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Photos � Celia Haddon
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Celia
Haddon writes: The remains of one of Britain's largest stone circles, the Devil's Quoits
in Oxfordshire, is almost impossible to visit. But by writing letters to the overall
landowner, All Souls College in Oxford, and the waste management company in charge of the
site, I was finally allowed to do so. However the conscientious and enthusiastic manager
of the site spend three quarters of an hour briefing me on all safety hazards and
providing me with a safety jacket. Having to spend so much time naturally makes the
company not over-eager to welcome visitors.
The
site itself, a vaguely circular tiny hill, is by the side of an artificial lake, managed
by the local nature trust. On the other side is an active landfill site with lorries
at work. Naturally some of the litter from the site drifts over to the little hill. There
are no standing stones visible so that the site is a complete disappointment for those who
wish to experience the sensation of being in or near an ancient stone circle.
By the end of the last century there were only three standing, all on apparently completely flat land surrounded by ploughed fields. A photograph from l882 shows one which looks to be about eight to ten feet high. Once there were 35 stones in a 75 metre circle with a two metre henge ditch surrounding them. There were two entrances in the henge. It would have been one of the most important circle sites in Britain, just off an old trackway and within sight of the distant Ridgeway.
The
site was briefly excavated in the l940s before the three stones were pulled down and
buried to make way for a war time aerodrome. These three fallen monsters can still just be
seen in two different areas among the gravel, nettles, and rabbit holes which plague the
site. After the airfield came the gravel excavators, first the Amey Roadstone Corporation
and now its successors. In the l970s there were further excavations of site, which appear
to have left a series of huge holes further disfigured by mini rabbit warrens. These pits
now add to the visual mess which is the current site. All you can see is vaguely circular
wasteland with ragwort, green-yellow weld, and chrome yellow stonecrop, deep scarred pits,
the occasional three quarter buried stone or stacked up heap of large stones. The cry of
gulls and the road of machinery accompanies this vandalised site.
The
waste management company, more conscientious than the authorities have been, have stacked
up any large stones that came to light nearby while extracting the gravel. It is
impossible to know whether these would have been the original stones but they could be
erected, should the site ever be properly cared for again. No doubt the archeological
authorities who have so shamefully failed to preserve the circle would argue that any
re-erection would be inauthentic. But it might, at least, serve as a monument to our
national vandalism of prehistoric henges.
Access:
To get in, I had to write first to the Bursar of All Souls College, then to an
estate agent who managed their land, then to Hanson Waste. It took a further six to eight
phone calls after that. The manager doesn't want to spent too much time 'inducting' peple
, which takes three quarters of an hour explaining all saety risks etc. So it is possible
but it takes a lot of persistence.
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Rating: General Impression 2, Ambience 1, Access 1
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