stones in barrow at Rodmarton, as seen from the north east (illustration circa 1869)
wysefool
Distant view from the road ramparts and lynchets looking across to the Iron Age Hillfort.
This stone, which utter’d many a blast,
In silence lay for ages past,
By man unheard, by man unseen.
Tradition said it once had been,
And that for miles its loud alarms
Were heard, when Alfred blew to arms;
And this tradition had it still
The stone was on the White Horse Hill.
From sire to son the Blow Stone tale
Thus circles round the White Horse Vale.
In recent times this stone was found,
Imbedded near the battle ground.
The wandering shepherds first saw there
And Atkins has preserved with care
This mystic remnant of the day
When Alfred ruled with regal sway;
And when the wise decrees of fate
Made friend and foe confess him great,
This trumpet loudly did proclaim
His wars, his wisdom, and his fame.
- from a poem entitled A Day on the Downs, 1855
‘Yet the stone was certainly in its present position in 1761. In 1749 the Atkins family bought the Kingston Lisle estate which they retained until sometime after 1907, and in view of statements in the following poem published in 1855 (NOTE: this is entitled ‘A day on the downs’ and is described in another post for this site), I am inclined to think that the stone was found on or near White Horse Hill between 1750 and 1760 and its blowing properties recognised, as a result of which it was moved to its present position in front of the cottages at the instigation of a member of the Atkins family’.
L V Grinsell – White Horse Hill and surrounding country
‘The tradition that King Alfred blew through it to summon the Saxons to fight the Danes is probably more picturesque than historically true. It has in fact been sometimes known as King Alfred’s Bugle Horn. I beleive the Alfred tradition connected with this stone is traceable to the influence of Wise’s Letter to Dr Mead (1738) and the theory which he expounded in that work’.
L V Grinsell – White Horse Hill and Surrounding Country
‘Alfred’s Castle, on the hill west of Ashdown, was called Ashberry Camp on a map of Shrivenham Hundred in 1532 referred to in Miller’s History of Ashbury, and it was given the alternative names of Alfred’s Castle and Ashbury Camp by Wise in 1738. There is no doubt that the original name was Ashbury Camp, and it is almost certainly the camp from which Ashbury was named, which was spelt Aescesburh in the Anglo-Saxon charters.‘
Exceprt from White Horse Hill and surrounding country by L V Grinsell
Wayland’s Smithy with horses waiting to be shod. (from a book published in 1939)
L V Grinsell’s sketch plan of Waylands Smithy. This was done when it was still a pile of stones known as ‘Wayland Smiths Cave’ (or cromlech). A small sketch of how it was is at the top of the plan, and a small sketch of what it may have looked like, is at the bottom of the plan.
Image credit: L V Grinsell
“...Then let my tale be told,
While yet my stones stand firm on English mould,
To those among ye who yet love our tongue,
How Wayland the Smith forged here of old.”
K M Buck, The Song of Wayland
Horse and Dog Skeletons
Among various finds from the digs at Blewburton hill, the skull and complete skeleton of a young horse was found and part of the lower jaw of an older horse. These were considered rather small horses and compared to modern day New Forest ponies.
The skull and limb bones of of an Early Iron Age dog were also found. The dog was thoough to be of a mongrel type of small size, with an estimated height at the shoulder of 20 inches.
Artistic interpretation of the Uffington White Horse
Image credit: Phyllis Elton
From White Horse Hill and Surrounding Country by L V Grinsell.
‘There is another Hangmanstone, 4+1/2 feet high, south of the Lambourn Seven Barrows, and many others exist in southern England, some being connected with a legend of a man whoe stole sheep and rested at the stone with the sheep tied by a cord; but in its efforts to get away the sheep twisted the cord round the man’s neck and strangled him. This legend has not, however, been recorded of the Berkshire stones, so far as I know.‘
Compare with som text from; Memories of Old Berkshire, by Jane M Taylor O.B.E.
‘By the side of a lonely road near where we lived is a very large, rather flat stone, known locally as ‘Hangman Stone’. The story is that a man stole a sheep, tied it by the legs and hung it around his neck to carry it home. He grew tired, and sat down on the stone to rest. The sheep struggled and the cord hanged the man; and to this day that road is called Hangman Stone Lane, and it is still haunted by the ghost of the sheep stealer.‘
Nice pictures of Bronze Age Hoard found near Ashbury (somewhere on the downs)
All images credited to ‘W J Hemp’ were added from a document entitled ‘The Chambered Cairn of Bryn Celli Ddu’ by W J Hemp FSA published in 1930, I presume after the digs in 1928/29. (misc post added for reference)
B+W Illustration of Silbury, from ‘Where Green Roads Meet’ by R Hippisley Cox.
Image credit: Unknown
An rather loose version of the Uffington White Horse from the cover of ‘Where Green Roads Meet’ by R Hippisley Cox.
Image credit: Unknown
View along axis of forecourt ; stones filling post-holes in foreground. Note dry walling of circle 3 adjoining stone 18
Image credit: W J Hemp
Outer side of stones 5 and 3 ; packing blocks in situ
Image credit: W J Hemp
Area south of portal. Inner slope of ditch. Part of filling remains on which rests circle 3 (stones 18 and 20 and walling connecting them). Bead found in bottom left-hand corner
Image credit: W J Hemp
Circle 2 opposite stone ‘d’ with walling between and upon uprights.
Image credit: W J Hemp
Diagrammatic drawing of Pattern stone showing continuity of design (scale 1/12th)
books.google.co.uk/books?id=d0nwILR1UQEC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
(WF – sure this image will be a winner with all the Rock Art spotters)
Image credit: W J Hemp
Pattern stone before removal ; stone 3 on right and small packing blocks between (perpendicular view)
Image credit: W J Hemp
Forecourt, post-holes, pit containing ox, and upright stones bounding north side.
Image credit: W J Hemp
Clay-set wall as first uncovered, and dressed edge of stone 7
Image credit: W J Hemp
General Plan. The shaded area represents the approximate extent of the ditch. The outermost circle marks the base of the cairn.
Image credit: W J Hemp
Looking across the vale from the horse (dragon / cat / interstellar UFO guiding post etc). Note the un-metalled road. The chalk road meanders into the distance (and Uffington village). Circa late 1940’s.
Image credit: Unknown