Tag: Standing Stones

Linton Church, Grassington, North Yorkshire

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‘Standing Stone’:  OS Grid Reference – SE 00426 63176

Getting Here

Pretty easy really. Get to the ancient St. Michael’s Church on the dead-end road just outside of Linton village.  As you approach it, look into the field on your right.  Y’ can’t miss it!

Archaeology & History

Linton 'Standing Stone'
Linton ‘Standing Stone’

This is an oddity.  It could perhaps be little more than one of the Norber erratics found a few miles further north — but it looks more like a smaller version of one of the Avebury sarsens!  Just under six-feet tall, it was shown to me by Adrian Lord yesterday (when the heavens subsequently opened and an outstanding downpour-and-half followed), who’d come across it only a week or two earlier themselves when they visited the ancient church next door.  The stone certainly aint in any archaeology registers (no surprise there); and as one local man we spoke to yesterday told us, “there used to be several other standing stones in the same field, cos I remember ’em when I was a kid. ” The gent we spoke to seemed to know just about everything about the local archaeology and history of the area (one of those “damn good locals” you’re sometimes lucky to find!).  He told us that the other stones which used to be there had been moved by the local farmer over the years, for use in his walls.  So it seems that this is the last one standing.  What looks like several other fallen stones can be seen further down the field, just next to the church.  But this one’s pretty impressive.

Close-up of gnarled rock
Close-up of gnarled rock
Looking south-ish!
Looking south-ish!

The church of St. Michael next door was, tells the information inside, built upon some old pagan site — which gives added thought to this upright stone perhaps being the ruin of an old circle, or summat along those lines.  The church, incidentally, is built right next to the River Wharfe.

Not far from here we find an almost inexhaustible supply of prehistoric remains at Grassington and district (less than a mile north).  A huge excess of Bronze- and Iron Age remains scatter the fields all round the town.  And aswell as the Yarnbury henge close by, there is — our local man told us,  “another one which no-one knows abaat, not far away”!

Folklore

The folklore of this area is prodigious!  There is faerie-lore, underworld tales, healing wells, black-dogs, ghosts, earthlights – tons of the damn stuff.  But with such a mass of prehistoric remains, that aint too surprising.  And although there appears no direct reference to this particular stone (cos I can’t find a damn reference about it), the old Yorkshire history magus, Harry Speight (1900), wrote of something a short distance away along the lane from the church.  He told that,

“In the field-wall beside the road may be seen some huge glacial boulders, and there is one very large one standing alone in the adjoining field, which from one point of view bears a striking resemblance to a human visage; and a notion prevails among the young folk of the neighbourhood that this stone will fall on its face when it hears the cock crow.”

Just the sort of lore we find attached to some other standing stones in certain parts of the country.  And in fact, from some angles, this ‘ere stone has the simulacrum of a face upon it; so this could be the one Speight mentions (though his directions would be, unusually, a little out).

There are heathen oddities about the church aswell: distinctly pre-christian ones.  An old “posset-pot” was used for local families to drink from after the celebration of a birth, wedding or funeral here.  And at Hallowtide – the old heathen New Year’s Day,

“certain herbs possessed the power of enabling those who were inclined to see their future husbands or wives, or even recognizing who was to die in the near future.”

And in an invocation of the great heathen god (the Church called it the devil), Speight also went on to tell that:

“The practice at Linton was to walk seven times round the church when the doomed one would appear.”

In a watered down version of this, local people found guilty of minor transgressions in and around Linton (thieves, fighters, piss-heads, etc),

“was compelled to seek expiation by walking three time around Linton Church.”

Linton stone05This would allegedly cure them of their ‘sins’!  Rush-bearing ceremonies were also enacted here.  On the hill above, the faerie-folk lived.  And until recently, time itself was still being measured by the three stages of the day: sunrise, midday and sunset; avoiding the modern contrivances of the clock, and maintaining the old pre-christian tradition of time-keeping.  Much more remains hidden…

References:

  1. Speight, Harry, Upper Wharfedale, Elliott Stock: London 1900.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Boulter’s Barn Stone, Churchill, Oxfordshire

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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


The Whetstones, Churchstoke, Montgomeryshire

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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


Dane’s Stone, Moulin, Pitlochry, Perthshire

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Standing Stone:  OS Grid Reference – NN 9425 5942

Also Known as:

  1. Pitfourie Stone

Getting Here

Dane's Stone under a brilliant sky
Dane’s Stone under a brilliant sky

Going thru Pitlochry town, turn up the A924 road for about a mile till you hit the Moulin Inn on your left-hand side.  Just past here, take the road left and continue for 2-300 yards until the stone in the field stands out on your right-hands side.  Y’ can’t really miss it!

Archaeology & History

I should mebbe have this site entered as a ‘stone circle’ and not just an old monolith, as numerous other standing stones were in close attendant not too long ago and it was said to have been a circle.   Certainly when the great Fred Coles (1908) talked about this place, he

“was informed by the tenant, Mr Reid…that many years ago, in his grandfather’s time, “there were several more stones standing”, all smaller than this monolith and that, upon the orders given by Mrs Grant Ferguson of Baledmund, some of these were saved from total demolition, and are supposed to be lying half-buried in the field to this day.”

...and here's the big man close-up
…and here’s the big man close-up

Though I imagine these remnants have now been removed.  Aerial images, when conditions are just right, might prove fruitful here.

But the solitary stone still standing here is quite a big fella.  Heavily encrusted with quartz and more than 7 feet tall, it’s a nice fat chunky thing, with its lower half being somewhat slimmer than the top.  Well worth having a look at!

Folklore

Once an old moot site, folklore also tells that an old market was once held here (there was some other folklore I had of this place, but can’t for the life of me find it at the moment!).

References:

  1. Coles, Fred R., ‘Report on Stone Circles Surveyed in Perthshire,’ in PSAS 42, 1908.
  2. Liddell, Colin, Pitlochry: Heritage of a Highland District, PKPL: Perth 1993.
  3. Reid, A., ‘Monumental Remains in Pitlochry District,’ in PSAS 46, 1912.

Links:

  1. Stravaiging Round Scotland

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Balnakeilly Stone, Moulin, Pitlochry, Perthshire

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Standing Stone:  OS Grid Reference – NN 9463 5943

Getting Here

As you go through Pitlochry’s main street, watch out for the right-turn up the A924 road.  Go up here for perhaps a mile.  You’ll know you’re getting close as you pass the Moulin pub and the seeming avenue of trees opens on either side of the road.  A coupla hundred yards up into the trees, there’s the left-turn up the Balnakeilly driveway.  Stop! It’s on your left.

Archaeology & History

The Balnakeilly Monolith
The Balnakeilly Monolith

Knocking on for nine-feet tall, there’s some debate as to the archaic authenticity on this standing stone.  Ian Armit and his mate (1998) certainly wondered whether this was an ancient stone or not and, gotta say, when I came up here a coupla weeks back, I got the same impression.  It doesn’t have that feel about it which comes from the real olde ones; but this could be due to it having been moved in the not-too-distant past.  Though when Alan Reid wrote about it in 1911 he told us that,

“it bears marks of having been…worked slightly into shape by some pointed tool whose traces are plainly seen on several of its angles.”

Not something you’d find on monoliths that are a few thousand years old!  But if this stone was moved when the entrance to Balnakeilly drive was done, or the road widened, this could account for such markings.  We could do with digging into any archives that may exist about Balnakeilly or the Pitlochry roads to see if there’s any record of this stone to end the debate once and for all.  Tis a good site to visit though – check it out!

References:

  1. Armit, I. & Johnson, M., ‘Balnakeilly (Moulin parish), ‘modern standing stone’,’ in Discovery and Excavation in Scotland, 1998.
  2. Reid, Alan, ‘Monumental Remains in Pitlochry District,’ in PSAS 46, 1911-12.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Hollin Tree Hill, Askwith Moor, North Yorkshire

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Standing Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SE 16611 50818

Getting Here

Follow the directions to reach the Man Stone carving.  Walk up the sloping hillside from there until you reach the top.  From there, walk down the slope heading slightly to your left.  You’ll find it!

Archaeology & History

A small upright stone, less than three feet tall, but once a little taller as you’ll see that it’s head has been knocked off in the not-too-distant future and lies on the ground by its side.  A small scatter of what seems like possible cairn-material lies around its base, but not enough to imply that a tomb of any sort was ever here (aswell as that, the position on the slope seems wrong).

A curious little thing, without archaeological companions.  When we came here the other day, we explored the ground all round the stone as all the heather had been burnt back; but there was nothing anywhere near it to give a hint as to why it stands here, alone, at what seems like a strange spot two-thirds the way up a moorland slope. It’s been speculated that in the middle of its more north-facing side there is a cup-mark on it, but this is very dubious and, in my opinion, should be discounted as such.  The marking is a gun-shot wound – and more recent ones have just been added, as seen  in the photo.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Yarmer Head, Nidd, North Yorkshire

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Standing Stone (destroyed):  OS Grid Reference – SE 299 612

Also Known as:

  1. Temple Yarmer

Archaeology & History

It was the legendary Harry Speight who described this in his monumental historico-topographical exploration of the Nidd valley in the 1890s.  Nothing else, it seems, has been said of the place, though something of considerable archaeological importance was once here.  Not only does he tell of the previous existence of “a large circular enclosure…the outer ditch having a circumference of nearly 1000 yards” at Yarmer Head, but,

“In the hollow on the east side of this hill was formerly a large natural marsh or lakelet, near which remains the base of an immense menhir or standing monolith, erected doubtless in heathen days to commemorate a great victory, or perhaps a treaty.”

The stone is not shown on the early OS-maps (although they did miss quite a lot of sites), and whatever its reason for being here might never be known as all traces of this giant monolith appears (yet again) to have vanished. There is an ancient boundary line immediately below the hill, on its eastern side, so perhaps the stone was an ancient marker along this.  Do any local folk round Nidd know owt more about this once important megalithic site?

References:

  1. Speight, Harry, Nidderdale and the Garden of the Nidd, Elliot Stock: London 1894.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Cunninghar, Tillicoultry, Clackmannanshire

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Stone Circle (destroyed):  OS Grid Reference – NS 9256 9709

Also Known as:

  1. Druidical Temple

Archaeology & History

A stone circle was once to be found on the elevated piece of ground above the north-side of the main road between Tillicoultry and Dollar, but it was sadly destroyed sometime in the 19th century.  Listed in Aubrey Burl’s (2000) magnum opus, we have very little information about the place; though an account of the site was described in the Scottish Royal Commission report (1933) which told us that a —

“Stone circle, measuring about 60 feet in diameter, once stood here but was completely removed many years ago, when the stones, which are said to have been 5½ feet in average height, were taken to cover a built drain at Tillicoultry House”!

Site shown on 1866 OS-map
Stone at the destroyed site

Unbelievable!  Any decent local folk nearby wanna find out where this drain is, see if the stones are visible (though I doubt they are), so we can plan to uproot it and move the stones back somewhere nearby. There are a few decent spots on the slopes above where it would look good!

When visited by researchers in the 1890s, parts of an embankment which surrounded the destroyed circle were still visible.  Also, indicating there was some ritual funerary nature to the site, a local teacher called Mr Christie found the remains of an ornamented urn protruding through the ground next to where one of the monoliths had stood.  Unfortunately in his attempts to remove the urn, much of it crumbled away.

Further examinations thereafter found that a burial was (seemingly) beneath the centre of the circle; and excavations here found that a covering stone of the tomb was covered in intricate cup-and-ring designs (see the Tillicoultry House Carving for further details).  Other prehistoric remains were found a little further up the hill from here.

References:

  1. Burl, Aubrey, The Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany, Yale University Press 2000.
  2. Morris, Ronald W.B., The Prehistoric Rock Art of Southern Scotland, BAR 86: Oxford 1981.
  3. Robertson, R., ‘Notice of the Discovery of a Stone Cist and Urns at the Cuninghar, Tillicoultry…’, in PSAS 29, 1895.
  4. Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, Fife, Kinross and Clackmannan, HMSO: Edinburgh 1933.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Old Man of Snowden, Askwith, North Yorkshire

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Standing Stone (destroyed?):  OS Grid Reference – SE 1765 5032

Archaeology & History

Eric Cowling (1946) described this lost or destroyed stone as “a squat standing stone at junction of the Askwith bridge-path with the Otley-Timble highway, saying how it gave its name to Stoop Hill, “which it surmounts.” But in several ambles here in search of this old stone, we’ve yet to locate it; though we did find the Stoup Hill cup-marking and possible neighbour on the southern edge of the hilltop.

Folklore

In days of olde, the ‘Old Man’ was the fabled companion of the legendary ‘Old Woman,’ or great cailleach (the christian cult stupidly, somehow, turned this mythic figure into their ‘devil’ – to which it has no relationship whatsoever).  Although no specific folktale remains here, the name of this lost stone tells that it had some mythic tale underscoring it; perhaps simply that it marked the burial of some forgotten chief or elder.

References:

  1. Bennett, Paul, The Old Stones of Elmet, Capall Bann: Chieveley 2001.
  2. Cowling, E.T., Rombald’s Way: A Prehistory of Mid-Wharfedale, William Walker: Otley 1946.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Ardtalla, Islay, Argyll

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Standing Stone:  OS Grid Reference – NR 4657 5456

Also Known as:

  1. Canmore ID 38056

Getting Here

Takes a bitta getting to this one, right at the far end of the road, leading to nowhere – so those of us who like Scotland for its vast expanses of ‘middle o’ nowhere’ should like it! From Port Ellen, travel along the A846 eastwards, all the way to the where it ends in Ardbeg. But the smaller track road continues up the coast. Keep going – and keep going all the way up; past the ‘stone circle’ of Ardilistry, past the standing stone of Trudernish, right to the very end where the track leads you to the farmhouse of Ardtalla. Once here, you’ll see the stone about 20 yards west of the farm.

Archaeology & History

This old stone is only 4-foot-tall, leaning slightly, but—as I recall from many years back—”it’s cute!” (sad aren’t I?!)  All the way up here to see a small monolith!  Even the Royal Commission (1984) lads didn’t have much to say about it, merely:

“This standing stone is situated 18m NW of the SW gable of Ardtalla farmhouse.  Leaning slightly to the SSE, it measures 0.48m by 0.48m at the base and 1.25m in height.”

But if you like walking, the rest of the route up the coast is excellent. Stick yer tent in the small woodland by the fort a mile or two further north, then bring your attention to the legendary Beinn na Cailleach, if the heathen within you stirs…

References:

  1. Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, Argyll – volume 5: Islay, Jura, Colonsay and Oronsay, HMSO: Edinburgh 1984.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian