Although less than a kilometre away as the crow flies, and clearly visible from Langstone Moor Stone Row, this runied circle requires some dedication to reach it. “Crossing’s Guide to Dartmoor” published in 1912 warns of the dangers of the bog on PeterTavy Great Common – a warning which is still valid today! A splendid view of the Great Mis Tor, the local ponies, cattle and an ominous looking “murder” of crows (who were just hanging out at trhe circle when we arrived) is afforded from the circle. It is now in a sorry state runied once and then re-erected by the miltary and now little under 100 years later it’s been ruined by them once again.
RedBrickDream
It’s easy to miss this row. Granted the standing stone’s a whopper. But, on arriving you could miss the row altogether and wander like fools around the area to the north of the stone until you notice a 300 foot line of stumpy stones poking up through the grass and moss with the line ending at the standing stone (I speak from bitter experience). I don’t ever recall seeing such an “unbalanced” arrangement and wonder if the standing stone was added much later. Petit (Prehistoric Dartmoor 1974: 131) reports that the row was “discoverd” in 1893 by Baring Gould. The 9 foot terminal stone was re-erected the follwing year by order of the Duke of Bedford but was used for target practice during WW2. Shell-marks are clearly visible in the photograps posted below.
The remote Langstone Moor is located on the edge of the Merrivale Firing Range “Danger Area”, and thus is inaccessible at certain times of the year. To access the Moor you’ll need to be prepared to walk for more than 90 minutes from your car – if parked at Peter Tavy – or to get up out of the saddle of your Mountain Bike. The area is dominated by White Tor (468 metres above sea level) to the West and the Great Mis Tor (538) to the south. The walk to the foot of White Tor past Stephen’s Grave (marking the cross-roads burial spot of a suicide victim who killed himself when he discovered his betrothed had been unfaithful to him) is a well defined track littered with spent bullets. After that the footpath becomes more indistinct. You’ll need a map with you and a compass in case of bad weather. Langstone Moor Circle comes into view on then right but do not attempt to walk directly there from the footpath – there’s a very sticky bog in the way! The tall standing stone marks the eastern end of a poorly defined row. Both the stone and the circle were re-erected in 1894 but both have suffered from damage caused by military operations on the Moor. The poorly defined “Lich path” which cuts across Langstone Moor continues eastwards towards Conies Down and Beardown Man standing stone.
August 2003
A welcoming site. Well signposted, easy access, own parking spot, interpretation board, no neighbours.
Pity about all the dog poo though.
24 July 2004
BEWARE! Mrs RBD and myself lost our way and nerve on open moorland attempting to find this double stone row at the weekend. The path towards it from Langstone Moor is indsistinct and I think we cocked-up on Cocks Moor. When the weather changes – as it did both quickly and spectacularly for us you’ll need a compass – we alas, didn’t have one. At 1600 feet above sea level Burl and Petit report that this is the highest row on the moor.
In “From Carnac to Calanish” (1993) Burl rates this site as a “3” – runied but recognisable. This is the same grading as that given to nearby Langstone Stone Row which we had earlier walked through without recognising the ruin!
Park at Smeardon Down and take a compass. Good Luck.
Amongst Crossing’s (1912) helpful advice on how to avoid getting lost on Dartmoor is a memorable line about turning your jacket inside out so that the pixies can’t bewitch you!
July 2003
This was a difficult one to find. The area is rich in hut circles, cairns and naturally occuring boulders. After an hour or so of wandering about and taking endless photographs of likely looking “alingnments”, I spotted the real thing. The stone close to the warning sign for the quarry marks the northern, lower terminal. In general though the stones were barely visible above the summer grass and were consequently difficult to capture on film. There IS a row here though, running N-S. Burl (Caranc to Calanish, p 237) claims that it’s 179 metres long.
Although badly ruined this site is well worth a visit for the fine views it offers over Bear Haven and the fact that it’s on that rare thing in the West of Ireland: a public footpath. In August 2003 we parked at Gortagenerick and made the long climb up into the Slieve Mishkish Mountains to join the Beara Way. After a three-hour trek during which time we encountered numerous abandoned cars and dead animals – sheep mostly – and just as we were giving up hope of ever finding this tomb we dropped down into a hollow and there it was on a small ledge to the East of Eagle Hill looking out over Bear Island. Perfect.
Park at Harford and follow the river up the valley. This N-S row is about 500m long and is the southernmost of the the three rows which stretch out into the Erme valley. The stones are often small, but fairly evenly spaced and offer good sport in tracing their line down towards Yadsworthy Waste. A cairn at the southernmost end of the row lies parallel with Tristis Rock which dominates both Burford Down and the lower Erme valley. It rained all day when I visited in July 2003. This was the day that I decided that paying the extra money for a waterproof map was worthwhile after all.
24/7/04
Sitting at the car park below Grimspound with the map across the dash board we reckoned we had a pretty good idea where this row was. Much better in fact than the walkers we could see doubling back on themselves in the rough ground above Headland Warren. Were they trying to find the rows too? We decided to walk up to Grimspound and from there skirt Hookey Tor, cross the road and then pick up the footpath around the farm. After climbing for a few hundred yards we decided we needed to be turning to the left just as some gateposts came into view.
Gateposts?
Far from gateposts these were in fact, the eastern end of a fine 160 metre triple row of stones. They looked quite different to the pictutre I’d held in my mind’s eye. The three black and white images in Burl’s From “Carnac to Callanish” suggest a much more exposed position. Instead these stones were fighting their way through the bracken, helped it must be said by a recent burn to the vegetation.
We took dozens of photographs of the male and female pairs and walked the row several times. My most striking and lasting impression was that the triangular terminal stone on the horizon at the “top” of the row was almost wafer thin.
Challacombe is on a direct line and about half way between Grimspound and the Warren Inn and despite being clearly visible from both of these honeypots it seems sadly ignored.
24/7/04.
After refuelling at the nearby pub – the third highest in England no less – we set off on the Two Moors Way from Bennet’s Cross to Hurtson Ridge. As so often happens, Mrs RBD and myself wandered off the way-marked path too soon and were soon orientating ourselves alongside the edge of Fernworthy Forest.
“We can’t have missed them?”
“There’s a stone – oh no that’s a sheep”
A brief chat about sheep, greywethers and the guy who bought the double stone circle on the other side of the hill in the mistaken belief that they were livestock ensued by which time we had spotted the menhir at the southern end of the row on the horizon in front of us.
Wow! With so many rows on Dartmoor it would be easy to take them for granted but the setting and size of this row marks it out as something special. We walked the row several times sharing the stones with Dartmoor Ponies who seemed pleased to see us.
Walking down this double row so soon after visiting the fine multiple rows at Challacombe, the male/female pairings were plain to see.
August 2003. Notes made with sun-burnt feet. (Damm those walking sandals!)
It was difficult but we made it! If you’re going to walk out of one of the many agreeable pubs in the self-styled folk music capital of Ireland before closing time then there’s got to be a good reason. On what turned out to be the hottest day of the year, we set off from Fisherstreet to the Teergonean crossroads and turned left towards the sea.
After passing a runied church and a few rustic caravans we found ourselves on yet another dusty track in the west of Ireland looking for something megalihic. This was our first Court Tomb however. Having already bought the revised “Book of the Burren” we knew what we were looking for:
“At Teergonean only four stones of this [fore]court survive but the stumps of others can be detected. Originally the forecourt was probably almost semi circular, the tallest and most imposing of the upright stones flanking the narrow entrance to the long rectangular burial gallery” (p 61).
The constant references to this tomb’s ruinous state do not prepare the walker for the site that awaits them. Less than a half a mile from some typically spectacular Burren coastline is a well proportioned and neat little court tomb. Its a tough one, but of all the tombs I’ve visited I think the only one that I’d like to make that final journey in more than this one would be Pentre Ifan.
This seems to be a little visited place which is surprising given its proximity to Doolin’s hostels and campsite and the many references made to it in the Book of the Burren.
We camped in nearby Doolin for a week and returned on several ocassions. You should, at the very least, make a day of a visit here and walk back along the coast for that full Burren effect!
Observations based upon a visit in August 2001.
This multiple stone circle is a delight despite the close proximity of a newly built bungalow. Having seen pictures of this Circle on Clive Ruggles’ website I was surprised to find just how close the dwelling was to the site and how deeply it nestles in the Drimminboy valley.
We followed a fox on the the long road south from Lauragh which pierces the foothills of the Tooth Mountain.
On arriving, I sat with my back to the bungalow, looked north and felt the sun on my face as my childern played quietly amongst the stones. Children of a similar age living nearby looked on suspiciously whilst we counted the 9 stones and wondered where the other four had gone. This place lacks the majesty of nearby Drombohilly and the order of Ardgroom but it remains an excellent example of a Stone Circle and is well worth a visit.
The walk to this stone on the dusty track from the Cable Car to Kilmichael is a long one. With the weather turning against us and the very real fear that we could be stranded on the island overnight we didn’t stay long. The stone is clearly visible from the track and is on boggy ground. The name “The Waters”, mentioned in Durell’s 1996 book Discover Dursey seemed a rather unromantic name for a stone in such a fine Westerly setting. The stone itself is about 1 metre high and is orientated NW-SE
After managing to get to Dursey (via Cable Car) it’s a relief to encounter solid ground. A 45 minute walk from the cable car brings you to a site which makes the hair raising journey across Dursey Sound seem worthwhile. On a visit in 2003 however we were not able to access the field in which the stones are situated as one of the few inhabitants* left on the island was erecting a barbed wire fence on the field boundary between Dursey’s only road and Gort na Gainihime and refused us access when we explained that we’d come all this way to see his stones. Typical! Still, two years earlier on a gloriously sunny day, and with no farmer in sight, we scrambled down alongside the stream locals refer to as “The Big River”, and up a bank to reach the stones.
Durell (1996: 211) reports that the stone is 1.8m high, 95cm wide and 65cm deep and has a recumbent stone beside it. She also gives directions to Rock Art in the same field but despite some efforts we couldn’t find any trace of the stone in question.
*Penelope Durell (1996) in her excellent Discover Dursey (Ballinacarriga Books: Allihiles) observes that the permanent population of the island is now down to single figures. If you’re going to Dursey you’ll need this book and a head for heights.
Pleased to see that Stubob’s put this site on the map. I’ve visited this place a couple of times but sadly have no photos to post here.
A strange place this – I recollect that the air was very still last time we visited, almost oppressive. Visually this is similar to a scaled down version of Cheddar Gorge but, thankfully without the tourist coaches parked at the bottom. The caves are largely fenced off from the public but a winding walk around the valley floor takes the visitor past each fancifully named cave.
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Whilst you’re in “the Dukeries” pop into the grounds of nearby Rufford Park for some food and a look at the gallery. I’ve posted up a review on the facilities section.
Spotted this from, of all places a seat on the 10:25 Cardiff to London train, diverted around the Severn because the tunnel was closed. 5 minutes out of Chepstow on the left hand side when travelling east was a quite unmistakable standing stone.
The stone is approximately 50 feet away from the line and looks as if it’s at least 5 foot high. After checking the OS map I’ve found this is recorded as “the broadstone” (as if there’s not enough of those already on this site!). From the impression I gleaned from the train window this is a big old fella’ of a stone which looks out across the severn. Spotting or Snapping it from a moving train will be a challenge for TMA-ers and will certainly enliven my next journey on this line. Access on foot looks as if it would be from High Hall Farm at Wibdon on the A48 about three miles out of Chepstow.
This little visited site is situated on the outskirts of Swindon. It is a runied stone circle which now consists of an arc of 5 stones. Dayhouse Lane bisects the intact remains of the circle and the vansihed half.
All five stones have fallen but each is significantly bigger than those of the nearby Winterbourne Basset circle.
This site was discussed on the Forum in summer 2002. Liddington Castle and the Ridgeway are clearly visible from here. It is on a direct aligment with Barbury Castle and Avebury to the south.
A three hour walk north along the Ridgeway from Avebury brings you to the edge of the Marlborough Downs and the foot of Liddington Hill. Liddington Castle Hillfort will be a familiar landmark to many as it is visible to the south of the M4 motorway between junctions 15 and 16. At 3 hectares it is somewaht smaller than the nearby Barbury Castle (4.7 hectares) and has only one ditch rather than two. It is however considerably quieter, is about 50 foot higher and offers better views of the Marlborough Downs than Barbury. An entrance at the south east is defined by a few half buried sarsens. Pottery from the early Iron Age has been found here and on the northern escarpment are some neolithic flint mines.
Walking up the hill from the Ridgeway the flint mines are encountered after a couple of minutes and mole hills regularly bring flint waste to the surface.
This visit (31/12/02) was my first time here for about 20 years. The erosion to the site is noticeable as is the vandalism to the Triangulation Point which used to double up as a memorial to local writer Richard Jefferies. Jefferies famously came up here to write. Despite the proximity of the motorway and onward march of Swindon (the settlement and not, unfortunately, the football club) this remains a fine spot for quiet contemplation.
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My 7 year old son got very confused here. As we walked up to the castle I recounted the story of King Arthur’s victory here in the battle of Mons Badonicus. On spotting a memorial gate to Harry King (1910-1995) “who loved to walk on Liddington” my son quite justifiably asked why King Arthur didn’t have a gate but King, Harry did.
Trips to the nearby sites of Tinkiswood, St Lythans, Rhondda Stonehenge or Pontypridd Rocking Stone will inevitably lead to a brush with the City of Cardiff. From the Castle Grounds, the home of a modern stone circle, look up and look to the North you will see the long high ridge of the Garth.
This hill, or mountain, depending on your point of view is supposedly the inspiration for the film, “The man who went up a hill and came down a mountain”. From the summit are impressive views across Cardiff and south to Exmoor whilst to the North, Pen y Fan and the Brecon Beacons can be clearly picked out.
There are five Bronze Age Burial Mounds here (five that is according to the CARN database, the rather jaded interpretation board suggests there are only four). Two stand out and are visible as nipples on the horizon overlooking Cardiff. The interpretation board in front of “burial mound number 2” warns sternly of the penalties for vandalising the site, yet this, the largest of the four mounds, sports an ugly triangulation pillar. Whilst despoiling the site it does produce the uncanny effect of making the mound look like a mini Glastonbury Tor from a distance.
The western-most mound (number 1 on the interpretation board) is seldom spotted by the frequent vistors to this viewpoint but it is my favourite. A small hollow provides shelter from the winds and a cosy bed from which the scurrying clouds overhead can be tracked. Some distance to the east is a long ridge running north-south which was built as a gun emplacement during the 1940s. I’ll venture no opinion as to whether the intention was to shoot at the Germans or the English.
This site commands spectacular views for 360 degrees and I would suggest therefore that this was a high status burial. Any significant fires burnt in the vicinity of Tinkiswood/St Lythans to the south west or Pontypridd Rocking Stone to the North East would generate a pall of smoke easily visible from here. If you’re visiting these other nearby sites you should really try to find time to take in the views from up here. Let me know on the forum if you’re planning a visit as this is my local.
Oh, one more thing. It’s ALWAYS windy up here.
This little valley of Sarsens tucked away between Fyfield and Overton Downs is as magical as ever.
Merrick’s directions below are spot on. As you walk into the valley (after truning right off the track) the altar stone of the Mother’s Jam lies 20 yards to the right of the biggest and most striking Sarsen. My strongest reaction was of a sarsen holiday camp, or more darkly, a megalithic version of invasion of the bodysnatchers – these were the pods ready to replace Avebury. The lichen and erosion patterns on these Sarsens are so familiar to the erect stones in the henge and avenues.
We joked about a Bronze Age geezer presiding over this huge Sarsen yard “Nah mate, can’t do anything for your in that size or colour. We’ve got this big grey one though”.
I found this holed stone whilst looking for the Polisher. It lies at the heart of a Beaker Settlement on the North of Delling Copse which includes the deeply scoured and polished stone. Like Rhiannon, I do not intend to reveal the exact grid reference as going on stone safari on this part of the Downs is good for the soul. I use the safari metaphor with some reason as looking east across the fields to Rockley reminded me of the African plains, but without the Giraffes. Or Elephants.
Perhaps it’s because I’ve recently returned from Cork, but this field reminded me a bit of Canrooksa in Glengarriff. Like that place, this site is important as an example of a relatively undisturbed ancient landscape. Dyer (1981) describes it as “probably the finest example of a prehistoric landscape in Southern Britain”. Also, like Canrooska, the act of searching for a specific stone amongst a jigsaw of the prehistoric built environment and naturally occuring features puts you much more intune with the landscape.
Walked down the Avenue at 9am on a Sunday morning after already having spent a good two hours or so on the henge. As ever we had the place to ourselves. Regardless of the time of day this place is, in my experience nearly always empty. So many people seem to rush round the henge totally oblivious to the Kennet Avenue let alone Adam and Eve on Beckhampton. The belly of Stukeley’s snake looked fine today, the glistening silver dew and the vivid greens and browns of the surrounding fields conjured up a child’s felt-tip picture of this Solemne Walke.
The early morning light made the stones glimmer and encouraged me in my pathetic photgraphic attempts to emulate Max Milligan (more like Spike Milligan said Mrs RBD). The RBD children were delighted to find the axe marks at the south-eastern base of stone 19.
The excavations at Falkners Circle were in full swing when we passed again later that day on the way back to Marlborough.
Much has been written about this place but I wanted to reflect upon what Burl (1993) regarded as the minor mystery of the 16 missing stones. Between Aubrey’s 1663 visit and Stukeley’s 1723 visit, 16 large sarsens (stones nos. 5a-12b) were removed. There is no evidence of burning or burying. The familiar ugly obelisks now stand in their place at the Northernmost part of the Avenue.
Visited this site for the first time at the weekend. A sorry admission since I spent 18 years of childhood and youth in Swindon a few miles up the road and was a regular visitor to the Avebury henge and environs during that time.
Harvesting was well underway this weekend. Whilst walking up the field boundary to the dolmen, a farmer, presumably Kommisar Clatford, drove headlong towards (to the untrained eye damaging his own crops whilst doing so) to remind us that we were on private property. This is the field that Evelyn Francis, in her cute Avebury Wooden Book, suggests should be dedicated to St Pesticide. Mmm.
This farmer was angry as hell and pompous as well.
Deja vu at the Devil’s Den. This was all too much like our recent experience in Cork and Kerry. I explained that little boys in shorts and 4 foot high stinging nettles don’t make for a happy day out and he responded that that wasn’t his problem. I enquired as to whose responsibility the management of the public footpath was and we then had a really fascinating exchange of opinions about the rights and wrongs of permissive access to national treaures.
After a sincere empathetic recital of the country code on my part – a useful skill I picked up when having a similar chat with a Corkmam farmer a few weeks ago – he gave us permission to walk on to the dolmen. His summing up, concluded “Technically no-one should be allowed in here as it [the Dolmen] is on private land. Still I suppose some people are better than others”. Not sure what to make of that but I resisted the temptation to say the same thing to him!
This encounter detracted somewhat from the experience of visting this most un-Wiltshire-like place. More like the Dorset Hellstone than say, Devon’s Spinster’s Rock, this gnarled little specimen was a nettly oasis from the Combine Harvesters which surrounded us. I wasn’t AS “moved” as others have clearly been here (but then my heart and soul really belongs to Gurranes) and was surprised to note the large slab of concrete holding the edifice up on its eastern side. Still a wondrous place mind you.
Stukeley’s Itinerarium Curiousum (1724) includes one of his marvellous sketches of a “Celtic Temple” here at Winterbourne Bassett. The illustration, which is reproduced in John Michell’s Megalithomania, depicts an 8 stone circle.
Only three stones now remain visible in the field to the south east of Lambourne Ground. The OS Map suggests a field with 7 stones, but curiously doesn’t record the massive outlier at the junction of the road from Clyffe Pypard to Winterbourne Bassett.
A bit of investigative work at this site pays quick dividends. I counted what I took to be three of the missing stones partially obscured by lichen and summer undergrowth in ditches and boundaries around the junction.
The larger outlier can be seen on the horizon to the west in the photograph above.
This multiple stone circle was, according to a local I met whilst visiting, “rediscovered” about a decade ago by the person responsible for establishing the Sheep’s Head Way long-distance walk. Apologies, I forget the name, but he is commemorated by a memorial which was unveiled by the American Ambassaodr at the steps leading to the site. A real rarity this in Cork, I think only Drombeg and Kealkil can steer the megalitamanics gaze quite so clearly with such signage. The site is well sign-posted from the village of Ahakista and is a short walk from the fabulous tin pub. It is the only significant site on the Sheep’s Head peninsula – a finger of land which is much less frequented by humans than either the Mizen or the Beara.
Since the Sheep’s Head way was established the circle is now much easier to access, the site being partially cleared of the bracken and ferns which cover the low hills nearby.
Despite this it is still difficult to get a real feel for this place. Vegetation hems you in on all sides and the circle is in a ruinous state. I want to suggest that this is an 11 or 13 stone circle, and is about 7 yards in diameter. I was unsure about its orientation but I would suggest it was approximately SSE. The axis stone is now sheltered by a tree which has clasped its roots around the feet of the stone. Travelling on the road back towards the village of Ahakista I noticed a good example of an increasigly common site in Cork front gardens, “the pop stone row”. Rather worryingly these looked like the real thing. I wonder if in millennia to come whether megalithamaniacs might be seeking out the stones currently located at the entrances to industrial estates?
If you go to this stone circle don’t forget to vist the tin pub.
This site has got everything. Stone circles, alignments, mass rocks, standing stones, boulder cairns. It is difficult to tell what’s really going on here. The site of the stone circle is now regarded as one of the most important in Cork because it is contextualised in a relatively unaltered megalithic landscape.
My photogarphs illustrate some of the sites. Alignments similar to the Plague Market litter the hillside high up above Glengarriff, whilst the lane leading up through Rusnashunsgoe is flanked by a ditch comprised of what looks like discarded megaliths thatb would grace West Kennett Avenue. I’m no expert but there’s an awful lot going on here. I suspect that this site may become even more important if the results of archaeological field surveys were more widely disseminated.
Bulls guarded much of the site, and if they don’t spook you you’ll get stuck in the mud or fall down a ditch whilst trying to follow the alignments. Its hard to tell what’s naturally occuring here and what’s not around this small cirlce but Jack Roberts makes the following comment on the stone circle and its associated sites. “[This] site is central to the megalithic landscape of the whole area. Ancient type of field systems, low walls of quite large boulders with ocassional uprights, and at least ten different types of monuments”. After reading this extract I’m not entirely sure what it is I’ve photographed. I’m sure other visitors will enlighten me.
This is an enthusiastically reconstructed ring fort. Excavated by Boyle Somerville – who is buried with his sister, the novelist Edith Somerville in nearby Castletownsend – in the early 20th Century. The highlights of this site are the fine views of the sea to the south, the views of the three Gurranes fingers to the north, a cup-marked stone, a souterrain, and a cross-inscribed stone.
The souterrain was unlocked when we visited and I was able to crawl well inside both chambers to find two discarded crisp packets. They weren’t Somerville’s. The overall impression is of a site not disimilar to Carn Gluze at Cape Cornwall. The reconstructed walls and the impressive flight of steps make this place seem much more modern than it really is. The site would have been easily defended and nearby Gurranes acts as an impressive welcome or warning to visitors.
This obscure 6 stone alignment shares a ENE-SSW orientation with the nearby Ardrah Row. It many ways it has a similar feel, although the stones have a shape more common to the stumpy pillars of Reenascreena in the south of the county. The tallest ENE stands at about 4 and half feet whilst the smallest is about 20 inches. Five stones stand, one is fallen. Burl, in his 1993 publication, “From Carnac to Callanish” reports that Charcoal dating on peat overlying the site dates to approximately 1600BC. The site was excavated in 1977. The tallest stone “weighs about 2 tons and could have been erected by some eight workers”.
When travelling North or South to vist this site, following the hand-written signs to the nearby Basketry will be a big help. The site nestles on a small hill overlooking the crossroads of two lanes. To the SW is Lough Atoreen and to the NW the familiar peak of Knockboy. The landowner had recently installed a gate when we visited. A refreshing change after some of the real, imaginary (“Beware of the Bull” ) and symbolic barriers so often found in these parts.
The happy face simulacra on the SSW stone was only spotted when the film was developed!
Ardrah Stone Row is difficult to find and access. We sought permission from a very suspicious farmer with the strongest Irish accent I’ve ever heard (we both repeated everything to each other at least twice). The Farmer insisted that we were some way short of Kealkill but after I’d got my map out and explained to him that it was Adrah we were looking for, he positively gushed vague directions. Following the lane northwards, through a gate we entered a field where we could plainly see the row. It was here that I understood why the farmer had asked whether I was intending to change out of my sturdy walking books. Waders might have been more appropriate. Getting nearer to the row than about 500 feet proved almost impossible. After circling the site for about 45 minutes when we attempted to dodge noisy cows, scale banks, ditches, streams and barbed wire we eventually got into the grounds of the abandonned farm house from which the site can be accessed.
Myler’s report on this alignment in his “An Archaeological survey of the Mealagh Valley” includes the following observations “The largest south western stone is 9 ft high, 3 ft wide and 2.5 ft thick. The adjacent stone measures 3 ft high, 2 ft wide and 1.5 thick. The next one is 4.5 ft high, 4 ft wide and 2 ft thick. The north eastern stone is 3ft high, 2 ft wide and 2 ft thick”.
This is the Mealagh Valley’s largest standing stone. It is one of a number interesting sites in the immediate vicinity including, on the opposite side of the road, a ringfort with souterrain and a cup marked stading stone.
In his excellent archaeological survey of the Mealagh Valley, David Myler reports that it stands 15 foot high, is 6 foot wide and 3 feet thick. The stone is rumoured to have markings on it. I noticed none but can report that the stone has began to sprout a fine head of hair. Local rumours also report that the stone was once damaged by a bolt of lightning.
Turn left on the road heading NW from Lough Boffina, turn left again after about a mile and then pull in at the lane on the left. Ask permission to access the site. One of the farms’ many barky dogs kept me company on my visit.
This is the Northern one of a pair of circles at Currabeha. After O ‘Nuallain, Jack Roberts suggests that there is some disagreement as to whether there were originally 9 or 11 stones here.
We visited this low runined cicrle on a wet and foul day. We didn’t realise the second cirlce was so close at hand until reading Roberts’ guide later that evening.
My experience of finding the site was a similar one. The stones dip below the horizon as you approach. I followed the directions suggested by Burl and walked up the lane past a farm. There was no-one there but I did notice a previously un-reported (and certainly not recorded on the OS map) stading stone adjacent to the back garden. The bog is the most fearsome I’ve encountered visiting sites in Cork or Kerry.
It wasn’t until leaving the lane and then turning left and left again to head toward the Healy Pass that I noticed a much easier access point. The fence here is partly trampled and the stones remain in view as you follow the contours to reach them. I guess this is the easy route!
FourWinds has got a point here. Yes, this is the Eastern of the two circles. Four of us spent nearly 2 hours trying to find the other one and in the process got separated from each other. Things became a bit scary then and after we all met up again later to find out that we’d all been shouting at the tops of our voces and had all retraced our original steps out of there and had still not found the stones nor each other. Any advice on finding this site, or some images would be most welcome.
There is some debate as to whether there were originally 13 or 15 stones on this site.
There is an informative interpretation board at this site. The landowner asks for a small charitable donation and the rear of the board incorporates letters of acknowledgement from, amongst others, Amnesty International.
A delight to visit on such a sunny day.
Gurranes stone row actually lies to the North of Knockdrum, a reconstructed ring fort. The alignment is clearly visible from the fort and tracks across the skyline as you descend back to the road. There were, according to Roberts’ “Antiquites of West Cork”, originally 5 upright finger stones here. The missing fifth stone was removed during the 19th Century and installed in a Castletownshend garden.
Our second visit to this site and 53 weeks on from our first trip it still feels like a magical place. This time rabbits scattered into hedgerows as we approached. The views inland were more stunning than I remembered. From the lofty heights of Knockdrum we spotted the cows that share the field with the stones using them to scratch themsleves. A prosaic end to another fine visit. This is still my favourite ancient site.
Mynydd y Gelli, as this site is also known (somewhat optimistically) as “the Welsh Stonehenge”’ (Burl, 1995: 174).
I’ve not heard this site referred to as Rhondda Stonhenge before. Like the English one, though, what’s left is being ruined by pollution. No trunk roads here though just a hole full of stinking plastic bags.
This place is paradoxiaclly grim and breathtaking. At the end of a winding road from Gelli up to a massive landfill site there is a stile. Heading west, the site is easy to miss. You’re instinctively drawn away from the line of the chain link fence that divides the encroaching stenching land fill from the magnificent hillside views to the North over to Rhondda Fach.You then miss the site. At the edge of a plateau some few hundred yards west of the rings are a number of equally spaced partially buried stones. Outliers dot the slopes below. This would appear to be what Burl (op cit) refers to as “the wreckage of three more dubious cists”. Dubious or not, this was once a special place for ritual and ceremony. Look around at the views and the alignments!
Rhondda-Cynon-Taf, the local authority have only vague records of this ancient monument and, with an absence of landmarks for map reading and a Quatermass land-fill getting nearer all the time, finding this site was hard work on a foggy day in March 2002. The rings are next to the chainlink fence on a ENE-WSW axis. Burl reports them as being 10.2m by 9m in diameter.
Ignore Burl’s directions. Follow the road to the landfill site and get out by the gates and lorries. Follow the fence on the brow of the hill to the site. None of the stones are taller than about 75cm, the OS map doesn’t record the circle by name, nor does it record the growth of the landfill (a local politcal hot potato) instead it coyly records “Cairns”. For now Taffhenge or Tiphenge, remains sadly neglected and seldom visited.
I’ve also seen this referred to as Knockdrum. An impressive stone row in a special place. Park at the the School on the road into Castletownshend. The site is visible on the horizon to the west. You’ll want to run there. A breathless gallop to embrace these four scrawny fingers. Three erect and one broken.
This is a special place.
Echoes of the Callanish silhouette here, and Trellech there. The fingers offer brief but welcome shelter from the winds.
Our visit in mid August 2001 was the highlight of a megalithamaniacs field trip. We dodged the recumbent bikes, camper vans and tourists later that day at nearby Drombeg and felt priveleged to have visited Gurranes earlier. We’re going back next week to look where the fingers point.