Not a bad spot for a standing stone on the southern tip of south Uist overlooking the sound of Barra. Theres a cosy pub of the same name right next to the stone which I recommend a visit. The pubs been there for ages and acted as a stopover for travellers between Uist and Barra in the days when the trip took days rather than hours. Less is known about the stone, I like to imagine it was important for people crossing the sound of Barra thousands of years ago.
Very easy to acess this site (long as you aren’t afraid of the horses whose home it is) as a public path goes straight through it. The fortifications are still pretty tall, about 2 or 3 meteres. In some place you can see bits of stonework poking through but whether these are iron age features or more recent I can’t be sure. I never claimed to be an archeologist. The bank itself is fenced off and has mature trees gorwing from it so you can’t access that but the space inside the circular banks is all accessable and pretty peaceful too.
Looking into the fort from the south east entrance
Rainy October sunset over the whispering knights
I hadn’t expected it but this was my favourite part of the Rollright stones site. Yes its fenced in but you can see the imagery in the story of these stone figues leaning in and whispering to one another. This effect is especially pronounced if you walk down the hill some ways and look back at the stones.
Aside from the Whispering Knights, I really reccomment stepping through a gate into the woods just next to the dolmen. In there, you’ll find a 7-level labyrinth made from wooden logs and planted trees. I like to find the centre of the labyrinth and think of something that I wish to be rid of, then leave a physical offering in the centre and retrace my steps.
At midnight on new year, the whispering knights move down the hill and go to drink from the river. They’re usually back before anyone realises they’ve been gone of course.
Saw this long barrow on an OS map whilst walking nearby and went to go check it out. It’s clearly visible from afar against an otherwise flat field. I acessed it from a farm track from the north which was easy but involved some climbing.
Up close, there isn’t much to explore. It’s a low mound, about 3 or 4ft high with a single small oak tree in the north-east corner. The banks have been badly damaged whether by ploughing or something else. I was interested to read on a previous post from 2011 about the site that there used to be four trees, one at each corner. Since then, the rest must have died. Speculating why there were trees planted, I thought that it may have something to do with the name, Oak piece, relating to the use of wood in the construction of the burial chambers. I can’t seem to find any more information about the name or whether wood even was used in its construction.
Despite there not being much to see, I found it an atmospheric place. Maybe because it sits isolated in an empty field (on the day I visited) or because the nearby farmhouse that overlooks it was abandoned. I found it easier here than in some of the more well known sites to imagine what it might have been like to follow a funeral procession to the site.
Beckbury hillfort is an impressive site, a large open space just smaller than a football field with ramparts on the southerly and eastern ends. The northern and westerly edges follow the escarpment providing some defence. It was a warm and sunny October day the last time I was up here with friends but we still saw no one else whilst we were there. If you don’t know what you’re looking for as a rambler I guess its easy enough to miss (as I did for many years as a child growing up in the area). What can’t be mistaken for constructed is so-called Cromwells seat, a large stone chair on the north western edge of the escarp, scribbled with grafitti which I actually think kind of suit it. I have tried to find out a bit more about this chair and it seems only stories remain of how it came about and why. The most common being that it was built for Thomas Cromwell who met Henry VIII at nearby Winchcombe abbey to plan the dissolution of the monastries. Cromwell then sat atop this chair as Hailes abbey in the valley below were burned down. Others call the chair Arthurs seat though are unsure why this name would be connected to it. The views and the hillfort are well worth the climb, on all but the mistiest days, you can over to the Malvern hills to the west and the vale of Evesham to the North.
Belas Knap is an amazingly well restored long barrow. Being a local to Winchcmbe and having visited this site many times as a child, I was unaware of how rare it is to find a burial mound that looks something akin to how it was built. There are two accessable entraces on the west and east sides which make for a good place to enter into to sit and think about whatever brought you to this place. The northern and southern entrances are blocked off but are nonethelss impressive and you can spend plenty of time around and atop the barrow. It is a very well known spot so don’t expect to have it to yourself. The Costwold way goes straight to it with Winchcombe following it northerly and Cheltenham following it southerly. The walking around here is pretty amazing and you got a few pubs nearby, the rising sun on Cleeve hill and a few in Winchcombe. I’ve spent some night wild camping nearby Belas Knap on Cleeve common (though never too close for some undefined fear of the dead)