Tag: ancient monuments

Boulter’s Barn Stone, Churchill, Oxfordshire

megalithix

Standing Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SP 2938 2569

Also known as:

  1. Churchill Stone

Getting Here

Boulter's Barn standing stone, Churchill (Tom Wilson)
Boulter’s Barn stone (© Tom Wilson)

This stone stands on the south-side of the B4450 just north of the crossroads, halfway between Churchill and Chipping Norton.  Generally troublesome to see at first as it tends to get hidden in the hedgerow, so you may need to furrow into the but shrubbery to get to it, but it’s not too difficult to locate with a bit of patience.

Archaeology & History

This small standing stone seems to have been described for the first time in O.G.S. Crawford’s (1925) fine survey of the regions prehistoric remains following a letter he received from a local man, Mr A.D. Passmore, who first drew it to the attention of archaeologists.  Crawford told:

“This stone is a little over a mile southwest of Chipping Norton station.  It stands in the hedge on the northwest side of the road and is about four feet high… Nothing more is known about it, but it seems not unlikely that it may be of considerable antiquity.”

A few years later Leslie Grinsell (1936) mentioned it in his equally fine survey of prehistoric English tombs and associated remains, describing here, “a large stone which may be the remains of a megalithic monument.”  Tom Wilson then illustrated it in our crappy little Old Stones of Rollright (1999) work (which really needs updating and expanding).  It’s a cute little stone and may have once served as a companion to a prehistoric tomb as there are many others nearby.  It is also quite close to one of the local boundary lines and, p’raps, might once have served as a marker hereabouts.  We might never know…

References:

  1. Bennett, Paul & Wilson, Tom, The Old Stones of Rollright and District, Cockley: London 1999.
  2. Crawford, O.G.S., The Long Barrows of the Cotswolds, John Bellows: Gloucester 1925.
  3. Grinsell, Leslie V., The Ancient Burial Mounds of England, Methuen: London 1936.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Hagg Woods, Thongsbridge, Holmfirth, West Yorkshire

megalithix

Cairns:  OS Grid Reference – SE 1493 1026

Getting Here

Take the A6024 road south out of Huddersfield for about 4 miles, past the turnings to Honley, and when you reach a section where the road runs through a nice bitta woodland, stop! Go into the woods on the western side of the road near the bottom end where a footpath runs up to Haggs Farm. The cairnfield is about 100 yards up into the woods, evidenced by small overgrown heaps in a small cluster.  Good luck!

Archaeology & History

These are pretty difficult to locate even when the vegetation isn’t covering them!  But if you’re diligent and enjoy a good foray in searching for archaeological remains, you might uncover summat.  For here are the scattered remains of what was once a group of seven cairns with adjacent ring-banks, last excavated in the early 1960s by Neil Lunn and other members of the Huddersfield & District Archaeology Society.  Little by way of datable material was found, although one of them did “reveal features typical of some Bronze Age barrows.” Beneath this one they found “the remains of a hut or shelter with a succession of small hearths and a group of stone-packed postholes.”

It would be nice to find out the precise status of this area as few other remains seem in evidence, which can’t be right surely?

References:

  1. Barnes, B., Man and the Changing Landscape, University of Liverpool 1982.
  2. Lunn, N., ‘Account of Recent Fieldwork in the Honley Area,’ Hudds Dist. Archaeo. Soc., 13, 1963.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


The Whetstones, Churchstoke, Montgomeryshire

megalithix

Stone Circle (destroyed):  OS Grid Reference – SO 303 976

Archaeology & History

Although geographically closer to the village of Priest Weston, this site — when still in existence — was in the parish of Churchstoke.  To be found a half-mile west of White Grit (near the famous Mitchell’s Fold megalithic ring and standing very close to the local boundary line), the Welsh Royal Commision report (1911) told that its position was, “at the foot of the northern slope of Corndon Hill, and close to a stile on the south side of the road near the turning to Cliffdale Mine.” Found close to a number of other prehistoric remains, the Report told:

“It is certain that at this place there once stood a circle of eight or nine stones.  An intelligent man, named John Jones, aged 74 years and a resident in the vicinity since his youth, remembers four stones arranged as though forming parts of a circle, with an appendage in a curve “like a hook.”  About 100 yards distant was a cairn, the foundation of which is still discernible.  The land was then unenclosed, but on its enclosure the cairn and the circle were rifled to provide stone for the construction of the existing fence.  Mr Jones pointed out the four stones which had been members of the circle.  The Rev. C. Hartshorne’s account of this circle in Salopia Antiqua, 1841, p.33, gives a slightly different account of the stones.  He observes, “these three stones (the Whetstones) were formerly placed upright though they now lean, owing to the soft and boggy nature of the soil.  The stand equidistant and assume a circcular position… The highest of these is four feet above the surface; 1 foot 6 inches in thickness; and 3 feet in width.”

When the Royal Commission lads got round to examining the remains here, they reported that,

“Only one stone is now to be found, embedded in the ground close to the stile entering the field, and this is so small that it is not likely to have formed one of the stones of the circle, or it must be a mere fragment of a larger mass.”

However, from the air, a very distinct circle is clearly visible, showing that something was here in bygone times.  In all likelihood, there’s gonna be something just beneath the surface here to tell us more about whatever once stood here.

References:

  1. Crawford, O.G.S., The Long Barrows of the Cotswolds, John Bellows: Gloucester 1925.
  2. Royal Commission on Ancient & Historical Monuments, Wales, County of Montgomery, HMSO: London 1911.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Esholt Lane Carving, Esholt, Bradford, West Yorkshire

megalithix

Cup-Marked Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SE 1743 3975

Also Known as:

  1. Carving no.10 (Boughey & Vickerman)

Getting Here

Seemingly not visible anymore, but directions given by a Miss N. Hutchinson in the early 1960s worked for me and Dave Pendleton when we checked this out at the end of our teens.  We had to look around till we found it, based on the following directions.  The carving was found “on top of a low dry wall on Esholt Lane, Esholt…on the stretch of road from the junction of Gill Beck with the River Aire to the stone-built barn on the left-side of the road, that is, going towards Esholt.”

Archaeology & History

Esholt Lane Carving, Bradford
Esholt Lane Carving, Bradford

First described by Miss Hutchinson in a letter she sent to Sydney Jackson (1964), editor of Bradford Archaeology group newsletter.  When we first found this small carving (not far from where we grew up) we were at the end of our teens, and followed the directions cited in the Cartwright Hall Archaeology Group Bulletin (see above).  The carved design was typical of the primary arcs found in many of the Baildon Moor cup-and-ring carvings a bit further up the hill, but with two other small faint cup-markings on it.  According to Boughey & Vickerman (2003), the carving’s now been hidden in a section of walling that’s been rebuilt.  The drawing here is from one of my unpublished notebooks. (1984)

References:

  1. Bennett, Paul, Ramblings of Archaeological Remnants in West Yorkshire, unpublished: Shipley 1984.
  2. Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS 2003.
  3. Jackson, Sydney, ‘Cup-Marked Rock – Esholt Discovery,’ in Bradford Cartwright Hall Archaeology Group Bulletin, 9:4, 1964.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Line Stone, Skyreholme, Appletreewick, North Yorkshire

megalithix

Cup-Marked Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SE 0732 6251

Also Known as:

  1. Carving no.401 (Boughey & Vickerman)

Getting Here

Skyreholme 401 carving (photo © Richard Stroud)
Skyreholme 401 carving (photo © Richard Stroud)

Along the B6265 Pateley Bridge-Grassington road, roughly halfway between Stump Cross Caverns and the turn down to Skyreholme and Appletreewick (New Lane) is a dirt-track on your right-hand side called Black Hill Road. Walk along here for a few hundred yards till y’ reach the gate on the right. A track meanders downhill to the psilocybin-rich pastures of Nussey Green. Several hundred yards down, to the right-hand side of the track, we find this stone and its several nearby companions. Look around – you’ll find it!

Archaeology & History

I like this carving — I think because of the initial impression it gave, which was one of numeracy and linearity: an unusual quality for a cup-and-ring stone. Those of you with an astronomical or mathematical slant may have a similar response.

Line Stone Carving, Skyreholme
Line Stone Carving, Skyreholme

The stone was first described in one of Stuart Feather’s (1964) many short notices.  Its existence then remained dormant until it was eventually listed in Boughey & Vickerman’s (2003) survey on the West Riding rock-art, where they catalogued it as ‘stone no.401.’  The carving comprises of two parallel lines—one quite deep—with cup-marks at either end; one of the lines having another 2 cups along it. A third line at an angle has one or two cups along it aswell.  Several other single cups scatter the rock (forgive my crap drawing of it!).

References:

  1. Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS 2003.
  2. Feather, Stuart, ‘Appletreewick (WR),’ in Yorkshire Archaeology Journal 41, 1964.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Skyreholme Wall Stone, Appletreewick, North Yorkshire

megalithix

Cup-and-Ring Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SE 0772 6231

Also Known as:

  1. Carving no.413 (Boughey & Vickerman)

Getting Here

Skyreholme Wall Carving
Skyreholme Wall Carving (after Boughey & Vickerman)

Various ways here, but for the sake of newcomers I’d say it was best following directions from Burnsall.  From here, take the Appletreewick road thru the village, past the left turn a few hundred yards along, and another 500 yards or so there’s a split in the road: take the one on your right!  Follow this up, keeping right (don’t turn into Perceval Hall, tempting though it may be!) and park-up where the road turns into a track.  Walk up the track, past the haunted junction, bearing left uphill up Black Hill Road until you reach the very peak of the track where, in the walling on your left, you’ll see this big boulder.  If you can’t see it, you’re bloody close!

Archaeology & History

This is at the very peak of Black Hill Road, with excellent views of Simon’s Seat climbing to the immediate south, the prominent and rounded Nursery Knot Hill immediately north, and grand views to peaks east and west. It is very likely this position had something to do with it being deemed worthy of relevance.  The rock itself defines a point along the old boundary line.

Skyreholme Wall Boundary carving
Skyreholme Wall Boundary carving

One peculiarity on this boulder is the deep cup-mark with a strange ‘lip’ to it, which has been mentioned by others in the past.  This is surrounded by at least five others cups — not dissimilar to some of the ‘rosary-designs’ of cup-and-rings further north.

The rock art student’s Boughey & Vickerman’s (2003) drawing of this design is pretty accurate — where they call it stone 413 — though it doesn’t actually give this carving the justice it deserves.  They also erroneously tell that some of the cups here are doubtful.

Check it out for y’self.  This is an excellent stone for cup-and-ring lovers! (with plenty of other sites scattered about all round here)

References:

  1. Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS 2003.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Currer Woods Stone, Steeton, West Yorkshire

megalithix

Cup-and-Ring Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SE 0251 4384

Getting Here

On the opposite side of the road (B6265) from Airedale General Hospital, Steeton, you’ll notice a footpath going up the field into some woods.  Go up here.  Once you come out the top of the woods, follow the dodgy path on your right (west) along the rocky edges for 250 yards, following the edges of the field walling.  You’ll eventually reach the field with lots of rocks in it.  It’s the field before this one, close to the walling.  Look around!

Archaeology & History

I’ve been a little cautious about putting this carving on TNA simply because it seems to be an isolated example and was a little unsure about its veracity.  If I’d have found the stone on the edges of Ilkley Moor, Rivock Edge, or the heights above Askwith, I wouldn’t have hesitated.  The fact that no other carvings occur nearby has been my main trouble.  But I suppose if the carving turns out to be nowt of the sort, I can discard it at a future date and, of course, make sure that a lot of other cup-and-ring stones are disregarded at the same time (there are a number of other designs much less defined than this one which have been okayed by archaeo’s who’ve been into this subject for much shorter periods of time than myself).  But less of the waffle!

Currer Wood Carving, Steeton
Currer Wood Carving, Steeton

When we first found this, in April 2009, I was out looking for the remains of an old well (called Jane Well, a few hundred yards west of here).  The heaven’s opened and I ended up in the woodland and then found the field full of large rocks, some seemingly used by man in more recent centuries, atop of the woods, and so had to check them out!  But this was one of the first stones we found.

Currer Woods Stone
Currer Woods Stone

The rock itself, as the photo shows, appears to have had one end of it split or broken off (not unlike one edge of the Hanging Stones, Ilkley Moor) at some time in the past, intruding on the arc, or line, beneath which are two distinct ‘cups’.  A possible third cup-marking and other linear aspects seem apparent, with the design giving the distinct impression of a face.  I keep meaning to go back and get a rubbing of the carving, but aint got round to it yet.  When (if!) I gerrit done, I’ll add it onto this profile.

And although there are said to be no other prehistoric remains close to this old carving, the fields a coupla hundred yards west used to be called the Barrow Fields, where tombs were once found; and a little further along the same geological ridge atop of the excellent Kirk rocks, possible cup-markings scatter the edges of two sections — but they’re a little dubious; then there’s the Dragon Stone and associated cup-marked stone not far away.  In the adjacent woods are the remains of old walling, but I’ve not found other carvings hereabouts.  However, the rule tends to be: “where there’s one, there are more!”

Watch this space!

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Addlebrough (1), Thornton Rust Moor, North Yorkshire

megalithix

Cup-Marked Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SD 948 879

Getting Here

This takes a bitta getting to and won’t really be worthwhile unless you’re a rock-art nut!  I s’ppose if you’re looking at the other decent cup-and-ring stones on the summit of Addlebrough, it might be worth looking at.  In which case, walk a coupla hundred yards southeast towards where the walling meets and climb over.  The walk a little further in the same direction and once you’ve gone less than 100 yards, look around.  You can’t really miss it if you potter about.

Archaeology & History

Single cup-marked stone (photo by Richard Stroud)
Single cup-marked stone (photo by Richard Stroud)

This possible single cup-marked stone appears to have been discovered before me ‘n Richard Stroud got to the spot, by none other than Stan Beckensall himself — or at least it’s in Stan’s Prehistoric Rock Art of County Durham, Swaledale and Wensleydale book, where he describes it as it only can be done: “a single possible cup-marked stone…SSE of the summit cairn”, which is where you find this. (Another single cup-marked stone found nearby by Barbara Brown aint the same one as this.)

References:

  1. Beckensall, S. & Laurie, T., Prehistoric Rock Art of County Durham, Swaledale and Wensleydale, County Durham Books 1998.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Old Market Cross, Sedbergh, Cumbria

megalithix

Cross (destroyed):  OS Grid Reference – SD 6573 9212

Archaeology & History

More than 150 years ago outside St. Andrew’s Church in Sedbergh, A.E. Platt wrote (1876) that,

“there was a cross standing in the Market Place adjoining the churchyard on the north, but the last remains of it, and the stone steps it stood on, were taken away some years since by private persons, and may now be seen used as gateposts to a farmyard, some ten miles from their original position.”

Intriguing stuff!  Does anyone know which farmyard might still possess these old relics?  When the legendary Harry Speight (1892: 443) ventured by here fifteen years later he knew little about their new location, but simply echoed what Platt had previously written.  It would be good to know what has become of them…

References:

  1. Platt, A.E., The History of the Parish and Grammar School of Sedbergh, Yorkshire, Atkinson & Pollitt: Kendal 1876.
  2. Speight, Harry, The Craven and Northwest District Highlands, Elliot Stock: London 1892.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Pathway Stone, Holden, Silsden, West Yorkshire

megalithix

Cup-Marked Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SE 07021 44884

Also Known as:

  1. Rough Holden CR-9

Getting Here

Pathway Stone, Holden, Rivock

Follow the footpath running from the Rivock TV mast northwest, where it cuts diagonally across the field, heading towards the drystone wall.  About 200 yards before the walling – stop! It’s just to your right-hand side, very close by!

Archaeology & History

First discovered in July 2009 when Keighley volunteer, Michala Potts of Bracken Bank, did further ramblings amidst the long grasses hereabouts.  Its name comes from the fact that it’s found just next to the footpath that cuts across Rough Holden from the TV mast beneath Rivock.  The carving’s a very simple plain design, as the photos show, with just three faded cup-markings etched onto the stones northeast face.

Close-up of cup-markings

This stone aint too far from the cup-marked Dump Stone and the nearby Rough Holden design, but all across the Holden Rough grasslands are the faded remains of old pit-workings.  It makes you wonder just how many other carvings once existed across this flatland.  The fact that this and the other ones nearby still remain is damn fortunate!

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian