Cairnholy 1

Date Added: 22nd Sep 2014
Site Type: Chambered Cairn Country: Scotland (Dumfries and Galloway)
Visited: Yes on 19th Sep 2014. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: Cairn Holy 1: Having lived in Dumfries and Galloway for 10 years in the 1990s, we’ve driven by the signs to Cairn Holy on many an occasion, but never detoured to look. Now having seen the images, my husband described both these cairns as ‘like Pentre Ifan, but without the people’ (not quite, but almost!).

Easy enough to find, these cairns can be reached by turning right off the A75 to Stranraer, up the signposted track.

It was quiet, peaceful and atmospheric, with great views over the Fleet Bay and Wigtown Bay to the south.

Our first glimpse of the stones at the first cairn gave the impression of tall, ragged teeth, challenging us to pass them. The rabbits had certainly had fun digging burrows in and around the mound, and I’m sure they must be making good use of any chambers/gaps underneath the turf.

I loved this spot. I would love to see any excavation notes to see how similar or different this cairn is to the chambered cairns in Orkney that we saw.

Twelve Apostles (Dumfries)

Date Added: 22nd Sep 2014
Site Type: Stone Circle Country: Scotland (Dumfries and Galloway)
Visited: Yes on 19th Sep 2014. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: The Twelve Apostles, Dumfries: Shortly after we moved to Irongray in 1992 and my husband was touring the county to get to know it for his work with Dumfries and Galloway Enterprise, he came home one lunchtime and said we needed to go and see a stone circle. Being then only 6 miles from our house, we went off to look. I can still remember this visit really clearly. “It’s just in a farmer’s field, with a hedge running through it.” And it was.

The hedge has now been grubbed up, but the scar of where it was still remains in the field. My memory must be playing me slightly false, as we both remember the stones being smaller and the circle more compact, but this might be the result of part of the circle being cut by the hedge.

Following the A75 westwards around Dumfries, turn right at the Lochside roundabout onto the A76 (Glasgow Road). (Did anyone else spot the rhino on the right hand side next to the housing estate? This used to be on top of the bus shelter, but has been moved onto a plinth of its own now). Just past a garage on the left hand side, there is a left hand turn onto Irongray Road, and follow this until you go over a quaint little bridge over Cluden Water. Then take the next right hand turn. The stone circle is on your right, and there is now a stile over the fence, although I’m guessing that most people park further up at the road junction with the B729 and use the gate into the field (which is the next turn left along the A76 if you miss the first).

Sited in a gentle bowl, we wondered if the circle had been built where Cluden Water and the larger River Nith meet - the course of the rivers may have changed since the circle was built - this feels like a special place. We counted only 11 stones, but then one stone looked as if there were two next to each other. The stones are also not of the local Locharbriggs sandstone, being largely whinstone and course granite, and where they were brought from, I’ve not yet been able to identify. The RCAHMS notes say the circle is 260 feet in diameter, more in keeping with the size of a henge.

One of the stones had what I took to be cup marks in an odd pattern, but the RCAHMS notes say they are caused by natural weathering.

In walking up to the gate to take a few pictures to try and make into a panorama, I spotted another boulder by the roadside, next to the gate (grid reference: NX 94533 79488 – it can be seen on aerial photographs) and wondered if at one point this had been associated with the circle, and moved by the farmer in the past.

Powburn Rock Art

Date Added: 21st Sep 2014
Site Type: Rock Art Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 22nd Sep 2013. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Stopped at the Visitor Centre during our Breamish Valley Hill Fort Trail walk, to visit St. Michael's Church at Ingram.
Beautiful setting next to the river. Came across this stone quite by chance outside the Visitor Centre (now closed and The Muddy Boots Cafe).

Rutherford's Well

Date Added: 21st Sep 2014
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: Scotland (Dumfries and Galloway)
Visited: Yes on 19th Sep 2014. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 2 Access 4

Log Text: Rutherford's Well, Anwoth, Dumfries and Galloway: Having just visited Cairn Holy 1 and 2, husband, Andrew, had identified some Pictish motifs, a holy well and some rock art at Trusty’s Hill which seemed worth visiting on our way back home. Anwoth seemed the ideal location for a base for this short walk. Whilst the Old Kirk was marked on the OS map, we didn’t expect this to be so eerie or atmospheric, and we spent a good half an hour wandering around the church – it even has tombstones and memorials inside the old walls of red sandstone - before setting off to find the well.

Parking the car next to the footpath which runs down the right hand side of the church (coming from the A75 and driving north into Anwoth), we set off in search of this Holy Well. I have to say it was difficult to find! We eventually spotted it to the left hand side of the footpath, just before the first metal gate leading uphill to Rutherford’s Monument, hidden behind a wire fence, and tucked between this fence and a tumbled down old stone wall (dyke in this part of the world) behind. The well is only around 190 metres from the rear of the Old Kirk which can be clearly seen across the boggy field between the Kirk and the well.

People obviously still visit regularly, as there were t-lights inside and around. The Scottish Churches website reports that the water from the well is still used for baptisms today. As with other wells we’ve visited, there is a modern brick-built structure over the well itself. The Stewartry Kirks web site tells me that the well is really a shallow pool fed by a spring which comes from the base of the slope behind. The well is named after Samuel Rutherford, minister of Anwoth between 1627 to 1639. Rutherford must have been an amazing man, if the church was dedicated to him, the well named after him, and a huge (but ugly – sorry! Just my opinion) monument built to him on the hills nearby.

St Andrew's Church (Aycliffe)

Date Added: 21st Sep 2014
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (County Durham)
Visited: Yes on 18th Sep 2014. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: St. Andrew’s Church, Aycliffe Village, County Durham: A treasure-house of Anglo-Saxon cross-shafts.

OK - it’s only just over 9 miles between Escomb Saxon Church and Aycliffe Village, but I drove more than twice that distance as I managed to get hopelessly lost trying to follow the directions the bar maid at the Saxon Inn in Escomb had given me (I must have misunderstood). However, backtracking to the safety of the A68/A1 and heading north to junction 59, the church is really easy to find. Driving north up the A167, you pass ‘St Andrew’s Way’ (which leads to an industrial estate to your left), then just as you enter Aycliffe Village there is a left hand turn (officially called Church Lane, but I didn’t spot a street sign).

I confess to a certain degree of trepidation as I turned down the lane – it got narrower and narrower and I was scared I wouldn’t be able to turn the car around, but then the lane suddenly widened out into a very generous parking area. Two cars were already there – the Church Warden and her friend. I wasn’t expecting such a large church which appeared to rise up out of the surrounding flatness of the fields like a mini-cathedral.

As this church is only open for two hours on a Thursday afternoon between 1st May and 30th September each year, I phoned in advance to say I was going, to ensure I could gain entry. Thank goodness I had. The Church Warden was really, really friendly and gave me both a wonderful history of the church, pointing out features such as the Blacksmith’s Grave Cover and helping me find the Anglo Saxon cross shafts not in the display area, along with some of the features externally, but also leaving me space to wander and take photographs and understand and enjoy what I was looking at.

I had to chuckle (but only to myself) about the ancient and wonderful Anglo Saxon cross stored in the south west corner with a huge modern ladder propped up on the wall against it.

The wardens have laid out a small ‘museum’ area at the back of the church. My one disappointment was a lack of a church guide (when I was handed a leaflet I asked if there was a proper guide, only to be told ‘that’s it!’ My cheeks reddened). However, the church warden went back to her house and came back with a book on the church – a bargain at only £5.

Over a cup of tea, I was given ‘chapter and verse’ on the adventures they had had putting heating, new lighting and a sound system into this Grade 1 listed building. Apparently officers from Durham Council had been out to sit on the choir stalls to ensure their feet weren’t too close to the new heating pipes for health and safety reasons! What fun.

The Church Warden ended my visit by saying if I wanted to go back ‘out of season’ I had her phone number, to call her, and we’d ‘come to some arrangement’.

On reading the guide book at home, I realised this was the church that had been mentioned when I worked at Northumbria University. One of the alumni had emailed in describing how he shared a room with two students from Teesside who had raided a churchyard for bones – and this was the cemetery they had come from. The guide book included Photostats of some of the newspaper articles from the time.

This church is a real treat for Anglo-Saxon cross enthusiasts.

Escomb Cross

Date Added: 21st Sep 2014
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (County Durham)
Visited: Yes on 18th Sep 2014. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 5 Access 5

Log Text: Escomb Saxon Church, Saxon Green, Escomb, Northumberland: This church is well worth a visit as it is a showcase for simple, understated architecture with an enormous ambience of history and worship. Peaceful, cool and reflective, Escomb is said to be ‘the most complete Anglo-Saxon Church in England’ and I’d agree with this. The site is said to date from between 650 to 690 AD and is sited at the heart of this tiny village 2km west of Bishop Auckland. The church is kept locked, but the key is kept on a hook outside the door of a property immediately behind the church and is readily accessible.

I’ve been here twice before in 2007; once just to say I’d been here; the second time to meet a colleague at The Saxon Inn across the road for a pre-meeting on the way to a conference in Durham, and popped in. But until today, I’ve never really stopped to look, sit and take in the atmosphere and the simplicity and beauty that goes back to Saxon times (and perhaps beyond?).

Having found a brilliant resource on the internet (The Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Stone Sculpture on Durham University’s web site), today’s visit was particularly to look at the Anglo-Saxon cross shafts in the porch and re-visit the rest of the Anglo-Saxon artefacts I’d seen, but not really appreciated on previous visits - the inscribed Saxon cross on the wall between the nave and the sanctuary (just behind the pulpit), the Saxon grave marker behind the altar, the Roman inscriptions and the Saxon architecture and the sundial on the exterior south wall.

Having spent well over an hour here, I drove over to St Andrew’s Church in Aycliffe village for another ‘feast’ of Anglo-Saxon artefacts.

Coventina's Well

Date Added: 16th Sep 2014
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 14th Sep 2014. My rating: Condition 1 Ambience 2 Access 4

Log Text: Coventina's Well, near Carrawbrough Roman Fort, Northumberland: Having visited Robin Hood’s Holy Well in Colwell a short time ago, I was interesting in seeing Coventina’s Well and the adjacent Brocolitia, aTemple of Mithras. Having tried to visit 10 days ago, intending to park in the car park for Carrawbrough Roman Fort for half an hour, I was surprised (and disappointed) to find I had to pay £4 for all day parking – I couldn’t just pay for an hour (I understand from one of the other visitors I was talking to that the ticket is valid for all four of the National Trust car parks along the wall for the day, but this didn’t help me). However, my husband is better at finding parking spots than me, and on the way to Ridley Common Stone Circle, spotted a possible parking spot next to the Hadrian’s Wall footpath where we could leave the car for a very short time, so we stopped on the way back.

I’m glad I checked the images and grid reference of Coventina’s Well before we left home, so I knew exactly where to go.

Having parked in the small spot available where the Hadrian’s Wall Footpath meets the footpath to Slaterfield Farm to the north and the footpath to the Mithraeum to the south, we took our life in our hands and crossed the busy, extremely fast, B6318 (known locally as the Military Road). There is a stile across the dry stone wall into the field with Coventina’s Well, with the footpath continuing in a south easterly arc across the field towards the Temple of Mithras and Carrawbrough Roman Fort (an easier way is probably to park in the proper car park and walk across the Fort towards the Temple, despite the parking fee).

The ground in the field was very boggy, even after a prolonged period of dry weather, but thankfully someone had laid a path of stone slabs leading across the field. Looking for the Well, the ground on both sides of the path was high in weeds and marsh grass so it was difficult to make it out. Having crossed a small trickling stream almost at a second stile to cross over to Brocolitia, the Temple of Mithras, we were then able to trace the source of the water back to a heavily weeded, fenced off area. A patch of bright green water weed stood out amongst the grass about 20 yards in front of us, and we took this to be the well, not being able to get closer because of the boggy ground. Checking the grid reference confirmed this was indeed the site of Coventina’s Well. In other images I saw last night, there is also a standing stone which marks the site of the well, but this was well hidden in the foliage.

It was a shame this site had been neglected, as it appears to have a fascinating history. The Pastscape Record for this well records a spring contained in a rectangular basin, found in an 1876 excavation. The contents of the well apparently included at least 13, 487 coins and I'd like to find out where these are located.

I'm wondering whether a visit in winter with either wellies or waders would let me see more of the well. There wasn't even a visitor's board with any details about the well that I could find.

Ridley Common

Date Added: 16th Sep 2014
Site Type: Stone Circle Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 14th Sep 2014. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 2

Log Text: Ridley Common Stone Circle and Enclosure, Northumberland: All the web sites we’d looked at quickly before visiting this stone circle said that it was sited on private land, and access was difficult. According to our 2007 Ordnance Survey Map, this land is now marked as Access Land, so we decided to explore. This stone circle is almost 2km along the Pennine Way from the B6318 (Military Road), then turning off down a private road on access land to reach the circle. The footpaths we took passed an old lime kiln, up and over a gap in Hadrian’s Wall (with a splendid view of Cuddy’s Crags immediately north of the Wall) onto the Pennine Way and over Ridley Common towards Cragend.

We parked at grid reference NY 78147 67858, down a small side road which runs south off the B6318 towards West Crindledykes and the ‘back entrance’ to Vindolanda. There is a small layby which will take two cars just before the junction with the main road. The footpath is then 50 yards right across the fast and busy B6318 (the most difficult and dangerous part of the whole ‘expedition’).

It was cloudy but warm. At first there was a lot to see and the crags behind Hadrian’s Wall were brilliant. There were many walkers along both Hadrian’s Wall Path and the Pennine Way to the east and west, but as soon as we crossed to the north of Hadrian’s Wall, we only met two people coming in the opposite direction all day.

I confess that Ridley Common isn’t the most fascinating of walks, being largely scrub and rough heathland, but you can see for miles, along to Sewingshields Crags, Gwenhyfhar’s Chair, Queen’s Crags, King’s Crags and Broomlee Lough to the east.

I would seriously recommend taking wellington boots for a walk after a period of wet weather – the peaty ground was bad enough after a prolonged dry spell up here, even on higher ground. Previous walkers have put stepping stones into particularly bad parts, but even so, detours are necessary around some particularly boggy parts of the path.

Continue along the Pennine Way until it crosses Jenkins Burn then comes to a kissing gate where the Pennine Way continues northwards with a grassy track crossing it from south-west to north-east. At this point, there is a proliferation of old gate posts and an old sheep pen. To the left, there is an old ‘private, no public access’ sign, low in the grass (but nothing like the many notices recorded on other web sites at previous visits recorded by others in 2002 and 2006). Having checked the map again and being sure we were on access land, we continued westwards down the track towards the stone circle.

A couple of hundred yards along, the track appeared to cut through what could have been another stone circle or feature, and I took a photograph to look at later when we got home.

At first, we were unable to make it out any stone circle, then some low lying white stones became clear in the grass to the left of the track, with the fence-line diverting around its left hand side.

We were amazed at its size – husband Andrew paced out the diameter – 16 metres from south to north, with 14 stones around the perimeter (some only just visible through the grass). There were two outliers towards the south-east corner and another in the hillside rising to the north on the other side of the track (further investigation of this hillside led to discovering what seemed to be pairs of stones buried in the grass towards the top of the hill).

The tallest stone, to the west hand side, rises 1.1 metres above the current ground level, and its western side is stained red where all the sheep have rubbed against it.

There appeared to be one cup mark on one of the taller stones to the south-eastern side of the circle.

In walking round the circle, I could feel other stones under the grass inside the outer circle, some with their points just showing above the turf. I got the impression (and would have like to have been able to prove) that there was an inner circle or cairn within the main circle.

On the map there were hut circles and an enclosure marked on the hillside to the north of the circle, so after sitting amongst the stones of the circle to take in the ambience, we explored this.

Thinking about the whole of the context of the site whilst I was there – the position of the enclosure is perfect – being defensible with water and farmland. But I couldn’t understand the placement of the circle, being in a low-lying bowl with no clear lines of sight, unless to Gwenhyfar’s Chair, Queen’s Crags and King’s Crags to the north west (where of course there are other settlements and stone circles).

In trying to find out more about this stone circle and the surrounding monuments, we weren’t able to find out very much, except that there is a number of monuments which have been scheduled together (English Heritage Monument Number 1017961), including this stone circle, a defended Iron Age Settlement, an Iron Age/Romano-British farmstead a Roman camp and 15 shielings of medieval date. Fascinating, and still so much to understand about this part of the world.

St John Lee Church (Oakwood Stone)

Date Added: 15th Sep 2014
Site Type: Rock Art Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 14th Sep 2014. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: St John Lee Rock Art, near Hexham. Also known as The Oakwood Stone: We’ve been to St John Lee Church near Acomb a few years ago, as it is only 6 miles from our house, when our interests lay in finding Roman remains reused within local churches. At the time I only had a small camera and wasn’t taking many photographs.

St. John Lee can be reached from the roundabout at the junction with the A69 and the A6079 turnoff to Hexham. Turning north from the roundabout opposite the A6079, drive along a small side road signposted to St John Lee. The road climbs uphill but levels out after about half a mile and just as the houses come into view there is a sharp left hand turn down a small single track road to the church.

The church is on the left hand side of the road, with the graveyard divided between both sides of this small road. There is room to park one car on the verge by the lych gate.

The Church itself is relatively modern: The Church of England web site tells me St John Lee was built in 1884, but it certainly contains some old relics, including this portable rock art stone, according to ADS “found approx. 1,000 metres east of the church, although this was still unlikely to be its original position.”

The stone is located in the porch of the church, which is sited at the west end, furthest away from the lych gate (although the path is smooth and disabled access is possible). We were a little taken aback that someone had very recently chain-sawed down two or three of the yew trees at either side of the path, and the church felt somewhat denuded as a result, although we had a clear view of the east end of the church as a result.

The stone itself is situated immediately to the right hand side of the door as you walk into the porch. The rock art motifs are striking, but someone has outlined the patterns using what looks like brown watercolour, which has sunk into the stone. Using my finger, I traced round the faint lines and found the marks to be accurate to the faint depressions in the rock.

There is no church guide book, which is a shame, but there is a framed description of the stone on the wall above the stone (there is a page of visitor notes in the porch which describes the painted memorial plaques, but nothing else that we could find).

Also within the porch, to the left hand side, is a Roman altar stone, the top of which has been chiselled out to house an old sundial.

On the wall facing you as you enter the porch, there are also some old grave covers and the remains of old carvings displayed. On the window sills there are also small stone fragments, but no explanation as to what they are.

Worth stopping by if you are passing.

Iron Hill South

Date Added: 9th Sep 2014
Site Type: Stone Circle Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 7th Sep 2014. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Iron Hill South Cairn/Stone Circle, near Oddendale, Cumbria: Just 50 metres south of Iron Hill North Cairn/Stone Circle there is another monument, not far from a limestone scar (small modern quarry or crag?). It can be easily seen from Iron Hill North.

Whilst we were looking at this monument, we could hear a party of walkers were coming down the hill towards us. With loud voices, one of the men was proclaiming ‘there’s a stone circle just over here’. Waving his GPS device as he approached us, we were quizzed about which was the cairn and which was the stone circle (both are marked as a cairn and a cairn circle on our OS map), then the walkers left without really taking a look. This amused me greatly, although I wished I had his GPS device.

I couldn’t make up my mind as to whether this was a cairn or another stone circle; instinct said ‘cairn circle’ as there was a grouping of stones in the centre.

After soaking in the atmosphere of this place, we left to go onto Oddendale hamlet, further south along the single track road, and effectively a dead end, to see Seal Howe cairn and the cairn circle nearby.

Iron Hill North

Date Added: 9th Sep 2014
Site Type: Stone Circle Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 7th Sep 2014. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Iron Hill North Cairn/Stone Circle: From Castlehowe Scar Stone Circle, we drove down the single track road towards Hardendale Quarry, with Castlehouse Scar wood on our left hand side. Where the wood ends, the road turns a sharp left and right. Just where the road turns right, there is a marked footpath, walled on both sides, running uphill towards Harberwain Rigg. It is an easy walk despite the path being a little overgrown.

There is a cairn and a cairn circle marked on the Ordnance Survey map. At first all we could see was a limestone scar running to our right, then the first of the stones poked their heads above the grass in front of us, forming a semi-circle around slight mound against a stone wall above us. The stones shone pink in the bright sunlight. If I’m allowed to use the word, this was another ‘cute’ circle and I felt privileged to see it. In the background, the bright water of the lake at the bottom of Hardendale Quarry with its muddy gray ramps and walls contrasted sharply, horribly and incongruously with this wonderful little monument.

Out of interest, we walked a little way up the footpath to where it dissects another running northwards and peered over the gate to see the other side of the circle. I saw one stone peeping (just) above the grass, but couldn’t be sure it was part of the circle.

With a party of walkers making their way down hill towards us, we ventured south to find the other stone circle or cairn at Iron Hill South.

Oddendale

Date Added: 9th Sep 2014
Site Type: Stone Circle Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 7th Sep 2014. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 5 Access 4

Log Text: Oddendales Stone Circle, Oddendale, Cumbria: From Seal Howe, heading directly north west across the pasture to the ‘cairn circle’ was interesting walking, as the ground was lumpy and bumpy with hidden stones underneath. I was not prepared for what we found – a beautiful stone circle of some 34 stones (if I counted correctly) with an inner circle that looked like it had been a cairn or inner mound.

I wish I had a wide-angled lens to capture the beauty of this stone circle in the landscape (if you can successfully ignore the scar of Hardendale Quarry in the background, which we did). Even with my husband perched on top of a nearby stone to get a higher angle, we couldn’t achieve the shot we wanted.

Nearby are also other large red granite stones that we thought might have formed an avenue (but we are quite imaginative people, and would love to have the skills to interpret the prehistoric landscape).

Walking back to the car by the hamlet of Oddendale (according to the Visit Cumbria website, not simply just a farm), the limestone pavement is impressive.

Driving onto Gamelands Stone Circle, it hit me how large the prehistoric landscape is around Shap, and how important an area it must have been in the past.

Seal Howe

Date Added: 9th Sep 2014
Site Type: Cairn Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 7th Sep 2014. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Seal Howe Cairn, Oddendale, Cumbria: Having passed Kalmott Cairn Circle by the stone wall next to Oddendale, we made our way to the Bield and Cairn Circle marked on the map.

All around, the limestone pavement/bedrock pushed its way above the grass; it was particularly spectacular on the right hand side of the path. My husband and I were both transfixed and amazed at the number of red Shap Granite stones in the landscape and wished we had a GPS device to map the locations of some of the stones, as there seems to be a much larger prehistoric landscape here. These red granite stones must have been transported up to the site from where they were quarried (which a quick check on the geology of the Lake District indicates just south of Shap).

The modern cairn built on top of Seal Howe wasn’t quite what I was expecting, but the views over to Yorkshire to the east were spectacular. To the north-north-west, the scar of Hardendale Quarry was easily visible.

From Seal Howe, we made our way over the west side of the track to where the map promised us a ‘cairn circle’. This was a treat I wasn’t expecting – the Oddendale Stone Circle.

Kalmott cairn circle

Date Added: 9th Sep 2014
Site Type: Ring Cairn Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 7th Sep 2014. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Kalmott Cairn Circle, Oddendales, Cumbria: Arriving at Oddendales to see the cairns marked on the OS map, just past the footpath sign pointing us to the Coast-to-Coast/Crosby Ravensworth, we were surprised to come across what appeared to be a small cairn with a ring of stones with a central cluster. It’s not marked on the Ordnance Survey maps.

Sitting between the stone wall of Oddendales Farm on the left and the modern trackway we were walking on, it seemed surprising that this cairn had survived intact. Not been able to find out any more about it, which has been frustrating. I record a photograph here to show what we saw. I’ve now only just found a photograph and brief description about this on Hedge Druid's web site; Hedge Druid says he then submitted it to the Portal for inclusion.

Having taken a couple of photos, we then made our way up to Seal Howe Cairn.

Raise Howe Cairn

Date Added: 9th Sep 2014
Site Type: Cairn Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 7th Sep 2014. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Raise Howe Cairn, Cumbria: From Gamelands Stone Circle, 1 km east of the village of Orton, we drove back into the village and found the B6260 which heads over the moors towards Crosby Ravensworth and Appleby-in-Westmorland. The road climbs steeply from Orton, leading up onto Orton Scar, Beacon Hill and Gaythorpe Plain. We stopped quickly to see if we could see Gamelands within the context of the landscape, but it seemed to be hidden within a dip beneath Knott Hill in the distance.

The B6260 is a very fast road and once on moorland we needed to be careful of the sheep meandering at the side (and sometimes across) the road. At first glance, you might be forgiven for thinking that Raise Howe Cairn is just a spoil heap next to a quarry, but parking on the verge opposite and walking up to the cairn, its shape and function become apparent. Limestone rubble appears under the soil and turf, and at the top of the mound, there are humps and bumps which make it appear as if the mound has been excavated (although the English Heritage Pastscape records say it has not been).

Our first reaction was “what a spot to be buried in” – there are 360 degree views all around and the landscape as a whole seems too large to take in. The Scale Beck valley lies to the east, the Lyvennet Beck valley to the west and the river Lune in the distance to the south.

Having checked the English Heritage records on my return home, they tell me this is a turf covered, slightly mutilated oval mound of earth and limestone rubble up to 1.2 high, maximum dimensions 23m x 18m and dates from the Bronze Age.

This seems to be a popular picnic spot as there was a lot of rubbish lying around, and a sign next to the quarry says ‘no motor vehicles’ as if someone might drive over the edge of the quarry face.

Not particularly a place to travel to just to see the cairn, but well worth stopping to appreciate the beauty of the landscape and the burial practices of our ancestors.

Thunder Stone (Castlehowe Scar)

Date Added: 9th Sep 2014
Site Type: Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 7th Sep 2014. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Thunder Stone (Castlehowe Scar), near Shap, Cumbria: When my husband suggested going back to Shap, I groaned inwardly - another day of walking round searching for stones within the village? But I was in for a great surprise. Andrew had identified stone circles and cairns within a few miles of each other, and we had a great afternoon.

On our way to Castlehowe Scar Stone Circle, I spotted two thunder stones marked on the map near Castlehowe Scar Farm on the way to the circle.

From Junction 39, Shap Interchange on the M6, turning right to drive through Shap Village, we took the right hand turn leading to Crosby Ravensworthjust after the Fire Station on the left, and immediately before the chip shop. This road looks as if it is leading into a housing estate, but it does go onto other villages.

Just after passing over the cemetery on the right hand then, then going over the two bridges over the M6 carriageways, I spotted the first of the Thunder Stones, and we stopped on the road for me to take a few photographs. There seem to be so many other erratics in this area, that by the end of the afternoon, I became a little immune to them! This one stood out at the right hand side of the road, perched on the edge of a small quarry. A footpath leading to Hardendale gives access onto the field and it’s possible to go and walk round three sides of the stone (four if you don’t mind heights). It looks as if it is made of Shap granite and in the strong sunlight the red of the Shap Granite stood out beautifully.

[But since the visit, I'm left wondering if this stone is an erratic, as the quarry seemed to be limestone, and the Thunder Stone red Shap granite. Was this stone deliberately brought up the valley to form part of a row to the stone circle? The complexity of the monuments around Shap is quite mind-blowing, especially after our day wandering around some of the gems around Shap.]

Having taken my photographs, we went onto the Castlehowe Scar Stone Circle which is less than one kilometre east of this stone.

Gamelands

Date Added: 8th Sep 2014
Site Type: Stone Circle Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 7th Sep 2014. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Gamelands Stone Circle, near Orton, Cumbria: By now, it was late afternoon, with the evening rapidly approaching, and almost time to head off home. From the Oddendale Cairns and Stone Circle we headed off in search of something to eat and drink before finding Gamelands. In Orton, we found the Chocolate Factory still open and busy, so stopped off for very welcome refreshments.

I found navigating to this stone circle tricky, as it’s on the edge of two map sheets, so we took the wrong road out of Orton before identifying the right minor road, signposted to Raisbeck. Following the B6261 past a minor crossroads just out of Orton village (the left hand side being Street Lane), the B road shortly afterwards turns to the right; the minor road needed to get to Gamelands Stone Circle carrying straight on to Knott Lane, signposted as ‘Public Byway leading over Knott Green to Public Bridleway’. Knott Lane is about 1 mile east of Orton. When we visited, there was a large pile of stones, being used to repair the bridleway blocking part of the entrance, but the minor road was wide enough (just) to bump up onto the grass verge and leave the car to walk up Knott Lane.

As we walked up the bridleway, we didn’t see the stone circle until we were almost upon it. The farmer has put in what looks like a relatively new wooden kissing gate to let people access the field, which was refreshingly nice. Thank you, Mr. Farmer! This is one of the largest stone circles we’ve seen in this area; the Visit Cumbria website tells me that this circle is some 100 yards in circumference.

All the stones have fallen, and it must have been impressive when they stood upright. This stone circle (oval) is certainly in a lovely location and very tranquil. It is situated on a plateau immediately below the impressive Knott Scar which rises up to the North, with spectacular views over the Eden Valley and the North Pennines.

I got to see at close hand how the Shap Red Granite is made up – with large ‘tabular’ feldspar crystals glinting out from the whole. My husband has seen this type of granite polished and used in construction projects/buildings, and if our ancestors did polish these stones, then this circle must have been fantastic when it was created.

After spending some time here, just soaking in the atmosphere, we left to go home, with one final stop, at Raise Howe Tumulus, which was on our way home. A glorious afternoon, very well spent.

Castlehowe Scar Stone Circle

Date Added: 8th Sep 2014
Site Type: Stone Circle Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 7th Sep 2014. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: Castlehowe Scar Stone Circle, near Shap, Cumbria: Having previously stopped at the Thunder Stone 200 metres to the west of Castlehowe Scar Farm, we drove almost 1 kilometre up to this little stone circle. All the land from the Thunder Stone up to Castlehouse Scar Wood on the right hand side of the road is labelled as access land on the Ordnance Survey maps. Immediately before the wood there is a single track metalled road, which turns right towards Hardendale Quarry, with room for 2-3 cars to park on the verge next to the field containing the stone circle.

Whilst the land is labelled access land, there was a padlock on the gate to the field, so we explored from the field next door, where there seemed to be a few red granite stones poking up through the grass in the field. ‘A stone row’, my husband pronounced.

Having driven over 60 miles to get here, and having checked that the field really was access land, in frustration we ended up climbing over the gate to walk quickly round this small stone circle (this is in complete contrast to the farmer at the Gamelands Stone Circle, near Orton, who had very kindly put in a kissing gate to allow entry). There was a water container left close to the stones by the farmer, and I was sorely tempted to try and move this out of the way to avoid it spoiling the photographs, but didn’t dare (and I suspect I would have needed a tractor to attempt it).

All the stones were red Shap granite – we wondered after if they had been polished at some stage in the past to make them shine. The red of the granite certainly stood out amongst the white/grey of the natural limestone bedrock nearby. Checking on the geology of the area when we got home, these red granite stones seem to only came from a very small area, so any of these red stones would have needed to have been quarried and moved up to their current locations.

Strangely, to me, the size of the stones seemed large in comparison to the diameter of the circle, as they did what remained of Kemp Howe at the edge of Shap Village.

Whilst we were parked at Castlehowe Stone Circle, there were many cars coming and going – dog walkers, people doing outdoor activities (we thought they might be cavers) and the owner of the wood next door. Curious that so many people were around, but no-one took any notice of the stone circle, apart from us – perhaps they are all too familiar with it.

We next drove on to Iron Hill, further down the minor road running alongside Castlehouse Scar Wood to Hardendale Quarry to continue our Stone Circle and Cairn adventure.

Fontburn B

Date Added: 7th Sep 2014
Site Type: Rock Art Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 5th Sep 2014. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Fontburn B (Rock Art), near Rothbury, Northumberland: Fontburn Reservoir is just over 12 km north of Wallington and 9 km south-south-west of Rothbury. Despite it not being very far from where I live I can’t say I’ve ever heard of it this reservoir, yet it’s clearly very popular with fishermen and has a cafe that’s open at weekends. On the map, there were no clear roads up to the reservoir yet two car parks clearly marked, so this was a little bit of a voyage of discovery. And there it was - a single track road with passing places that wound its way up past Roughlees Farm and the Goats On The Roof cafe to the dam.

Parking at the southern-most end of the car park, as far as we could get past the fishing shack, we walked clockwise around the lake. From the car park, heading southwards, a barrier blocks entry to cars, but the footpath turns and continues westwards along a grassy track, wending through the trees with the reservoir to the right hand side. There are good, solid boardwalks in the boggiest areas and wooden guard rails at some of the edges of the lake (but not always in the steepest places); being someone who hates sheer drops, the height down to the lake wasn’t too bad, and it was an easy path to walk on. About a third of the way around the southern side of the reservoir, the path divides. The small track which follows the edge of the reservoir enters a nature reserve and disappears amongst the trees; the footpath signs turn you left, leading up a slight hill to a gate (with a very heavy spring) which took you onto Access Land (avoiding the nature reserve) where the terrain was much rougher and more difficult to walk with humps and bumps and small streams to cross.

We missed the first stone, Fontburn N02, at grid reference: NZ0395993186, as in the trees along the riverside walk it was difficult to gauge how far we had gone. By the time we came to the access land and orientated ourselves using the fence boundaries and the sheepfolds, we had to walk a fair way back to see NO2, and decided to go back to it on the return journey. But an hour later, the skies were heavy and grey and it felt like thunder, so we returned to the car along the easier footpath to the north of the reservoir.

As an aside, we came upon an unknown Rock (Grid reference: NZ0310993518) just to the left hand side of the path. Just into the access land, we came upon what looked like the remains of a cairn, but couldn’t be sure as field drains had been dug into the field around it, but there was a clear oval shape in the grass, topped by stones. Just after this, we found the said stone sitting alongside the left hand side of the footpath, although it wasn’t clear if there was rock art on it. There was also a smaller stone located alongside with other marks on it. Looking this up on the ERA database and the Portal, there are no references to this rock at all, so the marks are just weathering or perhaps where ploughs have hit it [note: we missed Fontburn N01, which is located between the two halves of the car parks at the eastern end of the reservoir! grid reference: NZ 04897 93466].

Continuing along the footpath, and rounding the right hand turn it takes, Fontburn B came clearly into view to the left of the footpath. It looks like an erratic dropped at the side of the path above the (now) reservoir. It’s impressive in size, although it looks as if the northern edge has been quarried away as there is a sheer, rather than a rounded face on this side.

A few cup marks were visible from the ground, and many more visible by climbing a few metres up the hill to the south. Even better was just to carefully hop up the side of the rock and sit on top of it, just like our ancestors must have done all those thousands of years ago. In the sunshine, it was a remarkable spot, although dominated by the ground rising to the south. In the past, there would have been clear views down to the river below.

We then carried on following the footpath to where it loops back round to the reservoir, and goes back onto the Northumberland Water Board Water Trail and onto Fontburn Four-Poster.

Doing some research on the web since getting home, I’ve discovered that Fontburn B is a published landmark/site to see on the National Trust Greenleighton Moor Walk around the Wallington area.

Fontburn Four-Poster

Date Added: 7th Sep 2014
Site Type: Stone Circle Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 5th Sep 2014. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Fontburn Four Poster, near Rothbury, Northumberland: This was a continuation of our very pleasant meander around Fontburn Reservoir from Fontburn B.

Crossing over Fallowlees Burn and just starting to head back along the northern edge of the reservoir the Stone Circle comes into view on the horizon at the top of the hill.

My first impression is that this is a cairn, as there are many more stones around than the four uprights, but then why would two of the stones have cups on the top surfaces if they were meant to be covered up? Perhaps the site was used in antiquity? This site is likened to Goatstones Four Poster, but I’m not sure I saw much similarity (I'll need to sit and compare images).

Sitting on this small plateau with Dod Knowe hill rising up behind, and with the burn trickling pleasantly down below, this small stone circle is in a peaceful and lovely spot. It’s also very atmospheric, with the very old (hawthorn?) tree lying in broken pieces at the feet of the circle. There appear to be clear cup marks on two of the stones.

It was a very misty day, so we couldn’t make out any of the distant landmarks, so after lingering for a while to absorb the atmosphere, we made our way back to the marked path and walked back round to Fontburn Dam.

The place to seek permission to visit Fontburn Stone Circle is Newbiggin Farm, north of the reservoir, although there are references to finding the stone circle on the notice boards by the reservoir.