Greystoke Village Cross

Trip No.146  Entry No.7  Date Added: 30th Aug 2019
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 27th Aug 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: Greystoke Village Cross: We've been to this area before, on the hunt for the possible Newbeggin Stone Rows, but never driven into this very pretty little village. We left this until the last stop of the day (just before the rain started to hurl down), after having seen the Eyekeld Well, the village Church and the Sanctuary Stone.

There are parts of the original medieval cross built into this largely 'modern' structure. Whilst Pastscape and HE say the socket stone is original, it looked like the top three steps were original (the new socket stone had chamfered and shaped corners and was a much brighter/less weathered stone than the rest).

Hunterian Museum

Trip No.145  Entry No.1  Date Added: 29th Aug 2019
Site Type: Museum Country: Scotland (North Lanarkshire)
Visited: Yes on 21st Aug 2019. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Hunterian Museum: A (very) rainy day in Glasgow stopped us from going out on my 'well hunt', so we found our way to the Hunterian Museum, which I've always wanted to visit. The displays were nicely done, although the museum as a whole was a lot smaller than I anticipated.

I found the display on the Antonine Wall fascinating, along with some of the medical and scientific items on the first floor. At the time of our visit, the Royal College of Surgeon's building was closed (the website said until 2021, for redevelopment).

Unlike most museums, where you need to seek approval to post photographs, the Hunterian says: Photograph Policy: Our visitors are welcome to take photographs and video for personal, non-commercial use. We hope you will share them on your social networks! #hunterian (note: see their copyright statement on the line re works of art).

Note: the stone balls were not on display at the time of our visit.

Eye Keld Well

Trip No.146  Entry No.5  Date Added: 29th Aug 2019
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 27th Aug 2019. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Eyekeld Well, Greystoke: On the eastern side of the B5288 Icold Road which runs south from the village centre. The spring is only visible by peering over the dry stone wall, and the channel is covered with weeds and bracken, although there is a plentiful supply of water running from it, judging by the sounds of trickling water. There is also a long, straight water channel which runs east from the spring.

The Springs of Living Water, page 22 (with a photograph on page 25) has a couple of references to two wells in Greystoke, telling us they are dedicated to St Kentigern (aka St Mungo):
“The site of the well at Greystoke is on the roadside when entering the village from the south. This could well have been the place of a preaching stop … There was a well to the north of Greystoke, called Thanet Well after the name of St. Kentigern’s mother St. Tenue. The well is now covered by a concrete slab in a barn/garage belonging to the house next to the holiday park. The name of the well is preserved in the name of the park”.

In McIntire's "Holy Wells of Cumbria", he mentions a visit by Bishop Nicholson on 26th July 1705: "In ye morning we walk'd out to view (and taste) several extraordinary springs about the Town of Greystock; one of which they call Eye-Keld, Mary-Keld, Tolly-Keld." McIntire notes: "Eye Cold Spring still exists as Icold spring; "Mary-Keld" has had its name corrupted to Marigold. It rises in the park. "Tolly Keld" is a small stream discharging into the Petteril."

St Cuthbert's Well (Clifton)

Trip No.146  Entry No.4  Date Added: 29th Aug 2019
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 27th Aug 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: St Cuthbert's Well (or Kelter Well), Clifton: The enclosure for this well is to the western side of the A6, towards the southern end of Clifton village. In some ways, this well is very disappointing, as the grid over it does not allow you to see very much, apart from some stone steps leading down to what appears to be a culvert with a strong flow of water running through it.

The well has been built into an enclosure which commemorates the last battle on English soil between the retreating Jacobite army and Government troops. This took place on 18th December 1745 (the battle of Clifton Moor).

No entry on either Pastscape or Historic England, although a well is shown on their map if you enter the grid reference above.

Wetheral Village Cross

Trip No.146  Entry No.3  Date Added: 29th Aug 2019
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 27th Aug 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Wetheral Village Cross: a very pretty village. The steps and shaft of this cross are relatively modern, erected sometime between 1838 to 1844. The head of the cross is much weathered and appears older than the rest of the cross, although neither Pastscape nor Historic England mention this.

The cross is less than 150m to the west of the church and the River Eden. At the church, there is the remains of an Anglo Saxon cross shaft.

Gilsland Spa Well

Trip No.146  Entry No.1  Date Added: 28th Aug 2019
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 27th Aug 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Gilsland Spa Well: From the hotel car park, we followed the signs for the Sulphur Spa, leading on a path with a steep drop to our right hand side down to the River Irthing below. The path winds round to the left, then splits just above the southern side of the footbridge across the river. Take the right hand fork, walk about 20m, then take the small flight of steps down to the well, which can be smelt well in advance of reaching it!

The ground was very wet, with a steady flow of water coming out of the well spout. The eastern side of the well basin was covered with a white sulphurous stain, which carried on with the flow of water overflowing from the basin down to the river. I did dip my finger into the running water and had a quick taste. Very sulphurous, but not really unpleasant

As we approached the well, another couple were making a beeline from the well, coming from a path to the east. We fell into conversation, and it turned out they were from Doncaster (which is where I lived my early life), and lived near the race course. They were staying at the hotel for a week, returning home on Friday.

The path leading west from the well and the footbridge had been eroded away by the river. We got to within 120m of the sulphur spring, but not even Andrew wanted to walk this section of path; he said it would have been easier to walk along the river bed. We did try and see it from the other side of the river, but it was too heavily wooded to see anything.

This well is mentioned only briefly in the Springs of Living Water book by Fr John Muster, page 80, under the small section headed ‘Spa Wells’: “Though called holy wells, none are ever found identified with a saint. A good example is the one at Gilsland”. They have a photo on page 86.

No entries on Pastscape or HE, although if you type in the grid reference to the HE map search, it shows a circle where this well is located, and calls the general area to the west of the well a ‘Sulphur Spring’.

St Anne's Well (Cotehill)

Trip No.146  Entry No.3  Date Added: 28th Aug 2019
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 27th Aug 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: St Anne's Well, Cotehill: We squeezed on the odd little road junction that led to a small, new housing development, under the footpath sign.

We followed the footpath sign, which led straight through someone’s garden. We got a bit lost at this point, as several tracks through the grass had been mown flatter than others. Andrew followed two of them but could not see the well structure at all. As we were standing looking more closely at the map, the lady of the house and her children came out. I asked her if she knew where St. Anne’s Well was, and she said she had never heard of it.

Looking more closely, Andrew said the circle for the well was on the edge of the courtyard enclosed by the houses, before the footpath went through the garden of the house, so we retraced our steps a few metres.

There, in the house to our right hand side (facing the footpath and the meadows/open farmland beyond), was a circular brick flower bed. Andrew pronounced “that’s it”. I said ‘surely not’.

The structure was about 10m on private property within the garden, and I was to go up and knock on the door of the house and ask for permission to take photographs, but there no signs of life. “Who can run quickest?” I asked Andrew jokingly, and took a few steps into the garden, feeling very guilty.

There, inside the circular brick structure was a heavy iron grate, with a pool of water inside. This was definitely a well. I took three photographs very quickly, retreating back to the courtyard.

No mention in Pastscape or Historic England, although the well is shown as a blue circle on the HE map.

Gilsland Spa Sulphur Spring

Trip No.146  Entry No.2  Date Added: 28th Aug 2019
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Couldn't find on 27th Aug 2019

Log Text: Gilsland Spa Sulphur Spring: We tried to find this well from both sides of the river. Continuing west along the river walk for about 20m, we found the path had been washed away, and not even husband-cum-mountain-goat Andrew felt comfortable walking this section of the river (he said it would have been easier to walk in the river).

We did cross the footbridge and made our way along the side of the river to within what should have been 'sighting distance' of the well, but the banks were too heavily wooded to see. Shame, as I really wanted to find this well-in-a-grotto. May return and have a second look from the Irthing Gorge walk path.

Askrigg Cross

Trip No.144  Entry No.6  Date Added: 13th Aug 2019
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Yorkshire (North))
Visited: Yes on 8th Aug 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Askrigg Market Cross and Water Pump: It was dusk by the time we arrived back in Askrigg, and just as I started to take photographs, a large Tesco ‘click and collect’ van pulled up right next to the cross. Typical. With all the cars parked around what must have been the old village green, it wasn't a brilliant spot to linger.

Casterton

Trip No.144  Entry No.5  Date Added: 13th Aug 2019
Site Type: Stone Circle Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 8th Aug 2019. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 3

Log Text: Casterton Stone Circle and Settlement: I found this walk VERY difficult once we were in the field containing the stone circle, largely due to the steepness of the slope, but mainly due to all the stones and boulders hidden under the turf. I did not enjoy this visit at all, despite having really wanted to visit this stone circle.

We parked at SD 64084 79316 and walked northwards up the lane towards Brownthwaite Pike, a steady uphill plod, passing a spring which emerged from just the other side of the wall, and piped under the footpath to the field beyond.

Reaching the gate into the field with the stone circle, which the farmer allows access to, we had to wade through the first 10-15m, as water was trickling down the slope from across the footpath and pooling around the gate. I was quite astonished at all the heaps of stones (clearance cairns) and part-walls all across the field. It reminded me of the ‘5,000 tons of stones’ site in County Durham that Time Team looked at but couldn’t work out what it was.

On (finally) reaching the stone circle, which took the best part of 40 minutes, my interpretation was that this was a ring cairn, not a stone circle.

On the way back up the slope, did we find a boulder with cup mark? The interior was very smooth, unlike the solution holes, which have a rim. There was also another boulder with a large ‘solution hole’ on its side – an odd location for a solution hole.

Keld Bank Settlement

Trip No.144  Entry No.4  Date Added: 13th Aug 2019
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: England (Yorkshire (North))
Visited: Yes on 8th Aug 2019. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Keld Bank Settlement: Sitting down in the sunshine, recording the photographs I’d taken for the Keld Bank Propped Stone, I picked up the OS map and realised there was a settlement here. In fact, where I’d chosen to sit, on the edge of a scar, was right on the eastern edge of it.

This settlement is marked on the HE map of the area, but not recorded or scheduled. It was very reminiscent of the Whittenknowles Rocks settlement on Dartmoor, where the walls and hut circles had been built round the natural stones/boulders. Built on the terrace just below the propped stone, extending to the terrace below. The sharp ‘edges’ of the terrace by the hut circle made it look a little like a hill fort – natural defences.

Towards the northern side, I identified a clear hut circle with an enclosure attached; this is clearly visible on UK Grid Reference Finder. There were other clearance cairns and the remains of old buildings and field systems in the terrace below the propped stones.

Keld Bank (Ingleborough)

Trip No.144  Entry No.3  Date Added: 13th Aug 2019
Site Type: Rock Art Country: England (Yorkshire (North))
Visited: Yes on 8th Aug 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Keld Bank Propped Stone: We parked in the small car park for Great Douk Caves on the northern side of the B6255, Low Sleights Road, and began by following the footpath up to the caves, passing the lime kiln on the way. We then largely followed a quad bike track SSE up the slope to the first limestone scar, then headed north east towards the grid reference given by David Shepherd.

The piece of land this propped stone sits on is a nature reserve, managed by Natural England, so we assumed we were safe to walk up over the limestone ridges or scars, of which I counted three. There were easy routes up over each raised section of scar, so I made the walk to the stone easily. Again, we needed to use the GPS and David’s photograph to confirm we were looking at the correct stone, as there were a number of possibilities in the area, including one nicely ‘balanced’ stone nearby.

My comments about this propped stone as the same as above. Even Andrew was less convinced this time, given there were so many other stones around that could also have been counted as ‘propped’ or ‘balanced’.

We ‘called off’ the walk for the third stone as a result of this visit, opting to go and find the stone circle at Casterton.

Sleights Pasture Propped Stone

Trip No.144  Entry No.2  Date Added: 13th Aug 2019
Site Type: Rock Outcrop Country: England (Yorkshire (North))
Visited: Yes on 8th Aug 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Sleights Pasture Propped Stone: We parked at SD 75081 78117, just beyond the cattle grid on this single-tracked public road (there is room for a couple of cars between the road and the stone wall) then along the very busy, and fast, B6255 Low Sleights Road, walking NE towards the Ribblehead Viaduct, then crossing the road to the footpath leading to this limestone scar, then heading SE along another minor footpath, marked on the map, but barely visible on the ground.

As there were several possibilities of which this propped stone might be, I made doubly sure I had the correct GPS and we were within 1m of the reading. We also compared it with the photograph on the Portal and the diagram (figure 7, in David’s paper “Propped Stones: The Modification of Natural Features and the Construction of Place” (Time and Mind, November 2013)) - I'd taken a copy with me, just in case.

Sorry, but I’m really sceptical about this being a propped stone. I would have been convinced if the propping stones were of a different material to the top stone. It looked like a ‘happy accident’ of glacial deposits and erosion. Another large boulder to its west was placed almost symmetrically on top of a ‘base pad’ of bed rock, and we spotted another couple of stones that also might have been taken as being propped. It reminded me very much of the ‘Guide Stones to the Great Langdale Axe Factory’, where it was difficult to pick one guide stone out of so many on the ground.

I also wasn’t convinced about the double propping, unless I have misinterpreted what David means about this. The boulder at the western end of the stone appeared to be cracked through, viewed from the north, rather than being two separate boulders on top of each other. Both propping stones were placed/located onto top of a bed of limestone.

There was also a very mysterious wall at SD 75748 78030, which Andrew pointed out, partly built with limestone pavement blocks for its ends. Looked like a sheep shelter to me.

Carperby Cross

Trip No.144  Entry No.1  Date Added: 13th Aug 2019
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Yorkshire (North))
Visited: Yes on 8th Aug 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: Carperby Cross: Not on our original schedule, we drove past this market cross and just had to turn back to take a closer look. Located on the village green in Carperby, which is a long, narrow, triangular strip of grass orientated SW-NE, the base or steps of the cross looked ancient, whereas the shaft of the cross looks modern, although it is dated 1674. The top of the cross has been broken off and re-cemented in at some stage. There are some interesting carved faces at the ends of the short, horizontal arms.

The information sign reads: “Carperby (West End). ‘Kerperbi’ is found in the Domesday Book of 1086. The name probably comes from early Scandinavian settlers, with ‘-by’ meaning farmstead and ‘kjarr’ meaning a bushy, boggy area, in old Danish.
Carperby has been designated as a Conservation Area because of its important historic character. The village is unusual in that it has two distinct centres, one at this end around the 17th century market cross and one at the east end where the original medieval manor house may have been.
The Market
The Market Cross suggests that Carperby’s medieval markets were held here but research shows otherwise. The original site at the far end of the village seems to have fallen into disuse after 1587 when Askrigg began to corner trade in the upper dale. It was briefly revived again in the 17th century, but this time at this end of the village. The date of 1674 carved on the cross supports this theory.
Religion
From the mid-17th century, non-conformism began to sweep through the Yorkshire Dales. The first converts worshipped in each other’s houses but eventually they built their own chapels.
West Lea Cottage was the first Methodist chapel, built in 1826. A little further east is its 1890 replacement (Greygarth), a simple Gothic building.
The Grade II listed Friends Meeting House of 1864 is the most sophisticated looking building in the village, with its heavily carved stonework. It seems to have replaced an earlier meeting house (Quaker Cottages) licensed in 1828 but later converted into cottages.
Education
Formal education in Carperby was provided by the school (Quarter House). It looks to be of 19th century date and the school records go back to 1870. A shaped tablet between the windows is inscribed ‘Carperby School’ but the rest is hidden by the later porch roof. The school closed in 1962.”

Coley's Well

Date Added: 3rd Aug 2019
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 13th Jun 2014. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Coley's Well, Colwell: There is a brick well house close to the houses/farm buildings to the west, although there is also a dry drinking trough/well basin which looked as if this was the original spot where the waters emerged. For a well that used to be called 'Bridal of Colwell' it is now very sadly neglected.

Pricky's Well

Date Added: 3rd Aug 2019
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 13th Jun 2014. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Pricky's Well, Colwell: One of three wells in close proximity in Colwell village. This one sits right by the burn, but is now just a modern brick well house with a wooden door, used to storage some buckets and animal feed inside.

Hadrian's Wall (Coria)

Date Added: 3rd Aug 2019
Site Type: Stone Fort or Dun Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 12th Jul 2015. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: Corbridge Roman Site: Having lived near here for over 10 years, we'd never visited. We came primarily to see the Corbridge Rock Art panel, but were equally as interested in the well preserved remains of this small fort/town, with great views over to modern-day Corbridge and the Tyne Valley.

Drizzlecombe row 3

Trip No.134  Entry No.10  Date Added: 2nd Aug 2019
Site Type: Stone Row / Alignment Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 15th May 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Drizzlecombe Stone Row 3: The last of the stone rows we visited today (although there was to be a minor, minor surprise at Yellowmead to end the afternoon). This surprising row, the same length as Row 1, and bends in the middle (it’s not straight).

We split the visit to this row into two; the first part was looking at the eastern end of the row and the cairn; the second was after we’d wandered up slope to look at the larger cist, the settlements and another large cairn. We then meandered back down Row 3. It was on the way back that I found a compass between the tussocks of grass, covered in heavy dew and I thought the moisture had got inside the mechanism and was ruined. I was going to leave it by the stones in case anyone collected it, but given where it was, we concluded no-one was likely to walk along this particular spot between the rows. I later found out that it was a military compass, probably dropped by one of the many soldiers who carry out exercises in this location.

The longstone at the eastern end of the row was intriguing. It appeared to be undressed granite, and bore some sort of resemblance to the marker stone seen earlier today, but is most definitely part of row 3. The large, but friendly, cattle in the field liked to lean against it, presumably because it absorbed the heat of the sun, or to scratch.

Drizzlecombe menhir 3

Trip No.134  Entry No.10  Date Added: 2nd Aug 2019
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 15th May 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Drizzlecombe Menhir 3: Again, I took this to be an integral part of Drizzlecombe Stone Row 3, so I've swapped some of my photos to this site page. I've duplicated the trip/order number with row 3 to match my walk/photo journal.

Drizzlecombe menhir 1

Trip No.134  Entry No.5  Date Added: 2nd Aug 2019
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 15th May 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Drizzlecombe Menhir 1: I counted this pillar stone as part of the stone row, although Prehistoric Dartmoor Walks and Pastscape record it separately. I have switched some of my photographs over to this site page. Beautiful stone, and lovely location.