The Modern Antiquarian. Stone Circles, Ancient Sites, Neolithic Monuments, Ancient Monuments, Prehistoric Sites, Megalithic MysteriesThe Modern Antiquarian

Fieldnotes by Moz

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Ballafayle (Chambered Cairn)

Visited July 2008CE. This is a nice site in a quiet location. Unfortunately most of the trees in the low-walled enclosure had been blown down when I visited. Consequently, most of the south east of the cairn was not visible. From the debris on the ground it looks like it has been like this for a while.

Les Blanches Banques

Easy access. Park at the cafe/shop next to the beach and walk towards the dunes across the road, bearing NE ( I would guess). The Ossuary, The Little Menhir and The Broken Menhir are all close to each other. I failed to find The Great Menhir.

Le Dolmen du Couperon (Allee-Couverte)

A great example of a gallery grave, but unfortunately not too easy to access (at least using the route which I chose, which saw me descending a steep overgrown path on a crappy hired bike; I would probably try and get access from the road that goes along the coast in the future). Another bummer about this site is that there's a brick building not 3 meters from the tomb. This, in combination with the brambles, makes photography quite tricky.

La Sergente (Passage Grave)

This very early site is a beautifully small burial chamber, near to the coast, that once had a corbelled roof. I could have spent much longer at this very quiet site, but was keen to visit as many of the others on Jersey as I could.

La Hougue Bie (Passage Grave)

Quite simply the most impressive site on Jersey. A 20-meter long passage leads to a largish central region, from which 2 side chambers and a rear 'terminal cell' join. Four small standing stones (called 'betyles') were found in the chambers. Although much smaller, perhaps these held the same 'purpose' as the central stone at Bryn Celli Ddu? Excavation in the 1920s revealed the remains of at least 8 individuals. Also found in the tomb was a quern (mill grinder), found buried upside-down beneath the upright slab at the entrance to the terminal cell.
At the equinox, the sun shines down the passage and illuminates the terminal cell. La Pouquelaye de Faldouet is also aligned to the east.

In the 6th century an attempt was made to Christianise the site and in medieval times a chapel was built on top of the mound. During the German Occupation of Jersey, a command bunker was built in the grounds as part of Hitler's extensive fortification programme.

There is a smallish but excellent museum showing many finds from the area, including a few prehistoric sites that have been relocated here. There's also a shop, but its a beautiful and not over-visited site to visit.

Ville es Nouaux

A gallery grave and cist-in-circle within spitting distance of each other. Easily found in St Andrew's park, but unfortunately the site is fenced off. Around a dozen beakers were recovered from this site.

La Pouquelaye de Faldouet (Passage Grave)

Down a path at the side of the road (and incidentally near the YH where the police have been searching recently...). This is a great site, aligned bang on east, with a 5-meter long passage and several cists built into the walls of the passage. The whole chamber is surrounded by a small mound, which has a sort of dry-stone walling effect going on at the eastern side.

Thimbleby Moor Nine Stones (Stone Circle)

Was there last weekend in beautiful February sun. As robokid points out, a lot of the plantation has been chopped down recently. Consequently the circle is no longer halfway along northern edge of the plantation as it appears on the OS map; it is about 100 yards west of the northwest 'corner' of the plantation.
Had a quick look for the Thimbleby Moor carved rock, but its almost impossible with the large number of rocks up there.

Broughton Mains (Cup and Ring Marks / Rock Art)

I too would recommend leaving the car at the farmhouse; the track leading to the correct field is in poor condition and cotains sets of gates that are sometimes closed. The rock is a 0.5-mile walk from the farmhouse. Take the right-hand track at the fork in the road just past the farmhouse (the left-hand road is tarmaced and therefore looks more promising, but this leads to the milking sheds). Walk through the complex of barns and follow the track past a small isolated building on the left. The rock is in a fenced-off area in a field on the right, approximately 300m past this building. When I visited in December 2005 the enclosure was cluttered with a vast array of random boulders, presumably collected by the farmer from the surrounding fields. I thought this made the site look rather messy.

Pepperpot (Cup Marked Stone)

The Pepperpot can be easily found (even in summer when obscured by bracken) by following these directions lifted from the site
http://www.keirg.freeserve.co.uk/ilkley/white.htm:

Behind White Wells, take the path upwards from the west end of the building. Where the land levels out, there is a small steep path up to the right - scramble up! After 50 metres the path divides - keep left up the edge of the escarpment to join the main path on the top. There is a carved rock only 6 metres up the main path - a small rock with 5 carved cups.
Return down the main path for a few metres looking for a faint path to the left. The Pepperpot lies 15 metres into the bracken to the South West.
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