Tag: geomancy

Calderstones, Allerton, Liverpool, Lancashire

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Chambered Tomb (damaged) & Cup-and-Ring Stones:  OS Grid Reference – SJ 405 875

Calderstones on 1889 OS-map
Calderstones on 1889 OS-map

Also Known as:

  1. Calder Stones
  2. Caldway Stones
  3. Dogger Stones
  4. Druid’s Cross
  5. Rodger Stones

Getting Here

Access to these stones has, over recent years been pretty dreadful by all accounts.  It’s easy enough to locate. Go into Calderstones Park and head for the large old vestibule or large greenhouse.  If you’re fortunate enough to get one of the keepers, you may or may not get in.  If anyone has clearer info on how to breach this situation and allow access as and when, please let us know.

Archaeology & History

Earliest known drawing from 1825, showing the carvings
Earliest known drawing from 1825, showing the carvings

Marked on the 1846 Ordnance Survey map in a position by the road junctions at the meeting of township boundaries, where the aptly-named Calderstones Road and Druids Cross Road meet, several hundred yards north of its present site in Harthill Greenhouses in Calderstones Park, this is a completely fascinating site whose modern history is probably as much of a jigsaw puzzle as its previous 5000 years have been!

Thought to have originally have been a chambered tomb of some sort, akin to the usual fairy hill mound of earth, either surrounded by a ring of stones, or the stones were covered by earth.  The earliest known literary reference to the Calderstones dates from 1568, where it is referenced in a boundary dispute, typical of the period when the land-grabbers were in full swing.  The dispute was over a section of land between Allerton and Wavertree and in it the stones were called “the dojer, rojer or Caldwaye stones.”  At that time it is known that the place was a roughly oval mound.  But even then, we find that at least one of the stones had been taken away, in 1550.

Little was written about the place from then until the early 19th century, when descriptions and drawings began emerging.  The earliest image was by one Captain William Latham in 1825.  On this (top-right) we have the first hint of carvings on some of the stones, particularly the upright one to the right showing some of the known cup-markings that still survive.  By the year 1833 however, the ‘mound’ that either surrounded or covered the stones was destroyed.  Victorian & Paul Morgan (2004) told us,

“The destruction first began in the late 18th or early 19th century when the mound was largely removed to provide sand for making mortar for a Mr Bragg’s House on Woolton Road.  It was at this time that a ‘fine sepulchral urn rudely ornamented outside’ was found inside.”

The Calderstones in 1840
The Calderstones in 1840

The same authors narrated the account of the mound’s final destruction, as remembered by a local man called John Peers—a gardener to some dood called Edward Cox—who was there when it met its final demise.  Mr Cox later wrote a letter explaining what his gardener had told him and sent it to The Daily Post in 1896, which lamented,

“When the stones were dug down to, they seemed rather tumbled about in the mound.  They looked as if they had been a little hut or cellar.  Below the stones was found a large quantity of burnt bones, white and in small pieces.  He thought there must have been a cartload or two.   He helped to wheel them out and spread them on the field.  He saw no metal of any sort nor any flint implements, nor any pottery, either whole or broken; nor did he hear of any.  He was quite sure the bones were in large quantity, but he saw no urn with them.  Possibly the quantity was enhanced by mixture with the soil.  No one made such of old things of that sort in his time, nor cared to keep them up…”

But thankfully the upright stones remained—and on them were found a most curious plethora of neolithic carvings.  After the covering cairn had been moved, the six remaining stones were set into a ring and, thankfully, looked after.  These stones were later removed from their original spot and, after a bit of messing about, came to reside eventually in the curious greenhouse in Calderstones Park.

Simpson's "Stone 1" outer face
Simpson’s “Stone 1” outer face
Simpson's "Stone 1" inner face
Simpson’s “Stone 1” inner face

The carvings on the stones were first described in detail by the pioneering James Simpson. (1865)  I hope you’ll forgive me citing his full description of them—on one of which he could find no carvings at the time, but he did state that his assessment may be incomplete as the light conditions weren’t too good.  Some things never change!  Sir James wrote:

“The Calder circle is about six yards in diameter. It consists of five stones which are still upright, and one that is fallen. The stones consist of slabs and blocks of red sandstone, all different in size and shape.

“The fallen stone is small, and shews nothing on its exposed side; but possibly, if turned over, some markings might be discovered on its other surface.

“Of the five standing stones, the largest of the set (No. I) is a sandstone slab, between five and six feet in height and in breadth.  On its outer surface—or the surface turned to the exterior of the circle— there is a flaw above from disintegration and splintering of the stone; but the remaining portion of the surface presents between thirty and forty cup depressions, varying from two to three and a half inches in diameter; and at its lowest and left-hand corner is a concentric circle about a foot in diameter, consisting of four enlarging rings, but apparently without any central depression.

“The opposite surface of this stone, No. 1, or that directed to the interior of the circle, has near its centre a cup cut upon it, with the remains of one surrounding ring. On the right side of this single-ringed cup are the faded remains of a concentric circle of three rings.  To the left of it there is another three-ringed circle, with a central depression, but the upper portions of the rings are broken off.  Above it is a double-ringed cup, with this peculiarity, that the external ring is a volute leading from the central cup, and between the outer and inner ring is a fragmentary line of apparently another volute, making a double-ringed spiral which is common on some Irish stones, as on those of the great archaic mausoleum at New Grange, but extremely rare in Great Britain.  At the very base of this stone, and towards the left, are two small volutes, one with a central depression or cup, the other seemingly without it.  One of these small volutes consists of three turns, the other of two.

“The next stone, No. 2 in the series, is about six feet high and somewhat quadrangular.  On one of its sides, half-way up, is a single cup cutting; on a second side, and near its base, a volute consisting of five rings or turns, and seven inches and a half in breadth ; and on a third side (that pointing to the interior of the circle), a concentric circle of three rings placed half-way or more up the stone.

“The stone No. 3, placed next to it in the circle, is between three and four feet in height; thick and somewhat quadrangular, but with the angles much rounded off. On its outermost side is apparently a triple circle cut around a central cup; but more minute examination and fingering of the lines shews that this figure is produced by a spiral line or volute starting from the central cup, and does not consist of separate rings.  The diameter of the outermost circle of the volute is nearly ten inches. Below this figure, and on the rounded edge between it and the next surface of the stone to the left, are the imperfect and faded remains of a larger quadruple circle. On one of the two remaining sides of this stone is a double concentric circle with a radial groove or gutter uniting them. This is the only instance of the radial groove which I observed on the Calder Stones, though such radial direct lines or ducts are extremely common elsewhere in the lapidary concentric circles.

“The stone No. 4 is too much weathered and disintegrated on the sides to present any distinct sculpturings. On its flat top are nine or ten cups ; one large and deep (being nearly five inches in diameter).  Seven or eight of these cups are irregularly tied or connected together by linear channels or cuttings…

“The fifth stone is too much disfigured by modern apocryphal cuttings and chisellings to deserve archaeological notice.

“The day on which I visited these stones was dark and wet. On a brighter and more favourable occasion perhaps some additional markings may be discovered.”

Simpson's 'Stone 2' carving
Simpson’s ‘Stone 2’ carving
Simpson's 'Stone 3' carving
Simpson’s ‘Stone 3’ carving

It wasn’t long, of course, before J. Romilly Allen (1888) visited the Calderstones and examined the carvings; but unusually he gave them only scant attention and added little new information. Apart from reporting that another of the monoliths had carvings on it, amidst a seven-page article the only real thing of relevance was that,

“Five of the Calderstones show traces, more or less distinct, of this kind of carving, the outer surface of the largest stone having about thirty-six cups upon it, and a set of four concentric rings near the bottom at one corner. One of the stones has several cups and grooves on its upper surface.”

Carvings on Stone A (after Forde-Johnson)
Carvings on Stone A (after Forde-Johnson)
Carvings on Stone B (after Forde-Johnson)
Carvings on Stone B (after Forde-Johnson)

Unusual for him!  The major survey of the Calderstone carvings took place in the 1950s when J.L. Forde-Johnson (1956; 1957) examined them in great detail.  His findings were little short of incredible and, it has to be said, way ahead of his time (most archaeo’s of his period were simply lazy when it came to researching British petroglyphs).  Not only were the early findings of Sir James Simpson confirmed, but some fascinating rare mythic symbols were uncovered that had only previously been located at Dunadd in Argyll, Cochno near Glasgow, and Priddy in Somerset: human feet – some with additional toes!  Images of feet were found to be carved on Stones A, B and E.  A carved element on Stone C may even represent a human figurine—rare things indeed in the British Isles!

Carvings on Stone D
Carvings on Stone D
Carvings on Stone E
Carvings on Stone E

The detailed sketches here are all from Forde-Johnson’s 1957 article, where five of the six stones were found to bear petroglyphs (the sixth stone has, more recently, also been found to also possess faint carvings of a simple cup-mark and five radiating lines).

Elements on Stone C (after Forde-Johnson)
Elements on Stone C (after Forde-Johnson)
More elements on Stone C (after Forde-Johnson)
More elements on Stone C (after Forde-Johnson)

The date of the site is obviously difficult to assess with accuracy; but I think it is safe to say that the earlier archaeological assumptions of the Calderstones being Bronze Age are probably wrong, and the site is more likely to have been constructed in the neolithic period.  It’s similarity in structure and form to other chambered tombs—mentioned by a number of established students from Glyn Daniel (1950) to Frances Lynch—would indicate an earlier period.  The fact that no metals of any form have ever been recovered or reported in any of the early accounts add to this neolithic origin probability.

There is still a lot more to be said about this place, but time and sleep are catching me at the mo, so pray forgive my brevity on this profile, until a later date…

Folklore

Curiously, for such an impressive site with a considerable corpus of literary references behind it, folklore accounts are scant.  The best that Leslie Grinsell (1976) could find in his survey was from the earlier student C.R. Hand (1912), who simply said that,

“They were looked upon with awe by the people about as having some religious significance quite beyond their comprehension.”

There is however, additional Fortean lore that has been written about these stones and its locale by John Reppion (2011).

References:

  1. Allen, J. Romilly, “The Calderstones, near Liverpool,” in Journal of the British Archaeological Association, volume 44, 1888.
  2. Ashbee, Paul, The Bronze Age Round Barrow in Britain, Phoenix House: London 1960.
  3. Baines, Thomas, Lancashire and Cheshire, Past and Present – volume 2, William MacKenzie: London 1870.
  4. Beckensall, Stan, British Prehistoric Rock Art, Tempus: Stroud 1999.
  5. Beckensall, Stan, Circles in Stone: A British Prehistoric Mystery, Tempus: Stroud 2006.
  6. Cowell, Ron, The Calderstones – A Prehistoric Tomb in Liverpool, Merseyside Archaeological Trust 1984.
  7. Crawford, O.G.S., The Eye Goddess, Phoenix House: London 1957.
  8. Daniel, Glyn E., The Prehistoric Chamber Tombs of England and Wales, Cambridge University Press 1950.
  9. Faulkner, B.M., “An Analysis of Three 19th-century Pictures of the Calderstones,” in Merseyside Archaeological Journal, volume 13, 2010.
  10. Forde-Johnson, J.L., “The Calderstones, Liverpool,” in Powell & Daniel, Barclodiad y Gawres: The excavation of a Megalithic Chambered Tomb in Anglesey, Liverpool University Press 1956.
  11. Forde-Johnson, J.L., “Megalithic Art in the North West of Britain: The Calderstones, Liverpool,” in Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, volume 23, 1957.
  12. Grinsell, Leslie, Folklore of Prehistoric Sites in Britain, David & Charles: Newton Abbot 1976.
  13. Hand, Charles R., The Story of the Calderstones, Hand & Co.: Liverpool 1912.
  14. Harrison, Henry, The Place-Names of the Liverpool District, Elliot Stock: London 1898.
  15. Herdman, W.A., “A Contribution to the History of the Calderstones, near Liverpool,” in Proceedings & Transactions of the Liverpool Biological Society, volume 11, 1896.
  16. Morgan, Victoria & Paul, Prehistoric Cheshire, Landmark: Ashbourne 2004.
  17. Nash, George & Stanford, Adam, “Recording Images Old and New on the Calderstones in Liverpool,” in Merseyside Archaeological Journal, volume 13, 2010.
  18. Picton, James A., Memorials of Liverpool – 2 volumes, Longmans Gree: London 1875.
  19. Reppion, John, “The Calderstones of Liverpool,” in Darklore, volume 6, 2011.
  20. Roberts, D.J., “A Discussion Regarding the Prehistoric Origins of Calderstones Park,” in Merseyside Archaeological Journal, volume 13, 2010.
  21. Simpson, J.Y., “On the cup-cuttings and ring cuttings on the Calderstones, near Liverpool,” in Proceedings of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, volume 17, New Series 5, 1865.
  22. Simpson, James, Archaic Sculpturings of Cups, Circles, etc., Upon Stones and Rocks in Scotland, England and other Countries, Edmonston & Douglas: Edinburgh 1867.
  23. Taylor, Isaac, Words and Places, MacMillam: London 1885.
  24. Stewart-Brown, Ronald, A History of the Manor and Township of Allerton, Liverpool 1911.

Acknowledgements:  With huge thanks to the staff at Calderstones Park; thanks also to the very helpful staff at Liverpool Central Library.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Cuparlaw Wood, Bridge of Allan, Stirlingshire

megalithix

Cairn:  OS Grid Reference – NS 8046 9916

Also Known as:

  1. Canmore ID 47128
  2. Pendreich

Getting Here

The rise of Cuparlaw cairn
The rise of Cuparlaw cairn

From Bridge of Allan go down the main A9 road towards the University, but turn left up the Sheriffmuir road, 100 yards up turning right to keep you on track up the steep narrow dark lane, turning left at the next split in the road. Follow this for a mile or two all the way to the very end where the tell-tale signs of the unwelcoming english incomers of ‘Private’ now adorns the Pendreich farm buildings.  There’s a dirt-track veering uphill diagonally right from here. Go up here and as it bends slightly left, look into the open copse of trees to the highest point here less than 100 yards to you right. That’s it!

Archaeology & History

Lisa gives an idea of scale
Lisa gives an idea of scale

The remains of this prehistoric tomb sits right on the very crown of the hill round the back of Pendreich, covered on its western edges by old gorse bushes.  Its eye speaks with the nearby sites of the Fairy Knowe to the south, the fallen standing stone of Pendreich Muir to the northeast, the associated cairns to the east, and the Pictish fortress of Dumyat behind them.  When I came up here for the first time last week with local archaeologist Lisa Samson, we found that the land upon which the cairn now lives is fertile with a variety of edible (Boletus, Amanita, etc) and sacred mushrooms (Panaeolina, Psilocybes, etc).  And, despite being told by locals and the archaeology record as a place where very little can be seen, I have to beg to differ.

Fallen stone at the cairn edge
Fallen stone at the cairn edge

The crowning cairn is of course much overgrown and has been dug into in earlier years, but just beneath the grassy surface you can feel and see much of the stone that constitutes this buried site.  The cairn itself rises a couple of feet beneath the grass and is clearly visible as you walk towards it.  At its edges there seems to be the fallen remains of a surrounding ring of stones.  Inside of this ring we can see and feel the overgrown rocky mass and open cists sleeping quietly, awaiting a more modern analysis to tell us of its ancient past.  When the site was visited by the Royal Commission lads in the 1960s, they went on to tell us the following about the place:

“This cairn is situated on the summit of a low knoll within a felled wood, 170 yards ENE of Pendreich farmhouse at a height of 600ft OD. It consists of a low, grass-covered mound which measures 40ft in diameter and stands to a maximum height of 1ft 6in.  The surface is disfigured by pits caused in 1926 when the cairn was opened and three cists were uncovered. Two of these contained no relics; in the third there were fragments of bones and a broken beaker, some sherds of which are preserved in the Smith Institute, Stirling.”

Although we find the scattered remains of old farm equipment lying round the edge of this tomb, it’s still a good site to visit and, I’d say, worthy of further archaeological attention.

References:

  1. Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments Scotland, Stirling – 2 volumes, HMSO: Edinburgh 1963.
  2. Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, Archaeological Sites and Monuments of Stirling District, Central Region, Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 1979.
  3. Watson, Angus, The Ochils – Placenames, History, Tradition, Perth & Kinross District Libraries 1995.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Borland Glen, Glendevon, Perthshire

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Stone Circle:  OS Grid Reference – NN 99766 07093

Also Known as:

  1. Canmore ID 223154

Getting Here

View from the arc of stones above the circle
View from the arc of stones above the circle

Takes a bitta finding this one. Best found by going along the gorgeous, little-known Dunning Glen in the eastern Ochils, till you reach Littlerig house. Cross the road from there and follow the line of the burn and forest till it veers sharp left. Keep along the fencing until the marshland levels out and streams fall away both east and west. From here, walk uphill until you reach level ground, then, looking down the Borland Glen, zigzag downhill for 100 yards.  Keep your eyes peeled for stones emerging from the Juncus grasses.

Archaeology & History

This four-poster stone circle isn’t included in Aubrey Burl’s (1988) survey of that name, nor his 2000 AD magnum opus on megaliths.  The site appears to have only recently been rediscovered. Shown on modern OS-maps in non-antiquated lettering, this may be due to verification being required to authenticate its prehistoric status. It’s certainly in a peculiar position in the landscape here — and seems more likely to have been built just 100 yards uphill on the level grassland plain where views east, south and west open up almost with the majesty of Castlerigg!

Fondling & puzzling over cup-marks on one of the stones
Fondling & puzzling over cup-marks on one of the stones

When Paul Hornby and I ventured here yesterday, we mistook the arc of three stones on the flat plain with the ring of stones that are down the Borland Glen slope ahead of us, so good was the position!  But at least one thing came of this: of the arc of three stones shown in the photos here, one of the rocks possesses cup-markings, which you can make out here in one of the close-ups.

The dimensions of the four stones that make up the ‘circle’ down the slope was measured and described by the Scottish Royal Commission lads as follows:

It comprises four stones, which define a trapezium measuring 3.2m along its N and W sides, 2.7m along the S and 2.5m along the E. All the stones are set square at the corners with their long axes lying E and W, and they present a long flat face to the interior. The two on the N are markedly larger than the others, and that on the NW is also the tallest. The dimensions of the stones are as follows: NW – 1m by 0.5m and 0.65m high, NE – 0.8m by 0.4m and 0.3m high, SE – 0.73m by 0.43m and 0.2m high and SW – 0.73m by 0.38m and 0.4m high.

One of the most notable features a visitor to this site will find, is the utter silence as you walk up the slopes to reach the place. And then, once away in the opening landscape, a view of velvet Earth in all Her beautiful shades surrounds you – assuming you go here on a sunny day!  Well worth the wander if quiet hidden megaliths are your pleasure…

References:

  1. Burl, Aubrey, Four Posters: Bronze Age Stone Circles of Western Europe, BAR 195: Oxford 1988.
  2. Burl, Aubrey, The Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany, Yale University Press 2000.

Acknowledgements: Many thanks to Paul Hornby for use of his photos.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Robin Hood’s Stone, Allerton, Liverpool, Lancashire

megalithix

Standing Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SJ 3997 8638

Archaeology & History

Robin Hood's Stone (after Alfred Watkins)
Robin Hood’s Stone (after Alfred Watkins)

Similar in size and appearance to one of the cup-marked Tuilyies standing stones in Fife, Scotland, it was our old ley-hunter, Alfred Watkins, who described this stone in his Ley Hunter’s Manual (1927), along with giving us the old photograph taken by one of his mates here, which also showed the cup-and-ring carvings near the base of the stone. Are they still visible? (I’ve not been here, hence mi ignorance!) Watkins thought the cup-markings at the bottom represented some of the local leys—but unfortunately they don’t.

Folklore

Legend says that the deep grooves running down the stone were made by men sharpening arrow-heads on it (like a whetstone).  There was also the usual christian Victorian fable that the stone was used by the druids and that the grooves on the stone were where the blood of their human sacrifices was channelled to the ground!  The stone was also said to have some relationship with the nearby Calder Stones (which seems probable).

References:

  1. Cowell, Ron, The Calderstones – A Prehistoric Tomb in Liverpool, Merseyside Archaeological Trust 1984.
  2. Watkins, Alfred, The Ley Hunter’s Manual, London 1927.

Links:

  1. Mike Royden’s Local History Pages – Robin Hood’s Stone

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Tuilyies, Torryburn, Fife

megalithix

Standing Stones:  OS Grid Reference – NT 0291 8660

The Tuilyies standing stones on 1854 OS-map
The Tuilyies standing stones on 1854 OS-map

Also Known as:

  1. Canmore ID 49451
  2. The Tuilyies

Getting Here

Go west out of Dunfermline on the A994 till you hit the Torryburn roundabout, taking the A985 Kincardine road. Barely a half-mile along, stop at the first parking lay-by at the roadside – and there, over the barbed wire fence, you’ll see your standing stones right in front of you.

Archaeology & History

The Tuilyies standing stones
The Tuilyies standing stones

Overlooking the northern shores of the Firth of Forth is this fascinating group of standing stones which, old lore told, was once an old stone circle.  You can see what they meant.  The Tuilyies consists of a small group of three stones, between 3 and 7 feet tall, arranged in the form of a scalene triangle; and about 20 yards away stands the more impressive outlying 8 foot tall upright stone, somewhat akin to a petrified ancestor, with both natural and man-made cup-markings on at least two sides of its slim body.  This outlying stone is of a very different character to that of its close neighbours—and a different type of stone as well—and is very similar in both size and appearance to the Robin Hood Stone at Allerton, near Liverpool.  Curious…

The east-facing cup-marked Tuilyies stone
The east-facing cup-marked Tuilyies stone
Natural ridges on its west-face
Natural ridges on its west-face

Whether the stones here were part of a stone circle we don’t know for sure.  It was suggested as such in 1793 and Aubrey Burl (2000) includes them in his primary survey, but we have little evidence to prove as such nowadays. The parish of Torryburn not only had to contend with industrial agriculture knocking down any stones that may once have stood here, but in the 17th century the village also had to tolerate the psychiatric delusions of one reverend Allan Logan: one of the many deranged priests who saw witchcraft and demons in everything natural or animistic, persecuting local people for their old traditions, herbalism and peasant-lore. (Beveridge 1885; Cunningham 1902; Webster 1820, etc) These old stones were unlikely not to have received his depraved attention.  But thankfully, some remain standing…

The Tuilyies seem to have been described first of all in the 1793 Old Statistical Account of Scotland—and in that narrative we find one of the earliest descriptions of cup-markings.  It told that,

“In a pretty extensive plain field NE of the village of Torryburn, there is a flat stone, raised upon one end, of a shape nearly oblong  and measuring, from the surface to the top, about 8 feet, and about 4½ in breadth, Round the edge of it there is a deep circle, and on each of the sides a number of ridges, all of which wear the appearance of art and antiquity.  At about 18 or 20 paces from this stone, there is a number of smaller ones, which, from their present position, seemed to have formed part of a circle.”

Many years were to pass before these old stones heard from the men of words again.  This time it was the renaissance of cup-and-ring designs that brought them back to light, when Sir James Simpson (1866), in his massive precursory essay to British Archaic Sculpturings (1867) talked about them:

“The stone at Torrie, Fifeshire…is a flattened sandstone flag, deeply guttered in longitudinal lines, and presenting cup- markings on its eastern side. It has been attempted to be made “a holed stone,” like (the) this block at Ballymeanoch (Argyll), but the artificially splayed perforations from the opposite sides do not meet in the middle. About fifty paces from it are the remains of a small circle of stones.”

The triangle of standing stones
The triangle of standing stones

Unusually, J. Romilly Allen only mentioned the stones in passing, simply repeating Simpson’s earlier words. Even local historians gave the site scant attention.  In David Beveridge’s (1885) magnum opus he gave only a brief mention of the stones; and A.S. Cunningham (1902) did likewise.  Thankfully after a visit to the stones by the Royal Commission lads in May 1925, a more detailed description was given. They wrote:

“The site of the cup-marked standing stone…is a plateau, 150 feet above sea level, in a field on Torrie Estate about half a mile to the northeast of the village of Torryburn, and on the north side of the drive to Torrie House.  At a distance of 60 feet from it are three huge boulders, and the four are said to be the remains of a circle, although that idea is not borne out by their present disposition.

“The cup-marked stone rises to a height of 8 feet above the ground and has its narrow faces to the north-east and south-west. It is of irregular form, narrowing somewhat at 7 inches from the base, expanding outwards at the middle, and contracting again to a roughly convex top.  On the east face the lower portion is covered with cup-marks. which vary from 1½ to 5 inches in diameter and from 1½ to 2 inches in depth.  At a height of 6 feet from ground level, in the south-west angle of the stone, is a cavity 7 inches in depth, while there is a similar cavity of like depth opposite to it on the west face.  The stone is also marked on the east and west faces, as well as on the top and down the narrow sides, with a series of perpendicular grooves of varying depth, but all these channels are due to weathering. Its measurements are: north face, 1 foot 3 inches; south face, 1 foot 4 inches; east face, 4 feet 4 inches; west face, 4 feet 3 inches; girth at base, 10 feet 8 inches; at 7 inches up, 8 feet 10 inches; at middle, 10 feet 5 inches.

“The three other boulders are set in the form of a triangle immediately to the south of this cup-marked stone, at intervals of 12, 15 and 16 feet apart.  One has evidently fallen from an upright position and now lies with its major axis north and south. None of the three shows any markings. They are of whinstone, while the cup-marked standing stone is of grey sandstone.”

But as for the lack of cup-markings on the outlying smaller stones, when Ron Morris (1973) examined the site in the ’70s, he found what seemed to be some cup-marks on the largest of the group of three stones, as shown in the photos.  On this he reported,

“25yds S of the well-known cup-marked standing stone are 3 large boulders. The W of these, measuring 7′ x 4½’ x 3½’ high, bears on its slightly W-sloping top surface 7 cups cup to 2″ diameter and ½” deep.”

When I visited the site the other day, these were difficult to see—cos as the photos here show, Nature gave us a bittova dark grey day and such carvings are notoriously temperamental when weather conditions aren’t to the stone’s liking!

Folklore

The Old Statistical Account of 1793 told that the stones were supposed to have “been the scene of a battle in some former period, and these stones…mark the graves of some of the chiefs, who had fallen in the engagement.”  The lore was echoed in David Beveridge’s (1885) huge local history work, where he informed the reader that many standing stones along the Forth,

“are all connected with the Danish incursions. One specially may be mentioned, standing near Torryburn, the parish adjoining Culross, in a field which is still known by the name of the Tuilzie, or Battle Park.”

References:

  1. Allen, J. Romilly, “Notes on some Undescribed Stones with Cup Markings in Scotland,” inProceedings of the Society of Antiquaries Scotland, volume 16, 1882.
  2. Beveridge, David, Culross and Tulliallan: Its History and Antiquities – volume 1, William Blackwood: Edinburgh 1885.
  3. Burl, Aubrey, The Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany, Yale University Press 2000.
  4. Cunningham, A.S., Romantic Culross, Torryburn, Carnock, Cairneyhill, Saline and Pitfirrane, W. Clarke: Dunfermline 1902.
  5. Morris, Ronald W.B., “The cup-and-ring marks and similar sculptures of Scotland: a survey of the southern Counties – part 2,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 100, 1969.
  6. Morris, Ronald W.B., “Torryburn, Torry – Cup-Marked Rock’, in Discovery & Excavation in Scotland, 1973.
  7. Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments, Scotland, Inventory of Monuments and Constructions in the Counties of Fife, Kinross and Clackmannan, HMSO: Edinburgh 1933.
  8. Simpson, J.Y., “On Ancient Sculpturings of Cups and Concentric Rings,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 6, 1866.
  9. Simpson, James, Archaic Sculpturings of Cups, Circles, etc., Upon Stones and Rocks in Scotland, England and other Countries, Edmonston & Douglas: Edinburgh 1867.
  10. Webster, David, A Collection of Rare and Curious Tracts on Witchcraft and Second Sight, D. Webster: Edinburgh 1820.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Corrycharmaig East (4), Glen Lochay, Perthshire

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Cup-Marked Stone:  OS Grid Reference – NN 5311 3582  —  NEW FIND

Getting Here

Cup-markings to top & bottom of stone
Cup-markings to top & bottom of stone

Follow the same directions as if you’re going to the Corrycharmaig East 3 carving.  Walk off the rocky outcrop here, below the tree, and head diagonally across the boggy grasses back towards the River Lochay.  After about 50 yards you’ll see a rocky promontory ahead of you that overlooks the very edge of the river, with trees around it.  That’s the spot – right on the edge above the river!

Archaeology & History

Cup-markings on the Corrycharmaig East 4 stone
Cup-markings on the Corrycharmaig East 4 stone

For me, this was the most intriguing of the newly-found Corrycharmaig East carvings.  Intriguing because this is on the same geological ridge as that on which the brilliant Stag Cottage carvings are found, right across on the other side of the river.  That singular rise of rock emerging from the field, heading to the river, continues on this side — though is much less conspicuous here, and is much smaller and covered with olde trees and Nature’s marshy greenery.  It was this fact which led me to look at these rocks in the first place…wondering if our neolithic ancestors had continued etching their mythographies on the other side of the living waters.  And so it turned out.

But don’t expect anything like as impressive as the Stag Cottage carvings.  Here instead, as the photos show, are just five distinct cup-markings: three running along one line near the SE side of the stone, with another two on its NW side.  The cups are all roughly the same size, being a couple of inches across; one is an inch deep.  There may be more beneath the excess of mosses along this and the adjacent rocks, but I didn’t look.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Corrycharmaig East (2), Glen Lochay, Perthshire

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Cup-&-Ring Stone:  OS Grid Reference – NN 5294 3588

Getting Here

Faint cup-and-ring of Corrycharmaig East 2
Faint cup-and-ring

Follow the directions as if you’re visiting the other Corrycharmaig carvings, but as you cross the bridge over the River Lochay, turn immediately left and follow the edge of the river down the field till you reach the fence.  Go over here, but then head up the slope away from the river, over another fence up the small grassy hill ahead of you.  As you near the very top of the hill, you’ll find the stone in question.

Archaeology & History

Small overgrown cairn 10 yards away
Small overgrown cairn 10 yards away

Found near to the famous Stag Cottage and Duncroisk carvings, this previously unknown example is found on a small rounded female stone, barely 2 feet by 2 feet across.  The most notable feature is the large cup-marking, 2-3 inches wide and half-and-inch deep.  When I first found the stone, twas a cloudy grey day and I wasn’t sure whether a small carved arc along one edge of the cup continued into a semi-circle — but as the photo here shows, the cup-mark seems to have a large faint ring going about three-quarters of the way round it.  Hopefully I’ll get some better images of the stone when I visit again in the coming weeks.

The stone gave the impression that it belonged in a cairn of sorts, but a brief rummage in the grasses immediately around the rock showed nothing.  However, barely 10 yards down the grassy slope there was a small overgrown cairn — though it didn’t seem to have that prehistoric pedigree about it.  This carving is one in a group of at least four others—including Corrycharmaig East 3—not previously catalogued.  It’s likely that more remain undiscovered on the many other rocks nearby.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Corrycharmaig East 03, Glen Lochay, Perthshire

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Cup-Marked Stone:  OS Grid Reference – NN 53056 35877 — NEW FIND

Getting Here

Cup-marked rocks of E.Corrycharmaig 3 (with the green hill of CE02 behind)
Cup-marked rocks of E.Corrycharmaig 3 (with the green hill of CE02 behind)

Follow the directions from Killin, down Glen Lochay, as if you’re going to the other Corrycharmaig carvings; but as you cross the bridge over the River Lochay, turn immediately left and follow the edge of the river along the field, crossing the first fence, keeping close to the riverside and over and over another fence.  Head across the boggy grassland and you’ll see a small green outcrop of rocks just above the tree-line above the river.  That’s the spot!

Archaeology & History

Two of at least 6 cup-markings on these mossy rocks
Two of at least 6 cup-markings on these mossy rocks

Another carving that’s a short distance from the famous Stag Cottage carvings on the opposite side of the river.  This lovely moss-covered rocky mass has two sections of cup-markings on it – both of which have proved difficult to photograph because of the vivid green primal cover.  It’s found less than 100 yards from the CE04 carving and below the hillock of the CE02 cup-and-ring (as you can see in the photo above).

The rock itself has two carved sections: an upper and lower section, with at least three cup-markings on the lower section and three on the upper portion as well.  Some natural geological marks on the lower part of the rock may have been added to, but this is by no means clear.  There may well be other elements to this ancient carving, but I wasn’t about to strip all the lovely moss from the stone just to find out.  It’s a truly beautiful stone in a gorgeous setting and, despite the day being grey and overcast, I wasn’t about to defile the greenery here.  It’s one of a group of at least four carvings east of Corrycharmaig that have not previously been catalogued.  Other carvings likely remain to be found close by.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Carleith, Crook of Devon, Kinross-shire

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Cairn:  OS Grid Reference – NT 0404 9877

Getting Here

Carleith Cairn, from roadside

Go along the A977 road out of Powmill village towards Crook of Devon, and as the road swerves uphill, past the Powmill Milk Bar on the right-hand side of the road, take your next right.  Go along this small country lane for a mile or so, past Maidenwells Farm; then as you go uphill, stop at the very top.  Look in the field on your left, where a small round clump of trees are surrounded by circular walling.  The cairn’s inside the protective walling.

Archaeology & History

This Bronze Age tomb sits quietly amidst the ring of trees and walling which give the site cover and protection and, of course, an excellent view of the landscape for the spirit of whichever ancestor lives here.  The place seems to have been described first of all in the Old Statistical Account of the area, in 1796, where they told:

“In the middle of Carleith are the ruins of an old building, perfectly circular, and nearly 24ft in diameter. Not long ago, the proprietor ordered this ground to be planted, and the stones were dug up to make a dyke. Two stone coffins were found each 4 feet long by 3 feet broad, and contained some human bones and teeth.”

The cairn’s within the trees…

Today, the overgrown remains of the cairn measure roughly 10 yards across, with the beeches reaching their great roots into and around the old tomb.  The sides of the stone cist are still visible amidst the undergrowth.  It was measured and described in a letter to the Ordnance Survey by J.S. Nichol in 1959, who thought there may have been more than one tomb here.

Folklore

Although we don’t know for certain, one of the legendary witches known as ‘Meg of Aldie’ was said to frequent an old site close to where she lived – perhaps the Carleith cairn.  The site is a damn good contender for such heathen rites!

References:

  1. Simpkins, Ewart, County Folklore – volume VII: Fife, Folklore Society: London 1914.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Rushy Beck Spring, Burley Moor, West Yorkshire

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Healing Well:  OS Grid Reference – SE 1403 4544

Getting Here

Source of the Rushy Beck

From Ilkley centre, take the road up to Cow & Calf, going past the hotel and along Hangingstone Road for a half-mile until you meet some walling on the right of the road. Stop and walk up the small beck, veering to the left as you approach the brow of the hill.  Keep walking up the beck onto the moor where you’ll eventually reach its source, as shown in the photo here!

Archaeology & History

This once fast-flowing spring of fresh sparkling water has seen better days.  The site has two openings in the Earth about 10 yards east and west of each other, both discernible by the notable difference in vegetation on the moors here, where richer hues of green created by the waters cut a small channel down the moorland slopes through the usual hues of heather.

The waters taste fine when they’re in flow, but much of the land here has fallen into shallow marsh and with the inevitable falling of the water table thanks to the stupid arrogant Industrialists, very little of the goodness is available.  But it wasn’t always like this.  Certainly when our prehistoric ancestors carved the rock art close by the source of the waters, then later constructed the large ritual enclosure immediately west of the springs, the waters would have been very important—and in much greater profusion—for simple nourishment and for rituals enacted at the site.

 

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian