general of the trust, said: “English Heritage’s plans are only one part of the vision to reunite the stones with their landscape and improve the experience for visitors.”

The district council said English Heritage had failed to demonstrate that the height, width and length of the land train and track would not have an adverse impact on residents, the world heritage site and archaeology. The council committee was also concerned about the impact on the flow of traffic on the A303.

Archaeoptics, a team of scientists and archaeologists, conducted the digital scan, hailed as a major advance in archaeological techniques, which produced computerised three-dimensional images and analysis of the stones.
The work will be used to produce educational material on the stones and shed light on their position within the greater Callanish complex and current archaeo-astronomical theories.
Alastair Carty, of Archaeoptics, said: “This is the most accurate survey of the site carried out to date.
“The technique is basically a device which measures 1000 points per second providing full 3D dimensions similar to existing surveying techniques but far, far more accurate. It also builds a dense 3D model. The model could be used to create virtual astronomical events.
“We hope to help create a video or DVD that can add information about the stones through a fully interactive 3D model. As my equipment measures the area, an image builds up on the screen and you can immediately see what’s going on.”

More at theherald.co.uk/news/44048.html

The Council for British Archaeology (CBA) has responded to news that the proposed tunnelling of a main road past Stonehenge is to be reviewed after its estimated cost doubled. The CBA hopes the Government will reconsider the whole scheme.

“We were strongly opposed to the planned tunnel,” said Mike Heyworth, Director of the CBA. “Now it sounds as if they’re going to kick it into the long grass.”

A statement from the CBA confirmed that it remains: “resolutely opposed to the proposals for a short tunnel, which removes the A303 from the immediate vicinity of the stones but only at the cost of major damage to the rest of the World Heritage Site. The CBA believes that it is essential to look beyond the area visible from Stonehenge itself, as its prehistoric builders so clearly did, to appreciate the extraordinary landscape of ceremonial and funerary monuments around it.”

Mike Heyworth explained that for the CBA, the most pressing issue is the closure of the A344 (which runs right by the stones) and the relocation of the visitor centre. He believes there are other options that haven’t been explored, in particular a new surface route outside the World Heritage Site, which the CBA will be strongly pushing for.

He commented: “It is ironic that the Government has made this announcement during National Archaeology Week ... The CBA urges the Government to use the forthcoming review to seek a world class solution for a world class archaeological landscape.”

taken from the article by Caroline Lewis
at the 24hr Museum website
24hourmuseum.org.uk/nwh_gfx_en/ART29513.html

The “national disgrace” of Stonehenge is back where it started. After decades of argument and millions spent, the government yesterday went back to the drawing board on the traffic-choked roads which strangle the world heritage site.
Supporters and opponents of the tunnel were equally stunned. The Campaign to Protect Rural England, noting the approved proposal for a new 50-mile toll motorway beside the M6, said: “The government’s green credentials have withered in the heat.”

English Heritage, whose new, Australian-designed visitor centre is dependent on resolving the roads issue, said it understood concern over costs.“However, we continue to believe that the proposed road scheme represents the best value for money for achieving all the desired improvements while offering protection to the underlying archaeology.”

The National Trust, owner of thousands of acres of surrounding farmland, has called for a much longer tunnel. It said the review “should not in any way diminish the quality of the long-awaited project, or delay it substantially”.

Mike Pitts, an archaeologist who has excavated at Stonehenge, and written about the site, said: “This is terrible news. In the wake of winning the London bid for the Olympics, it hardly encourages belief in the government’s support for grand projects.”

from the article by
Maev Kennedy in The Guardian
guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1532745,00.html

Roads Minister Dr Stephen Ladyman today announced that a detailed review of the options to ease congestion on the A303 and improve the setting around Stonehenge is to be carried out.

The review is necessary because there has been a very substantial increase in the estimated costs of the proposed Stonehenge tunnel since the scheme went to Public Inquiry.

Following recent detailed site survey work carried out by the Highways Agency the estimated costs of the scheme have risen from £284m when the draft Orders were published in 2003 to some £470m. This significant increase on original costs is due to two main factors; very large quantities of phosphatic (soft, weak) chalk and a high water table, with the groundwater potentially rising to the surface at times of heavy rainfall. These factors would significantly complicate the tunnelling process and extend the overall construction period of the scheme.

Dr Stephen Ladyman said:

“The increase in scheme costs represents a significant change to the basis on which the Government originally decided to progress this scheme. Our recognition of the importance of Stonehenge as a World Heritage Site remains unchanged but given the scale of the cost increase we have to re-examine whether the scheme still represents value for money and if it remains the best option for delivering the desired improvements”.

The Government plans to carry out a detailed review of the options, consulting relevant environmental interests including, in particular, English Heritage and the National Trust, before taking a final decision on the Inspector’s Report. The review will also consider the implications of delaying the Stonehenge scheme for the delivery of improvements proposed for other single carriageway sections of the A303 further to the west. We will make an announcement on the way forward as soon as possible.

more at the DoT website:
dft.gov.uk/pns/displaypn.cgi?pn_id=2005_0081

If you have a large garden and would like a full-size replica of Stonehenge to impress your neighbours and visitors then you need to speak to Channel 5.

The biggest problem is that it measures 33 metres across. The good news, however, is that it is light to carry about because all of the replica stones are made of polystyrene.

Exact copies of each stone were made at a military camp near Bicester, the only place big enough the programme makers could find. It took a fleet of 14 articulated lorries to transport the replica stones to Wiltshire. The chosen location, said Mr Pitts, was a hilltop near Warminster.

Mr Pitts said the most important aspect for him as an archaeologist was the detailed inspection of the real monument that had to be carried out so that the stones could be replicated. He said: “I realised how little time we had actually spent before looking at the stones themselves.”

He said: “It has impressed us so much that we are talking seriously about a proper modern survey of the megaliths using modern techniques.” Such a survey could reveal much about the stones, where they had become from, the way they had been shaped and possibly the way they were originally put up.

Anyone wishing to acquire the replica should get in contact with Channel Five.

more at
thisiswiltshire.co.uk/wiltshire/marlborough/news/MARLB_NEWS_LOCAL2.html

A new attraction which offers visitors the chance to experience life as an Iron Age villager opens this weekend. The Cinderbury settlement near Coleford in the Forest of Dean, includes several roundhouses, an iron smelting furnace, pottery kiln and clay-domed bread oven.

People can visit for the day, for a weekend, or experience an entire week, where they will wear authentic clothes, forage for food or learn to weave.

Director Jasper Blake said Cinderbury aims to be both fun and education. “The idea is that they come and experience some of the life an Iron Age person might have lived,” he said.

“We don’t want to make it a survival holiday, we want people to get back in touch with raw materials like wood and iron and stone.”

Those braving a week’s stay will live in a communal roundhouse, sleeping on animal skins, existing on a pre-Roman diet which excludes caffeine, sweets or potatoes and using compost-style toilets.

No mobile phones, wrist watches or any modern accessories will be allowed, although “tribal staff” will have access to telephones for emergencies.

“It’s not the only thing, we are open to day visitors and school parties, it’s very much an educational type project,” said Mr Blake, who hopes to inspire an interest in archaeology.

from news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/gloucestershire/4647917.stm

Protesters to deluge council over quarry
By Richard Edwards

Protesters fighting a quarry plan near an ancient Yorkshire monument are to hit a council with the biggest number of objections in its history. Campaign groups Timewatch and the Friends of Thornborough Henges have been campaigning for more than a year against Tarmac’s scheme at Ladybridge Farm, Nosterfield, near Ripon.

Timewatch will hand 1,500 letters of objection and a petition on Monday that will carry more than 10,000 signatures to North Yorkshire County Council planning chiefs.
The response will be the largest number of objections the council has ever received to a single application.

Timewatch chairman George Chaplin said: “Our response shows that the application is fundamentally flawed and contrary to council planning policy on many counts.

He added: “We feel that by showing we are more than willing to argue our case, together with significant public support, we can ensure that right is done at Thornborough.”

taken from the article at Leeds Today
leedstoday.net/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=39&ArticleID=1073879

coverage also at the bbc website
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/north_yorkshire/4642175.stm

Peterborough City Council is to hold two public meetings about plans to build a renewable energy plant near the famous Flag Fen Bronze Age site.

Local residents and businesses will get the opportunity to question the company behind the £250 million, 29-acre waste processing energy park proposed for the site at Fengate in Cambridgeshire.

The two-hour meetings will be held on July 13 at Peterborough Central Library and on July 25 at Peterborough Town Hall Council Chamber.

The developers estimate that the plant could handle more than a million tonnes of waste each year. Innovative technology will then be used to generate electricity by burning the waste along with biomass (organic matter such as plants) at very high temperatures in an oxygen deficient environment.

Dr Pryor recognises the importance of renewable energy: “Anyone living in the fens has to be in favour of any electricity generation which doesn’t contribute to global warming and I’m wholly in favour, in principle. But,” he added, the location of the plant “seems to me really very insensitive.” While he considers the possibility of a visitor centre at the plant to be a good idea, he added: “It isn’t going to make up for the impact of the development.”

Responsibility for approving or disapproving the planning application lies with the Department for Trade and Industry. The city council has until September to compile a report and make comments for consideration.

For more information about the development visit prel-online.co.uk and to see the full planning application online see the Peterborough City Council website
peterborough.gov.uk/page-4166

Taken from the 24hourmuseum article at
24hourmuseum.org.uk/nwh_gfx_en/ART29265.html

The controversial tunnel under Stonehenge was dubbed “the new Bath Spa” by campaigners yesterday after the cost of the project soared to £223million. The Department for Transport (DfT) said the previous figure of £193million had ignored the cost of buying and preparing the land for the tunnel, designed to hide the A303, which passes near the ancient Wiltshire monument.

Stonehenge campaigners said the project was looking more and more like the disastrously overpriced Bath Spa and Millennium Dome projects.

The cost of the mile-long tunnel was originally put at £183million in 2002, but Transport Minister Stephen Ladyman yesterday said “some further increase in costs is now anticipated”.

The “Save Stonehenge” group said delays and price increases could lead Ministers to abandon plans for the road altogether.

And druid leader King Arthur Pendragon – who led a pagan service at the monument at Tuesday’s solstice festival – warned that the “biggest protest in Europe” would be staged if the Government rejected the tunnel in favour of a cheaper option.

He said the Government could opt for a “cut and cover” tunnel, which would involve sinking the road then adding a roof, rather than boring a tunnel.

“If the Government did that, it would devastate so much archaeology – they could expect the biggest protest in Europe, ” he said.

“Stonehenge is up there with the pyramids in Egypt for cultural significance, so they have to get it right. But they also have to get on with it – the longer they take the more it will cost and the less chance they will build the road at all.

“It is being handled like the Millennium Dome – needless bureaucracy making what is already a very expensive project into an unattainable one.”

Chris Woodford, of Save Stonehenge, said: “It is increasingly likely the Government will not approve the tunnel. If the price goes up much more it will simply not be affordable. You can imagine the Government thinking this is a Millennium Dome-type white elephant and giving up on the project.”

The planning inspector’s report on last year’s public inquiry into the road was completed in January, but the DfT has still to decide whether to approve the tunnel.

Added to this, plans for a new £57million visitor centre have been submitted to Salisbury District Council by English Heritage. These are the subject of another planning inquiry, but if DfT rejects the tunnel then there is no hope for the visitor centre.

Terence Meaden, of the Stonehenge Society, said the bureaucracy was holding up the project and adding to the cost.

He said: “Nowadays, everybody gets consulted and there are so many bodies and committees sticking their noses in. There are similarities with the Bath Spa situation.”

But David Batchelor, an archaeologist for English Heritage, played down concerns about the project. He said: “It would be nice if the process went forward faster, but it takes time and we have to accept that.”

article at the Western Daily Press website
westpress.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=146278&command=displayContent&sourceNode=146274&contentPK=12705772

kent.gov.uk/your-council/news/june-05/jun-23-a.html

Time: 11am (speeches at 11.15, opening ceremony 11.45)

Location: Swanscombe Heritage Park, Craylands Lane, Swanscombe

Details: Phil Harding from Wessex Archaeology – part of Channel 4’s Time Team – will cut a ribbon to celebrate the park’s new entry feature. This is a sculpture based on a 400,000-year-old hand axe discovered in the park. The ceremony will celebrate many hours of work by the local community, businesses and public sector in restoring one of the most important archaeological sites in northern Europe. It also marks the 70th anniversary of the discovery of human skull fragments there.

Local schoolchildren will enjoy an organised treasure hunt in the park and will take part in the opening ceremony. Guests will be offered an optional guided tour of the site at 12 noon to see the project work which has been carried out by Groundwork Kent Thameside and Swanscombe Action Group. A short display of the ancient art of flint-knapping will also be given at 12 noon.

Speeches will be given by Swanscombe Action Group Chairman, Cllr Bryan Read, Patrick Conrad from Groundwork Kent Thameside, KCC Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport Richard King and Professor Chris Stringer from the Natural History Museum. The project has been supported by a number of partners with part funding from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. KCC is the accountable body.

A heritage campaigner has warned that Flag Fen could become the next Thornborough if plans to plans to build a waste processing plant near the famous Bronze Age site succeed.

George Chaplin told the 24 Hour Museum that a vast waste processing plant at Flag Fen could affect the site in the same way as quarrying has affected Thornborough.

“We at Time Watch are very concerned that Flag Fen could be turned into another Thornborough,” he said. “Sites like Flag Fen, which are already established as being extremely important, have been invested in,” he added, “and because of the investment we’ve already made what we should avoid at all costs is ruining that.”

The company behind the planning application is Global Olivine UK, which hopes to build a £220 million 38-acre waste processing plant to recycle waste and turn it into electricity.

While George suggested that many of the 20,000 visitors who flock to Flag Fen every year would inevitably be put off by the industrial plant, he also highlighted the potential for damage to archaeology still in the ground.

“We are concerned about the impact on archaeology by things like leakage,” he said, “and the impact on the local environment.” All this, he added, when instead we should be “turning Flag Fen into our archaeological flagship.”

His words follow the concerns, reported by the 24 Hour Museum last week, of Flag Fen Manager Toby Fox: “It’s absolutely on top of us. We are very concerned,” he said. “On a 30-acre site, the amount of rainfall that will hit a concrete slab and be used in the cooling towers will have a direct effect on the surrounding land,” he said. “It won’t be keeping the archaeological remains wet. We’re trying desperately to protect our heritage and we feel that this will compromise that.”

Heritage experts and members of the Flag Fen team are not the only worried voices. On June 23 it was reported in the city’s Evening Telegraph newspaper that Peterborough MP Stewart Jackson has called for a public inquiry into the plans. The same publication has also run stories relaying the reservations of residents and businesses in the area.

According to Peterborough City Council, the plans will not be approved or disapproved by them. Instead, because it is an electricity generating plant, it falls within the Electricity Act, putting responsibility for making a decision in the hands of the Department for Trade and Industry.

The council’s role is as one of several consultees who will advise the DTI on the application. Council officers will put together a report for councillors to consider, following which their views and recommendations will be presented to the DTI. The deadline for submission is late September.

Despite its restricted role, the council told the 24 Hour Museum that it would be taking archaeological, as well as other environmental, concerns into account.

“Council officers are carefully evaluating all aspects of the planning application,” reads a statement, “including the proposed development’s likely impact on highways, archaeological sites, air quality, landscape, wildlife, ground water regime, water pollution, waste management and noise nuisance to nearby residential and commercial properties.”

The 24 Hour Museum tried to contact Global Olivine, but calls and emails were unanswered.

From the article at the 24 Hour Museum
24hourmuseum.org.uk/images/head_nwh.gif

To the untrained eye the Bloodgate Hill Iron Age hill fort at South Creake, near Fakenham, is nothing more than a circular mound in a grassy field. But with the aid of aerial photo-graphs, hi-tech surveying equipment and painstaking excavation work archaeologists have unearthed the fort’s past and provided a glimpse at the turbulent early history of Norfolk. The site is to be preserved thanks to the work of the Norfolk Archaeological Trust, a local charity which, two years ago, bought the field in which it sits.

Tomorrow, the Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk Richard Jewson will unveil two information panels at the fort, explaining the ancient settlement’s past and giving visitors an impression of what it once looked like. It is one of only six known pre-Roman hill forts in the county.

Dr Peter Wade-Martins, director of the Norfolk Archaeological Trust, said the fort, probably built between two and three thousand years ago, was an important reminder of what life was like in pre-Roman Britain.

The fort would originally have had a four-metre deep outer ditch surrounding a bank topped with a wooden palisade. Measuring 210m across, it is one of the biggest in Norfolk and has some unusual features – the main entrance, to the east, is in line the entrance to the inner ditch and mound, which is rare in Iron Age forts. There is also evidence of at least two smaller entrances to the west and other fences and gates within the fort.

Plenty more information and a picture at the EDP website

in the rest of this article by Edward Foss.

Examples of rock art are to be recorded with ‘3D laser scanning’ as part of the Northumberland and Durham rock art project. This is being funded and co-ordinated by the two county councils and English Heritage.

The project’s main aim is to develop new and undamaging approaches to recording and conserving rock art.

Rock Art project officer Tertia Barnett said: “Laser scanning has been used to record only a handful of prehistoric carvings and this will be the largest number of carved panels scanned by one project.

“The scanner sends a laser beam across the rock and records very small changes in the surface. Changes of less than 0.5mm (0.02in) can be captured and recorded as digital data on a computer and used to create extremely accurate three-dimensional reconstructions of the rock surface and carvings.”

She said the technique would not damage the rock surface.

“It’s a powerful tool for conserving rock art and it allows us to look in detail at things such as the techniques used to make the prehistoric carvings and subtle changes in the rock structure where it might have been eroded or damaged”, she said.

“This will help us assess how to protect the carvings from further decay.”

Computer generated reconstructions can also be manipulated to create 3D animations for museum displays and exhibitions.

Northumberland and Durham have more than 1,000 examples of rock art and the project aims to compile a complete record.

from the BBC article at
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4125078.stm

A sculpture inspired by a paleolithic hand axe will be unveiled at Swanscombe Heritage Park on June 29. The ceremony links in with the 70th anniversary of the internationally significant discovery of skull fragments at the site.

It also marks the culmination of two years of work to rid the site of dumped cars, fly-tipping and illegal motorcyclists.

The axe sculpture and clearance work forms part of the A Walk into History project which is being managed by charity Groundwork on behalf of the Swanscombe Action Group.

The project was set-up with a £370,000 grant from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister via Kent County Council.

Groundwork’s landscape architect David Robinson said: “We hope this exciting sculpture will not only provide an interesting landmark for visitors but also raise the public’s perception of the archaeological importance of the park.”

‘Info taken from
This is Local London

A picture of the designer with his design at
https://www.groundwork.org.uk/kent/news/SHP%20design.htm

Revisions to the Stonehenge planning application and environmental statement are now available for viewing and comment. Online at Salisbury District Council’s website:
salisbury.gov.uk/stonehenge/
where the revisions (including answers to questions/clarifications people and organisations have posed) are at
salisbury.gov.uk/stonehenge/ application/report/s2004-0001-supplementary-information.pdf

A year-long project to restore and preserve an Iron Age hill fort on the Painswick Beacon is nearing completion. The £80,000 initiative involved repairs to the ancient ramparts at Kimsbury Camp and new measures to reduce erosion caused by walkers and history-lovers.

Built sometime between 400 and 100BC, the fort is considered to be nationally important by archaeologists and the limestone grassland is a haven for rare orchids and butterflies.

“The work is extremely important,” said county archaeologist Jan Wills. “Painswick is so well-visited by walkers, the local community and people who come to see the fantastic views that the pressure of visitors’ feet has literally worn away the ramparts. The state of the site has been a concern for some time but it is only when the funding comes together that you have the chance to do something about it.”

The work was led by county archaeologists and was largely funded by national bodies like the Heritage Lottery fund, who contributed £50,000, English Heritage and English Nature.

Local bodies, chiefly the Painswick Beacon Conservation Group, was heavily involved in getting the project started. Group secretary Cedric Nielsen said: “It was almost at the point where if someone gave it a good push it would all fall down. This means people will be able to see the view and enjoy the fort but hopefully we are managing the erosion and making a better job of it.”

The work, which will include information boards about the site’s history and wildlife, is expected to be completed in a month’s time.

From the This is Stroud web site (also less comprehensive coverage of this item on the BBC News web site).

People in Huddersfield are being asked whether a pub should remain on Castle Hill – there has been one for nearly two centuries, but a recent unapproved addition to the building there led to it being demolished.

Kirklees Council deputy leader Clr John Smithson said: “I promised back in November 2004 that there would be public consultation once the structure was demolished. I am very pleased that this will now include a comprehensive conservation plan as required by the Heritage Lottery Fund.”

English Heritage will be involved as the land is a nationally-important archaeological site and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Issues under review will include: access, car parking, visitor facilities, use of Victoria Tower, the condition and erosion of the earthworks.

Summarised from icHuddersfield

Work on a £1 million revamp for Lynn museum is due to start in July. The project has been funded with £778,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, £125,000 from Norfolk County Council and donations from other sources.

When complete, the new-look museum will include a new exhibition area and a collections study gallery allowing more objects to be displayed. Interactive displays will tell the history of Lynn and West Norfolk. There will also be better access for the disabled and new facilities for running educational activities and events. The Grade II listed building will also undergo necessary repairs during the revamp.
Originally a Union Baptist Chapel built in 1859, the distinctive building will benefit from new lighting, heating, environmental monitoring systems and alarms.

Building work is expected to last until December with the new facilities and temporary exhibitions open by Easter 2006 and the final displays in the summer of 2007.

Around half to two-thirds of the original timbers and the central stump of the Seahenge circle will be at the museum from early 2007. All the timbers from Seahenge, which made national headlines in 2001, will be at the museum but there won’t be room to display the entire circle, although the final display sizes have yet to be finalised. The timbers are currently with the Marie Rose Trust in Portsmouth where work is being carried out to permanently preserve them so they can go on display. The treatment involves soaking the timbers in a wax substance before they are vacuum freeze-dried – a time-consuming process.

taken from
lynnnews.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=991&ArticleID=1028952

A fire last year? destroyed a large area of heather and scrub above Fishguard’s ferry port in Pembrokeshire. The land is owned by the National Trust and by Stena Sealink, and is used by grazing stock, fishermen and walkers.

Polly Groom, an archaeologist for Pembrokeshire National Park, working with Cambrian Archaeology, said, “We believed that this could be a Bronze Age burial site, dating from perhaps 3,000 years ago, but now we have the proof.

“The fire was disastrous as it came at a key time for wildlife but it has had an unexpected bonus, revealing evidence of extensive human use of the area over many centuries. There is some stonework remaining from what we consider to be a burial mound which had been disturbed in the past.

“We have also found what appear to be the remains of prehistoric field boundaries as we know exist on other headlands in north Pembrokeshire, like Strumble and St David’s Head.”

from
icWales

A replica of an Iron Age house used by the first settlers in Ryedale is set to be built by young offenders in the grounds of Ryedale Folk Museum at Hutton-le-Hole.

The venture, which is expected to cost £25,000, will see the 10-metre long house become a major new attraction at the popular museum, says curator Mike Benson.

The ambitious scheme, which has involved extensive research, is to be linked with the museum’s cornfield site at the northern part of the grounds. There will also be a grain store and pottery kiln said Mr Benson. “It will have considerable education value. We are working with Sure Start and we are hopeful of attracting funding from DEFRA, the North York Moors National Park Authority and the Museum Service.”

The Probation Service’s young offenders’ scheme is expected to be involved in building the house, with young people, who have been given community service orders by the courts, receiving expert help and advice.

A historical architect has been engaged to produce the plans, which have now been submitted to the national park authority for a decision on the scheme.

from This Is Ryedale:
thisisryedale.co.uk/ryedale/news/RYEDALE_NEWS_LOCAL7.html

Experts are investigating claims by an amateur archaeologist from Bradford that he has found an important ancient monument on Ilkley Moor.
Two weeks ago Gordon Holmes, 52, who has been scouring local landscapes for signs of ancient sacred sites for three decades, was walking on the moor before sunset when he identified “a vague circular outline” surrounding the triangulation point sited on the highest point of the moor.
“It wasn’t long before I began to find fallen standing stones strewn about the locality,” said Mr Holmes, who is a technician at the University of Bradford. “Besides what appears to be an inner stone circle at this site, there is evidence of an outer circular barrow. I reckon there’s enough evidence to suggest it could be a stone circle about eight feet in diameter surrounded by a larger one maybe 18 feet in diameter.”

English Heritage says the find could be significant, but other historians have dismissed the claim. The site identified by Mr Holmes was last surveyed by English Heritage in June 1995 and scheduled by the Department of Media, Culture and Sport, after advice from English Heritage.

Neil Redfern, English Heritage’s inspector of monuments in Yorkshire, said: “There are in the region of 100 other scheduled monuments on Ilkley Moor, which is renowned for its concentration of prehistoric rock art panels and other associated features such as burial mounds and settlement sites. “We very much welcome input from interested locals and would be keen to discuss this gentleman’s findings.”

Gavin Edwards, curator of the Manor House Museum, in Ilkley, and an expert on the Moor’s archaeology, agreed that it was possible that additional features remained to be discovered but was cautious about Mr Holmes’s claim. “There are a lot of stones and features on the moor which can be misinterpreted,” he added. Mr Edwards said that Ilkley Moor had been a favourite haunt of Victorian antiquarians who had disturbed many of the original Bronze and Stone Age features. “Sometimes shepherds would use stones to build sheep shelters. And there’s a lot of continuing activity which can easily be misinterpreted as being from another age.”

thisisbradford.co.uk/bradford__district/bradford/news/BRAD_NEWS8.html