Tag: tumulus

Mini-Skirtful of Stones, Ilkley Moor, West Yorkshire

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Cairn:  OS Grid Reference – SE 1346 4606

Getting Here

Follow directions to get to the Pancake Stone.  From here walk SE on the footpath that runs on the edge of the moor.  After about 200 yards you’ll hit a small footpath which heads into the moor (south).  Walk on here for about 200 yards and notice the small rise in the land to your right (if you cross the small stream where the land dips into a very small valley, you’ve gone past).  That’s it!  The Little Haystack Rock is less than 100 yards away down the slope from here.

Mini-Skirtful of Stones, looking north

Archaeology & History

Of approximately eighty prehistoric cairns that have been alleged to exist along the Green Crag Slack ridge on Ilkley Moor, this site in particular is worthy of note, due mainly to its size. As independent archaeological researcher Paul Bowers said of it when he first saw this cairn-spoil, “it seemed too big to have not been discovered in the past.”  Too right!

Mini-Skirtful, looking west
Mini-Skirtful, looking west

When we tracked across Green Crag Plain a few days ago, it was Michala Potts that called our attention to it.  Half-covered in full heather growth, only the eastern edge was exposed.  At first it seemed that it was loose prehistoric walling, but then I realised it was on the edge of small knoll and the stone work was deeper and wider than walling.  As we explored through the heather atop of the knoll, it was obvious that there was a more extensive gathering of stones scattered all over the top of this small rise, and it seemed that we were looking at the remains of a reasonable sized cairn. Its extent carries about ten yards down the slope from the small hillock, but only a few yards either side of it.  It seems likely that the extended loose stones have, over the centuries, simply slipped further down the slope.  However, not until a decent excavation occurs will we know anything certain.  It is possibile that this is simply the scattered remains of damaged neolithic or Bronze Age walling, but only a more detailed exploration of the site will tell us for sure.

Cowling (1946) mentioned the numerous cairns and scattered walling reaching across this part of Ilkley Moor, but gave no specific information relating to this mini-skirt full of stones! (blame Mikki for the title!)

References:

  1. Cowling, E.T., Rombald’s Way, William Walker: Otley 1946.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Cat Heaps, Swanston, Edinburgh, Midlothian

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Cairns (destroyed):  OS Grid Reference – NT 2447 6828

Archaeology & History

Not far from the giant cup-marked Caiy Stone, there used to be two very large prehistoric cairns, which local historian Daviid Shankie told us “were foolishly broken up by some sacriligious hand and used for road metal”!  Not good…  Remains of human bones and several fragments of old weapons were found in them.  Fred Coles (1903) told us that:

“In the neighbourhood of this [i.e. Morton Hall], but further southwest, on the grounds of Comiston, were found, in forming the public road, under large heaps of stones, various sepulchral stone enclosures, in which were deposited urns with dead men’s ashes, and divers warlike weapons.” And again, when speaking of the levelling of a part of the ground close to the old (so-called Roman) road, by Sir John Clerk of Pennycuick, the same writer adds, there ” were discovered several stone coffins with human bones.”

Folklore

According to Shankie (1902), these two great cairns were built upon lands previously known as the Templelands of Swanston and commemorated a great battle that was fought “between the ancient Picts and Scots.”

References:

  1. Coles, Fred, ‘Notice of…Cairns and Standing Stones in Midlothian and Fife,’ in PSAS 37, 1903.
  2. Harris, Stuart, The Place-Names of Edinburgh, Gordon Wright: Edinburgh 1996.
  3. Royal Commission for the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, Midlothian and West Lothian, HMSO: Edinburgh 1929.
  4. Shankie, David, The Parish of Colinton, John Wilson: Edinburgh 1902.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Harlaw, Fairnington, Roxburghshire

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Stone Circle (destroyed):  OS Grid Reference – NT 666 286

Archaeology & History

One of those site place-names with a familiar ring to it: Har, boundary; law, tumulus (though it can also be used to mean ‘a meeting place’).  Nevertheless, whatever the precise origin of the name, the site here seems to have been destroyed.

Although listed by the Royal Commission in 1956 as a stone circle, John Barnatt thinks it may have been a tomb of sorts – which is what the place-name infers if we’re puritanical about it.  Alexander Jeffrey (1864) told us the most, saying that:

“A field to the east of Fairnington village is called Harlaw, from a circle of large stones which stood within it, but which have been removed to serve farm purposes.”

Its exact location is unknown, though the Royal Commission lads thought it probably “stood somewhere near the present Harelaw Plantation,” about a mile east of the village.  Any more info on this lost site would be most welcome!

References:

  1. Burl, Aubrey, The Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany, Yale University Press 2000.
  2. Gelling, Margaret, Place-Names in the Landscape, Phoenix: London 2000.
  3. Jeffrey, Alexander, The History and Antiquities of Roxburghshire – volume 3, Seton & MacKenzie: Edinburgh 1864.
  4. Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, Roxburghshire – volume 2, HMSO: Edinburgh 1956.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian 


Haulgh, Bolton, Lancashire

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Tumulus (destroyed):  OS Grid Reference – SD 7242 0899

Archaeology & History

This single-grave burial — described by Barnes (1982) as a kerbed or revetted cairn — close to the very centre of modern-day Bolton, was once an impressive prehistoric tomb.  It was described by a local historian, Matthew Dawes, amidst a variety of prehistoric remains in and around Bolton, most of which have long-since been forgotten.

“Near Haulgh, about a quarter of a mile south-east from Bolton Parish Church, on a piece of high flat land, on the east bank of the Croal, and about fifty feet above the river, was a tumulus, about thirty feet in diameter, and four feet deep, consisting of small boulders… It was discovered in September, 1826, in forming a branch of the new road leading from Bolton to Bury. It was probably much depressed in its formation and was covered with a few inches of mound. The cop or fence crossed it in a north and south direction. About the centre of this tumulus was a cist-vaen, about four feet six inches long and one foot deep, formed of four upright stones and a coverer, and its length was nearly north and south. In this cist-vaen was a skeleton, with the legs doubled up, and the head to the north. Near the head, and on the west side, was found an urn, inverted, four and a half inches in the widest diameter, and three and a quarter inches high, and perforated by four small holes in the widest part. On the other side of the head was a bronze spear-head, four and three-eighths inches long, and one and three-eighths inch wide, of which the point was bent back, and a piece of the side chipped away. The urn and spear-head were taken to the Countess of Bradford, the Earl of Bradford being the owner of the land.”

Intriguingly, if you’re from the Bolton region, Mr Dawes also told that, “A man in the employ of the Earl of Bradford, the superintendent of the work, who made the discovery, informs me (1862) that two other tumuli were found shortly after the one just described, a few yards to the south of it, in the same fence.”  As yet I have no more information about these other tombs (gimme time though!)

References:

  1. Barnes, Bernard, Man and the Changing Landscape, Unversity of Liverpool 1982.
  2. Dawes, M., ‘British Burial Places near Bolton,’ in Trans. Hist. Soc. Lancs & Cheshire, volume 4, 1852.
  3. Scholes, James C., History of Bolton, Daily Chronicle: Bolton 1892.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Old Woman’s Well, Guisborough, North Yorkshire

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Holy Well (lost): OS Grid Reference – NZ 610 180

Getting Here

The grid reference here is an approximation, but the old well was definitely somewhere very close by, as evidenced by the place-name of the farmhouse. But if you wanna get here and wander about in the hope that you can re-locate this once sacred water source, go up the B1269 road north of Guisborough for about a mile. Carling Howe farmhouse is on the left-hand side of the road. Obviously the old well is somewhere close by…

Archaeology & History

The information I have of this site comes from old place-name listings. I found the reference in the directory for North Yorkshire by A.H. Smith (1928), in his entry for the etymology of ‘Carling Howe’ at Guisborough.  Smith ascribes the references of ‘Kerlinghou’ (which itself appears to have been lost) to mean the ‘Old woman’s mound’ and variants thereof, also saying, “There is an unidentified place in this township called Kerlingkelde,” (12th century ref. Guisborough Cartulary)—the ‘Old Woman’s Well’.  Very commonly in this part of Yorkshire—as at many other locations in northern England—a hou or howe (and variants thereof) relates to a prehistoric tomb – which is probably what we had here: a prehistoric Old Woman’s Grave with an associated Old Woman’s Well in close attendance.

The ‘old woman’ element in this name very probably relates to that primal mythic deity, the cailleach, the great prima mater of indigenous heathen folk, beloved mainly in Scottish and Irish lore, where her copious name and tales resonate to this day. This “well of the Old Woman, or cailleach“, would have been a place of particular importance in the mythic cosmology of our ancestors, but its precise whereabouts seems forgotten. There is a plentiful supply of water around Carling Howe Farm, one or more of which may once have been the site of this well. However, a lot of quarrying operations occurred here in the not-too-distant past, and this may have irreparably damaged our ability to accurately find the site – though perhaps a perusal of old field-maps could be productive.

It would also be good if we could locate the original whereabouts of the old tomb here which gave the place its name – the ‘Carling Howe’.  Other ‘howe’ sites in East and North Yorkshire turn out to be prehistoric burials and I have little doubt that the same occurred here.

References:

  1. o’ Crualaoich, Gearoid, The Book of the Cailleach, Cork University Press 2003.
  2. Smith, A.H., The Place-Names of the North Riding of Yorkshire, Cambridge University Press 1928.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Blackhill, Hazelbank, Lanarkshire

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Standing Stone (destroyed): OS Grid Reference – NS 829 442

Archaeology & History

No longer here, but about 200 yards north of the old farmhouse of Blackhill (with its ancient tumulus still in attendance across the road) could once be seen a decent standing stone, “fully six feet high.” It seems that this was sadly uprooted sometime before 1954.

References:

  1. Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, Lanarkshire: An Inventory of the Prehistoric and Roman Monuments, HMSO: Edinburgh 1978.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Scale House, Rylstone, North Yorkshire

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Tumulus:  OS Grid Reference – SD 97088 56870

Getting Here

Pretty simple really.  Go up the B6265 Skipton-Rylstone road for about 3 miles, past the Nettlehole Ridge woodland on your right.  The next turn along to your right, up the track, is Scale House.  Go past this until you get to Scale House Farm.  The remains of the burial mound is in the field to your left, just before the farm.  Knock on the door and ask!

Archaeology & History

This ‘tumulus’ (as it’s marked on the OS-map) was one of the many explored by the legendary reverend William Greenwell (1864) in the middle to latter-half of the 19th century.  His description of the finds at Scale House were considerable; thankfully our old Yorkshire antiquarian Edmund Bogg (1904) shortened it and told us the following:

“The tumulus was 31 feet in diameter and about 7 feet high; it opened from the southeast; the soil immediately under the sod consisting of yellow clay to a considerable depth; then layers of blue clay… Exactly in the centre…at a depth of 7 feet, and on a level with the plane of the field, was found an oak coffin, formed out of a tree, split and hollowed-out, and placed due north and south, the head being placed to the south, as that as the larger part of the tree. After being exposed to the air for about 2 minutes, the bared coffin parted at the sides, and could not be moved except by detached pieces. The body had been wrapped in a cloth or shroud of texture resembling wool and coarsely-woven, of which there was a considerable quantity remaining; but the body itself was dissolved… The interment was considered to be that of an ancient Briton… The learned antiquary said it was the only instance (except the one at Gristhorpe, near Scarborough) where an interment in an oak tree hollowed out had a tumulus placed over it. It was more than 6 feet in length inside and about 7 feet 6 inches outside. The remains were carefully replaced and the mound restored to its former shape; a small leaden tablet being placed within, stating that it had been opened in AD 1864.”

Folklore

Jessica Lofthouse (1976) listed this as one of the places reputed to be an old fairy haunt, wherein “the folk of Scale House discovered a fairy kist or chest.”

References:

  1. Bogg, Edmund, Higher Wharfeland, James Miles: Leeds 1904.
  2. Greenwell, William, British Barrows, Clarendon Press: Oxford 1877.
  3. Lofthouse, Jessica, North Country Folklore, Hale: London 1976.

Links:

  1. Out of Oblivion: Archaeology and Notes – Directions and notices on this once giant tomb.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Ringstones, Lowgill, Lancashire

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Stone Circle (destroyed): OS Grid Reference – SD 664 655

Archaeology & History

I have found no archaeological references whatsoever to this site (though to be honest, the Lancashire archaeological fraternity are pretty poor when it comes to finding and recording sites).  The place has its existence preserved in the aptly-named Ringstones Lane and the farmhouse, Ringstones.

Michala Potts found several records of the place in the 17th century, and the site is shown on the 1844 OS-map with the same name, but we have been unable to ascertain when/if any standing stones were here.  The place may well have been a burial-site of some sort, as found at other Ringstone place-names in Lancashire.  But we can clearly see on aerial imagery that there is a large, distinct, circular outline in the heavily ploughed fields about 100 yards north of the farm.  There is what may be the remains of a second circle above this, but the outline is faint; but it appears that an enclosure of some sort, ovoid in shape and a couple of hundred feet across, was also evident in the same field where the more distinct circular outline is seen.

My favourite outline however, is a large linear mark on the ground stretching for several hundred yards running roughly north-south, starting in the field between Aikengill and Ringstones and going dead straight, bypassing the circle and crossing Ringstones Lane, where it seems to disappear and is no longer visible.  The curious ‘ground line’ is roughly 100 feet across.  Cursus anyone!?

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Nixon’s Station, Ilkley Moor, West Yorkshire

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Cairn:  OS Grid Reference – SE 11468 45224

Getting Here

The denuded remains of a once giant tomb

This is the highest point of the moors, 1320 feet up. There’s various ways of getting there: I’d favour the wander up to Twelve Apostles then taking the 15 minute walk west to the triangulation point which marks the spot.  If you reach the large rocky outcrop of the Thimble Stones, you’ve gone too far; although you can walk past the Thimbles, if you’ve started your walk from the two radio masts atop of the moor where the old Roman road hits the dirt-track.  Either way, unless you’re damn stupid, this is an easy spot to find!

Archaeology & History

Although today there’s little to be seen, when Collyer & Turner (1885) described the place it was 175 yards in circumference! Bloody huge! When Harry Speight got here in 1900, it had shrunk slightly to 150 yards. Now however, almost all the stones have been robbed.  I first came here when I was just 11 years old and remember it was a decent size even then – at least as large as the Little Skirtful and Great Skirtful of Stones more than a mile to the east.  Today however, unless you knew it was once a giant cairn, you wouldn’t give it a second look.

It’s quite appalling what’s happened to this site thanks to the sheer ignorance and neglect of the local archaeologist in tandem with his paymasters at Bradford Council: 90% of the site has been utterly vandalised and destroyed as a result of these incompetent idiots in the last 20 years.  Nowadays, all you can make out here is the raised earth for about 10 yards surrounding the trig-point.  It seems that most of the stones that comprised this giant cairn have been taken for use in walling, and to prop up the stupid paved footpaths which the local Council and its affiliated halfwits are slowly building o’er these hills.*  Morons!

Aar Dave on top o’ t’ moors

I’m not quite sure why it was called Nixon’s Station.  It was J. Atkinson Busfield (1875) who mentioned this name, quite casually in his fine local history work, as if local folk had known it as such for sometime.  There was also an inference of it being the resting place of some old general, but I’ve found nor heard anything more along such lines — though worra superb place for your spirit to roam free…..

If anyone has any old photos of this once giant prehistoric site, it would be good to see it in its old glory once again.  When I wandered up here as a kid, I never carried things like a camera about (being a Luddite by nature!).

References:

  1. Busfield, J.A., Fragments Relating to the History of Bingley Parish, Bradford 1875.
  2. Collyer, R. & Turner, J.H., Ilkley, Ancient & Modern, Otley 1885.
  3. Speight, Harry, Upper Wharfedale, London 1900.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

* Anyone know exactly which idiots are responsible for the stone footpaths being laid over the moors here? They’re damn stupid and cause even more erosion and damage to the environment and prehistoric heritage up here, as anyone with an ounce of common sense can see. Can someone please get them stopped!?


Long Bredy Cursus, Dorset

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Cursus:  OS Grid Reference – SY 5718 9115

Also Known as:

  1. Martin’s Down Cursus

Archaeology & History

Although very little of this cursus can be discerned on the ground, the scar of the monument is clearly visible from the air (as the GoogleEarth image shows, below).  In 1989 the great archaeo-geomancer, Paul Devereux, visited the place hoping to see the monument, but said that no remains were visible at ground level, although noted how its western end is marked by the Long Bredy burial mound.  Sitting amidst a mass of later neolithic and Bronze Age ceremonial remains, this old cursus aligned SE to NW.  Devereux told how,

“the extended axis of the cursus…to the east, goes through a group of round barrows on the crest of a ridge on Black Down about a mile away. If diagrammatic material published by an investigating archaeologist is accurate, the alignment continues to the Nine Stones circle…immediately by the roadside a short distance west of Winterbourne Abbas.”

The monument has been measured at be at least 130 yards (100m) long and 28 yards in diameter at its greatest point.

References:

  1. Pennick, Nigel & Devereux, Paul, Lines on the Landscape, Robert Hale: London 1989.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian