TheElf

It is alleged that, in 1654, a stone tablet was recovered from All Hallows Well close to the River Blakewater in the centre of Blackburn, commemorating the dedication of a temple to the Helleno-Egyptian deity Serapis by Claudius Hieronymus, legate of the Legio VI Victrix.

I’ve heard it likely that the Roman religious activity suggests that this site was sacred in the prehistoric period. Its dedication to “All Hallows” might also suggest this.

Sadly, nothing remains at present bar a commemorative plaque nearby describing the 1654 discovery.

The tumulus was excavated in 1879, during which an urn was discovered containing a cremation.

Perhaps good dendrochronological dating evidence could be gleaned from the ‘bog oak’? It would be interesting indeed, especially considering the definite Neolitihic/Bronze Age activity in this area.

Pikestones is one of the Severn-Cotswold type chambered cairns. Could it be the most northerly example of such?

If I remember from reading about this site in the past, it is an apparently undisturbed barrow with a stone circle around it. I hope to visit the site with my digicam soon, as it sounds a most interesting antiquity.

In 1995, a Bronze Age urned cremation was discovered whilst excavating a new grave in the modern cemetery (created after the destruction of Pleasington New Hall in the 1950’s). In walking near to the area, I saw what could possibly be a standing stone, some 200 metres north east of the cemetary. There is considerable undulation of the ground surface in and around the cemetary, maybe suggesting barrows? Much of the surrounding area is on a natural sandbank created by the western shore of the post-glacial ‘Lake Accrington’.