Piggle Dene [Piggledene] Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature : The Megalithic Portal and Megalith Map:

<< Our Photo Pages >> Piggle Dene - Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature in England in Wiltshire

Submitted by tjhavenith on Thursday, 17 August 2017 Page Views: 3460

Natural PlacesSite Name: Piggle Dene Alternative Name: Piggledene
Country: England County: Wiltshire Type: Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature
Nearest Town: Marlborough Nearest Village: Fyfield
Map Ref: SU14126858
Latitude: 51.416064N Longitude: 1.798347W
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

4 Ambience:

5	Superb
4	Good
3	Ordinary
2	Not Good
1	Awful
0	No data.

4 Access:

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.

3 Accuracy:

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

4

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**Piggle Dene** submitted by tjhavenith : A closer look at Piggle Dene. (Vote or comment on this photo)

This area is part of the Fyfield Down National Nature Reserve and is an SSSI of geological interest.

This is because Fyfield down, of which Piggle Dene is part, is home to an assemblage of many thousand sarsen stones, often called grey wethers as from a distance people have mistaken them for sheep. This whole area was made by natural forces which were not only strong enough to shape this landscape, but also to carry the stones to where they lie.

The stones seem to lay in a 'train' or 'boulder stream' and were transported and dropped into position via a process of freezing and thawing.

Sarsen stones are composed of sand particles that have cemented together over time to form a very hard sandstone. Amazingly, the roots of tropical plants can be seen in some stones. These root holes were made 50 million years ago, when the stones were still sandy soil. The cementation of the sediments happened about 5-10 million years ago just below the surface of the ground (at the time). The uncemented sediments have long since washed away. You can see sarsen stones in use at important sites such as Avebury and Stone Henge.

To save Piggledene and Locheridge Dene from being broken up for use in pavements, the National Trust along with Marlborough College Natural History Society and the Wiltshire Archaeological Society launched an appeal in 1907 to raise funds to purchase these sites. Having raised £612, the National Trust purchased the sites in 1908 [1][2].

Access
Access is over a stile on the edge of the busy and fast A4. I would suggest parking on one of the side roads, Church Hill is to the east and High Street is to the west (and has a bus stop a few metres in from the A4). There is a path to the side of the road heading west.

Accessibility
The A4 is a busy road and the path that leads to the site is narrow and not kept very well. At the entrance to the site, there is a stile to get over - there is a gate next to it, but I am not sure if this can be opened. Once you get into the site, the field is grassy and uneven - with the grass only kept short by the sheep.

[1] National Trust
[2] Wiltshire archaeological and natural history magazine
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Nearby Images from Geograph Britain and Ireland:

SU1468 : Lamb and sarsens, Piggle Dean by Andrew Smith — by Andrew Smith
©2007(licence)

SU1468 : Fields near Fyfield by James Emmans — by James Emmans
©2016(licence)

SU1468 : Sarsens in Pickledean by Gordon Hatton — by Gordon Hatton
©2022(licence)

SU1368 : Old Milestone by the A4, west of Fyfield by Milestone Society — by Milestone Society
©2019(licence)

SU1368 : View across farmland to Flintstone Stud by James Emmans — by James Emmans
©2016(licence)

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