Torhousekie N

Trip No.136  Entry No.9  Date Added: 25th Jun 2019
Site Type: Cairn Country: Scotland (Dumfries and Galloway)
Visited: Yes on 17th Jun 2019. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Torhousekie N cairn: We had a cairn further up slope recorded to find, together with one by the farmhouse, so it came as a surprise to find this cairn here. I took some photographs on the day (a few before a heavy shower of rain, one after in the sun), and found out about it later.

Recorded as Canmore 62839, it stands just to the north of a milestone which stands out bright white against the side of the road, and just to the west of a dry stone wall. It looks as if it may have been robbed in the middle.

Torhousekie East

Trip No.136  Entry No.8  Date Added: 25th Jun 2019
Site Type: Stone Row / Alignment Country: Scotland (Dumfries and Galloway)
Visited: Yes on 17th Jun 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4

Log Text: Torhouseskie Stone Row: Crossing the road from the layby by the stone circle, we entered this field through the gate at NX 38340 56494. This proved a little tricky, as it was two gates bolted together, then tied with multiple loops of string. Whilst I managed to untie the knots, and Andrew and I between us bolted the gates back together, a later visitor told me he’d had to climb the gate!

Three large boulders with some smaller stones between them. Standing on this small knoll, looking south towards the River Bladnoch, with the stone circle to our south west, and cairns to the west, it felt like a very prehistoric landscape.

Whilst the stone circle was proving very popular with visitors who came and went every five or ten minutes, only one other of the visitors came across to see the stone row.

Torhousekie Stones East

Trip No.139  Entry No.6  Date Added: 25th Jun 2019
Site Type: Standing Stones Country: Scotland (Dumfries and Galloway)
Visited: Yes on 17th Jun 2019. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Torhouseskie Stones East: To be found in the field immediately to the east of the Torhousekie Stone Circles, one of these stones was most certainly the size of the boulders used in the stone circle, although because of the sheer number of cattle (and The Huge Bull) around these stones (and the deep puddles around them and in the adjacent field) we didn't go and investigate further. I then got chatting to another gentleman with his camera who was also keen to investigate the stones, but taking one look at the cattle and The Huge Bull, we looked at each other and said 'No'.

I confess that even having printed off all the Canmore and Stone Rows of Great Britain records for this immediate area, I'd misread the grid reference and thought these stones were the ones to the south west of the circle (see Torhousekie South West Stones) and only realised my mistake when looking at the photographs and Canmore site together at home later. Although there appears to be a stone marked just to the east of the stone circle on Sandy G's plan of alignments at Torhousekie, which still confuses me - I need to check with Sandy.

Even to my untrained eye, it looked like large field clearance boulders had been dumped next to the large boulder. I have since read Sandy G's visit report, which confirms his thinking that these are field clearance stones, but their proximity to the stone circle has influenced thinking as to what they are interpreted as.

Torhousekie stone circle

Trip No.139  Entry No.5  Date Added: 25th Jun 2019
Site Type: Stone Circle Country: Scotland (Dumfries and Galloway)
Visited: Yes on 17th Jun 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Torhouskie Stone Circle: Our second stone circle of the day, and right next to the road. Contained by a fence to protect it from the huge cattle in the next field, this is a lovely little stone circle. We were at this site for what must have been an hour. Just after we arrived, a large ‘white van’ pulled up right behind us and sat there for almost half an hour before leaving; I had to be careful not to get it in my photographs. This stone circle was very popular with visitors, most of whom let themselves in through the kissing gate, walked to the information sign, then left within about five minutes.

This was the first time I used my wide angled lens, and I wasn’t sure how the focus on the photos was turning out, so I took some photos with my normal zoom to stitch together. Whilst we were there, the heavens opened for a short while, with needle-like shards of rain coming straight at my face thanks to the wind gusting across this fairly open piece of land.

I was struck how near the stone circle was to the River Bladnoch to the south of the stone circle, which glinted in the strong sunlight, in between rain showers.

The Sill

Trip No.140  Entry No.3  Date Added: 25th Jun 2019
Site Type: Museum Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 23rd Jun 2019. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: The Sill, Once Brewed: After visiting Great Chesters/Aesica, we popped over to the Sill for a cup of tea and a bowl of soup. It took three attempts to get our (simple) order correct, although as the Sill was popular with walkers, it meant queuing up each time to get the correct items.

I was curious to see if Tynedale North of the Wall Archaeology Group had their display about their surveys at Edges Green and Cleughfoot. We walked round the very small exhibition, which included a piece of rock art (on loan from the Great North Museum) and an inscribed Roman stone, but could see nothing from the group.

It was difficult to know if the display was aimed at adults or children; having wandered around it, most of it seemed aimed at the younger age group.

A pleasant place for a rest and refreshments, but I had expected more of a museum.

Aescia Roman Fort

Trip No.140  Entry No.1  Date Added: 25th Jun 2019
Site Type: Stone Fort or Dun Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 23rd Jun 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Aesica (Great Chesters) Roman Fort: In a repeat of our last visit in November 2016 (when we came here to see where the Roman aqueduct finished) we parked just off the small, gated road at NY 70421 66432, by the track leading up to Modern Farm and the Hadrian’s Wall Path.

Whilst I was photographing the inside of the fort, Andrew hopped over the stile at NY 70443 66807 and walked down the slope. As well as seeing a large stone with carved edging embedded in the dry stone wall, he identified the site of the bath house, previously earthed over by English Heritage to preserve it, as some stone were sticking out of the dry earth. Just down the slope was a piped spring which emerged into a modern cattle trough. Was this the spring that served the bath house?

The bath house, visible on UK Grid Finder, is centred on NY 70473 66733; the spring emerges at NY 70473 66698.

Aesica Vallum Round Barrow

Trip No.140  Entry No.2  Date Added: 25th Jun 2019
Site Type: Round Barrow(s) Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 23rd Jun 2019. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Aesica Vallum Tumulus: This tumulus is marked on the OS map and recorded in Pastcape. As we were nearby, and the tumulus was a simple walk along the metalled road, we walked along to take a look. The field had just been harvested, so we popped in to take a quick look.

Just to the south of the tumulus is the course of the vallum, parts of which are visible to the south west of the tumulus, between the tumulus and the dry stone wall, running west. At first, we thought this was the barrow, as it is much more obvious in the field, but looking closely at the map on our phones, we realised it was indeed the vallum and the barrow was further north.

Bladnoch

Trip No.139  Entry No.4  Date Added: 24th Jun 2019
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: Scotland (Dumfries and Galloway)
Visited: Yes on 17th Jun 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Bladnoch Standing Stone: We found this stone very hard to spot, eventually parking outside the cottages opposite the dry stone wall the stone was in and walked up and down the road with our GPS. We eventually spotted it by looking along the drystone wall and seeing where the tallest stone poking out of the wall was.

The stone was almost completely covered by wild roses, nettles and brambles, but we managed to push them gently to one side to take a photograph.

We did look for an entrance into the field by the river to look at the other side, but did not see one.

St. Kennera's Cross

Trip No.139  Entry No.3  Date Added: 24th Jun 2019
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: Scotland (Dumfries and Galloway)
Visited: Yes on 17th Jun 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: St Kennera's Cross, Kirkinner: It took a little bit of doing to contact the vicar at Kirkinner – numerous phone calls, but no answer, then an email to which there was initially no reply, so I'd crossed this cross slab off our visit list.

An email eventually came through whilst we were near Castle Douglas, travelling down the A75, giving the name and phone number of the church officer. On phoning the number, I was very kindly told the church was open today until 5pm, although it could be arranged to opened it Tuesday if necessary.

We eventually arrived at the church mid-afternoon. The church felt cold, lonely and neglected, the cross slab a mere by-thought in the north eastern corner, by the kettles and cups. We did try and get a photograph from the gallery, but a notice told us the stairs were too dangerous to use.

We later saw similar cross slabs at Whithorn Museum, and were told that the stone these slabs were made of was very difficult to carve as the stone flaked away at an angle from the carving, and they often broke.

It took a little while of looking at it to see the 'armpits' of the cross (carved running into the circular holes of the cross) and to see the shape of the cross itself.

The guide at Whithorn was surprised we managed to get into the church.

Temple of Mithras (Carrawburgh)

Trip No.140  Entry No.5  Date Added: 23rd Jun 2019
Site Type: Ancient Temple Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 23rd Jun 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Temple of Mithras, Brocolita: This being a Sunday, there was a constant stream of visitors, most of whom ignored the fort and came straight down to the temple. I had hoped for bright blue skies and fluffy white clouds, which there had been at Great Chesters a couple of hours earlier.

Nothing much in the temple had changed since 2014, although I spotted more details on the altar stones this time, and took a few more photographs. Having just re-read Pastscape 1013363, "Replicas of the internal fittings have been fitted in cast stone", which came as a bit of a surprise!

Carrawburgh Roman Fort

Trip No.140  Entry No.4  Date Added: 23rd Jun 2019
Site Type: Stone Fort or Dun Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 23rd Jun 2019. My rating: Condition 2 Access 4

Log Text: Carrawburgh Roman Fort/Brocolitia: When I last came here in 2014 there was a £4 charge for the car park which allowed you to also park at Housesteads and at other car parks at locations along the wall. Today, the machine has been upgraded and it is £1 for up to one hour. Other charges apply beyond that time. Having been to the Sill and paid to park there, we thought that charge covered this car park as well, but we had no receipt to leave in the car, so we paid our £1 again.

The sign at the entrance to the fort reads: “Carrawburgh (Procolitia) AD 134-383.
Garrisoned successively by the Aquitani, Cugerni and, in the third century, the Batavi; infantry units 500 strong. This was the last fort to be added to Hadrian’s Wall and obliterates the vallum. / Permissable access to the fort. No access to the trail. Please do not leave litter or disturb the cattle and sheep. Dogs to be kept on a lead. J. du Cane. Freeholder.”

The earthworks are nowhere near as impressive as the remains of Great Chesters Rman fort, further to the west, but it is a sizeable fort. We walked around the eastern, southern and western sides of the earthworks; some remains of the ramparts on the western side remains. We needed to walk back to the south eastern corner to go through the gate to the path down to the Temple of Mithras.

On our way back, Andrew went off the track to try and find a tumulus nearby. This had all but disappeared and we were unable to locate it, but we came across a spring, marked by a wooden post (as Robin Hood’s Well in Chollerton), with large stones and boulders piled up around a drinking trough. The spring is marked on the HE map of the area but no formal records of it (for photos see my separate entry below).

Roman Cross (Sheepstor)

Trip No.134  Entry No.15  Date Added: 22nd Jun 2019
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 15th May 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: Roman Cross, Sheepstor: After having been to Whittenknowles, Drizzlecomb & Yellowmead, we drove back through Sheepstor and I asked to be able to stop and photograph this cross, which I'd seen on the way, just outside St. Leonard’s Church in Sheepstor village.

The cross has been restored, and almost looks modern, but reading its relatively complicated history, it is fortunate to have survived (see the references in the main site page text).

The cross is in a lovely location, and I would have loved to have had time to pop into the church, but my aching feet and the need for a meal and a drink dictated otherwise!

St Leonard's Well (Sheepstor)

Trip No.134  Entry No.16  Date Added: 22nd Jun 2019
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 15th May 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: St Leonard's Holy Well, Sheepstor: I spotted this well as we were driving down to the car park near Whittenknowles and we stopped to photograph it on the way back.

The sunshine was really, really bright coming over the wall, so the few photos I took worked out best looking at the well from an angle. The well was completely dry, with the well structure full of ferns and weeds.

Our last stop of the day before going for an ice cold drink at Princetown.

Bennet's Cross

Trip No.134  Entry No.1  Date Added: 22nd Jun 2019
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 15th May 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Bennet's Cross, Devon: Not on our schedule for the day, but as we drove right past this cross, we pulled over in the small car park just to the eastern side of the B3212to take a closer look at this cross and to take some photographs. A slight problem on the morning, as the car park, even before 9.30am was chock-a-block with a party of ‘twitchers’, so as our car was blocking some of theirs in, Andrew stayed with the car and I ran over to the cross.

The early morning sunshine was really bright, so parts of the cross were in deep shade. I did see the carved WB on the cross, but the shadows were really deep. The intention was to stop on the way back and photograph the cross in a different light, but we were so tired at the end of the day, I forgot.

Glenquicken Circle

Trip No.139  Entry No.1  Date Added: 22nd Jun 2019
Site Type: Stone Circle Country: Scotland (Dumfries and Galloway)
Visited: Yes on 17th Jun 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Glenquicken Stone Circle:
Our first stop of the day, and in a delightfully rural location. There was a small layby just to the east of a bridge over Englishman’s Burn at NX 50847 58492 which was large enough for one car. Walking to the gate into the field at NX 50904 58456, the gate had been tied up with the Gordian Knott, but was eventually undone. There was an easy enough walk of a couple of hundred meters across a lush field of knee deep pasture and wild flowers.

The stone circle was indeed over a fence topped with barbed wire, but a gate to its east at NX 51057 58211 (opposite a modern cairn) let us in to the field, and we followed the small trails through the grass where other people had walked.

This was the first stone circle I’ve seen with a large central stone – can’t recall seeing any like this in Northumberland.

Merrivale settlement

Trip No.133  Entry No.1  Date Added: 22nd Jun 2019
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 14th May 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Merrivale Prehistoric Settlement: This was our first stop of the day as part of a three day guided tour by Sandy G, who certainly knew his way around this site, and all the others in this Bronze Age complex.

We parked in the small car park at SX 55311 75018 and, having introduced ourselves to the rest of Sandy's small Expeditionary Force, we walked the short distance onto the moor to start at this site. With the nearer stone rows within site just at the top of the hill, expectations for an exciting rest of the day rose rapidly.

The only downside was the absolutely howling wind that blew throughout the day, sometimes makingit difficult to stand upright. However, it was a cheap way of exfoliating!

I found out when copying photos from the memory card of my camera to my computer that the external GPS device on my camera had stopped working, so I was unable to identify the precise locations of the hut circles I photographed.

Alnmouth Wall Rock 34

Trip No.138  Entry No.2  Date Added: 13th Jun 2019
Site Type: Rock Art Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 3rd Jun 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Alnmouth Wall Rock 34: see main visit report for Alnmouth Wall Rock 32.

Alnmouth Wall Rock 36

Trip No.138  Entry No.3  Date Added: 13th Jun 2019
Site Type: Rock Art Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 3rd Jun 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Alnmouth Wall Rock Panel 36: For main visit report see AWR Panel 32. Trying to match these panels with the photos on the ERA records was interesting, but using the grid references taken with our GPS and the photos, I've managed this as best I can.

Alnmouth Wall Rock 37

Trip No.138  Entry No.4  Date Added: 13th Jun 2019
Site Type: Rock Art Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 3rd Jun 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Alnmouth Wall Rock Panel 37: See visit report for Alnmouth Wall Rock Panel 32

Alnmouth Wall Rock 32

Trip No.138  Entry No.1  Date Added: 13th Jun 2019
Site Type: Rock Art Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 3rd Jun 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Alnmouth Wall Rock Panels, Alnmouth: A short walk up a lane towards the trig point, with some very friendly horses in the field and some lovely views over the sea and beach. The wall runs for quite a long way, with its eastern side up a slope so it was a little precarious (for those who don't like slopes!) to photograph those panels.

If you visit, there were many, many rabbit holes, so be careful when walking, especially around the trees and the base of the wall.

I have recorded these panels in the order we saw them on the day. Some of the wall was hidden by wooden fencing (a small fenced off area for farm bits and pieces) and brambles/barbed wire, Many panels at the base and top of the wall are covered by turf, so we only managed to see 11 out of 39.

I have three panels I'm trying to match up my photos with those recorded on ERA (138.7, 8 and 11). Despite having reasonably accurate grid references, it's been a bit of a challenge to match up the and will add these when I can.