Edenhall Cross (Langwathby)

Trip No.68  Entry No.1  Date Added: 6th Apr 2018
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 5th Apr 2018. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: Edenhall Cross, near Langwathby, Cumbria: This is one of the crosses we didn't have time to visit on our last trip to Cumbria, and we picked a beautiful, if somewhat chilly day, to arrive.

No sooner had we pulled the car up by the cross to take some photographs, and I was wrestling with the lens of my camera, which had jammed, when a dog walker sidled up and asked us if we were planning on parking there. I said I was just going to take some photos, then we were heading down to the church; we wouldn't dream of blocking the gate into the field. The man looked mollified and moved on, only to be followed by a steady stream of dog walkers with large dogs.

The view across to the Pennines with their snow caps was lovely. The photographs didn't really do the scenery justice. A lovely spot.

St. Cuthbert's Church (Edenhall)

Trip No.68  Entry No.2  Date Added: 6th Apr 2018
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 5th Apr 2018. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: Anglo Saxon Cross at St. Cuthbert's Church, Edenhall: There is a small car park to the north of the church, and a tall/wide gate with a stile next to it to access the churchyard. This is a pretty, red sandstone building which looks as if it has been extended many times in antiquity.

There was no mention of anything on the Corpus of Anglo Saxon Stone Sculpture, although the church guide book mentions “the chancel appears to be pre-Norman or early Norman origin, and a small blocked up window high up in this wall is of Anglo Saxon type. Moreover, on the same wall, lower down, there is a carved Anglo Saxon cross. Thus the north wall may be the remains of an earlier church.”

The guide also mentions a Mass Dial on the south wall, to the east of the porch. We both spent about 20 mins looking up and down the length of the wall, both east and west of the porch, in strong sunlight which would have brought the markings out, but failed to find this. We did spot what looked like two fragments of carved cross shaft in the south wall of the tower, west of the porch. There was no mention of these in the guide or Pastscape or HE notes.

St Michael (Lowther)

Trip No.68  Entry No.4  Date Added: 7th Apr 2018
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 5th Apr 2018. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Ancient Cross and hogback fragments, Lowther: We arrived here eager to see the hogback and grave covers detailed on the Corpus of Anglo Saxon Stone Sculpture Volume II, but on arriving at the church, the door appeared to be locked. There were a few broken panels in the south window of the porch, so I resorted to trying to take photos through the window, but there was no light. I called up the Corpus on my phone to see what might be in the churchyard rather than inside the church and came up with Lowther 10, which is built into the retaining wall of the churchyard where it drops down to the River Lowther, 9m from the south west corner of the church. Andrew walked all the way round, whilst I stayed in the churchyard marking the spot, but despite having the Corpus photograph, this stone appeared to be too worn to identify.

In disappointment, I went and rattled at the church door again, a little more boisterously than before and as I let the handle go, heard the latch click and the door came open. We made our way inside the church. There are supposed to be a number of fragments in the porch, but only found 2 that are recorded on the Corpus.

There are three more fragments tucked away against the west wall of the north transept, and I had to go and get my large flash gun to take photographs. Only two of these are recorded on the Corpus.

This is a really strange church. Despite its size, it feels more like a mausoleum rather than a church, and I was glad to get out into the sunshine to find the cross in the churchyard.

Castlesteads (Yanwath Wood)

Trip No.68  Entry No.7  Date Added: 7th Apr 2018
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 5th Apr 2018. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 3

Log Text: Castlesteads (Yanwath Woods), Cumbria: This hillfort/enclosure is a pleasant stroll away from St. Michael’s Church and Lowther Castle, along footpaths and forest tracks, crossing the River Lowther either on the road or the footpath. After crossing the river, we followed the forest track north then to the west when the track split some 100 metres or so after the river crossing. The track following the river was full of dog walkers from the nearby holiday/caravan park, although heading up into the forest, it was peaceful and calm.

This was a very strange site, as there is higher ground to the north/north west of this enclosure. There were some huge boulders within the interior of the enclosure. Some made up what seemed to be wall lines, others just seemed scattered about.

The northern part of the enclosure seems to have been clipped by the construction of the forest track, and this has removed the outer banks and ditches on this side.

Castlesteads (Lowther)

Trip No.68  Entry No.6  Date Added: 10th Apr 2018
Site Type: Misc. Earthwork Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 5th Apr 2018. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Castlesteads Earthworks, Lowther Castle: This Castlesteads (as opposed to the Iron Age settlement we visited next) is just over 220 metres south of the gate into St. Michael’s Churchyard.

Being on a high spot above a bend in the River Lowther, it looks like a very strategic spot to build a defensive structure. In fact, Pastscape says it’s the remains of an old Pele Tower or other medieval building.

Hidden in the woods, but with a footpath leading to it, it is an intriguing ruin, with high banks on all four sides of a rectangle and remnants of the masonry on its western edge.

Millstone Burn Standing Stone

Trip No.67  Entry No.4  Date Added: 20th Mar 2018
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 21st Feb 2018. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Millstone Burn Standing Stone, Longframlington: After having seen the cross base and some of the rock art on the western side of the road, we crossed the A697 and let ourselves into the field on the eastern side of the road, which is also Open Access land. It was a good job we had a GPS, as there were plenty of other upright and earthfast boulders in this field.

My attention was first caught by what looked like an old hollow way, travelling eastwards across the field, ending in a gorse-covered hollow with a large grey stone within. Judging by the mound of rubbish around here, it looks like a local picnic spot, which was a shame. After having photographed this large, grey stone, I made my way to where my husband was standing by the standing stone, where the ground starts to slope down towards the burn. "Is that really a standing stone?" was my first question, as there were so many other boulders in the field. "Come and look", he replied.

This is a really odd shaped stone, strangely reminiscent of the larger stone at Simonburn/Davy's Lee stone circle, with a 'seat' in its edge. The eastern face of this rock is champfered towards its base, the sloping rock disappearing into the turf.

The 'cup' and 'grooves' at first sight looked like very deep cups and weathered grooves. I remember two different archaeologists at our Davy's Lee and Edges Green surveys telling me similar features were more likely to be solution holes (the rock being dissolved slowly over the years as acidic water accumulates in natural depressions); similarly water channels are formed and widen through natural water action. I would like to think these might have started off as cups and grooves - more romantic, somehow. Pastscape does describe this as "not a typical standing stone" and it is recorded as ERA-558. The ERA record also notes that the path I followed down to the erratic and field boundary "is the line of an old track way, marked by hollow-ways, heading from Millstone Burn onto Longframlington Moor."

Millstone Burn 2c

Trip No.67  Entry No.1  Date Added: 23rd Feb 2018
Site Type: Rock Art Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 21st Feb 2018. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Millstone Burn 2a, Longframlington: Making the most of a bright, sunny day, before the 'Polar Vortex' was supposed to hit the UK, we decided to go looking for the standing stone and the main rock here, before heading off to find Castle Hill Hillfort at nearby Callaly.

Parking alongside the very fast A697 was fun, but there was a small tarmacked area next to a gate and track at NU 11858 05078. As the gate hadn't been used in a long time, judging by the gorse growing around it, we decided to risk it and if the farmer needed access, we could run back to the car to move it.

Heading up the track, we passed a large square boulder standing on smaller stones, that looked like it had been quarried. 36 paces further west, right next to the track was a cup marked stone. I took the grid reference off the GPS and later identified it as Millstone Burn 2c from ERA.

The boulder was heavily covered in moss, but we could make out more cups running along the ridge, and some down its side. Not wanting to cause any damage or erosion, we left the moss, and headed up the slope to the main rock.

I'd spotted ranging poles in the field further to the south west, and a few cars parked nearby, but didn't spot anyone. What a place for rock art. A real treat, and for me really accessible. I could have spent several days here, and ear-marked it to come back to at a later date.

Millstone Burn 2h

Trip No.67  Entry No.3  Date Added: 24th Feb 2018
Site Type: Rock Art Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 21st Feb 2018. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Millstone Burn 2h, Longframlington: Walking down from the main outcrop, Millstone Burn 4a, back to the car, we had the grid reference for this stone, so decided to detour and find it. From the hollow way near the gate into the field by the A697, a small trackway heads north towards this grid reference. Following this for 150 metres, and having passed some larger, very smooth outcrops, we came upon this apparently unprepossessing stone. "Is that it?" I asked my husband, who, as usual, was a hundred metres of so ahead of me as he's a faster walker. "Yes, come closer and you'll see" was his reply.

As I came up to the stone, these remarkable motifs came into view. "Wow!" was my instinctive reaction.

Fortunately, we had strong sunlight which brought the motifs out beautifully, and I took around 50 or so photographs. Needing to move onto our next stop, we retraced our path to the car, but I wondered what made the carvers of this rock choose this small rock - it there more under the turf? There were much larger, more prominent outcrops around. Curious, but I expect I'll never know.

Knowing there is so much rock art up here, I'll need to study ERA and make another (at least day-long) trip. Brilliant!

Millstone Burn 4a

Trip No.67  Entry No.2  Date Added: 24th Feb 2018
Site Type: Rock Art Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 21st Feb 2018. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 5 Access 4

Log Text: Millstone Burn 4a, Longframlington: Following the hollow way up the hill (wellies or good walking boots were needed, as the ground was very boggy in parts), as we approached the fence at the top of the hill, this moss and grass covered outcrop looked like a large cairn at first sight. Following the fence line north for about 100 metres to the gate giving access into this field and stepping up onto the slope, the motifs immediately came into view.

Initially only having come here to see the cross base carved into the rock (not having done any research into this before I came) I was taken aback by the sheer number of the cups and cups and rings here.

With great views across the moors, I was reluctant to leave. Must come back here with ERA's sketch of the rock to appreciate it more fully. And see the rest of the rock art around here. Brilliant.

Callaly Castle Hillfort

Trip No.67  Entry No.5  Date Added: 20th Mar 2018
Site Type: Hillfort Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 21st Feb 2018. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 3

Log Text: Castle Hill Hillfort, Callaly: After Millstone Burn Standing stone, there was time for one more visit before dusk. Andrew had marked this site on the map, so we drove round to the permissive footpath which led up through the deciduous wood to the top of the hill.

It was a very good job that we’d worn wellies, as the path was ankle deep in mud in parts. The site was so overgrown that we barely recognised the outer defences as we approached from the north west,

The interior of the hillfort was very rocky. Whilst the plan of the hillfort looks fascinating, much of it is hidden by the tall bracken and trees growing within and without. Some great fungi and a lovely walk, though.

St Luke's Church (Townhead)

Trip No.66  Entry No.1  Date Added: 10th Feb 2018
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 9th Feb 2018. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: Ancient cross, St. Luke's Church, Townhead, near Ousby. OK, so the weather was supposed to be better the further west we went, so we took the option of travelling to this site via Alston and the high moors. A bit of a mistake, as there was much more snow here than at home, but it was lovely, if a bit of a slow drive. The roads within Ousby village were quite complex for such a small village, and we managed twice to take the wrong turn, but finally ended up at this very small hamlet.

Parking is available just to the west of the church, where the road widens, although walking to the gate of the church was tricky as it was quite a busy road, with farm traffic and lorries (considering the road is a dead end, I wondered where the traffic went).

No-one had been in the churchyard since the snow had fallen, so we picked our way up to the north door. The church is relatively plain inside, until you walk up to the chancel, where there is the most fantastic carved effigy, made out of wood and now encased in a glass/plastic case to preserve it. Half of this has broken off, but I was glad we'd gone inside the church to see this. There was no church guide, or any notes for visitors, and I haven't been able to find out much about this since.

The cross base and remnant of cross shaft are to the south of the nave/chancel, almost on top of a tall, red sandstone grave stone. We could see no markings or carvings on the cross shaft or base, apart from a shallow carved cross on top of the shaft, with small 'cups' as terminals.

The snowy hills in the background made this quite an atmospheric place.

St Lawrence's Church (Kirkland)

Trip No.66  Entry No.2  Date Added: 10th Feb 2018
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 9th Feb 2018. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Ancient Cross, St Lawrence's Church, Kirkland, Cumbria: The church itself is unremarkable, although a pretty stream runs just outside the southern wall of the churchyard. Parking is available just outside the church, on the grass, although on the day of our visit it was snowy and the ground was boggy, so we parked just over the bridge, just east of the T-junction.

The church was being renovated, so to avoid the scaffolding and a muddy walk right round the churchyard from the gate at the north-western edge of the church, we hopped across the small wire fence, meant for containing the sheep.

The cross is tall and slender, but with broken arms. We observed two channels in the base, where the cross shaft meets the base, from which melting snow water was running. On another cross base near Cairnpapple, Canmore recorded that similar channels were thought to be from the base being used as a drinking trough at some time in its past. Here, the channels seemed to serve as a way of getting rid of water which might run down between the cross shaft and its base.

Certainly a remote spot here, although plenty of farm traffic.

St Cuthbert's Church (Milburn)

Trip No.66  Entry No.3  Date Added: 10th Feb 2018
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 9th Feb 2018. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: Ancient cross and pre-Conquest sundial, Milburn, Cumbria: We scouted all around the churchyard for this cross, only to realise it was at the head of the access road from the village, so back-tracked to find it. It sits right by the northern gate post and we had mistaken it for part of the gate/fence structure, then we checked the grid reference and saw the hole in the top of the shaft, presumably either for another section or a smaller cross.

Going back down to the church, I found the pre-Conquest sundial, which is low down on the exterior stone door jamb of the western side of the south door. Thankfully I was able to pull up the Corpus of Anglo Saxon stone sculpture photograph to help me in the growing dusk.

The churchyard is really nicely kept and the Crowdundle Beck/Milburn Beck runs by the western side of the churchyard. A remote, by lovely spot.

St Edmund's Church (Newbeggin)

Trip No.66  Entry No.5  Date Added: 10th Feb 2018
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 9th Feb 2018. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: Cross base and remains of cross shaft, St. Edmunds Church, Newbeggin (Culgaith): We arrived here as dusk was dropping fast, so all my photos had to be taken with flash. Surprisingly, the church was still open, so we popped inside, but apart from a reading light near the pulpit, couldn't find any light switches. The church is a lot larger than it looks, and the grave yard is very full, so we had to pick our way over the graves and host of snowdrops to get to the cross.

The sundial nearer to the western churchyard wall was also interesting, although part of its lead gnomon had been pulled off.

It was very heavily encrusted in moss, and not wanting to damage it, left it without seeing if there were any carvings or features on it. Another church next to Crowdundle Burn (as is St. Cuthbert's in Milburn). A pretty spot. By the time we'd finished here, it was almost dark, so reluctantly had to set off back home.

Holy Stone (North Tyneside)

Trip No.65  Entry No.1  Date Added: 4th Feb 2018
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Tyne and Wear)
Visited: Yes on 3rd Feb 2018. My rating: Condition -1 Ambience 2 Access 4

Log Text: Holy Stone Cross Base, North Tyneside: Having been to the industrial estate nearby, we decided to try and track down this stone. Donning wellies, as there had been torrential rain the night before, we followed the footpath from the Holystone Pub/Premier Inn (where there is a car park almost next to the A19, just north east of the pub) towards Holystone Farm, crossing the bridge above a busy railway line. At the recently built Holystone Cottage, another footpath runs north east across the fields towards the A19. The stone is supposed to be located at the junction of the footpath and the front wall of Holystone Cottage.

By chance we met a couple of dog walkers, and I asked them if they knew of this stone. The man said he was brought up locally and remembered playing in the fields at the back of the cottage, where there a three foot high stone they used to gather around. He said the stone had been destroyed some years ago, but the cross base might remain.

He walked us to the spot where he remembered the stone being, but nothing. He did say that there had been recent site investigation in the field, prior to building new houses.

We did find what looked very much like a cross base in the corner of a neighbouring field at NZ 30210 70783. This looked very convincing from the side, but from the top, there was what might have been a long, thin, damaged slot, very unlike the carved slots we've seen in other cross bases.

Thornborough Central

Trip No.64  Entry No.3  Date Added: 16th Jan 2018
Site Type: Henge Country: England (Yorkshire (North))
Visited: Yes on 15th Jan 2018. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Thornborough Henge: We stopped off here just before sunset and walked round the henge in the dusk. This time, rather than being here on our own, there were lots of dog walkers around for the first part of our visit. I was horrified by the amount of burrowing that was all around the henge; it seemed to be slowly destroying the banks of the henge. I don't remember there being this much on our last visit. Not sure what to do about it. An email to the local archaeologists?

I took some photographs but need to work out how to produce a panorama from them, as my photostitch software seems to have stopped working.

Robin Hood's Well (Burghwallis)

Trip No.64  Entry No.1  Date Added: 16th Jan 2018
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (Yorkshire (South))
Visited: Yes on 15th Jan 2018. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 2 Access 5

Log Text: Robin Hood's Well, just off the A1 near Burghwallis: With the rain pounding down on the car and a warning light just appeared on the car dashboard, we were glad to pull off the A1 near Burghwallis. It was easy enough to pull onto the layby (it was a busy place), but difficult to get back onto the A1 and we had to wait quite a long time for a big enough gap in the traffic to appear.

I pulled my coat on and headed off the few metres from the car to the well housing, getting soaked on the way. Having wanted to stop off here for years, but never having succeeded, I confess to being really disappointed. This really is just a recently constructed stone 'well house', with a bit of graffiti inside and a vague hollow for where the well pipe might have been situated. Still, I achieved it and got a few photos, having to wipe the camera down well once I huddled back in the car to warm up.

Little John's Well (Hampole)

Trip No.64  Entry No.2  Date Added: 16th Jan 2018
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (Yorkshire (South))
Visited: Yes on 15th Jan 2018. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 2 Access 5

Log Text: Little John's Well, Hampole: Please note, when I say disabled access - the site is visible (just) from the road, but there are a few steps up the brambled covered slope (not enough to say 'short walk on a footpath' because there is none). For what seemed to be like a country area with a few little villages around, there was an endless stream of traffic, including huge lorries, but then I guess there is a huge quarry immediately adjacent to this site, plus it sits by the side of the A638, a main road into Doncaster.

With parked on the wide entrance to Hazel Lane (made so because the huge lorries need to be able to swing round) and walked round the corner to the A638 and found the well hidden behind a large clump of brambles.

Not having expected to come here (it wasn’t far off the route and we had half an hour to kill) I wasn’t dressed for clambering up slippery, bramble covered slopes (being attired in long skirt and shoes for scattering my step father’s ashes), but with the help of my husband, I made it up the short slope anyway. There was a further stone structure higher up the slope, and from the Pastscape entry, this appears to be the main spring, which feeds into the well trough below.

There were also stone facings higher up the hill, but Andrew said these were more likely to be there to support the slope. From reading the Pastscape entry this morning, these stone may have been part of the enclosure for the well.

Mill Knock Chalybeate Well (Birtley)

Trip No.63  Entry No.2  Date Added: 8th Jan 2018
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 7th Jan 2018. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: Mill Knock Holy Well: The skies may have been blue and tempting to put on walking boots, but the temperatures were just on freezing and the minor roads around here were just like skating rinks! This well is not marked on the map, but my husband had come across an article on it, and being not too far from our house, decided to drive out to visit.

This is a glorious location (well, if you ignore the quarry). Access into the well field is a bit tricky, as there is no gate near the gorge formed by the gushing spring, but a bit of wooden fence allowed us to hop over to get a closer look.

On the eastern side of the road, the Holywell Burn is just a trickle - like a shallow ditch, but crossing the single track road and looking west over the stone wall, there is a strong gush of clear water which comes tumbling out of the hillside.

From a distance, it looks as if the water comes directly from the face of the large stone which is visible at the head of the gorge, but in fact the water is channelled from the stone wall past the western face of the stone.

Whilst I was waiting at the wooden fence for my husband to do a 'reccy' of the field to see if it was safe to go and look, I glanced down at my feet and what looked like narrow, but well worn rings, shone up at me from a portable stone that looked like it had fallen out of the wall. I photographed it, but am not convinced. However, for a moment, it did look like a new rock art discovery and I was quite excited!

This is another complex landscape, but mixed with lots of rock outcrops, so it was difficult to comprehend exactly what we were seeing until we came back home and looked up the official records on Pastscape (HE had nothing). A site to revisit during warmer weather.

Carry House Enclosure (Birtley Shields)

Trip No.63  Entry No.3  Date Added: 10th Jan 2018
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 7th Jan 2018. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: Carry House Settlement, Birtley Shields: Cut by two stone walls and ploughed away at its northern end, but this was a stunning spot, tucked below a hill and with a steep slope down to the River North Tyne Valley below.

In the distance I could hear the farmer on his tractor running animal feed to his Blackies. I said to my husband, "He's going to come over." Five minutes later he drove up on his quad bike and engaged us in conversation, telling how this block of land belonged to the Duke of Northumberland "who didn't like visitors and didn't want them taking photographs" ("What, even though its marked on the OS map and its next to a public highway? Why are there no notices telling us this?" I think he was just winding me up!). Anyway, he was very pleasant and told us about his farm and a brief history of the area.

As the farmer was around, we stuck to walking up to the wall and along the track to take photographs. Shame, as I would have nipped through the gate to look for the cairn.