St Mary's Well (Kirkwhelpington)

Trip No.118  Entry No.2  Date Added: 15th Feb 2019
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 14th Feb 2019. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: St Mary's Well, Kirkwhelpington: We had previously stopped off at St Bartholomew's Church in the village, and photographed the sundial and some medieval grave slabs. Parking at the eastern end of the the village, almost opposite the entrance to Eastlands, we crossed the small bridge over the ford and headed up over the fields. Having passed the last houses to our left hand side, we let ourselves through the gate into the field and turned right (east). This was the start of a short circular walk which took in 2 holy wells, the ruins of a moated medieval manorial complex and a tumulus.

No signs of the well in the field, which should have been located about 50m due west of the only tall tree in this part of the field, but walking down by the small stream, I spotted a spring issuing out of the bank, with larger stones above it, and what appeared to be a small iron basin over which the water flowed. Has the water from the well been culverted down to here?

There was no end of rig and furrow around here. This land used to belong to Newminster Abbey, which used to own land up to the Scottish Borders. The ruins of the Abbey can be found in Morpeth town centre.

St George's Well (Kirkwhelpington)

Trip No.118  Entry No.3  Date Added: 15th Feb 2019
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 14th Feb 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: St George's Holy Well, Kirkwhelpington: The second stop of four on our short circular walk around Kirkwhelpington. This well is in a lovely location, very peaceful and quiet (once the farmer and his numerous dogs had driven off in his four-wheel drive buggy!). Two holy wells within a couple of hundred yards was a treat, although I'm interested in finding out how they became known as holy wells and what they cured.

The water emerges very peacefully up into a small pool at the base of the stones. By the time the water has gone a couple of metres further downslope, it is quite lively, creating ripples through the grass.

Boulders appear to mark the edge of the pool and water channel, although I couldn't see any signs of a permanent structure.

Hallington Holy Well

Trip No.118  Entry No.1  Date Added: 15th Feb 2019
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 14th Feb 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Hallington Holy Well: We drove past this well, despite having the OS map with the location of the well marked. In the end we drove slowly back towards Hallington village, identifying the field because it is smaller than the others, with a fence line and line of trees that runs parallel to the road, about 100m away.

The gate into the field was open, but a large wooden shed indicates the field is usually used for horses. We walked south to the well pool, about 50m from the gate, coming across a large hollow with boulders/stones poking out of the bank; we interpreted this as having at one point having been a larger well pool.

The spring bubbles up from the western bank of the channel, just where the larger ‘pool’ narrows into the channel into which the water flows south to the field boundary. The water is clear and freely flowing. The collection of stones and wooden blocks leading across the mud indicated people still collect the water today, although I didn’t’ taste the waters.

This is a very lovely spot, and it was a great start of our afternoon out.

Barningham Moor 99

Trip No.117  Entry No.9  Date Added: 13th Feb 2019
Site Type: Rock Art Country: England (County Durham)
Visited: Yes on 6th Feb 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Barningham Moor 99: This was a lovely stone, found a few metres east of the track. The cup with three penannulars was clearly made out. The cup marks were a little more difficult to spot on the day, but could be felt by running my finger tips over the rock. The five cups towards the north end of the rock appear slightly darker than the rest of the rock on the photo.

Barningham Moor 114

Trip No.117  Entry No.8  Date Added: 13th Feb 2019
Site Type: Rock Art Country: England (County Durham)
Visited: Yes on 6th Feb 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 3

Log Text: Barningham Moor 114: This triangular shaped rock sits in relative isolation on the moor. There is considerably more lichen on the stone than when it was surveyed by NADRAP and photographed by rich32 in 2009. It was a good job I had the description with me, but even with rich32 pointing out the motifs, I’m still not sure I understood what I saw on the day. Looking at the photographs (which were taken in not too good lighting) together with the ERA drawing of the panel hasn’t really helped, either! I did query on the day if the grooves might have been the result of water running down the stone, but there was no fluting at the top to indicate this.

Cowclose House (Barningham Moor)

Trip No.117  Entry No.7  Date Added: 12th Feb 2019
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: England (Yorkshire (North))
Visited: Yes on 6th Feb 2019. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Cowclose House Unenclosed Settlement, Barningham Moor: In some ways, this settlement was much easier to identify on the ground than Grey Stones, just to the south east, as there was a ditch running east-west alongside the southern side of the metalled track, and a clear circular enclosure, which stood out as being bright green, shorter grass on the north side of the road.

Would love to go back with the notes and the plan and look round again.

Barningham Moor 97

Trip No.117  Entry No.6  Date Added: 12th Feb 2019
Site Type: Rock Art Country: England (County Durham)
Visited: Yes on 6th Feb 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Barningham Moor 97 rock art panel: This rock was easy to pick out amongst the others on the hillside. It has clearly been squared off and has ‘feather’ marks in the middle as if it was just about to be quarried, but the workmen have walked off and forgotten about it.

Richard pointed out the domino pattern on its south eastern corner, but my goodness I had to look hard for it, then once I’d seen it, it was difficult not to see.

Unfortunately, the light wasn’t brilliant. Would like to come back with a bottle of water and a brush or on a day with brilliant sunlight to bring out the motifs.

Grey Stones (Barningham Moor)

Trip No.117  Entry No.5  Date Added: 12th Feb 2019
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: England (Yorkshire (North))
Visited: Yes on 6th Feb 2019. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Grey Stones Settlement, Barningham Moor: As we parked just to the east of this settlement and walked south onto the moor, it was obvious we were walking up into something, but what that something was a little difficult to make out, until I started to be able to see low, circular banks. The blocks positioned on the banks made these easier to see.

Taking some photos and later comparing them with the HE and Pastscape records made it easier to understand what it was we were standing in. I’d love to go back with the notes and walk around again.

The carved rock (Barningham Moor 97) is within the settlement.

Barningham Moor 1.

Trip No.117  Entry No.4  Date Added: 12th Feb 2019
Site Type: Rock Art Country: England (County Durham)
Visited: Couldn't find on 6th Feb 2019. My rating: Access 4

Log Text: Barningham Moor 1: Despite having the grid co-ordinates and also being with rich32, who knew where this stone had previously been located, we were unable to find it. in the end we started a few hundred yards to the west of Barningham Moor 96 and the three of us walked in a line back to BM 96, but no stones were visible in the ground. This panel was completely covered by grass and moss. Shame, perhaps we'll be able to see this on another visit.

Barningham Moor 96

Trip No.117  Entry No.3  Date Added: 12th Feb 2019
Site Type: Rock Art Country: England (County Durham)
Visited: Yes on 6th Feb 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Barningham Moor 96: Our first rock art panel on Barningham Moor, and this was a lovely rock to start with. It was so near the road, and easy to reach, with stunning views over to the north towards Barnard Castle.

St Michael & All Angels (Barningham)

Trip No.117  Entry No.1  Date Added: 12th Feb 2019
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (County Durham)
Visited: Yes on 6th Feb 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Cross Base and Cross Head/Grave Marker (Barningham): Having arranged a day out with rich32 to seek out and photograph some of the Barningham Moor rock art panels, I'd also seen the cross base on Historic England, so we arrived in Barningham half an hour before the meeting time to look around the churchyard. As well as the cross base in the south eastern corner of the churchyard, there was also a round headed grave marker in the church; to my surprise, the church was open, and we were able to get in and photograph this, too.

The church looks surprisingly modern (and it is largely Victorian) but the churchyard is much, much older, and also includes a 1503 grave slab (too covered in moss to identify) which is sited within the remains of the medieval foundations of the original church. There are also some really interesting grave stones, which I photographed.

Within a couple of minutes walk there is also the modern stone (gate post) circle and the village Pant (drinking fountain), complete with its culvert and voussoir arch. A lovely start to the day!

Barningham Modern Stone Circle

Trip No.117  Entry No.2  Date Added: 9th Feb 2019
Site Type: Modern Stone Circle etc Country: England (County Durham)
Visited: Yes on 6th Feb 2019. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Barningham Modern Stone Circle: This stone circle, created for a village event in 2006, and made up of gateposts, lies on private land, but is visible from the road which runs roughly east-west through the village. Coming out of the lane from St Michael and All Saints, the circle is virtually opposite the Norbeck Bank road end.

Homers Lane Cross (Warden)

Trip No.116  Entry No.3  Date Added: 28th Jan 2019
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 27th Jan 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: Homer's Lane Cross, Warden: This is another cross base that we hadn't spotted with a short radius of where we live (have Pastscape been adding new records to their database?) This cross base and part of its shaft was easy to find and in a really nice setting, with a small stream trickling away to its eastern side and a bench to sit on and admire it, with the River North Tyne also to the east and the Stanegate Roman Road nearby. A quiet, quiet spot. Lovely!

Acomb Sanctuary Cross

Trip No.116  Entry No.1  Date Added: 27th Jan 2019
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 26th Jan 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Acomb Sanctuary Cross: I spotted this cross base whilst doing some research for a Journal of Antiquities tumulus not far away a few days ago. This cross base is just off the A6079 Cross Bank, going north from Acomb. This is a very busy road and after driving up and back down the road a couple of times, the only safe place we could find to park was just off the road at the entrance to a grassy farm track at NY 92364 66984. Walking north to the cross base, which we’d spotted as a rectangular lump of stone under the hedgerow, we were constantly having to jump up onto the grass verge as the fast travelling cars didn’t give us much room, and it felt quite dangerous.

Fortunately, between lulls in the traffic, I crossed the road to get a ‘context’ photo of the cross base. Close up, the quite large socket hole was filled with leaves and grass. The base sits on two other stones which are barely larger than the base itself.

Andrew managed to find a lower part of the fence and climbed into the field to get photos from the other side.

Fairy Stone (Fourstones)

Trip No.116  Entry No.2  Date Added: 27th Jan 2019
Site Type: Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Couldn't find on 26th Jan 2019

Log Text: Fairy Stone (Fourstones): This is one of the sites I added to the Portal from The Northern Antiquarian, so whilst we were in the area, decided to try and find it. We parked at NY 89360 67929 on the outskirts of Fourstones Village (I didn’t think there was much at Fourstones, but there is a large papermill there).

Armed with the grid references (the one given by TNA, the other by Pastscape, we wandered along the road, up past the farms and along the lanes, but could find no trace of this stone. What a shame – I was looking forward to rediscovering it. Andrew, through looking at the age of the stone walls and the road surface, was able to tell where the road had been widened, which helped our search before admitting defeat.

I did photograph an old well/drinking trough next to the farm at about NY 89325 68021. This is a lovely old village.

Corby's Bridge

Trip No.115  Entry No.2  Date Added: 24th Jan 2019
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 20th Jan 2019. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Corby's Bridge Settlement: This site was quite difficult to make out, as there were stones and banks everywhere, with trees and shrubs growing between them.

On the way down the slope from the rock shelter, we thought we saw the foundations of two old buildings (the stones were aligned in a shape), but were too moss covered to really distinguish. Walking further down the slope, as it becomes gentler, there are obvious traces of low, circular banks with stones in them. From this point there are several lines of stones running north east to south west down the slope. The best evidence of structures is at the south/south eastern end of the settlement, were there are stony walls, with aligned stones up to about 1.5m in height. There was a fence in between us and the southern part of the settlement, with no gate through, so we contented ourselves with leaning over the fence and getting photos.

Corby Crags Rock Shelter

Trip No.115  Entry No.1  Date Added: 24th Jan 2019
Site Type: Cave or Rock Shelter Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 20th Jan 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Corby Crags Rock Shelter: Parked at NU 12646 09945 and walked up to the gate at NU 12763 10096 (avoiding the fast moving cars), and followed the track up to almost the top of the hill, then turned south west, following little tracks through the bracken. On our way up the hill, we spotted a mound of stones surrounded by a circular bank (visible on aerial photographs) at NU 12845 09824. Likely to be mining debris, but it did look suspiciously like a cairn, but fits the description below.

We missed the rock art here, as Andrew confused the name with Corby’s Crags just north of here (but the HE map labels the area around the rock shelter as Corby’s Crags), and he didn’t check the ‘nearby sites’ list on the Portal. Grrr.

Carlisle Cross

Trip No.114  Entry No.1  Date Added: 10th Jan 2019
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 9th Jan 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Carlisle Cross: in a visit to Carlisle, we decided not to make an hour to visit what we thought was a cross in Rickerby Park (turned out to be the carved stump of a tree trunk!) and a holy well nearby. This was the first time I've not seen anyone sitting or playing around the base of the cross, and not having my camera, took some photos using my mobile phone. Will return on our next trip to Carlisle and get some better photos.

Didn't realise this cross stands on the base of an earlier cross (the five steps look much older than the 1682 top), marks the centre of the City of Carlisle and stands where the Roman Forum used to stand - see the HE and Pastscape entries for more info.

Broomhouse (Haltwhistle)

Trip No.113  Entry No.2  Date Added: 1st Jan 2019
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 1st Jan 2019. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Iron Age/Romano British Settlement, Broomhouse, south of Haltwhistle: From the smelt works, we headed back to the A69 and turned left towards Haltwhistle. Just before crossing the river South Tyne for the second time, we turned left up Bellister Bank, parking on the grass verge where the road was slightly wider, just before the footpath which headed south east past the farm houses, and over the South Tyne Way. As we approached the farm buildings, it sounded like ‘the Hounds of the Baskervilles’, with four farm dogs barking at a gate to warn us off going into the farmyard.

The South Tyne Way was a busy place, with any number of walkers following its route. We headed over the bridge and followed the track south east up the hill. As the track reached the top of the hill and turned to our right, we headed over the moorland to the west, and within 50m had come across the outer ditch of this settlement.

The outer stony bank with a ditch either side is pretty much intact, although to its eastern side confused with a modern drainage ditch. Inside the settlement are three clear roundhouses, still with their stone and earth foundations.

There were great views over to Haltwhistle to the north. On the way back, we noticed the gate where the dogs had been was open. “Better be careful”, warned my huband. We walked past the farmyard expecting the dogs to come barking at our heels, but nothing. A few paces further and four dogs came running up to us – all wagging tails and friendly this time. They were closely followed by the farmer, who bid us ‘good day’.

No listing on HE scheduling, although the site, together with the positions of the roundhouses, are shown on their map.

Tommy Stout's Well (Thornley Gate)

Trip No.113  Entry No.1  Date Added: 1st Jan 2019
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 1st Jan 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Tommy Stout's Well, Thornley Gate: Another site ticked off the list of Isaac’sTea Trail. This is obviously a popular spot for walkers, as there are paths both sides of the river, and we passed a number of dog walkers. The small layby on the south side of the river was full (2 cars), so we parked on the grass verge by the entrance to the Allen Smelt Mill.

The well is through the kissing gate on the opposite side of the road from the smelt mill gate, with the well some 15m further on, to your left hand side.
Water appears out of the hillside below a small protruding dressed stone, largely hidden by moss and lichen. There is a fair flow of clear water which comes out; I did taste it, but there was nothing really to taste. Above the simple, dressed stone well head with drain there is a marshy area in the field above, from which the source of the water appears to come. Between the well and the kissing gate, on the other side of the fence, is a stunning little stream with a mini waterfall, which is a different water course to that of the well.

Also being interested in some industrial archaeology, we spent some time wandering around the fascinating remains of the smelting works opposite. There is still quite a lot left, and it is left accessible for visitors. Some of the underground flues are currently being excavated.