<< Our Photo Pages >> The Whetstones - Stone Circle in Wales in Powys
Submitted by TimPrevett on Sunday, 22 September 2002 Page Views: 16729
Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: The Whetstones Alternative Name: WhetstoneCountry: Wales County: Powys Type: Stone Circle
Nearest Town: Bishops Castle Nearest Village: Priest Weston
Map Ref: SO30429753 Landranger Map Number: 137
Latitude: 52.571123N Longitude: 3.028072W
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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The sites & monuments records denote this monument as a robbed cairn. It is a matter of metres away from the border with Shropshire, and the Mitchell's Fold stone circle is 10 minutes walk away.
No access into the actual field, but the stones can be observed from a field boundary close by, access over a stile. An aerial view can be gained later in the day, sunlight permitting, from standing atop the cairn on the north side of Corndon Hill.
The Northern Antiquarian (TNA) also features a page for this now destroyed stone circle - see their entry for The Whetstones, Churchstoke, Montgomeryshire, which adds: "the Welsh Royal Commission report (1911) told that its position was, 'at the foot of the northern slope of Corndon Hill, and close to a stile on the south side of the road near the turning to Cliffdale Mine.' Found close to a number of other prehistoric remains, the Report told: 'It is certain that at this place there once stood a circle of eight or nine stones. An intelligent man, named John Jones, aged 74 years and a resident in the vicinity since his youth, remembers four stones arranged as though forming parts of a circle, with an appendage in a curve 'like a hook.' About 100 yards distant was a cairn, the foundation of which is still discernible. The land was then unenclosed, but on its enclosure the cairn and the circle were rifled to provide stone for the construction of the existing fence. Mr Jones pointed out the four stones which had been members of the circle. The Rev. C. Hartshorne’s account of this circle in Salopia Antiqua, 1841, p.33, gives a slightly different account of the stones. He observes, 'these three stones (the Whetstones) were formerly placed upright though they now lean, owing to the soft and boggy nature of the soil. The stand equidistant and assume a circular position… The highest of these is four feet above the surface; 1 foot 6 inches in thickness; and 3 feet in width'." (Please note the ngr given by TNA 200 metres from that given above and is to the west of the cairn, which Coflein tells us is at SO30409753.)
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478m WSW 240° New House Long Barrow* Long Barrow (SO300973)
575m N 7° Druid's Castle* Stone Circle (SO305981)
626m SSE 163° Corndon Hill 2* Cairn (SO30609693)
750m N 359° Mitchell's Fold outlier* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SO30429828)
796m SSW 203° Corndon Hill 7* Cairn (SO301968)
830m S 181° Corndon Hill 8* Cairn (SO304967)
840m N 359° Mitchell's Fold* Stone Circle (SO30429837)
870m S 178° Corndon Hill 1* Cairn (SO30449666)
895m SE 144° Corndon Hill 4* Cairn (SO30949680)
906m SSE 147° Corndon Hill 3* Cairn (SO30909676)
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