Hob

Small-medium hillfort with double ditch and bank structure.
Banks are low, ditches shallow, patches of bedrock protrude.
A number of hut circles are still visible.
Good views of Carr Hill rock art site to the NW, overlooks the confluence of the North and South Tyne to the SW.
Would suit Ottodini tribe looking to protect the upper Tyne from Brigantian incursion.

Ask at Laverick plantation Cottage for permission, as the rights of way which are still marked on some old maps as leading up to the fort from the trees, have been altered.

Poor access, requires climbing stiles.

My attempt in October ‘04 failed to locate this stone. I did find the field clearance boulders; there are a lot of them forming the thorn infested field boundary, which has now been wire-fenced off. The fence has then become overgrown with nettles and some kind of creeping plant that obscures the stones. I managed to check about 30 or forty stones, working from the top of the boundary down the slope, from where here is an old gate next to a big boulder both of which have also been obscured by foliage.

The cup marks may well still be there, but finding them would take a painstaking survey of the hundreds of stones in the clearance strip.

Whilst it would be possible to nip up to the strip of boulders from Homer’s Lane, permission and slightly easier access can be obtained from Thistleriggs Farm.

Fairly trashed cairn, as mentioned by Stan Beckensall in his ‘Prehistoric Rock Art in Northumberland’.

In the middle is a cist, the cover of which is rather substantial, and looks like it’s been split in two at some point. The cist is probably the best surviving part of the cairn. It’s main bulk has been spread by excavation in centuries past, and the kerb is visible in patches.

But it’s got the obligatory view of Simonside, added to which is a clear line of sight over the rest of the Cheviots, as far as Kielder to the east, and Cheviot itslef to the north west.

It also has one of the little standing stones with a cup on top, which seem to come as part of the burial package in this area.

It also has a couple of patches of rock art. I couldn’t find the larger of the two, which SB says is the harder to spot. Having found the ‘easy’ one, I’m not surprised. It’s just underneath the ‘p’ in ‘sheepfold’ on the map, and comprises of a large basin and a couple of motifs of cups and concentric rings, covered in lichen.

Access to the cairn itself is by a fairly decent trackway/bridlepath, with a quick scramble over 20m or so of heather, mercifully bracken free.

Revisited 09/05/05

Found Panel 1a with the aid of a gps contraption. It is so weathered. So very, very weathered. I can’t see it being there for much longer. It’s very close to the cairn, much closer than I’d previously thought, just down from the modern carving of a five-pointed star.

What a small, squat standing stone. Less than three feet tall, with weathered grooves on the sides and a big eroded cup on the top. But it has a good view. It stands on a ridge just above Rothbury (the name’s bit of a give away really), and you can see the whole of the profile of Simonside. Rather neatly though, you can’t see Rothbury.

It’s close to the footpath, and if you’re in Rothbury it’s only a couple of minutes walk up the hill. Not much to look at on it’s own, but if you get this far, you’ll be rewarded by the view, and may be tempted to explore the plateau of Debdon cairnfield, or nip around the corner to Football Cairn.

Access isn’t very good, the path from Rothbury has stiles and gets a bit ‘rubble and mudslide’. There is a bridlepath, but the ground is rough, mostly heather and stones, with peaty holes and mini bogs.

I could waffle on about this place for hours, but a large part of that waffle would involve the setting of the circle rather than the stones themselves. It’s such a fantastic landscape with the cuestas of the Whin Sill doing their thing.

It’s very like it’s companion at Greenlee Lough in terms of the size of the circle and he stones which comprise it. None are large, but one in particular is an odd ‘L’ shape. The thing that struck me the most was the fact that it’s on a fairly pronounced slope, with the stones at the top being smaller, so that the overall effect is to make the tops of each stone roughly level.

I also entertain a suspicion that both this and Greenlee are some how connected with the highly conspicuous outcrop of Queens Crags, which at Greenlee I’d mistaken as Sewingshiels.

Parking on the military rd can be easily missed, though Sewingshiels is closest, it’s worth the walk from dreary old housesteads so-called fort. This takes you over some great crags and affords very good views of the snazzy landscape.

Either way, access is not easy, though easier from the track heading for Old Stell Green from Sewingshiels. Decent shoes essential, quads being the only wheeled things that are going to get here easily.

re-visit midnight 20th/21st October 07
Managed to get down to see these stones at night this time. The yomp down the hill is pretty awkward without any light, as it’s all pine needles, logs and bracken, with a fairly steep slope.

However, it was wonderfully peaceful. Some nice ground hugging mist and an appearance by the half moon made for an excellent atmosphere, but unsurprisingly (if somewhat dissapointingly), no ghostly figures gliding about anywhere. The quarts in the larger of the stones did manage to reflect the moonlight quite well, so it’s easy to dismiss the ghostie tale as a misreporting of similar moonlight/quartz interaction, possibly enhanced by a bit of a more distilled kind of spirit. I dunno. Nice spot either way.

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re-visit march 05

About 100m to the SE of the circle, there’s what looks very much like a small barrow, built on top of a small outcrop of lovely red sandstone.

Didn’t manage to get here after dark, so no chance to check out the spooky vibe thing mentioned below. Next time mebbe.

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As Stubob says, there’re only 5 stones, but they have some great texture going on. In an area littered with glacial erratics, there are some choice examples in this tattered but determined seeming survivor. I was hoping to be able to see over to Mayburgh, but there’s just too much hill in the way. From the top of the hill, excellent view.

The trees have gone now, so it’s possible to examine the other side of the drystone wall to look for the rest of the circle. It looked to me as if the earthwork below the wall must have some of the circle as grounding stones. About 100m SE there’s a patch of binlinered bales, which hide a couple of big stones, which may be erratics, or may have once had something to do with the circle. I didn’t have time to check at close range.

If you approach from Leacet Cottage Stables, on top of Leacet Hill, there’s a path through the trees that starts badly, doubles back and heads straight for the circle. The last part of this isn’t marked on the map, but then the map says the trees are still there.

The land belongs to Lowther Estates, who can be contacted for permission on weekdays, but note that Lowther don’t work weekends.

Access is not really very good at all.

It’s been about 10 years, so memory does not serve too well. To be totally honest I don’t think I was at the site of the factory, which isn’t surprising, as at the time I didn’t know it existed. But a couple of things stand out in my mind from wandering about the Langdale Pikes.

If you go the long way from the Old Dungeon Ghyll, up Mickleden Beck, following the Cumbrian Way, there’s a great long linear earthwork thing on the lefthand side, at the bottom of The Band, running up to Green Tongue. It looked a bit heavy duty for such an out of the way spot. No idea how old it might be.

At the very end of the valley, where Mickelden Beck splits to become Little Gill and Stake Gill (NY262074), there’s a sheepfold with a strange lobed footprint. It has a couple of little rooms added to the side. I couldn’t help but wonder if this was the remnants of a prehistoric house. It’s such a wonderfuly remote spot that the ground plan might just have survived, the walls having been re-built maybe hundreds of times after the roof fell in. Pure speculation, but in such a place, I couldn’t help but let me mind wander.

The ODG is an abso-effing-lootly great place to base yourself. Good food, good beer, decent rooms, a giant Jenga set, and even facilities for a small conference.

These two are in an excellent spot, overlooking the Whin Sill at Caw Gap, where it’s possible to get through the crags. It would presumably have been a mian route from north to south in the times before the Wall was built. Good views downover to the Maiden Way.

There are supposed to be underground socket holes, but the site hasn’t been excavated. The immediate area is festooned with nettle patches which could be the signs of these holes. It would have been a small circle, the two stones are 4.5m apart, and look like they would have been on opposite sides of the circle, as they face each other.

There are many small cobbles, which could be anything or nothing, and the third stone, which was standing in the 18thC, is lying a few yards away.

The area has been well and truly trashed throughout the centuries, it’s lucky that these two still stand. Not suitable for those with mobility issues, due to fences, and highly uneven marshy ground, even though it’s close to the road.

Sadly, the burial mound in the nearby field is now gone, only a cropmark remains.

I’m a little bit out on a limb in designating this place as an ancient mine/quarry (Emphasis on the ‘quarry’, as there don’t seem to be any pits). It’s never been excavated, and was listed as a IA settlement, it’s marked on the OS as a field system.

But on the ground, there is a very visible seam of what I think is metal ore. Soft, shaley stuff with a greenish cast, and many greenish tinged pebbles in the stream. There are very visible remains of structures, in the form of rings and rows of pink granite boulders, The building(?) remains are right next to the stream, and surrounding it are what could well be earthwork banks, protecting the area with the shaley strata.

If these observations are considered in conjunction with the field system, I reckon there’s a case to be made for this having been a mine in prehistory. And I’m sticking with that until I hear otherwise.

The fact that there’s a strange saline well with alleged medicinal properties just adds to the texture of the place. The whopping great Victorian Hotel, complete with attendant octagenarian techo-accordian player, I’m not so sure of. The presence of the hotel has resulted in the covering of the well, which is a bit shan.

The moorland nearby is spooky in the dark, with distant glows of modern pink granite quarries, buzzing overhead cables, faint sounds of the M6 drift in and out of earshot as you move over the ground. Especially if you are lucky enough to catch a blood-red full moon rising over the horizon. I could have done without the midgies though.

Another ‘portable’ from Beckensall’s Northumbria book, this stone is anything but portable. It’s a boulder measuring approx 1.3 x 0.8 x 0.6m, and can just be tipped over by two blokes.

And tip it over is what you have to do, if you want to see the cups and rings. As the stone has been wisely left upside down to protect it from the ravages of the chavas who inhabit this little patch of trees, doing the things chavas do (few of which are generally compatible with the preservation of ancient rock art).

Bearing in mind that this piece has been moved at least twice, once into the vallum of hadrian’s wall, then from the vallum to it’s present position, I can’t help but think it might be better in the museum of antiquities, like so many of it’s kin. I say this even though I am normally loathe to think of museums as the best place for rock art, it should be allowed to roam free!

It was placed back upside down with the utmost care, and is now fairly indistinguishable from the many other rocks in the vicinity. I think anyone would actually have to be pretty stupid/determined to go to the bother of turning it over, the motifs aren’t even anything particularly special, though the fact they’re in Tyne and Wear, is.

If anyone should wish to have a deeks at this bit of obscure rock art, drop me a line.

NB: A subsequent visit has shown fire damage, in the form of splitting, on unmarked stones only a few yards away. Local piss-heads burning tyres it would seem.

The comments below regarding the earthworks made me wonder. The only defensive purpose they could have had would be to protect the decorated outcrop with the rock art. But then this makes little sense when you bear in mind that someone coming down the hill from the east could still just walk right in. So maybe, control of access from the Till valley (highly ritualised neolithic landscape that it is) was the issue. If so, when were they built? Surely not by those who carved the panels? If the earthworks are say, Iron age, then it sort of hints that the big old dome of carved rock had some pretty special significance for a long time after it was carved.

Reminded me of the Pipers Chair down at the other end of the county, which also has a strange rock feature, with artificial carving, and a seemingly out of place set of earthworks.

I’m not even going to try and decribe the cups and rings. Words will not do justice. There just aren’t enough superlatives. Do visit, and find the opening in the fence, rather than scrambling about in the bracken like we did. I don’t think a wheelchair could get here, I recall a kissing gate, but it’s only a few yards from the road so it is quite accessible, as rock art in Northumberland goes.

Noticed last week, that the Shepherd’s Cottage, just below the fort and decorated outcrops, is for sale. Bearing in mind that it has no vehicle access, there’s a chance that it will be let out as a holiday place, and would make such a perfect setting for a tour of North Northumberland.

It looks a bit odd seeing a ‘For Sale’ sign on an IA hillfort. It really does look as if someone is flogging the fort, but it’s not included in the deal, nor is the rock art.

Looking at the motifs in a different light, it seems the uper C&R is placed in such a way that it occupies the middle of a natural ring on the boulder. Stan B often comments on how the existing surface of the rock can determine the placement and execution of the motifs carved upon it.

I’m still a bit baffled by the choice of the valley bottom as a place for the rock art, rather than the usual viewshed outcrops, which abound in the immediate area. However, walking back up to the kennels, A pathway was quite evident (not marked on map, not right of way) that runs east/west. Maybe this has always been a sensible route down to the North Tyne valley, and if so, that might have something to do with the presence of the carving.

The unopenable gate is now openable, but bears a sign ‘Bull in field’, so best ask permission before venturing into the fields. I saw no bulls, but did have an audience of 30 or so cows, arranged neatly in a semi-circle staring at me as I faffed about the marked rock. They seemed quite peaceful (if curious) creatures.

Revisited July 20th 2007

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Two motifs of cups, concentric rings and penannulars, quite weathered, but easily discernible. The motifs are in a setting that overlooks a spring, which has now been covered over. The rock art is to be found just to the left of the track from the kennels, after you get past the annoyingly unopenable gate, which is tied with thick nylon rope, meaning access is limited to those who can climb over gates.

Stan ‘the man’ Beckinsall has recorded cups and arcs on the outcrops beneath the overhead powercables. These are amongst many natural cups and grooves, and I’m not totally convinced I found the ones he was talking about. Very much threshold phenomena.

Having said this, I can’t help but think that the natural holes and marks in the sandstone may be part of the reason this place was chosen to be marked with rock art, along with the presence of the nearby spring, and views across to the North Tyne valley.

There are a few lumps and bumps in the ground, but they look similar to marks I’ve come to think of as traces of medeival shielings.

The grid ref here is slightly different from that in Beckinsall’s book, which is a bit of a cheek, especially as I’m seriously fallible in the grid ref dept. But I swear, the earthfast stone with the two concentric c’n’r motifs, is a bit further up the hill. The ref in the book corresponds with a suspiciously prone stone, which whilst having no rock art, has enough bearing to suggest it may once have been a tad more vertical.

I asked for, and got permission from Frankham Fell Kennels, and followed the track from there. Anyone tempted to nip down from the top of Carr Edge, be warned that the going is extremely rough from that direction.

Those who refer to the Ancient Italian Wall Builders as ‘R*mans’ will not like this site.

It’s rock art that’s been kidnapped by the Romans! The fiends!

It’s smack bang in the English Heritage Corbridge site. Hence quite easy to find, but incurs a £3.50 admission fee.

I was a bit deflated to find that no mention is made of it in the obligatory ‘stuff that was found here’ museum, especially given that it is placed on the edge of a mystery building. And you know what mystery buildings were used for doncha? Ritual purposes. Which begs the question, what were romans, or romano brits doing lugging what looks like it was a great lump of earthfast rock art, all the way into some strange structure, of purpose unknown, at a site that had alleged mithraic cult activity? Questions should be asked in parliament.

I couldn’t help think that it may have come from the same ridge as the possible cist cover at St John Lee. This ridge overlooks the eastern end of the confluence of the North and South Tyne, and would have been a very useful place to spy out the land. In such places is free range rock art found round these parts.

Ask at the till which is building 11, and approach it along the stanegate. It rests on a low wall, conspicuous as the only stone that isn’t a rectangular lump.

Possible cist cover, in a church.

It probably came from the ridge nearby, having been found in field clearance, following the ploughing of some mounds which may have been burial cairns. So syas Stan B, and so says a nice handpainted explanatory sheet framed above the stone.

Very weathered, the motifs have been ‘enhanced’ by some kind of paint, porobably wtaercolour, which has soaked into the carvings. It’s not in-your-face, like some painted enhancing I’ve seen, and I don’t think it detracted from my appreciation of the carvings.

It’s on the right hand side of the door as you enter. The Rev. was quite happy to allow access, and was quite chatty, being interested in the more recent archaology of the area.

Couldn’t help thinking it would feel happier outside in the fresh air though, somewhere it wouldn’t get battered by the elements, but I guess at least putting it in the church makes it easy to find.

Disabled access is fine, but if in a car, don’t come from the east, via the hamlet of Anick, as the road gets very poor and very steep. Rather come from Acomb. If on a bike, it’s worth the brief climb up to Anick, passing the ridge the stone originally came from, as it gives a bit of context to the carving.

I never tire of this place. Been here more than any other ancient site. It sometimes looks exactly as the last visit, other times it’s seemed totally different, like a different place, depending on the season/weather etc.

For the sake of a change, we decided to approach this time from the east. Not wise, the roads are narrow, the bends tight and the tractors large. In future, I think the more sensible route from Little Salkeld is the way to approach, it has signposts and everything. It even used to have piles of gravel to block solstice access to hippy vehicles, but I think they’re gone or overgrown now (the piles of gravel, not the hippies).

Tombo makes ref to a possible recumbent figure to the west. I’ve wondered if this is Lazonby Moor (it must be...). Annoyingly, the air was muggy on this visit, so I couldn’t check, but I recall a december with crystal clear air, and low light, where the recumbent figure was unmistakable.

This time I noticed the increased shinyness of the spiral carvings, presumably from traces of fingertip skin cells accumulated over the years. Maybe one day this will be C14 dated by future archaeologists to prove the stone was erected in the early 21st century.

I was very taken with the small raised circular platform in the middle of the henge. It’s just off centre, only a few inches high. It put the fancy into my head that this was a cousin to the aboriginal Australian bora circles, and that the henge was built around a pre-neolithis ritual platform.

Probably totally tosh, I know, but if there’s another more sensible explanation, I don’t know that I want to hear it, it would spoil the delusion.

Even dodgier idea, is that the big stone planter in the carpark of the pub is the remains of one of the two stones alleged to have stood over the entrance to the henge. The pub Landlord was adamant about the truth of this claim. It it is such a large thing, it must have taken some effort to reduce it to an oversized garden ornament. Though it looked more like sandstone to me, and not of the same stuff as the central stone of Mayburgh, not that that means anything either way.

Having read Fitzcoraldo’s tales of stone hunting in Shap, I was well keen to revisit the area, and this was a logical place to go, it’s so close to car access it would have been silly not to.

We had time to ponder the stone, where did it come from? Was it carried by glaciers? How far did the Hengineers have to shift it?

But then my attention was drawn to the small prannets of the bank, which poke through in patches all over. How many are there? How long did it take? Were they brought after the central stone, or was it brought after them? Are there any buried that might have cup marks on them? Why only one entrance?

Then the henge started playing tricks, like nicking my camera twice, sending a bull to come snort, and generally behaving in a Loki-esque manner. It’s got character.

The stones Nigel mentions below are pretty unconvincing, being rather small compared to the ones lying prone in the field across the road (the field on the map). They’ve got the reddish cast that implies they’ve been underground for a goodly while, whatever that implies.

If you hadn’t read of the contoversy, you’d think ‘blimey these circles have been well and truly wrecked’, and would probably be dissapointed. But if you have read the controversy, and like whodunnits, you could have a whale of a time here, trying to piece the clues together.

One thing I’d add, is that the distribution of the prone stones if unlike that of the natural sarsen drifts on Fyfield down. They seem buried a lot deeper for a start, just barely peeking above the turf for the most part. But that’s just my perception, and even if accurate, is proof of nowt at all.

We found getting here reasonably easy with a 3-wheel buggy. Gate rather than stile.

Only saw one other bod, in over an hour and a half, compared to the afternoon crowds at Avebury, it was bliss. Peaceful place, even despite the military transport droning overhead. The barrows are well defined, as are the ditches. We had a picnic as it seemed the thing to do at a causewayed camp.

It struck me that it would be an excellent place to watch the sunset, you’d get a really good idea of the local topography watching the shadows change. When you read about the Avebury area, and stare at the maps, you get an illusion of familiarity with the landscape and how the monuments are set within it. But I reckon spending an hour or more up here is the way to try and get your head around it all, if only because there are no cars or crowds.

There are some strange patches of lichen, that made me think that someone has been painting the stones with yoghurt.

These are massive, Adam especially is on par with the Swindon stone and the Devil’s Chair.

As Moth says, the access is decent, we asked at the farm, no probs they said, we got an oversized 3wheeler buggy over the wire easily, no gate though so wheelchairs would be a bit more problematical.

Got buzzed by an attack ‘copter, the airspace around here is full of contraptions.

If, whilst mooching about the Avenue, you should happen to notice some anomalous concentric circular marks in the field on the hill opposite (not Waden, the other side), don’t get excited, it’s nowt more than the remains of last year’s crop circle.

Take the time to examine as many stones as you can. They all have their own individual features, in that smashing sarseny style.

What a strange and lovely spot this is.

If you approach from the houses on the edge of Wooler, and go down the path from Waud House, you walk along a nice well defined flat path, through a really steep ravine, the Kettles fort overlooks from the right, and as you pass the Kettles, the ravine widens and bifurcates. The well is at the point where the ravine heads off to the right, towards the scree.

Immediately above the well is the natural rock outcrop of the King’s Chair, which sort of looms out of the side of the hill, silently having a sly neb at anyone passing. But you don’t see it until you turn around, it gave me a bit of a surprise.

It could be the fact that we visited at dusk, but this place really did have a magical quality to it. The well itself is a very rude affair, just piled stones really, but the ones on the top areobviously way younger than those at the bottom.

There’s been no excavations, so you couldn’t say for sure if there is any prehistoric signifiance to this site, but I defy anyone who visits to argue that this would not have been regarded as a special place since humans first explored these hills.

People still visit to drop bent pins into the water (you can see them as the water is nice and clear) and make a wish. I’m told this has been recorded going on since the 19thC, and that the tradition allegedly goes back much further. Make of that what you will.

As you can probably work out from the name, I’m not sure about these stones. For two reasons:

1) They are low, no more than half a metre.
2) I’ve never seen any mention of them anywhere, despite the area having been quite popular with antiquarian/rock art spotting/archaeologist type people (and golfers).

In defence, I must point out that they are conspicuously placed on the ridge, near shedloads of rock art, enclosures and a small circle. Furthermore, they display erosion patterns that indicate they’ve been stood up for very long time. Similar amount of erosion as the stones of the circle. The grain of the stone is perpendicular to that of the bedrock outcrops the nearby RA is pecked onto, so I don’t think they’ve gotten like this of their own accord.

Happily, they are within easy reach of the path that marks the east edge of the golf course.

Any one visiting Doddington without a guide who’s been there before, should bear in mind that the OS map is woefully out of date in regard to the footpaths.

The main panels are easy enough to find following the path from the Golf Club up the course (marked on map as a track). Other than this route, the rest marked on the map are all screwy.

The worst offenders are the 2 paths marked from the top of Dod Law and the one from the quarry, which allegedly cross each other, and head east across to Horton Moor. I dispute this vigorously. Insted, there is a path from the main panel, up to the trig point, which then forks.
The left path cuts through the east enclosure, and follows the line of the wire fence which forms the edge of the golf course, ending up at the quarry, passing the possible standing stones, and near the quarry site rock art on the way.
The right hand one leads to west plantation, and I think it’s the most reliable route to the circle.

The enclosure next to the circle is very faint, I could hardly make it out, and the Quarry site eluded me again. But it’s a damned excellent place is Dod Moor, so I’m glad, as it gives me the perfect excuse to go back.

I was most upset to see that one of the stones has fallen over since I last visited. It’s marked on the map as ‘rems of’, and it seems that’s a better description than ever. 3 down, 2 to go... :(

The hard way to find it is to try and follow the paths marked on the map. This involves bouncing through seriously deep heather, and annoyingly clingy bracken, trying to follow a path that isn’t really there any more, with optional extant paths that aren’t on the map and will lead you astray. But if you keep going downhill, you’ll hit the wall eventually, then you just have to decide on right or left. Whilst this can be fun, it’s not particularly recommended. It’s probably wiser to follow the path down from the Dod Law trig pillar, then turn left when you get to the wall, which I did this time, and it was quite straightforward to find the stones.

I am highly suspicious of the placing of this little circle, it draws a bead from Dod Law to the rocky outcrops of the Bowden Doors, an enigmatic site of mesolithic activity a few mile to the east.

As you follow the path past the trig pillar, you can just about make out the enclosure, the cairn and the RA are about 10m to the left of the path, where the land starts to slope down again, and the bracken starts to give way to heather.
This one’s actually a bit easier to find in summer, as the bracken doesn’t grow on the cairn, making the barer patch easier to spot.

Note that the paths marked on the OS map bear only a vague resemblance to the paths visible on the ground, largely due to bracken infestation.

Park on the Golf Course carpark, ask permission (it’s only polite, and they don’t seem to mind at all). Head straight up the course, don’t be distracted by the earthworks, keep to the left of them, then just as you spot the cottage, look to your left, they’re about 3m from the path.

The view to the south is excellent, and the carvings are unusual, cups in rectangles.

It’s a strange looking place. The circumference seems too small for the height of the earthwork on the west side. You get the impression that they were once much higher all around, in which case it would have been quite an imposing structure, especially with a pallisade on top. Apparently there have never been any excavations, so it remains undated.

The bloke at Highburn House campsite can be petitioned for access permission.

The ramparts and ditches are still quite well defined, it seems as though there are at least two distinct sections to the fort. The bracken was quite rampant, but there were what were probably hut circles visible in places.

You can scramble up the SW side from the Kings Chair, though the route from the northern side is much easier, the path is nice and easy to follow from Waud House.

Presumably built to guard the ravine running between Kenterdale Hill and the Horsden, the Kettles now seems to hold the pine plantation of Kenterdale hill at bay, which lurks threateningly to the west, looking like a coniferous shieldwall, possibly ready to charge down at any second.

Mrs Hob was keen to revisit, having been here just after the big storm of ‘87, when she says some of the trees got toppled.

Plenty trees now though. Whilst this may wreck any chances of checking out inter-visibilty with other stuff, it does make it superbly tranquil and welcomingly cool on a hot summer’s day.

In full agreement with PureJoy’s comments about the 4x4s though. They are knackering the ridgeway, and can temporarily spoil the ambience.

The holey stones on the facade are marvellous examples of domesticated sarsen. This place lives up to the hype.

I assumed the eastern end was the front of the cairn, as it seems to be the highest. It definitely slopes down towards the west end.

Toyed with the idea that the ditch may have been part of the orginal setting, but couldn’t convinvce myself. Summer probably isn’t the best time to visit, probably better in winter with less undergrowth, it would be easier to make out more details.

Revisit March 26th 05

Lack of undergrowth helps a bit, but makes things even less clear in some ways. the stones are easier to see as is the overall shape, but this just muddies the water as it makes the front (Eastern) end look like it has a platform at the front.

Saw a Harris hawk in the trees on the cairn, presumably from the nearby Bird of Prey Centre. Nice.

There’s space to park a car just on the other side of the A6, by Mount Clifton farm. The follow Tinklers Lane, over the M6. Not a long walk, easy going, gates not stiles.

I think these would be OK(ish) in terms of disabled access, though the track is a little rutted in parts.

I couldn’t help wonder if the larger stones is related to the pink granite of Shap.

We’d been told that the access had been improved since last we were here, and indeed the path is much easier to get a buggy up, but why go through all that bother and leave the manky old metal kissing gate? Thus not making it any more accessible? World Heritage Site rules and regs I guess.

There were folks doing the ‘stoneage soundtracks’ thing, humming and ohmming etc. And from my postion at the time, in the ‘courtyard’ down on the deck, looking at the textures, it did seem to have a definite effect. Mucho resonance etc. The hummers then spoiled this by making gyets of themselves, but it’s West Kennet, it attracts all types. At least they didn’t damage anything in the name of being reverent.

Really smooth polisher on the inside, to the right. Not noticed it before reading this website.

No fences/stiles to climb from the carpark! Hoorah! Fairly easy to get the buggy up to the top.

Slightly perplexed by the amount of chalk and stuff being excavated by the wildlife, but hey, I guess this place has put up with a lot of that over the years. Mildly intigued by the horseshoe shaped patches of darker colour in the grass, mycelial? Or archaeological? There are numerous wee hollows, maybe traces of old stuff? Some are big enough to hide from the wind.

Not very quiet on a summer afternoon, due to the near constant thrum of ‘copters and microlites photographing the inevitable crop circles below the scarp. Combine this with the noise from Salisbury Plain, and it may be better to visit a it later in the day if you want to let your mind drift and ponder in peace.

If you are in a car, and heading up this way, it’s not as bad a climb as it looks from the road. We managed to get the three-wheeler buggy up there, but had to lift it over a couple of stiles.

The mound and the view are as amazing as is related below, as is the whopping great sense of place, though I think the mound is an essential part of this. I found it to have a sentinel-like air to it. As if it were monitoring those who pass from the Vale of Pewsy, whilst keeping an eye on Salisbury Plain. It felt to me like there should have been biiiig music. If you plan to spend time here, take some sounds, maybe something soaring...

Ahem. ‘Nuff blurble. The thing that really got me about this place is the little earthworks at the sides, and the (presumably quarried) bit to the NE. Perfectly ambiguous, what are they for? Ae they contemporary with the mound? Have they anything to do with the mostly dissappeared stones of the facade? Speaking of which, have a root about and they can still be seen. They looked a bit like limestone, possibly brought a distance, making the place even more special.

Sits ‘On top of the world’.
A really strong sense of ‘up-aheightness’.
Made all the more so by the low scudding cloud.
Combined with the lumpen bumpiness of the earthworks and the gnarled chunks of prone stone, the position in the landscape makes this a memorable place, and well worth seeing, even for a bit of a detour on a dreary day.

There’s such a contrast betwen the limestone here and the sandstone over on Stanton moor. Check out the grooves, bowls and hollows, imagine the stones they’re on standing, illuminate them in your mind, with sunrises, sunsets and moonlight. Imagine their silhouettes and changing shadows as the light plays across them throughout the years.

It’s always good to see what can be done when careful attention is paid to the arrangement and placing of stone and earth. Nice one ArborLow-building-people of yesteryear, a job well done.

Definitely one of the more peculiar visits I’ve ever made to a stone circle.

Arrived in Matlock late, on the way down south, and thought ‘What the hell, it’s not dark yet...’ Predictably, by the time I was half way there it was dark. But that’s no problem. The Quarry site is impossible to miss, and the nice ‘eco-warriors’ (daft label) have enough banners to direct the hapless nocturnal wanderer.
Equally helpfully, on a friday night, the dark isn’t as much of a problem as you only have to follow the sounds of the drums...

However, I wouldn’t reccomend this route. It involves scrambling up the side of a slope that could be classed as a cliff in places, with sufficient foliage in summer to make it pitch black.

I was shocked at how close the old quarry is to the stones, to think of starting it up again seems gut-wrenchingly vile. The landscape around here has already been trashed enough. For example the highly unplesant mineral processing factory on the road to Matlock, which thrums and glows in the night like a giant malevolent predatory alien insect. Bleurgh!.

Here’s hoping the quarry remains forevermore dormant, and also that the toxic factory gets bored and flies back to its home planet. Leaving Stanton moor to recover it’s dignity and peace, with no need for caravans up trees or tunnels beneath them.

It’s not big but it is clever.

An excellent counter point to the likes of the massive Swindon stone and al the other massive testimonies to stone age know how, this is an absolute gem. If you have your fill of Avebury, make the effort. It’s such a superlative illustration of the amount of time and effort taken by humans to work stone.

To be get a sense of just why this is such a significant bit of rock, try grinding two small bits of (non-archaeological) sarsen together. This is hard stone, so to polish it to this degree is no mean feat, even if it did take 1200 years.

Can’t really testify to the difficulty in finding it, as I was well guided by people who had been there on more than one occasion. But I reckon that if you look at the photos with the tree and the triangular stone, they are effective markers.

Cheers for posting this one Mr Paulus. It’s much appreciated as the presence of RA not only this far south, but in the area of all the Avebury stuff is very interesting.

The cups themselves are very smoothed out, and fit the bill from the drawing. The horseshoe is very evident, as is the ‘slug’ mark, possibly a half-finished groove from one of the cups near the horseshoe. There are also some angular, yet serpentine (?) grooves at turf level on the south side of the stone. These look like they might be enhanced natural marks in places.

Thy were easy to find, as the result of a very well informed guide, who knew of it in advance, and accompanied myself and diverse others, right to the stone.

It’s in a section of the IA field system adjacent to that containing the pollisoir. If you find the polisher, look to the east, just beyond the first of the old field boundaries, where the land starts to rise again.

To my mind, the most remarkable thing about these marks was the fact that they’re on Sarsen. It’s bloody hard, and would take some pecking even with modern metal tools, let alone another bit of sarsen. Much discussion ensued regarding the techinique used, and what they might mean. There may be more in the area, and it’s unsure if this one is in situ, or has been shifted during the construction of the field system. Fyfield cup spotters should note that as the local sarsen has so many natural holes, it’s not a straight forward business, for example, there’s a stone to the SE that has a lovely natural bullaun-type basin. Others have possible small horseshoe motifs.

Only the western side of the fort still has well preserved ramparts and ditches. They’re not particularly spectacular, about 4ft at their tallest and the ditches slightly wider.

Patches of erosion reveal the grounding stones, possibly the remains of facing. There seems to be an entrance still visible. The original ramparts must have covered quite a larger patch, roughly 150m diameter, assuming the fort was vaguley circular.

Careful at the south end, there’s a drop down a cliff into a small disused quarry.

Bivallate hillfort. The banks and ditches of the fort are quite visible, but not particularly large, about 3ft above ground, the ditches maybe 5ft wide. The earthworks are mostly on the northern side, as the southern side is a rather steep slope, more of a cliff with ferns.

At the top of this cliff, easily visible from the A696, is the formation known as the piper’s chair. It’s a large flat oval of rock, about 15ft by 8ft across. Either end has broken off, otherwise it would have looked even snazzier. It’s striking profile is the result of it sitting atop a stratum of much softer sandstone. The same quartzy stone used in many of the megaliths in this part of Northumberland. The soft stuff has eroded, leaving the harder disk sitting like one of those rocks in a road runner cartoon. The harder disk also has a couple of veins of quartz pebbles embedded through it.

On the top of the chair, are numerous basins, some of which are natural, some of which look enhanced, one of which has been carved with metal tools to make a font-like basin with a strange shelf to one side.

It’s littered with modern graffitti from the last century, but part of this is the creation of a handy foothold on the east side, making it easier to climb on the top.

A substantial (3m tall) boulder at the foot of the crag upon which the Piper’s chair sits is named on the 1866 map as ‘The tailor and his man’. In a curious echo of the nearby ‘Poind and his man’.

There’s not much to see above ground here. But there are some banks about 4ft high, and some apparent hut circles.

The banks are stone and earth, as can be seen clearly at one point where they have been cut through by a more recent track. It’s in an eminently defensible place, with a nearby fissure by the name of Long Byres, hinting at the possibility that this was a good spot to keep cattle penned.

In July, the bracken occludes the earthworks, but in winter, at sunset, this will be a much more visually satisfying place. but perhaps not particularly accessible.

This motif gets a mention on page 122 of Stan Beckensall’s ‘Prehistoric Rock Art in Northumberland’.
However the map ref given in the book is a few nundred metres out. it’s best found by finding the ‘Jubilee stone’ off to the north of the path leading from the Poind and His man and the Middleton stone.

The motif is on the bedrock about 3m NE of the memorial stone. Note that the Jubilee stone is not prehistoric as some web sources imply, but it does give a good idea of how the stone used in prehistoric monuments erodes. It’s only been there a hundred years, and the words are galready gone at the top. The fact that it’s made from the quartzy sandstone made me wonder if it had once been a menhir.

It’s a simple, heavily eroded motif, consisting of 6 cups, one with a ring and an arc, another with a ring. The natural surface of the rock has been pecked to enhance natural grooves.

The site has excellent views to the Simonside hills.

I’m not sure if the record in the county SMR implies the stone is not in its original setting, or that it may have been removed all together.

If the latter, then no worries. It’s still very much there.

Like other stones in the area, it has the apparently obligatory (for south Northumberland standing stones) view to the sacred hill of Simonside.

Like others in the area, it is also made of a sandstone that weathers into dramatic vertical grooves.

Like others in the area, it is rectangular in cross section, on a rough east/west orientation of the wider face.

Like others in the area, the stone contains chunks of quartz.

Unlike others in the area, it has no visible cupmarks, and the bottom part is visible, showing very clearly the extent to which the stone has weathered since it was erected. Above the level of the surrounding soil, the NW edge is heavily weathered, below this, visible as a result of the sheep and cows using it as a rubbing stone, the bottom is very rectangular and unweathered. Deliberately shaped even?

It is this anomalous aspect that may suggest it is no longer in situ, as livestock activity at other stones hasn’t resulted in the revealing of this kind of feature, but it is the kind of thing you might expect if it had been relocated, or re-erected. There’s been some extensive quarrying of the nearby crags, and the field the stone stands in is in the route of the exits from the quarry.

One thing that I am becoming more sure of, is the choice of stone from a particularly quartz rich substrata must have been deliberate. It’s unlike the majority of the stone in the area, being found mostly in the standing stones. Presumably it’s not very good for buildings. It has made me think twice about a discounted gatepost I saw on the way though.

The slopes either side of Fallowlees burn are “an area of prehistoric enclosures and barrows”. So quoth Mr Beckensall. There are a number of circular ditched features, at least four inside a 1.5 mile radius of the reservoir, the easternmost being Nunnykirk. It’s been suggested that this is a ritual enclosure, as it doesn’t seem to be a defensive feature, but it’s not alone. There is a small circular ditch at approx NZ036937, only about 10m across.

A larger one, on the southern side of Fallowlees burn is larger, is perhaps 30m or so in diameter. As many sites in the area hint at multi-phasic use, dating these features is not possible without the pro’s coming in and doing their stuff with the harcky-ological technique. But 3 things that can’t be denied are the recorded examples of rock art, which may be taken as a clue that at least some of the enclosures in the area are prehistoric, whatever their purpose may have been, ritual? Cattle? Rituals involving cattle? No-one knows for sure. The marks on this stone, if confirmed as rockart, would raise the number of sites to 5 (if the boulder near the table slab at Fontburn is taken as a separate example)

This simple, but typical, example of rock art is set a few metres away from one of these enclosures, in a patch of nettles that stand out like a sore thumb, indicating something going on underground. The stone has at least 4 cups and 2 grooves, and though prone, may have been upright at some point. It is in the middle of a small mound, and is not marked on the maps, nor is it mentioned in any lists or books I’ve seen. It’s easy to spot the patch of nettles from the bridlepath, with the stone peeking out.

This is the table like rock described in Stan Beckensall’s ‘Prehistoric rock art in Northumberland’. I think the grid ref given in the book may be a little off, as the stones is maybe 150m to the north east of the ref given which caused minor searching to begin with, but the photo in the book showed it is on the edge of conifer plantation, near a gate.

Approach from the bridlepath linking Newbiggin farm with Greenleighton farm, where the land rises towards the sheep pens marked on the map, turn left, and head towards the sheepfold with the tree in the middle (neat little structure that it is). Here there is a boulder with a single easy to spot cupmark. Look to the left, and the table-slab is visible lurking beneath the conifer branches. It has a strong presence, despite, or maybe because of the way in which it seems to be trying to tuck itself away. Unfortunately, the trees obscure the view, so it’s hard to say if it could have a line of sight to the four-poster on the other side of Fallowlees burn.

Big Stan counted over 80 cups, pushed for time, I didn’t even try and check, as some are very faint. The rings and arcs were visible, and I found myself in total agreement with the observation that whilst the slab is reminiscent of Old Bewick, the motifs are much simpler. The setting isn’t anywhere near as good as Old Bewick either, but I really felt this slab has a presence. Despite effort not to do so, I couldn’t help but imagine it slouching into the trees, grumbling in a Gilliamesque kinda way. It’s undeniable that this is a good example of several species of small, simple motifs, gathered together on a slab, possibly even grooved together with a pick.

Placed deliberately in view of Simonside. if this little four-poster type circle were a few feet further north or south, the hill wouldn’t be half as visible. The long hillocks to the east and west frame the plateau with Simonside as the definite focal point, almost due north. You simply can’t miss it, with it’s distinctive shapes being silhouetted quite precisely, none of the curves of the lower foothills of Simonside can be seen, which adds to the visual impact of the setting. It would be such a sight if viewd at night with the aurora borealis flickering behind it.

There are more than 4 stones, but the largest roughly describe a rectangle. All the stones are on a low mound, with many small boulders dotted about, possibly they once covered the larger stones. Burl declared this site a four poster, and the mound certainly seemed to hint at a burial function that would fit with the four poster label.

Stan Beckensall states there are cups, and some of these were clearly visible on the tops of two of the stones. But the ringed motif on the vertical side of one eluded me.

Growing from the south side, there’s a hawthorn of great age, most of which has broken off, the depth of the lichen on the split wood indicating it was a long time ag. Yet happily, the tree survives in reduced form. The strange hillocks framing the miniplateau upon which the sire sits are very conspicuous, that to the east having revetted stone walls, with traces of a ditch. The western one has some pretty hefty boulders as grounders of two parallel linear earth/stone banks, each of which is runs the length of the hillock. No excavations, no dating evidence, no idea. Though cattle droving suggested itself.

It’s not particularly accessible in any way, requiring a scramble up from the footpath to the south by the burn, or a trudge across bracken infested bog to the north, moss-trooper territory, with hidden hollows, steep sided cleughs and mossy, peaty moorland. Shame about the pine plantations.

This site is not marked on the OS map, nor is it scheduled, which seems a poor show. There surrounding area is littered with intriguing lumps and bumps, such as the circular ditch on the path from Newbiggin farm, just before the trees.

The place to ask permission is Newbiggin Farm, and though there are carparks on the eastern side of the reservoir, it’d still be a hike of a mile or so across some burns, through quite a bit of mud, along some pretty basic trails. If coming from the west, from Harwood forest, beware the recent tree felling has blocked some of the footpaths and bridleways, many of which might be easy enough on horseback, but are a right pain on a pushbike, even without the trees.

The grid ref here is for the cup marked stone marked on the OS map. Tree felling has trashed the area, and it is now covered over, and impossible to find.

It’s described in Beckensall’s ‘Prehistoric rock art in Northumberland’.

Sometimes Rock art can be tricky to find. Not here though.

Straight up the path from the carpark, turn left, look for the big rock covered in carvings. Just in case the rock is feeling bashful, the main panel has a slightly quaint signit is virtually impossible to miss.

As ever, a copy of the relevant Stan Beckensall doesn’t go amiss.

A great place to start a jaunt up Simonside, which must surely be the focal landscape feature for this area’s rock art, though it does have a good vista over the nearby river valley (that of the Coquet), as is apparently desirable in a suitable site for cups and rings.