“Pseudo-antiquarianism like Kennett for Kennet and Stukeley’s Sanctuary instead of John Aubrey’s matter-of-fact but descriptive Seven Barrow Hill may be amusing, but they belong with the olde tea-shoppe.”
- Aubrey Burl, ‘Calanais’ meets the olde tea-shoppe, British Archaeology, no 17, September 1996.
“Many people believe that it is from her wings* and her Gaelic name, Eilean Sgiathanach (Winged Isle), that the name Skye comes. Ptolemy of Alexandria (A.D. 200) refers to the island as Sketis, while the ancient Celtic name ‘Skeitos’ has become Sgiath in modern Gaelic. Adamnan knew it as Scia. This ‘wing derivation certainly sounds very probable, more probable than the other version which claims that ‘Skye’ is Scandinavian, derived from a norse word Ski (cloud). This school of thought takes its stand on the fact that cloud or mist is what would first and most forcibly attract the notice of any stranger visiting the isle**, whereas to notice the ‘wings’ requires a map. Obviously this school has never tried (as the early Scandinavian settlers most certainly did) to sail around the despised wings. Of course, many place-names in Skye undoubtedly are Scandinavian, but they date from a later time than Ptolemy – four or five centuries later. A third suggestion, once seriously put forward by certain Celtic antiquaries, was that in Skye stood the temple, known to Greek fable, of Apollo among the Hyperboreans, and that the Gaelic name of the island refers to the wings of the Greek god! The name may, in fact, belong to some old forgotten pre-Celtic tongue.”
- Otta F. Swire, Skye: The Island and its Legends, 1961, pp. 72-3.
* The “wings” are Skye’s various promontories, for example Trotternish, Waternish and Duirnish.
** Skye is also known as Eilean a’ Cheò, meaning “The Misty Isle”.
Beinn na Caillich means “Hill of the Hag”.
“Strath appears to have been a great religious centre ever since prehistoric times. The remains of several stone circles are still to be seen there, in close juxtaposition to a number of ancient churches now in ruins. It seems generally agreed that before St. Columba brought Christianity to Skye the pagan religion of the island was that mysterious cult which has come to us only in the form of stone circles (believed to have been places of worship), monoliths (which in Skye seem to have been frequently connected with graves or burial mounds), and sacred wells and woods, the latter usually hazel groves. St. Columba never attempted to destroy the sacred places of paganism nor the firm belief in the virtues of certain harmless practices he found: instead he blessed them and gave them Christian symbolism, as in the story of St. Turog and the wells at Flodigarry. This is very clearly illustrated in Strath, where five old churches or chapels, now in ruins, stand each beside or near a stone circle, and the graveyards all contain some prehistoric stones as well as having tradition that they were first pagan burial-grounds and later Christian.”
- Otta F. Swire, Skye: The Island and its Legends, 1961, pp. 217-8.
“Below the present church of Kilmore is the Sgeir, or Stone, of St. Columba. Here tradition has it that the saint once landed and blessed the ground upon which the church now stands. Before his time it was a place sacred to the Druids but since then it has been Christian. It was at first the site of an early Celtic church dedicated to the Virgin Mary, but there is nothing to be seen now except the ivy-clad ruin...”
- Otta F. Swire, Skye: The Island and its Legends, 1961, p. 198.
“About two miles beyond Heast was the stone circle of Boreraig, as usual well defended by duns and, again as usual, close by the circle is the ruin of a little Celtic church, Teampuill Chaon, Chapel of Congan or Comgan.”
- Otta F. Swire, Skye: The Island and its Legends, 1961, p. 231.
“Na Clachan Breitheach, the Lying, or False, Stones, a name presumably given to them by Christian converts. These were once, if tradition is to be believed, Stones of Wisdom who could both foretell the future and show justice as between man and man.”
- Otta F. Swire, Skye: The Island and its Legends, 1961, p. 228.
The OS map also records a nearby ancient cairn.
“The site of the old church of Kilmarie and of the stone circle whose proximity no doubt originally called it into being are now no longer to be seen. The ruins of the old church, I am told, were swept away by the sea during that great storm in the 1920s which also blew down the Dunvegan woods... This church is said to have stood on the site of an older church of St. Maelrhuba (Servant of Peace) who was the patron saint of south-eastern Skye.”
- Otta F. Swire, Skye: The Island and its Legends, p. 227.
“Soon after Loch Cil Chriosd the road begins to rise and passes a small lochan. Near here is the site of the old church of Kilbride, the ruins of which have now almost entirely disappeared, though a little way beyond it traces of a stone circle, certainly very much earlier, can still be seen.”
- Otta F. Swire, Skye: The Island and its Legends, 1961, p. 222.
Saint Bride’s role in the christianisation of this site (Kilbride means “Church of Saint Bride”) can, perhaps, reveal something of this place’s pre-christian significance.
“Dr. Johnson stayed at Ullinish as the guest of Sheriff-Substitute Macleod and while there was shown all the sights of the neighbourhood: Dun Beag, of course, and also the three monoliths or standing stones beyond the house. Local tradition has always maintained that they were erected ‘long ago’ for burning the dead and this tradition seems to be approximately correct, for a fairly recent find close to these stones was an ancient funerary urn full of ashes.”
- Otta F. Swire, Skye: The Island and its Legends, 1961, p. 166.
The OS map also shows a second chambered cairn at NG336376, and also a souterrain at NG333384.
“The weather this day was rather better than any that we had since we came to Dunvegan. Mr M’Queen had often mentioned a curious piece of antiquity near this which he called a temple of the goddess Anaitis. Having often talked of going to see it, he and I set out after breakfast, attended by his servant, a fellow quite like a savage. I must observe here, that in Sky there seems to be much idleness; for men and boys follow you, as colts follow passengers upon a road. The usual figure of a Sky boy, is a lown with bare legs and feet, a dirty kilt, ragged coat and waistcoat, a bare head, and a stick in his hand, which, I suppose, is partly to help the lazy rogue to walk, partly to serve as a kind of a defensive weapon. We walked what is called two miles, but is probably four, from the castle, till we came to the sacred place. The country around is a black dreary moor on all sides, except to the sea-coast, towards which there is a view through a valley, and the farm of Bay shews some good land. The place itself is green ground, being well drained, by means of a deep glen on each side, in both of which there runs a rivulet with a good quantity of water, forming several cascades, which make a considerable appearance and sound. The first thing we came to was an earthen mound, or dyke, extending from the one precipice to the other. A little farther on, was a strong stone-wall, not high, but very thick, extending in the same manner. On the outside of it were the ruins of two houses, one on each side of the entry or gate to it. The wall is built all along of uncemented stones, but of so large a size as to make a very firm and durable rampart. It has been built all about the consecrated ground, except where the precipice is deep enough to form an enclosure of itself. The sacred spot contains more than two acres. There are within it the ruins of many houses, none of them large, a cairn, and many graves marked by clusters of stones. Mr M’Queen insisted that the ruin of a small building, standing east and west, was actually the temple of the goddess Anaitis, where her statue was kept, and from whence processions were made to wash it in one of the brooks. There is, it must be owned, a hollow road visible for a good way from the entrance; but Mr M’Queen, with the keen eye of an antiquary, traced it much farther than I could perceive it. There is not above a foot and a half in height of the walls now remaining; and the whole extent of the building was never, I imagine, greater than an ordinary Highland house. Mr M’Queen has collected a great deal of learning on the subject of the temple of Anaitis; and I had endeavoured, in my journal, to state such particulars as might give some idea of it, and of the surrounding scenery; but from the great difficulty of describing visible objects, I found my account so unsatisfactory, that my readers would probably have exclaimed ‘and write about it, Goddess, and about it!’ and therefore I have omitted it.”
- James Boswell, Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson, LL.D., Friday 17th September 1773.
The North East England History Pages Website states that Penshaw Hill can be “seen clearly from parts of west Durham, North Tyneside and as far south as the Stang Forest in Teesdale”.
Solinus, the 3rd century CE author of Collectanea Rerum Memorabilium, a descriptive book about places, wrote of Britain “...there are many great rivers and hot springs richly adorned for the use of men. Over these springs the Minerva is patron goddess and in her temple the eternal flames never whiten into ash, but when the flame declines it turns into rocky lumps”. Many scholars have interpreted this as a reference to the temple of Sulis Minerva at Bath arguing that a sacred fire (fuelled by coal) was kept burning for her here.
Alexander Thom describes his first visit to Callanish, the beginning of his lifetime megalithic quest:
“The Sound of Harris is the only passage to the Atlantic in the 100 miles chain of the Outer Hebrides, and after a hard sail from the Sound we put in to West Loch Roag, in north western Lewis. Passing through the Barragloam Narrows we proceeded in the gloaming up East Loch Roag as far as my chart allowed me to go with safety. I was navigating with care; finally the anchor went over and the sails came down. As we stowed sail, we looked up and saw the rising moon. Silhoetted on the moon’s disc like great fingers were the stones of Tursachan Callanish. That evening, since I had been concentrating on navigation as darkness was approaching, I did not know how near we were to the main Callanish site... I never forgot that visit to the site in the moonlight. The long days of buffeting in the Atlantic made one ready to appreciate the quiet and perfect anchorage. At the site one could not but be affected by the surroundings – the mystery of the unknown terrain – the loch lying quiet below and above all the towering stones of the most unspoilt monolithic structure in Britain.”
(from Walking in all of the Squares: Alexander Thom, Engineer and Archaeoastronomer by Archibald S. Thom, his son)
At the Stones of Callanish
a poem by Iain Crichton Smith
(from Collected Poems, 1992, Carcanet Press)
At the Stones of Callanish yesterday I heard one woman saying to another: ‘This is where they burnt the children in early times’. I did not see druids among the planets nor sun nor robe: but I saw a beautiful blue ball like heaven cracking and children with skin hanging to them like the flags in which Nagasaki was sacrificed.
I can find no exact grid reference for this site, so the one I give here is intended only to indicate the general area. This site has been described as “a short Bronze Age cist with an unburnt body found at Sherburn” (Co. Durham VCH, 1905, vol. 1, p. 208), the Ordnance Survey adding only “near to Sherburn Grange, a short cist with the decayed bones of a body which had been deposited on its side in the usual contracted position” (NZ34SW6, 1954).
“Rectilinear ditched enclosure. Circular central structure within, with entrance to the east (Haselgrove, CC, Indigenous Settlement Patterns. Rural Settlement in the Roman North, 1983). Excavations were carried out in 1960 and 1961. These revealed three structural phases, two related to the enclosed homestead. The evidence was badly ploughed out in places. The enclosure was found to have a palisaded perimeter with an east entrance where a set of post holes was found. Two houses were identified in the interior. Two rock cut bowl furnaces were identified. A third earlier round house was excavated. There were also a number of post holes to which neither form nor function could be attributed (Jobey, G, Iron Age Homestead at West Brandon, Archaeology Aeliona, 1962, ser. 4, 40, 1-34).” (County Durham Sites & Monuments Register)
The map reference given here is accurate to within 1km.
“A stone cist containing a crouched inhumation with a beaker was found at Brandon during quarrying operations in 1904. A 2ft. layer of made soil covered the cist and may have formed the remains of a barrow. Clarke (Clarke, DC, Beaker Pottery of Gt. Britain and Ireland, 1970, no.219) lists the beaker as type N2, Corpus 219, although its present location is unknown. Mentioned (Tait, J, Beakers from Northumberland, 1965, p. 67) as being in the British Museum. Hutchinson states (History of Durham, 1794. vol. 3, p. 319) that, ‘on the crown of Brandon-hill is a remarkable tumulus or mount of an oblong figure, 120 paces in circumference and now in height about 24 perpendicular feet.’ A possible burrow ditch at this Grid Reference is mentioned in Ordnance Survey Report NZ24SW3, 1976. Site destroyed by open cast mining in 1979. The cist can be seen on display at the Fulling Mill Museum of Archaeology in Durham City.” (County Durham Sites & Monuments Register)
The map reference given here is accurate to within 1km.
According to A. F. Harding’s Recent Acquisitions by the Old Fulling Mill Museum (1987, vol. 3, pp. 99-101) this cup-marked stone (now kept in said museum) was found by a Mr. J. Stevenson of Whitehouse Farm, Bearpark. The map reference given here is accurate to within 1km.
“Probably the best example of an Iron Age hill-fort within County Durham. The site is first recorded in 1794 by the antiquarian Hutchinson. In 1905 the Victoria County History described the site as follows ‘Hill fort on Shackerton (sic) Hill, Heighington. Much obscured by timber growth and other causes, parts have been mutilated by a road to the windmill which once stood on the hill and other portions were destroyed in C18. There is an unusual lunar-shaped extension of the two outer banks on the northeast side. The earthworks are in a strong natural defensive position’ (Victoria County History, 1905, vol. 1, pp. 349-50). The defences follow the natural contour of the hill which slopes from northeast to southwest. The banks at the top of the slope average 2.5m in height, and they decrease in strength and size to the lower banks just above the disused quarry, where they are no more than 0.2m high. The two banks on the northeast side are 5m wide and 1m in height, with a ditch of similar proportions dividing them. The only possible entrance is at grid reference NZ22972326 where a causeway is visible over the ditches. It may be partially modern, for a footpath to the old windmill inside the fort utilises the causeway. All the other sides of the hill are of a rather steep nature (NZ22SW4, Ordnance Survey Record Card, 1953). The old windmill site within the fort at the peak of the hill was also used at some point as a belvedere or folly. This was constructed by a member of the Surtees family, owners of nearby Redworth Hall. There has been some debate regarding the date of the hillfort earthworks with the conjecture being put forward that they are entirely or partially a fake created by Crozier Surtees in the late 18th century. Informed debate would indicate that this is not the case and the fort is genuine although possibly altered during the construction of the gazebo in the late 18th century(Hutchinson. 1794. Volume III, page 205).” (County Durham Sites & Monuments Register)
The County Durham Sites & Monuments Register, citing “Blaise Vyner, 2000” as its source, describes this uncertain site near West Auckland as a “possible round barrow observed during aerial survey flight”. The map reference given here is accurate to within 1km.
“A geophysical survey was undertaken by ASUD in March 2000 on land to the east of the A1(M) at Picktree, Chester-le-Street, where aerial photographic cropmark evidence had indicated a possible Neolithic ritual landscape or Iron age enclosure complex. The survey confirmed the presence of a large ditched enclosure and detected the remains of number of other ditches, some of which correspond to cropmark features. The magnetic effects of modern services and land drains hindered the identification of further features of possible archaeological interest. A later prehistoric date was suggested for the larger ditched enclosure.” (The County Durham Sites & Monuments Register, citing “ASUD, Cropmark Complex at Picktree, Chester-le-Street, 2000” as its source)
The map reference given here is accurate to within 1km.
Robert Young, in his 1984 PHD thesis Wear Valley Prehistory (vol. 2, p. 654), states that this barrow is now destroyed, but also that it was mentioned in Hutchinson’s 1794 History of Durham(vol. 2, p. 2) as being “very conspicuous”. The exact location of this site is unknown and the grid reference I give here is intended only to reveal the general area.
There is some controversy over the age of this site, as the County Durham Sites & Monuments Register explains:
“classified as an Iron Age promontory fort, covering two acres and protected on all but the west side by steep natural slopes. The west rampart is 18ft. wide and 7ft. high with an external ditch, c.4ft. deep, and the remains of a slight inner bank at the south end. The original entrance may have been at the north end of this side, where there is a break in the outer ditch (Thomas, N, Guide to Prehistoric England, 1960. p. 111). Limited excavation (Jarrett, M G, trans. A&A, D&N, 1965, vol. 11, p. 124-7) on the west rampart revealed three phases of construction (A). The original clay rampart was revetted with cobbles, externally and at the top where a wooden palisade was also provided (B). The inside of the rampart was cut away and a stone revetting wall built, at least one of the stones bearing a medieval mason’s mark (C). Wooden stakes were added to the retaining wall for strengthening. When the rampart was finally abandoned these stakes were burnt. ‘Clearly the last two of the three phases must belong to the Middle Ages. It is possible, though not likely, that the original construction was prehistoric.’ The only finds came from the topsoil, the earliest being C15 or C16 pottery fragments. The nearest parallels to this site are the defended, rather than fortified, farm or manor sites of medieval date in Roxburghshire, e.g. at Lintalee – grid reference NT61NW12. The interior of the earthwork is entirely wooded with no surface indications of occupation.’ (NZ24SE38, Ordnance Survey, 1976)”
To reach Maiden Castle (reputed to be in fairly poor condition, despite its scheduled monument status) leave the City of Durham on the road to Shincliffe. The hillfort overlooks the River Wear from the tree-covered Whinney Hill, just opposite Houghall Agricultural College.
This site, a scheduled monument, is recorded in the County Durham Sites & Monuments Register, which cites Robert Young’s invaluable PHD thesis of 1984, Wear Valley Prehistory, as its source:
“Small, round, flat-topped mound on a natural sand hill on the south side of Flass Vale. Diameter 8.2m. Height 1.5m. The mound is at the northeast end of the hill and is closely overlooked by higher ground. The top of the hill has been levelled, leaving a ‘berm’ around the barrow, but the possible remains of a ditch and exterior bank are visible on the southwest side (ditch 0.3m. deep, 2m. wide). The barrow is in good condition and commands good views of the Wear Valley. The earliest records of the site are in 1346, when at the Battle of Neville’s Cross the Durham monks raised the ‘corporax cloth’ of St. Cuthbert there. A wooden cross stood until 1569.”
The County Durham Sites & Monuments Register, citing “NY94NE6 BMC, Ordnance Survey, 1957” as its source, describes this site as:
“a standing stone, roughly rectangular in section, 0.3m. x 0.2m. at the base and 1.2m. high, located near the summit of a ridge overlooking Burn Hope. To the southwest lie three boulders at distances of 8m, 15m. and 18m. from the standing stone. In their present positions there is no evidence that they ever formed part of a stone circle.”
The map reference given here is accurate to within 1km.
The County Durham Sites & Monuments Register, citing Robert Young’s 1984 PHD thesis Wear Valley Prehistory, seems uncertain of this site’s authenticity, listing it as a “possible round barrow”. It is described as a:
“much ploughed oval mound on the west side of Stockley Beck in the north corner of the pasture. Length 27m. north-south, breadth 9m. east-west, height 1.5m. The mound is surrounded by a bank and internal ditch of diameter 34m. The bank is broken in several places, a feature perhaps related to later tree-planting.”
The map reference given here is accurate to within 1km.
The County Durham Sites & Monuments Register does not give a map reference for this site, so the map reference I have given is intended to give you a rough idea of the location of the Coundon Burn (and Auckland Castle Park), not the exact position of the monument (which does not seem to be marked on the OS map). All the SMR has to say about this site is “possible neolithic long mound” – the source given is “The Archaeological Practice, Auckland Castle Park, 1998”.
The County Durham Sites & Monuments Register describes this site as:
“A broad bank 5m. wide with traces of a ditch on the west side. It is poorly preserved, degraded and cut by hollow ways etc, but then improves to the north. Details are to be found in Ross C, B.A. diss: Pedam’s Oak, 1987, p.86, 5.16 but no reason is given for the Bronze Age date. ”
And also as:
“A bank and ditch on the north running southwest-northeast across the northernmost of Pedam’s Oak fields. The bank is 3m. wide, the ditch 3m. wide x 0.5m. deep. It is shown as a trackway by the Ordnance Survey.”
The map reference given here is accurate to within 1km.
The County Durham Sites & Monuments Register lists this as an iron age hillfort:
“On the plateau here we find traces of entrenchments, but in so broken a condition that it is difficult to say more than that a fortress of considerable strength once existed’ (Co. Durham. VCH, 1905. vol.1, p. 348). One side of the site is described by Bailey (Antiq. Repertory, 1780, iii) as c.140yds long. “The site of this earthwork occurs on land which has a rather prominent slope from south to north. It is broken by rigg and furrow ploughing and mining subsidence, and the only traces which may fairly have a connection with the site are on the west side, consisting of a ditch 5m wide and 1m deep with a few stones visible in the inner bank. The ditch is much deeper than the furrows of the ploughing and extends from NZ15422826 to NZ15432855. There is no evidence of internal occupation” (NZ12NE11, Ordnance Survey, 1954). Destroyed by opencast mining (NZ12NE11, Ordnance Survey, 1972).”
The County Durham Sites & Monuments Register is not at all confident about this site (which lies in a churchyard in Bishop Auckland), which it lists this as an “alleged iron age hillfort”. Its source is a note by O. G. S. Crawford on 6 in. rec, NZ22NW2 BMC, Ordnance Survey, 1957: “Slight bank on north side of church, across spur. Remains of promontory fort”. The map reference given here is accurate to within 1km.
The Ordnance Survey 1:25000 scale map of the area has a tumulus marked here.
This site is protected as part of a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The County Durham Sites & Monuments Register gives this helpful description:
“A burnt mound is an accumulation of burnt (fire-crazed) stones, ash and charcoal often sited next to a stream or water source. On those examples which have been excavated some form of trough or basin capable of holding water is normally found in close association with the mound. This suggests the stones were heated before being placed into the filled basin to heat up the water either for cooking or has been suggested to produce a sauna like effect within a temporary structure such as a leather tent erected over the basin. Burnt mounds are thought to originate and have their main use in the Bronze-Age. The burnt mound at Foggerthwaite consists of a low charcoal rich earth and stone mound measuring 14 metres north -south and extends 6 metres east from the modern field wall, the mound is a maximum of 0.6 metres high.” (sourced from English Heritage, Schedule of Ancient Monumments, 2001, Ref MPP23 AA 11125/1)
The SMR also lists the following doubtful burnt mound at the same map reference (please note that SMR map references are four, not six, digits):
“A very slight mound with some charcoal and burnt stone in mole heaps a few meters north of the linear earthwork forming part of SM343556. The mound is very slight and is mainly visible as an area of dark mole hills, c.5m diameter, at the east end of a slight ridge. Not entirely convincing as a burnt mound, but several other good sites exist in the area.” (sourced from Gledhill T & Nichol R, Upper Teasdale backround information file: PRN 6425, MPP Archive, 2000)
No further clue is given, at least in the online SMR, as to what the “linear earthwork” might be, though the “several other good sites” and the Scheduled Monument of which the Foggerthwaite Burnt Mound is a part are no doubt references to the site of Eggleston Stone Circle (now destroyed).
The County Durham Sites & Monuments Register describes the Bracken Heads site as:
“a group of seven carved rocks and a cairnfield on the top of a ridge at Bracken Heads. The cairnfield consists of at least 14 cairns. The largest is c. 16m in diameter and 0.4m high. It has been substantially damaged by stone robbing. The remainder of the cairns are between 10m and 3m in diameter, and up to 0.6m high. Most are undisturbed, but the centres of a few closest to the wall are dished because of the removal of stone for walling. The carved rocks are closely associated with the cairnfield, and occur both sides of the wall between Folly Top and Barnard Castle Allotment... The carvings on all the rocks consist of cup-marks; these are joined in pairs by short grooves on two of the rocks. The rocks are mostly or completely covered by turf, and their positions are marked by loose stones which have been placed on top of them. The carvings are unusually fresh, presumably because they have been covered for much of the last 4000 years.”
The SMR lists it sources as:
Beckensall S & Laurie T, Prehistoric Rock Art of County Durham, Swaledale and Wensley, 1998, p. 86.
Brown P, Carved rocks and cairns at Bracken Heads, 2003; & Carved rocks in Stobgreen Plantation, 2003.
Gledhill T, SM 35956 Cup-marked rocks and cairnfield at Bracken Heads, MPP Files, 2003; & SM 35957 Cup-and ring-marked rock in Stobgreen Plantation, MPP Files, 2003.
The map reference given here is taken from the online SMR, where references are only accurate to within 1km. The SMR does have its location listed inaccurately (it begins its reference with the letters NY, which should be NZ) – I have corrected this.
This monument, a stone circle and enclosing ditch with a cairn standing inside it, was used as road building material in the nineteenth century and is now completely destroyed. Its memory lives on, however, in the name of nearby Standing Stones Farm. The County Durham Sites & Monuments Register describes it thus:
“Now lost, this stone circle may have been the most significant in south-west Durham located on a probable routeway between Weardale and Teesdale. Writing in 1794 Hutchinson described the site as follows ‘A mile to the north of the village of Eggleston, above a little brook, stands an ancient monument, called Standing Stones. It has consisted of a uniform circle of rough stones, with an inward trench, and in the centre is a cairn. Much of the material has been taken away to repair the roads’ (Hutchinson, W., A History of Durham, 1794, Volume 3, p. 227). By the late 19th century little was left of the monument ‘Owing to so many of the stones having been removed for building purposes, no feature of any interest is left. About five rough stones lie on the grass, a plot of which bears a different colour and character to that of the rest of the field’ (’FML’, Visitor’s Guide to Raby Castle, 1857, p. 57). Today nothing is visible above ground to indicate the position of the site. The OS correspondent writing in 1957 noted that ‘No trace is now visible’ (NY92NE4, Ordnance Survey Record Card, 1957). Field work as part of the English Heritage Monuments Protection Programme in March 2000 noted that at the position assumed to be the site of the stone circle there was still discernable a slight circular banked earthwork. The field was under pasture at the time and the feature located at NGR NY9829 2522.”
The SMR also gives details of a more recent survey of the site:
“Geophysical and topographic survey carried out by Archaeological Services University of Durham on behalf of County Archaeology Section during October 2001. Survey designed to examine the site of a possible former stone circle, provisionally identified during MPP work in March 2000. Geophysical survey identified anomalies, provisionally interpreted as being a circular ditch and a circular arrangement of pits that could once have held upright stones. A depression was recorded that could have been caused by removal of one of these stones. All these features were located on a slightly raised, flatter area, identified through topographic survey.” (sourced from “ASUD, Standing Stones Farm, geophysical and topographical surveys, 2001)
This site is listed as a Round Barrow on the Megalithic Portal (megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=4679) but is not marked on the OS map (even the 1:25,000 scale). The area is built up and fairly industrial, on the edge of Peterlee. The map reference given here is accurate to within 1km.
This round barrow, marked Tumulus on the map, is situated near the summit of Batter Law, a hill close to Murton, between Hetton-le-Hole and Easington.
Marked Tumulus on the map, this barrow is situated near the top of Hasting Hill, on the side that faces away from Sunderland’s infamous Pennywell housing estate. The site is reputed to be in poor condition.
A tip that will save you some scornful looks from the inhabitants of Lewis: Callanish is pronounced (at least by the locals) with the emphasis on the first, not the second, syllable (KALL-a-nish, not ca-LAAH-nish).
There are three cairns at this site, and at least one of them is known to have contained a burial. The Kirkhaugh “ear ornament” (looks more like a dreadlock ring to me!), identical to that which was found buried with the famous “Amesbury Archer”, was discovered in this burial and is some of the earliest gold sheetwork known in Britain.
A large, near-rectangular cup-and-ring-marked block of sandstone (some 116 x 71 x 14cm) was unearthed by farm workers ploughing a field at Fulforth Farm, Witton Gilbert, in September 1995. Academics believe the stone dates to the late Neolithic or the early Bronze Age. The carvings are in such excellent condition that they are believed to have been buried soon after carving and therefore protected against the erosion of millennia of weathering. It was subsequently discovered that the stone was the lid of one of two circular cists, in which were found fragments of bone and charcoal, a flint knife and a polished stone axe. These two cists were at one time covered with what is thought to be a cairn of river cobbles, traces of which remained. Other fragments of carved stone were found nearby, and these are thought to be the remains of a curb around the cairn. This sounds very much like a Cumbrian-style ring cairn (like Glassonby, for example) that has wandered to the east of Cumbria. The map reference given here is accurate to within 1km.
Long Meg may have more carvings than meet the eye. Stan Beckensall’s beautiful drawing, which can be found in his Prehistoric Rock Art In Cumbria, shows the stone carved with fairly elaborate patterns over quite an extensive area. I must confess that I have never managed to see any of these carvings, but this does not mean that they do not exist. Rock art often only becomes distinct in the right light – the carved stone at Little Meg is an excellent example of this, and the spirals become clearer or harder to see in direct response to the weather conditions and time of day. Water can also make previously unseen carvings visible.