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<< Our Photo Pages >> Cherhill cup marked stone - Rock Art in England in Wiltshire

Submitted by AngieLake on Wednesday, 25 July 2007  Page Views: 7856

Rock ArtSite Name: Cherhill cup marked stone
Country: England County: Wiltshire Type: Rock Art
Nearest Town: Calne  Nearest Village: Cherhill
Map Ref: SU03476999
Latitude: 51.428905N  Longitude: 1.951478W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
4 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
3 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
5 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
4

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Cherhill cup marked stone
Cherhill cup marked stone submitted by AngieLake : This is the most cup marked side of the stone, on its rear as viewed from the roadside. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Cup and Ring marks / Rock Art in Wiltshire

This cup marked stone may not have originated in this spot... indeed from what I've tried to discover on the internet, it's very unlikely. However, nearby is Cherhill Down with its stunning White Horse, the towering Lansdowne Memorial (viewable from the higher section of Avebury's West Kennet Avenue a few miles to the east), and also Oldbury Camp, the Iron Age hillfort.

I found it underneath a modern thatched shelter, which I took to be the Millennium project carried out by Cherhill's villagers, in creating a new and more interesting bus-shelter!

In the Wiltshire archives for 11 January 2001 (from the Swindon Advertiser):

"Villagers in Cherhill hope their new thatched bus shelter will impress drivers so much they will slow down as they drive along the A4. [incidentally, Cherhill is between Avebury and Calne] Work on the roof of the shelter, which was a village Millennium project, was completed this week. It followed months of fundraising by villagers. The shelter will eventually have a sundial set in the floor [didn't notice this!], under which there will be a time capsule, as well as seating, hedging, flowers and a tree on either side.
.........
The shelter was designed by Cherhill architect Julian Taylor....."

(I omitted some of the text.) Nowhere did it mention the stone's provenance. The shelter was very modern in design and worth a look just for that reason!

Lovers of cup-marked stones will probably find this one very interesting as it obviously came from a significant site. Perhaps someone knows more about it?
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Cherhill cup marked stone
Cherhill cup marked stone submitted by tjhavenith : A close up of the cup marks on the Cherhill cup marked stone. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Cherhill cup marked stone
Cherhill cup marked stone submitted by tjhavenith : The bus shelter that houses the Cherhill cup marked stone. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Cherhill cup marked stone
Cherhill cup marked stone submitted by tjhavenith : The four faces of the Cherhill cup marked stone. Left, north face (the face seen from the road); left centre, east; right centre, south; right, west. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Cherhill cup marked stone
Cherhill cup marked stone submitted by tjhavenith : Cherhill cup marked stone surrounded by a sundial or Roman numerals. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Cherhill cup marked stone
Cherhill cup marked stone submitted by AngieLake : This is the shelter under which the stone can be found. You can see the Cherhill White Horse just behind it to the right, and further right, the Lansdowne Memorial. It stands on the right side of the road when travelling through Cherhill from Calne towards Avebury. (I stopped further on to photograph the White Horse, then turned and parked back here in the layby beside it.) (Vote or comment on this photo)

Cherhill cup marked stone
Cherhill cup marked stone submitted by AngieLake : This shows the thickness of the stone's east side and again the north face, nearest the road.

Cherhill cup marked stone
Cherhill cup marked stone submitted by AngieLake : This is the side nearest the road. (Taken early evening without a great deal of light on the subject.)

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 699m SSE 149° Oldbury Round Barrows Round Barrow(s) (SU03836939)
 1.2km NNE 12° Mount Wood Tumulus* Round Barrow(s) (SU03727119)
 1.4km ESE 119° Oldbury Hill Chambered Tomb (SU047693)
 1.6km ESE 105° Cherhill White Horse* Hill Figure or Geoglyph (SU04986958)
 1.6km ESE 116° Oldbury Castle* Hillfort (SU049693)
 1.6km ESE 103° Oldbury Earthwork Misc. Earthwork (SU05036964)
 1.8km ESE 123° Oldbury Barrow Round Barrow(s) (SU050690)
 2.1km E 94° Whitehorse Plantation NE Barrow* Round Barrow(s) (SU0556669845)
 2.5km SSE 165° Bishops Cannings 6-10 Barrows* Round Barrow(s) (SU04136759)
 2.6km SSE 154° Bishops Cannings 11-14 Barrows* Round Barrow(s) (SU04606770)
 2.7km SE 137° North Down Barrows Round Barrow(s) (SU05316804)
 2.9km ESE 123° Beckhampton (Avebury 6) Round Barrow(s) (SU05936841)
 3.0km S 184° Morgans Hill Earthwork* Misc. Earthwork (SU0327067016)
 3.0km SSE 150° North Down Bowl Barrow* Round Barrow(s) (SU04996740)
 3.1km SE 131° North Down Tumulus Round Barrow(s) (SU05836797)
 3.1km SSE 147° North Down Tumuli Round Barrow(s) (SU05186737)
 3.3km E 96° Old Bath Road Tumulus* Round Barrow(s) (SU06746963)
 3.4km S 171° Old Shepherds Shore Barrow Group* Barrow Cemetery (SU0401466650)
 3.4km SE 136° Three Barrows (North Down)* Barrow Cemetery (SU05866750)
 3.5km SSE 161° Bishops Cannings 33 Bell Barrow* Round Barrow(s) (SU04596666)
 3.5km SSE 154° Bishops Cannings 53 Bowl Barrow Round Barrow(s) (SU05056683)
 3.6km E 90° Cherhill Cursus Cursus (SU07057000)
 3.6km SSE 164° Baltic Farm Barrows* Round Barrow(s) (SU04486656)
 3.7km SE 129° Down Barn Tumuli* Round Barrow(s) (SU06366766)
 3.8km ESE 122° Bishops Cannings 26 Bell Barrow* Round Barrow(s) (SU0671268009)
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Re: Cherhill cup marked stone by tjhavenith on Friday, 08 September 2017
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TheCaptain's comment really got me thinking, so I've done some research regarding this stone. After checking the planning permission for this bus shelter, I contacted the owners of this site, the Parish Council. I have since spoken to the Chair of the Parish Council at the time of this project.

He advises that "the stone at the Bus Shelter was selected from various examples for its shape and size from a selection cleared from farm land in the area in the 60’s, it currently sits on a buried time capsule. As far as I know there has been no inspection of this particular one."

This gives an answer to the provenance, raised in Angie's original creation of this page, but no official answer regarding whether the indentations are cup marks, geological, or biological. At the moment, I think this will be the closest we get to a full and complete answer. I hope that it is of some use to people interested in this site.
Personally I find it difficult to form a firm opinion. Many of the holes are big and deep, like the characteristic rootholes seen in local sites such as Lockeridge. However, in those stones, the holes are more uniform in look and depth - the holes in this stone are of varying sizes, with some very shallow and some difficult to see, such as the confirmed polissoirs at nearby West Kennet Long Barrow (stone 18 - and others). An experienced member of the Calne Heritage Centre visited the stone after I expressed my interest in it and felt that they are cup marks. All things considered, I feel that at least some of the holes have been made by humans, but whether it was for sharpening tools or for artistic purposes, I have no idea. I am nowhere near to being an expert and only further experience and learning will allow me to make a firm opinion on this and I welcome any further comments regarding this.
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    Re: Cherhill cup marked stone by TheCaptain on Saturday, 09 September 2017
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    Many thanks for your efforts and report back tjhavenith.
    [ Reply to This ]
      Re: Cherhill cup marked stone by tjhavenith on Saturday, 09 September 2017
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      No problem. It's a fairly close site for me and quite interesting to try to get some answers and learn about something I go past quite often!
      [ Reply to This ]

References to this stone really having ancient man made cup marks in it? by TheCaptain on Tuesday, 01 August 2017
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Does anyone have any proper references to this stone really having ancient man made cup marks in it? A quick google and I cannot find any.

I once stopped to have a look many years ago, and could not convince myself these marks were anything other than the natural geological marks in the rock, made by something like seaweed roots when the rock was being formed under the seabed millions of years ago.

Hoping to be corrected, it would be nice to have this properly identified as being cup marks.
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Street View by tjhavenith on Tuesday, 01 August 2017
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