Grey Wethers Lockridge, Wiltshire
‘Wether’ is the Old English name for sheep. These large lumps of rock are know as Grey Wethers because, according to folklore, in half light they resemble grey, wet, sleeping sheep. In fact, these are sarsen rocks, fragments that formed a cap on the chalk rock created millions of years ago.
At Lockridge, a picturesque hamlet near Marlborough, there are two fields under the care of the National Trust. Once, this part of the Salisbury Plain was covered with ‘Grey Wethers’. Prehistoric man used them in the construction of megalithic monuments such as Avebury, Stonehenge and the Devil’s Den, amongst others in Wiltshire
The DeviLs Den is situated just north of the A4 between Avebuiy and Marlborough at Clatford Bottom.
This cromlech was probably first recorded by the antiquarian William Stukeley during the early part of the eighteenth century' in his View of the Kist-Vaen in Clatford Bottom. He is shown, along with two companions, investigating and sketching the monument. In his time, there were three other large boulders at the base of the monument, which now appear to have been destroyed. In the distance, his coach and horses are seen along a sarsen-boulder-strew n valley bottom. In the intervening years the capstone was dislodged and the w'hole assembly of stones w-as re-erected in 1921. Although the immediate area was once covered in sarsen stones, now' there are very' few left. Apparently you could once walk for two miles from Delling to the main road at Clatford without stepping off them. The last order of sarsen stones from this area was in 1938. Four cart-loads w'ere taken and used in repair w ork on Windsor Castle.
The Queen’s Stone Nr Goodrich, Hereford and Worcester
Kintraw Standing Stone and Cairn
Kintraw, Strathclyde
This huge megalithic-like totem pole twelve feet tall stands as a marker between two cairns, both now ruined. The larger of the cairns was originally strewn with a mass of brilliant white cry stals.
The first Celts chose this place for their dead because of its magnificent view across the sparkling Loch Craignish and its many small islands; the diminutive Eilean Inshaig, Eilean Mhic Chrion, Eilean Dubh, and the larger Eilean Righ, and on to Papa Jura twenty-seven miles away. On summer days, visitors from this vantage point can be dazzled by the bright white and colourful sails of boats streaking through the deep blue water that surrounds the small picturesque holiday resort of Ardfem.
Sculptured stones, cup-and-ring-marked rocks, ancient Celtic chapels (now ruined), forts, and other monoliths dot this prehistoric Celtic landscape.
According to folklore this enigmatic Bronze Age monolith was known as Cwen Stan, ‘Woman’s Stone’, but during the passage of time it has taken on a regal air. The Queen’s Stone, as it is now known, stands in a loop of the River Wye, a mile west of Goodrich. The monolith is six feet tall and has eleven deep grooves - five down the south face, three on the north, one on the west and two on the east. Each groove is about eight inches deep and, when excavated, it was found that the grooves stopped at ground level.
The grooving on the monolith is most unusual. The Devil’s Arrows at Boroughbridge, North Yorkshire, are similarly marked, as are some of the stones on Machrie Moor on the Isle of Arran. Nobody knows their meaning, and probably if there ever were a meaning it died with the stone’s creators. However, various theories have been put forv'ard over the years, one suggesting that sacrificial wicker baskets would have been placed above the stone and held in position with stakes placed in the grooves. Another, more humdrum explanation is that the grooves have been caused by weathering.
Ballymeanoch Standing Stones
Nr Kilmartin, Argyll and Bute, Strathclyde
Towards the southern end of The Valley of the Dead’ near Kilmartin, is a group of parallel standing stones. One row is of two large stones and, to the east, is a row now comprising four giant stones. One of these stones is heavily ‘cup’ marked. Nobody knows the meaning of these marks, which are often accompanied by ‘ring’ marks. In Britain, these intriguing prehistoric symbols are most commonly found in Northumberland and Scotland. Elsewhere in Europe, these and very similar symbols have been found carv'ed on and inside megalithic monuments, thus allowing archaeologists to date them. Along with spiral caiA'ing, they appear to be some form of prehistoric tomb art.
The six standing stones that remain are probably all that is left of a stone avenue leading up to the Nether Largie Tombs. They are adjacent to a ruinous henge monument with two burial cists. Until the end of the nineteenth centur>', a megalith across the field was used in a symbolic ceremony to seal wedding vows.
Templewood Stone Circle and Cist
Kilmartin, Argyll and Bute, Strathclyde
This perfect circle of thirteen stones, thirteen metres in diameter, has at its centre a small slab cist, which is surrounded by another ver>' small ring of stones. Here the body of a child once lay, and with it a beaker and some flints. To the east, another small cist can be detected. The primar>’ burial took place between 2,000 and 1,500 BC. There is evidence of cremation in both cists, which were then covered with a large stone cairn forming a burial mound. The most northerly stone in the circle has a spiral pattern inscribed near its base. Unfortunately this is now very faint.
Templewood Stone Circle and Cist lie to the west in the Kilmartin Valley, known dramatically as ‘The Valley of the Dead’, and this ‘cult’ site was a burial ground for thousands of years. Here, great leaders as well as their subjects were laid to rest. Adjacent to the Templewood site is another small circle and to the east is the great, linear. Bronze Age Nether Largie Barrows, as well as numerous other enigmatic megaliths.
Maen Llia, and Maen Madoc Nr Ystradfellte, Powys
This carefully fashioned, diamondshaped standing stone is twelve feet tall but only two feet thick.
It is of Bronze Age origin, and may be a territorial marker. Diamond-shaped stones are not common, the most famous being the one that forms part of the West Kennet Avenue at Avebury, Wiltshire. Another forms part of one of the stone circles called The Hurlers at Minions in Cornwall. The significance of these stones is lost, but according to legend this one is reputed to drink from the River Nedd whenever it hears a cock crow.
Nearby a huge eleven-foot-tall monolith called Maen Madoc is inscribed in crude Latin capitals, still just legible: Dervad filius iusti, ic iacti (Der acus, the son of Justus here he lies). It is situated at the edge of Sarn Helen, the Roman road running from Heol Senni to about two miles north of Ystradfellte. Was Derv acus a Roman? No, according to Sir Cyril Fox, who excavated Maen Madoc over fift>- years ago and found no remains. Whoever erected this monument to him deliberately cut through the metalling of what was then an already overgrown Roman road.
Platform Cairn, Llyn Brenig
Kerb Cairn, Llyn Brenig
Nr Cerrigydrudion, Conuy
The site also includes a Bronze Age kerb cairn - a small ring of boulders forming a stone circle filled in with loose stones. Archaeologists discovered an infant's ear bones in an urn at the centre of one cairn, implying some form of ritual sacrifice since no other bones were found. Speculation suggests that, after being offered to the gods, the children’s brains were ripped out, Inca sty le. Could they have been eaten? The ear bones, which come from deep inside the head, were then placed in an urn and given a ritual burial.
Over 3,000 years ago this lonely moor was the ritual burial ground of Bronze Age clan chiefs. There are numerous barrows of different types here, but the most interesting of all is the Platform Cairn, which is essentially a funerary-monument. Situated on high ground, affording dazzling views towards Snowdon and the Cader Iris, it was made of large boulders to form a circle, whose upper surface w'as finished off with a flat layer of slabs. These were surrounded by a perfect circle of stones. The primary - burial was of a child and adult, accompanied by a bone-handled knife and a food vessel. A large hole was left, which once held a formidable pole, perhaps something like a totem pole around which people may have danced. At a later date, the pole was removed and the hole filled in with loose stones, and the monument was covered over. Simultaneously, a small semicircular cairn was added to one side, a small hole was created and pure charcoal was placed in the hollow, which was then covered by an inverted urn.
Neolithic and Bronze Age
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Swinside Stone Circle Nr Broadgate, Broughton in Furness, Cumbria
Loch Buie Stone Circle Isle of Mull, Argyll and Bute
This dazzling and beautifully preserv ed stone circle is two miles up Swinside Farm track on private farmland. A sign advises visitors to leave their cars and walk.
Cumbrian stone circles, of which there are more than tw'enty recorded, are some of the largest and finest in the country'. According to archaeologists, they are the earliest stone circles in Britain. Here, fragments of charcoal and burnt bones were found during excavations.
According to legend, the Devil prevented the construction of a church here. Systematically he destroyed the w'ork done each day on church building, by causing the stones to sink into the ground each night. The site is sometimes also known as Sunkenkirk Stone Circle.
This small and isolated circle lies in the shadow of Ben Buie, at the far end of the road that leads to this magnificent loch. Its makers constructed their ritual monument on the only flat, arable land found along this mountainous southern coast. It has two out-lyers, one small and the other considerable larger than any of the stones in the circle. The larger outlyer may well have been used as a pointer, leading prehistoric men down to the sandy beach. Significantly, it has also been shown that it can be aligned to the midwinter sunset.
Here, possibly no more than an extended family hunted, farmed and fished. Tbeir life expectancy was not great. Evidence collected from Scottish burials of this period suggests that slightly more than fifty per cent of men lived to be older than thirty-six, w'hile eighty-five per cent of women died before they were twenty-five - seemingly many in childbirth.
A woman’s first child was born by the time she reached the age of fifteen and infant death was high. Acute infection and inadequate nourishment were the main causes of death.
Longstone Cross Miniofis, Cornwall
The Longstone Cross stands erect and proud on the road that leads from King Doniert's stone to Minions. Situated on the edge of the village, the monument was quite possibly once a prehistoric pagan menhir. If this was the case, this stone would have been Christianized by Celtic holy men by car’ing a round-headed cross on it during the Dark Ages. Its original purpose has now been lost in the mists of time.
Nearby is the spectacular Bronze Age triple stone circle known as TTie Hurlers, as well as other prehistoric Celtic sites.
Stowe’s Pound and The Devil’s Chair Minions, Cornwall
On the often bleak summit of Stowe’s Hill are two Bronze Age enclosures, collectively known as Stowe’s Pound. The larger and more distinct of the two contains at least thirty-nine hut circles. There is a well-defined entrance and the tumble-wall of stone is fifteen feet high in places. However, what distinguishes Stowe’s Pound from other early Celtic sites is that within its boundar>' are some extraordinar>’, weather-worn, natural granite tors. The two most famous of these are known as The Devil’s Chair and The Cheesewring.
From The Devil’s Chair one can see a vast landscape scattered with prehistoric Celtic sites. For example, the triple stone circles known as The Hurlers and The Rillaton Round Barrow - which contained the famous and unique Rillaton Gold Cup, lost for many years until it turned up in the dressing room of King George V.
Priddy Nine Barrows Priddy, Somerset
Four Round Barrows
The Ridgeway, Nr Avebury,
Wiltshire
Round barrows, which are burial mounds, date principally from the Bronze Age. There are many on Marlborough Dow-ns, and these four on Overton Hill are easily accessible w here The Ridgeway is dissected by the A4, a mile east of Avebur>- and the West Kennet Avenue.
Round barrow s come in a great variety of sizes and in four distinctly different designs. There is the ‘bowl’ design, which is the most common, as w ell as the ‘bell’, the ‘saucer’ and the ‘pond’. Some round barrow-s can be found in isolation, others in distinctive barrows’ cemeteries, while others are aligned. They tend to be sited on high ground, and w’ould have been seen in silhouette from below-.
Burial w’ithin the round barrows was by inhumation, where the deceased were laid in a crouching position and cremated along with possessions considered useful in the afterlife as well as w-ith urns containing food offerings for the gods.
This windswept Somerset farming community was once the centre of a Bronze Age community. Priddy Nine Barrows is an impressive grouping of Bronze Age barrows, many of them more than three metres high, forty-five metres in diameter. Across the field is another grouping of barrows known as Ashen Hill Barrows, and nearby is now a ver>- distinct triple Neolithic Bronze Age henge monument. Once populous, Priddy is now-best known as a centre for cavers and potholers. For one week during August a colourful group of travelling gN psies stage the annual Priddy Horse Fair. Oversized, shiny chrome trailers jostle with traditional painted caravans and benders (tarpaulin covered igloo shaped tents) for a pitch on the village green. Gypsies will tell your fortune, w hile muscular young men ride bareback up and down the road to show off their mounts. Others w-ill teach the unwaiy
The rudiments of the Three Card Trick.
World History
