Tre-llwyn Fawr

Date Added: 28th Aug 2014
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: Wales (Pembrokeshire)
Visited: Yes on 21st Aug 2014. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Trellwyn-Fawr Standing Stone, Pembrokeshire: [We found more than one standing stone at this site, one of them not marked on the map, so I hope I am reporting them correctly – if I’ve confused them, please let me know so I can correct my entries (thank you!)].

On the way back to the road from the Trellwyn-Fach Standing Stone, we stopped off to look at this stone, which we'd first seen on the walk down. This stone stands alone in the middle of the field, with great views over the Cwm Gwaun valley below. It seems to fit the description on the Dyfed Archaeological Site, which describes this stone as 1.4 metres high by 1 metre wide at its base, leaning slightly to the north-north-west. Just to the west, there was another smaller stone poking through the grass.

The views to the north, east and west were blocked by hedges and trees, so it wasn’t really possible to appreciate the location this stone was set in.

Trellwyn-fach

Date Added: 28th Aug 2014
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: Wales (Pembrokeshire)
Visited: Yes on 21st Aug 2014. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Trellwyn-Fach Standing Stone, Pembrokeshire: [We found more than one standing stone at this site, one of them not marked on the map, so I hope I haven't confused them – if I’ve got it wrong, please let me know so I can correct my entries (thank you!)].

From the Trewllyn-Fach Stone Pair, we walked along the footpath at the other side of the un-named farm (about 100 yards south west of the house called Trellwyn). This is essentially a farm-track and easy walking, past old farm properties which are being renovated. As the track turned a left hand corner just past the farm buildings, I spotted a standing stone in the middle of the field, but this wasn’t marked on the map, so intrigued, we continued onto Trellwyn-Fach.

The footpath went passed the standing stone towards the derelict Trellwyn-fach farmhouse, but there was a well-worn track across to the stone, so we crossed the bank forming the field boundary and followed the track to take a closer look at the stone. On the way, there was also another erratic stone in the field to the left hand side (I’ve not been able to get the grid reference as the images from UK Grid Finder are those of clouds, so I’m unable to make out the ground). The whole area is littered with large stones, possible cairns and what appear to be large erratic stones.

I wasn’t sure if the stone had broken and the broken piece been taken away, or if the rock had been deliberately quarried. This stone does indeed look like a pointing finger and there are good views over the Cwm Gwaun valley.

Trellwyn-fach Stone Pair

Date Added: 28th Aug 2014
Site Type: Standing Stones Country: Wales (Pembrokeshire)
Visited: Yes on 21st Aug 2014. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Trewynfach (Tre-llwyn Fawr) Stone Pair, Pembrokeshire: About 400 yards up the road from the Parc-y-meirw stones, just before reaching a house called Trellwyn, is an un-named farm to the south side of the road. On the map there are two standing stones marked, which stand very slightly to the west of the farm. Neither of the stones can be seen from the road. No-one appeared to be at the farm, and as the field gate was open, we walked along the field boundary for about 50 yards to see if we could spot them.

One of the stones has been used as a gatepost, in the field boundary between the farm and the first field to its west; the other is situated in the middle of the farmyard. Presumably the gatepost stone, which stands 1.4 metres high, has been relocated from its original site. The second stone is on private land, but looks taller than the stone being used as the gatepost.

I confess that after the Parc-y-Meirw stones and these, we looked at the gateposts of all the farms as we drove along, wondering if they were ‘recycled’ standing stones.

Parc y Meirw

Date Added: 28th Aug 2014
Site Type: Stone Row / Alignment Country: Wales (Pembrokeshire)
Visited: Yes on 21st Aug 2014. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Parc-y-meiry standing stones, Pembrokeshire: After having visited the Llanllawer Holy Well, we set off eastwards up the road towards Trellwyn farm, where there were two sets of standing stones marked on the southern side of the road.

Driving slowly up this single track lane, trying to look over the tall banks and fences rising above us on either side of the road to spot the stones, a tall standing stone by a field gate suddenly appeared, looming above us from the grass verge – impressive!

We stopped the car in the gate entrance and hopped out to take a look. Only the large stone There was nothing in the field, so we unlatched the field gate to take a closer look.

Unusually, I haven’t been able to find out much about these stones, apart from a short entry on the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments For Wales, where the stones are referenced as SAM PE126.

Hogtivis Stone

Date Added: 28th Aug 2014
Site Type: Early Christian Sculptured Stone Country: Wales (Pembrokeshire)
Visited: Yes on 23rd Aug 2014. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Intrigued by just the word ‘Stone’ on the map, we drove from Garnturne burial chamber towards Sealyham Bridge, looking for the church next to ‘The Stone’. There are just a few farms and an outdoor centre here; it is a very pretty little spot. Just before the bridge over the river Afon Anghof, there was a small cark park (surrounded by overhanging trees on three sides) on the right hand side of the road. The church was invisible, being hidden by these trees, so we ended up driving past, turning round and going back. Turning into the car park, the top of the church and the gateway into the church yard immediately became visible.

This was one of the smallest churches I’ve come across. The wrought iron gate to the church spelled out the year 1870, and the church did indeed look relatively modern; but looking closer, there appeared to be a tiny chapel embedded in the larger building which looked much, much older. The church was locked, so sadly we couldn’t get in, as I would have loved to look round the interior of the building, and there was no contact telephone number to call to arrange a visit. Doing some research on arriving home, I found out that the nave and south aisle were separated by Norman arches, which I would love to have seen.

The churchyard was also tiny, largely dominated by wrought iron railings surrounding a large family plot immediately to the south of the church, by the porch. The two bells were rung by ropes coming down the exterior west end of the building.

In the corner of the churchyard, lodged snuggly against the bank between the church yard and the car park, and tucked between two graves, was The Stone. It had obviously been used as a gatepost at some time, with several holes, some still containing metal pins (my immediate reaction was ‘poor thing’). There were obvious signs of carving on the right hand side of the front face of The Stone which looked like Ogham, plus some other possible carving to the left, which the records tell me is a Latin inscription. Funnily enough, the camera was able to pick out the Latin inscription better than my eye, as recorded in the image submitted here.

The Archaeological Data Service record states that the stone is 5th or 6th century, and “was found in 1897 'a few hundred yards' from Little Treffgarne farmhouse. If it was in situ, then it may have been associated with the monastic site of Little Treffgarne”.

This site is only a couple of kilometres from the A40, east of the village of Wolf’s Castle, and 9 miles north of Haverfordwest. The Genuki website saying this parish is traditionally known and the birthplace and burial place of Owain Glyndwr who “is said to have been born at Little Trefgarn and to have been interred at the small village of Wolf’s Castle’.

Glyn Gath Barrow

Date Added: 28th Aug 2014
Site Type: Round Barrow(s) Country: Wales (Pembrokeshire)
Visited: Yes on 21st Aug 2014. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: Glyn Garth Ring Cairn, Pembrokeshire: After visiting a series of standing stones on the northern side of the Afon Gwaun river, we headed eastwards back towards the hotel at Gellifawr. We passed directly by the Glyn Garth ring cairn, so stopped to take a look.

Even with a detailed map, without the marker stone, we wouldn’t have been able to easily identify this cairn, but walking into the heather and gorse we could make out the perimeter banks (easier to do this with the eye than demonstrate with the camera – I’ve yet to learn the technique to do this well).

It was an impressive location; With Myndd Dinas behind and Newport Bay to the north, this was a fantastic place to be buried.

On the drive southwards from Glyn Garth to Pontfaen, we were doing double-takes at most field entrances, as the gateposts all seemed (to our novice eyes) to be standing stones which had been perhaps been relocated and recycled.

Also of notes to future visitors, it is well worth popping into the Dyffryn Arms at Pontfaen. It is like walking back into time; the main bar is like small sitting room from the 1930s and the landlady serves ale from jugs from a serving hatch – brilliant!

St Gwyndaf Stones

Date Added: 28th Aug 2014
Site Type: Early Christian Sculptured Stone Country: Wales (Pembrokeshire)
Visited: Yes on 22nd Aug 2014. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: St Gwyndaf’s Church, Llanwnda with stone crosses: Husband, Andrew, and I were both intrigued by Vicky’s description of the St. Gwyndaf Stones on the Portal, so after a busy day exploring the St David’s area, we decided to stop off in Fishguard for dinner, taking a detour to Llanwnda on the way.

Despite having a detailed map, we got lost twice, taking the wrong lane and ending up back on the main road, then taking the left hand turn inside of the right where the road splits within Llanwnda village, and ending up at someone’s house and having to reverse down a particularly narrow, windy single track lane, being watched by a curious local lady who came out to watch.

After that, we found the church easily enough. There were even a few parking spaces just by the path leading down to the church. A very pretty spot, although feeling incredibly remote, overlooking the sea.

The whole of this site has a huge sense of age and heritage. The inside of the church is simple, but impressive. There was no church guide available to look at, but there was a copy of the ‘Saints and Stones’ book telling us something about the church. Page 7 of this books tells us: “on the window-sill near the font is a fragment of a medieval stone showing a bishop administering a blessing and holding a staff; it may have been part of an ancient churchyard and cross. Another stone fragment of the same date can be seen on the first window-sill in the south wall. In the chancel is a case containing a copy of the Welsh ‘Parry’ Bible (1620) [although this is well-used and falling apart – impressive non-the-less] .... No fewer than six 7th-9th century Christian marked stones were also discovered in 1881; five of them are set into the exterior walls of the church. Once part of the larger structures, they were carved by stonemasons working under monastic patronage. The most fascinating of these is set into the east end of the south transept. It shows a rudely incised face surrounded by four parallel lines beneath the cross of St. Andrew; the face may be that of a female, a monk or Christ-as-Procrator. High in the south wall is a stone marked with a double-outline cross and another in the east wall of the chancel is decorated with a Latin cross. A fourth stone in the north wall displays a double Latin cross enclosed by a rounded outline, and low in the south wall to the west of the porch is a stone of later date (probably 10th century) with a moulded cross. The base of a decorated cross lies on the north-west side of the churchyard.”

We spotted the five stones set in the wall and the two on the window-sills, but failed to see the cross in the churchyard.

I’d recommend anyone in the area to take an hour to find this church and the stones – a true sense of history and occasion contained within this tiny building and surrounding church yard.

On the next visit, must ensure to take in the Garnwnda Burial Chamber and nearby standing stone.

Trefael

Date Added: 27th Aug 2014
Site Type: Rock Art Country: Wales (Pembrokeshire)
Visited: Saw from a distance on 23rd Aug 2014

Log Text: Trafael Rock Art, Pembrokshire: We were looking forward to seeing this rare example of rock art in Wales, but despite driving up and down the B4582 road twice, we couldn’t find any of the marked footpaths. We could identify from the field pattern from our detailed map exactly where the stone was located. I suggested going to Bayvil church, further down the footpath, and walking back from there. On our second drive-past, we saw a very clear, official notice on the gate to the field saying ‘access to the capstone only with the permission of the landowner’. As we will have to research who the landowner is, we’ll need to save a visit to this rock art for another time.
However, we were well compensated by stumbling upon Nevern church with its stone crosses a few minutes later.

Pentre Ifan

Date Added: 27th Aug 2014
Site Type: Portal Tomb Country: Wales (Pembrokeshire)
Visited: Yes on 23rd Aug 2014. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 5 Access 4

Log Text: Pentre Ifan, Pembrokeshire: I was particularly excited to go to the site, as I’d seen many photographs and paintings of Pentre Ifan during our brief visit to Pembrokeshire, together with photographs on the Portal. I was unprepared for the sheer number of visitors who came to see this spectacular burial chamber. However, everyone seemed to respect others need to take photographs and kept out of each other’s way, which was nice. We also got into conversation with a Japanese lady about how they had raised the cap stone.

I was truly amazed at how the cap stone balances on the pointed tips of just three uprights. All around are larger stones which may have been part of the structure in the past.

The views over to Newport sands and the sea are wonderful. I would like to go back to the site at a quieter time and just sit and absorb it.

The Pillar Stones

Date Added: 27th Aug 2014
Site Type: Early Christian Sculptured Stone Country: Wales (Pembrokeshire)
Visited: Yes on 21st Aug 2014. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: Pillar Stones, Cwm Gwaun. These stones were the second of the ancient monuments we saw during our visit to Pembrokeshire, and a great start to our trip.

The five pillar stones were visible from the road, in the grounds of a small chapel, so we parked in the driveway to get off the single track road. It was only when we tried to go into the chapel that we realised it had been converted to a private house and the pillar stones were in the garden.

We were able to make our crosses on three of the stones (inscribed on the sides facing away from the chapel, looking east). I wasn’t sure if there was any particular alignment to the stones; they didn’t particularly appear to have been arranged in rows.

There is also an old font under the bell tower of the church.

Trefach

Date Added: 27th Aug 2014
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: Wales (Pembrokeshire)
Visited: Yes on 21st Aug 2014. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Trefach, Pembrokeshire. This stone was literally just round the corner from Gellifawr, where we were staying. We parked at the entrance to the field on the corner of the road and walked up to the footpath which leads up to Waun Mawn. There was actually a couple of parking spaces at the bottom of the footpath so we could have driven closer, but after a long car journey, it was nice to put feet to tarmac and grass again.

The footpath rises up a gentle hill, and after a few paces, there was what appeared to be a cairn to the left hand side. Looking up the hill, Trefach became visible on the horizon. There was a clear track leading up to the stone, so we followed this. The stone is surrounded by a low wire fence, presumably to protect it from the stock (in this case a small herd of Welsh ponies, who curiously came to see what we were doing and what food we might have brought!).

The views over the Afon Gwaun Valley to the east were lovely. (as Paul M says in his description of the site: ‘commanding’). To the north west, there were views over crags at what I think is Carn Ingli.

Near the main Trefach stone, there was a fallen stone, which looked as if it might have stood upright. The field was also littered with groups of stones which looked like possible cairns.

This was the start of a couple of hours exploring some pretty interesting sites within the Cwm Gwaun valley.

Llanllawer Church

Date Added: 26th Aug 2014
Site Type: Early Christian Sculptured Stone Country: Wales (Pembrokeshire)
Visited: Yes on 21st Aug 2014. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: The only access to the church is through a gate and a 100 yard walk through the field to the church gate.
This church is not used, and is falling into ruin. It is boarded up and there are slates coming loose from the roof.
It was not possible to get inside, as the door was locked and some of the windows boarded up.
There is a clear view from the edge of the church yard down to the Llanllawer Holy Well.

Llanllawer Holy Well

Date Added: 26th Aug 2014
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: Wales (Pembrokeshire)
Visited: Yes on 21st Aug 2014. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Having visited the Pillar Stones, we drove the additional 2km through the village of Llanychaer to the Llanllawer Parish Church and Holy Well. There was a small lay-by opposite the gate to the field leading up to the church, so it was easy to park.

The church, which stands on top of the hill, is very obviously redundant, boarded up, and with loose slates. The only access to the church is through the field from the road.

The well is accessed by walking 50 yards further up the road, turning a left hand corner, where a stile/gate gives access to the Llanllawer Holy (Sainted) Well.

The well was dry when we saw it, but there is a clear channel to take water down hill. The ground was still boggy, although large stones made it easy to cross the channel to look inside the well.

Inside the well there were lots of tea-lights and tokens, and tokens had been hung from the gate to the well. It is clearly a place that is well revered, even today.

Bedd Morris

Date Added: 26th Aug 2014
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: Wales (Pembrokeshire)
Visited: Yes on 23rd Aug 2014. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: I spotted this standing stone by the right hand side of the road as we were driving over the Ffordd Bedd Morris road from the A487 towards Cwm Gwaun, where we were staying for a few days. After an eight hour journey, and with the rain coming down in huge droplets, we drove past and returned on the way back home to take a closer look.

Bedd Morris is very easy to find, being opposite the main car park for walkers at the top of the hill. Whilst impressive, it’s hard to believe this stone is still in its original location. There are professionally carved inscriptions on the stone, leading us to believe it is now being utilised as a boundary marker. Looking this up on the return home, the Bedd Morris record on the Archaeological Data Service web site confirms this stone is used as a marker between the parishes of Llanychlwyddog and Newport.

Their site also goes onto say that the stone fell over and broke, probably after being hit by a vehicle (hence the protective stones either side) and was repaired and re-erected in 2012.

There is also a trig point carved into the front of the stone, next to some graffiti.

We were on our way home, with an 8 hour journey in front of us, and other places we wanted to see, otherwise it would have been really nice to have done some walking in this area – the location just screamed at me to get my walking boots on.

Driving northwards towards Newport, there are splendid views of Dinas Head and Newport Sands from the viewpoint further along the road.

Salters Nick Settlement

Date Added: 25th Aug 2014
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes

Log Text: Following our visit to The Poind And His Man, there was a settlement marked on the map at Salter's Nick, and I was keen to try and see this as it was nearby.

We continued westwards along the footpath from the Poind and His Man, the pebbly surface giving way to concrete slabs leading onto access land. The kindly farmer (presumably the one living in East Shaftoe Hall?) has provided a small car parking space for walkers, complete with signs about where to park, so next time we visit, we’ll drive down rather than walk from Craig Hall. There were other cars already parked there, although we walked for well over a kilometre before seeing other people on Shaftoe Crags to our left.

From the above mentioned car park, there is a gravelled track heading off left towards East Shaftoe Hall, but the actual footpath is over grass and carries on westwards, past a wood on the right; where this ends there is another small wood to the left. Walking slightly up hill, there is a well-built stone wall to the right hand side, and a limestone pavement which drops down a few feet to a small brook on the left, giving the impression of an old road. There were a large number of cows and calves in the field, complete with bull, but they appeared very docile and only mildly curious. Looking at the internet later, we found out that this track used to be an old Drover’s Road.

The settlement is just on top of the hill, just where the footpath takes a slight turn to the right. Walking into this area, the settlement isn’t immediately obvious given the covering of heather and bracken at this time of year, but a bank where the bracken stands taller than the rest defines its eastern boundary. It’s easy to step up this small bank and into the main settlement area; across what appears to be a valley to the south, large limestone blocks and outcrops can be seen. Walking a little further on into the settlement to where the western bank appears to rise up, we were suddenly taken aback by the appearance of steep drops to the south and west – we were suddenly on the edge of an amazing limestone outcrop, looking down on other walkers below, and across to others climbing on Shaftoe Crags.

A natural entrance, formed by a crack in the crags, became apparent as we walked across the settlement area to the north. I could immediately identify with our ancestors and why they had chosen to settle here – it was easily defensible from the west and south, with 360 degree views (hidden a little in modern days by the woods to the east) all around, and what looked like superb farmland to the west and east.

I wanted to see the natural entrance from below, so we walked back to the footpath and carried on westwards. There were clear signs of how the old drover’s road had been cut through the settlement (there were pick marks on the sandstone rocks), and an easy walk that takes you below the crags at the western end of Salter’s Nick.

We did try and find the heavily weathered rock art mentioned on the Northumbria County Council leaflet for this site (which I downloaded on my phone whilst we were there, so we could understand what we were looking at), but they didn’t identify exactly where these where, so we’ll need to research Stan Beckensall’s records to find out where they are. The same leaflet (Exploring Bolam, walk number 3, Bolam Lake to Shaftoe Crags), tells us: “This trackway was probably used for smuggling illicit salt into Scotland on pack horses during the time of the Salt Tax. The return cargo was often illegally distilled whisky. There is also a settlement split by the trackway. The southern end of the fort consists of a series of defensive walls and works, and two pairs of semi-detached stone foundation round-houses. Attached to the north side is an Iron Age field system, of native or Romano-British origin.”

Looking at the map, the Middleton Standing Stone is only about half a kilometre away, if you carry along the footpath after Salter’s Nick; we’d done the walk to Middleton the other way round, from South Middleton Medieval Village on 27th May 2014. This is a much easier (and prettier) walk than the walk we'd previously done, and we'd use this route again.

The Poind And His Man

Date Added: 25th Aug 2014
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes

Log Text: I didn’t expect this site to be as atmospheric as it was. We parked on the road that runs just south of Bolam Lake, in a small layby about 100 yards to the south west of Craig Hall, approx. grid reference: NZ 07126 82266 (only a couple of kilometres from the busy A696). We walked down the gravelled footpath past which turns left from this road through Bolam West Houses; in the second field to our left hand side past the houses, the tumulus came into view on the horizon. Whilst it is marked on the map as being just a tumulus, it is actually a tumulus with standing stone on its southern side.

Being on a slight hill, the tumulus stood out well against the surrounding terrain. There was no sign of the standing stone from this point, although some stones were poking up from the grass at the left hand (eastern) side of the tumulus.

We found out afterwards that there was actually no public access to this tumulus and standing stone, so I felt guilty about walking up to it, although it was a short distance from the main footpath. The field was full of the most beautiful sheep, all kinds of different breeds. As we approached the tumulus, the standing stone is on its southern side appeared - much larger than I anticipated.

I got the tape measure out, and husband Andrew helped me take the approximate dimensions of the standing stone: 2 metres from the current ground height, width on widest faces: 1.50 and 1.54m, and on the narrowest faces 0.6 metres each.

There were stunning views across the fields to the hills in the far distance to the east, south and west. The views to the north were blocked by the trees of the North Plantation. The sun was also very strong, and I didn’t manage to take photographs of the most spectacular views across to the south west and west.

There appeared to be another small circular mound slightly to the south west of the tumulus, and we wondered if this might be another tumulus.

Similar to the standing stone at Newtown Mill (which we saw on 17th August), the Devil’s Causeway Roman Road, which runs within a few yards to the east of Newtown Mill standing stone, runs immediately to the west of this tumulus, although this is no sign of the road in the landscape that we could spot.

There is a Northumberland County Council leaflet (Exploring Bolam, walk number 3, Bolam Lake to Shaftoe Crags) describing the tumulus: (this) “barrow or burial mound is in a prominent position and is 28m in circumference and 1.5m high. It was excavated in 1718 by Warburton, an Excise Officer with a keen interest in antiquities. Writing to a friend Warburton described that he - “found a stone coffin about 3ft in length and 2ft in breadth and 2ft deep which was black inside with smoke, and in it several lumps of glutinous matter….pieces of the dead heroes flesh” It is likely that that the main burial may be intact as Warburton did not dig deep enough. Such mounds were frequently re-used and may have many burials of different ages. The mound was important in Medieval times when Watches were set to warn of Scottish raids. In 1552 Wharton, Warden of the English East March stipulated that Watches should be set at “the two stones the Poind and his Man with two men nightly the inhibitors of Bolam”. The second stone is at Wallington Hall and was probably moved there by William Blackett. The Devil’s Causeway runs just to the west of the mound.”

In the same field, about 100 yards to the east of the Poind and His Man, there was an outcrop of rock, similar to the formation at West Agra, and we wandered over. The strong sunlight brought out what might be cup marks; in particular, there was a line of deep cup marks against a ledge in a crack in the middle of the rock, and what appeared to be a grouping of heavily weathered cup marks to the eastern edge. We need to research if Stan Beckensall has listed any marks on the ERA site.

Fowberry Park B

Date Added: 19th Aug 2014
Site Type: Rock Art Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 17th Aug 2014. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 5 Access 4

Log Text: Having been disappointed at not being able to reach the Doddington Stone Cricle from the footpaths across the golf course (they seem to have vanished with an extension to the quarry) we were determined not to head home without having seen something. We spotted a number of other cup and ring marked rocks on the map around Fowberry Park, and headed for the easiest to find – opposite Fowberry Mains Farm.

There was sufficient room to park on the grass verge at the entrance to the footpath, and it was an easy walk up a slight hill, following a stone wall to the left. When we’d almost reached a field boundary to our right, there was a field gateway to the left giving access to outcrops of rock.

We thought we’d have to walk backwards to find our way around a spring, but the farmer has built a path over the small stream and the boggy part of the field, leading to a rocky outcrop immediately to the left on the far side of the stream. This outcrop did not appear to have any rock art.

Following the footpath up the slope to our right, we immediately came upon another, larger, outcrop, and the rock art sprang into view. I’d rate this as highly as the rock art stone at Roughting Linn.

The outcrop has been heavily quarried, but what is left is wonderful. The first set of cup marks we came across appear to have been painted in red ochre, although there seemed to be this red pigment on other parts of the rock, too.

Most astonishing was the long, almost grave-cover shaped rock covered in miniature marks in a row; on closer observation, the marks turned around the end of the rock, forming a tall, narrow U shape. I’ve not seen this formation of marks before.

There were other smaller rocks, buried in the turf, complete with rock art markings, too. The English Rock Art site records 8 different panels, and I’ve since printed off the images of each, together with the grid references (oh, for a GPS system to help!). I’m looking forward to going back to explore more.

Continuing up the hill towards Fowberry Moor, there is a homestead and a settlement. As it was blowing a gale, with gusts of 50 mph and possibly above, we didn’t linger too long. The map shows many other cup and ring marked rocks in the surrounding area, and

Most very definitely worth a second, third and possibly more trips to discover the richness of artefacts in this area.

Newtown Mill

Date Added: 19th Aug 2014
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 17th Aug 2014. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: Driving southwards from Fowberry Park rock art site, through the small hamlet of Newtown, this standing stone appeared on the map to be very near the road, so we drove past hoping to see it. And there it was – about 50 yards inside the field to our left hand side, easily accessible by a metal gate. There were no footpaths to the stone, but having been disappointed at not seeing the Wade Stone South on 15th August, I was somewhat reckless, and entered the field to take some photographs, sincerely hoping the farmer wouldn’t object and I would explain if I saw him/her.

Astonishingly, the Devil’s Causeway (Roman road) runs almost immediately to the eastern side of this stone, although there was no sign of this road whatsoever (we’ve usually seen some signs of old Roman roads in the form of traces of the ditches at each side, but in this instance, all evidence seemed to have disappeared. We looked for further signs of this road at the modern road junction leading up to Newtown, but there were no traces here, either).

The rounded form of 80m high Ewe Hill seemed to loom above this standing stone, although the stone sits in the valley, well sheltered from the wind, and appears to be in its original position. We thought we spotted some cup marks on the stone, but these could be the results of weathering, as the stone has deep vertical fluting (like many of the standing stones in the area).

The road next to the standing stone is single track, with few passing places, although it is possible to park on the grass verge next to the gate next to the standing stone.

Once I'd taken photographs, we turned the car around and headed back up the hill towards Newtown, to locate the Hurl Stone.

Ros Castle hillfort

Date Added: 19th Aug 2014
Site Type: Hillfort Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Saw from a distance on 17th Aug 2014. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 5 Access 3

Log Text: Driving back across Hepburn Moor towards the A1, the purple heather spreading in front of us was truly impressive. Although early evening with looming black clouds, we were going to stop off and look at this really impressive ancient monument, but when I opened the car door, it was torn from my hand by the wind and the map I'd been using was whipped across the dashboard to the far side of the car. We'd also had difficulty standing upright in the wind at Fowberry Moor only an hour before, so despite seeing an intrepid family with backpacks and young children in tow make their way across the moor, we decided to leave walking to the top of this Iron Age Hill Fort until another day.

I wasn’t aware that there was any rock art in this area, but thanks to SolarMegalith’s photographs, we’ll look forward to seeing this on our next visit.

Wades Stone (North)

Date Added: 18th Aug 2014
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: England (Yorkshire (North))
Visited: Yes on 15th Aug 2014. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: From Robin Hood’s Bay, sadly Old Wife’s Neck was the wrong direction (at this time of day and for this trip) so needs to wait for another day; wanting somewhere to go on the way home, we hit upon Wade’s Stones near Goldsborough and East Barnby. Avoiding Whitby, we headed west on the A174, and turned off north onto Goldsborough Lane towards the northern stone. Goldsborough Lane is a single track road and at this time of night (about 6pm) was busy with traffic going home. After just over 1km, we passed a wood on the left hand side, and almost immediately found the footpath/track heading westwards towards Brockrigg Farm. The only available parking space visible at this point was at a field entrance on the opposite side of the road, so thinking we could run back if the tractor in the field needed to get out, we squeezed into the field entrance and headed up the footpath opposite.

At first, we saw nothing but stacks of hay bales, then after 100 yards, the track took a shallow left hand bend, and the stone came into sight - about another 100 yards up the track and about yards left across the field.

There was a combine harvester in the field, and a car had just bombed up the track as we were walking up, but we couldn’t find anyone to ask if we could walk up to the stone. The crop had only just been harvested, so we didn’t think the farmer would mind up walking over the stubble to take some photographs.

The sun was quite low in the sky at this point, and the quartz crystals on the stone sparkled in the light. I had to admire the skills of the farmer and his combine harvester – judging by the wheat stalks left around the stone, he managed to get incredibly close to the stone, without touching it (We wondered to ourselves if he had ever knocked it down in the past, but there were no signs of damage from machinery!)

I just started to talk photographs when there was a loud rustling from the wood to the south. There was a short silence, then something burst out of the trees and headed towards us – I thought at first it was a couple of large dogs, but then realised they were two deer. They chased across the field we were in, into the next field (I got photographs of their ears and heads peeping above the wheat), then they appeared back in ‘our’ field, just seeming to chase each other for the sheer pleasure of running around. Only having seen deer once or twice in the daylight, this felt very special, although they were too fast to get many photographs of. The deer disappeared back into the woods, and we continued to take photographs of the stone.

Had the modern hedges not been in the way, you would have been able to see clear views of Whitby to the east and Runswick Bay to the west, and I checked this out when we crossed the road back to the car, and peered over the gate to the coast.