On Saturday 28th of March, John Oswin and John Richards from Bath and Camerton Archaeological Society kindly gave us a tour of the Stanton Drew circles, telling us about the recent survey work they have been carrying out in the area around Hautville’s Quoit. Here is a short extract from their interim report:
The Quoit is described by Aubrey as being 10 feet 16 inches (sic) long, 6 feet 6 inches broad, and 1 foot 10 inches thick (Aubrey et al 1980). Stukeley (1776) said there were two quoits, half a mile either side of the bridge. John Richards has identified this second quoit on Stukeley's plan but has not yet gone looking for its possible location.
Stukeley gives the size of the Quoit as thirteen feet by eight feet by four feet. As it could not possibly have grown in size, the most likely explanation is that he got the two stones confused (Burl 1999: 55). Part of the stone was broken off in 1836, and Grinsell (1994) described it as about 2.2 metres long. Roger Mercer (1969) carried out a resistivity survey and excavation to try and find the original location of the Quoit, but failed to find any stone socket.
A pattern of what could be large and small post holes has been detected just south-east of the Quoit. The 'post holes' are as much as 2 or 3 metres in diameter and could be for timber posts, or sockets for stones. However, no definite geometric pattern can be identified and no corroboration for these anomalies can be detected in any of the other surveys: twin-probe resistance, resistance profiling, magsus, or radar.
The hill in Big Ground occupies an interesting place in the landscape. It is situated just over 200 metres away from the NE Circle. The regular shape and flat top lead to the question whether the mound is just a natural outcrop, or if any or all of it is man-made and whether any structures were once placed on it, or if there is any evidence for an encircling ditch. The small magnetometry survey was inconclusive and a fuller survey is desirable.
The position of the mound in relation to the river is also noteworthy. The symbolism of water in proximity to Neolithic monuments has been commented on by various authors.
Prior to the construction of Chew Valley Lake extensive flooding was common, in particular at Stanton Drew. The Environment Agency’s flood map shows that, today, the area that would have flooded quite frequently in ancient times extends from the edge of the NE Circle across the valley to the foot of the mound. At times of flood, the mound would form a promontory surrounded on three sides by water with the NE Circle on the opposite ‘bank’.
The BACAS researchers plan a geophysical survey of the field to the north of the road to determine if the monument extends in that direction. They also hope to do a further survey of the mound and surroundings in Big Ground to attempt to determine whether the mound is a natural outcrop and whether it had significance in the Neolithic landscape, and to investigate the flood plain by auguring to attempt to determine the history and frequency of flooding.
Further details are in the Bath and Camerton Archaeological Society Hautville's Quoit Survey Report (PDF files).
There are more photos of our day out on the following Megalithic Portal site pages:
http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=152
http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=2145
http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=3475
http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=153
http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=1068
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