<< Our Photo Pages >> Thompson's Rock - Holed Stone in England in Northumberland
Submitted by Bolddubhglas on Thursday, 18 September 2008 Page Views: 28405
Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Thompson's Rock Alternative Name: Simonside Beacon Hill Solar ObservatoryCountry: England County: Northumberland Type: Holed Stone
Nearest Town: Rothbury Nearest Village: Rothbury
Map Ref: NZ0475098632
Latitude: 55.281799N Longitude: 1.926768W
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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Anne T visited on 12th Nov 2017 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 4 Thompson's Rock, Simonside: This was the coldest, windiest day of the year so far,, and I thought we were going to a much more sheltered spot, so I wasn't dressed for the weather. Ashamed to say I sent husband off with the camera, as he was fully equipped for this moorland. He reported the rock was well worth going to see.
It is alleged that this hole is directly aligned with the midsummer sunset and in Paul Frodsham's excellent book "In the Valley of the Sacred Mountain" there is a picture of just this.
Whilst the hole is possibly natural, although this has not yet been proven, Crispian Oates who studied this area in great detail has suggested that a ritual centre linked with solar movements may have existed in this area. And why not?
Mr Oates states that : "The site consists of a rough circle of stones with the Central Holed Stone (CHS) in the middle. At the north side a stone appears to be missing but there is stone in the ground at the position of the gap."
And he also identified "a trial stone" with two holes that line up but do not connect, indicating how the the CHS may have been made."
Obviously a great deal of work still remains and we look forward to further investigation.
Source: Around and about Rothbury (look for the Potts chair page, which has details of other unusual rocks in the locality) and see also the Beacon Solar Observatory pages.
Note: See link below for BBC feature on Thompson's Rock from the Inside Out north east programme. UK only and only there for a few days
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