Yellowmead

Trip No.134  Entry No.18  Date Added: 17th Jul 2019
Site Type: Stone Circle Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 15th May 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Yellowmead Fourfold Stone Circle: This stone circle has long been on my wish-list, but I thought I’d never be able to see it, because access was described as being difficult.

Fortunately, Dave Parks and Sandy G had been here before and knew the pitfalls, selecting the right route for us. We were also extremely fortunate in coming here after a prolonged dry spell, so we encountered no boggy areas, apart from one by the stream on the way back to the car park.

By this time of the afternoon, I was hot and tired, and my feet ached really badly, but I was determined to see this stone circle. I should have swapped my walking boots for my wellies to make the walking a little softer on the soles of my feet, but stubbornly didn’t. Mistake. However, the walk to see this circle was well worth it, although I need to apologise to the rest of the group for being very grumpy on the way back. Also, by this time the sun had come out and everyone was getting sunburned, despite the continuous application of sun-screen.

It was really good to have the experts here to describe the monuments to us. Gordon and Dave Parks wandered off to see if they could find other stones in the stone row further to the WSW of the row, but the grass was knee high in this part of the meadow.

Andrew, on the way back to the pub after our epic trip, was saying that he didn’t think the stone circle was entirely genuine; his thinking was the Victorians had ‘beautified’ it for tourists, so I spent some time in the car pulling up the different websites. The stone circle is described as having been ‘faithfully restored’, but Andrew still has his doubts.

We all met up in the Prince of Wales in Princetown for a couple of ice cold pints, before dispersing for the evening. I confess to not recognising Sandy G in the bar, as he didn’t have his hat on – I’ve never seen him without it!

Yellowmead cairn

Trip No.134  Entry No.20  Date Added: 19th Jul 2019
Site Type: Cairn Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 15th May 2019. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 3

Log Text: Yellowmead Cairn: Whilst we started walking back to the car park, trying a different path mown through the grass, first running uphill then eastwards then south, we passed this cairn and stopped to take a closer look.

Whilst we were doing this, someone mentioned that the photo of the stone row on the Portal wasn’t the row we’d just looked at, but looked more like a line of stones running above, and parallel to the leat to the south west of the circle, and which we’d crossed to reach it. Some of the group split off to look at this more closely, and decided that the stones in the photo were of tin workings and an old track.

There was not much left of this cairn at all, although the slight mound did stand out nicely at the top of the slope.

Modern Stone Circle near Kestor Rock

Trip No.135  Entry No.3  Date Added: 19th Jul 2019
Site Type: Modern Stone Circle etc Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 16th May 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Modern Stone Circle near Kestor Rock: As confirmed by the Dartefacts website, This stone circle is on land that used to the belong to Aid Edmundson and Jennifer Saunders. It is not recorded on Pastscape or Historic England.

The stone circle is on private land, but can be viewed over the fences to the west and southern sides.

We were also lucky enough to be with Janet Daynes and Gordon Fisher who had spent some time on this property doing excavations in years gone by. It was absolutely fascinating to hear them talk about the things they had found. Apparently the whole of the stone circle had, at one time, been surrounded by trees which had blown down or been cut down. The area is surrounded by Historic England List ID 1016691, “Coaxial field system and prehistoric settlements at Kestor”, but this area is not included in the scheduled area.

Kestor Settlement

Trip No.135  Entry No.2  Date Added: 31st Jul 2019
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 16th May 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Kestor Settlement (of which Round Pound is part of): Only across the road from the Round Pound, which I learned later was part of this settlement and not separate from it, as we walked up the slope to the east of Round Pound, I couldn’t believe the amount, and quality, of the structures that remained here.

At first, it was all a little mind-boggling, but then Sandy G produced a plan of the site, and I kept asking where we were on the plan, so I could sort my photographs accordingly. The views to the east and north east would have been quite amazing, had it not been for the mist around that day.

At home, I poured over Butler's "Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities", volume 2, pages 170 onwards, which has a map of the settlement and descriptions of the field systems and the individual houses and enclosures within it. Brilliant!

Shovel Down Fourfold Circle

Trip No.135  Entry No.8  Date Added: 1st Aug 2019
Site Type: Stone Circle Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 16th May 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 5 Access 3

Log Text: Shovel Down Fourfold Stone Circle: Again, so many monuments in such a short walk – but by now, I should have stopped being surprised! At Kes Tor, Sandy G had spotted AngieLake, who had arrived a little later than us at the car park, and who had wandered about looking for us. By this time, it was lunchtime, and we were pleased to re-group and sit and take a welcome break, using the two large stones as the head of row 2 as a convenient picnic spot.

Whilst everyone was sharing out their sandwiches and tea/coffee, I took a few minutes to try and photograph the small-ish stones of the fourfold stone circle, largely hidden by the grassy tussocks, but none-the-less still recognisable as a kerbed cairn, although a little similar (if smaller) than Yellowmead.

With its proximity to row 2 and row 4, and other rows and features I'd not yet seen, this was an amazing spot.

Shovel Down row 2

Trip No.135  Entry No.9  Date Added: 1st Aug 2019
Site Type: Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 16th May 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 5 Access 3

Log Text: Shovel Down Row 2 with fallen standing stones: We enjoyed a much welcome lunch break at the two pillar stones at the head (southern end) of row 2. Angie got some photographs of Andy B sitting on the larger of the two pillars, and later I wished I’d have stood over her shoulder to get similar shots.

I didn’t walk to the northern most end of this stone circle, as I thought we proposed to visit it on the way back to the car park, but we took a slightly different route, so didn’t see the stones at its other terminus.

By this time of the day, the number of monuments we'd seen already was getting a little overwhelming (so many in such a relatively small piece of moorland), I was really glad I’ been very careful to write down the numbers of the photographs I’d taken for each monument, making it easier to sort the photos out into ‘which monument was which’ that evening.

Luston Holy Well

Trip No.169  Entry No.1  Date Added: 8th Aug 2021
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (Herefordshire)
Visited: Yes on 14th Jul 2021. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Luston Holy Well: This well is not shown on the HE map search, or listed on the HE Research Records or Herefordshire SMR. It is located at the corner of the B4361 and Eye Lane.

We parked on Townsend Park, opposite the well and walked across the road.

There is a plaque on the north eastern corner of the well proclaiming it to be a holy well. Can’t (yet) find out any more information about it.

The handle of the pump had been chained and padlocked in place. We couldn’t hear any water flowing, and looking down the drain cover, the water was stagnant.

St Michael's Churchyard Cross (Knill)

Date Added: 1st Aug 2024
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Herefordshire)
Visited: Yes on 16th Jul 2024. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Knill churchyard cross: our first (and only) site visit for some considerable time, due to my current mobility issues. The church was easy to access, and it was lovely to be out in a really rural area on a warm, if overcast day.

Whilst old, the church seemed unremarkable, with no monuments inside of note apart from one very pretty stained glass window and the font, which is thought to date from the 12th century.

A very impressive carved large wooden dragon sits just to the south east of the church.

St John the Baptist and St Alkmund (Aymestrey)

Trip No.165  Entry No.1  Date Added: 21st Jul 2021
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Herefordshire)
Visited: Yes on 9th Jul 2021. My rating: Condition 4 Access 4

Log Text: Churchyard Cross (Aymestrey): We were here for my son and DIL's wedding rehearsal, but I was also very keen to get out into the churchyard to photograph this cross before dusk fell. Whilst the cross is medieval, Beaker burials have been found nearby, and I'm doing further research on the church to find out if a wooden building might have pre-dated the 12th century church. A very pretty spot, although difficult to find the church car park (the small lane is just to the north of the northern wall of the churchyard), and we missed this, so parked in the village hall and walked back the 150-200m to the church along the (at that time of night) quiet A4110.

St Michael's Church (Kingsland)

Trip No.166  Entry No.1  Date Added: 22nd Jul 2021
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Herefordshire)
Visited: Yes on 11th Jul 2021. My rating: Condition 3 Access 4

Log Text: St Michael's Churchyard Cross plus Motte and Bailey: This is the church my son and DIL should have been married in over a year ago, but thanks to Covid, then urgent roof replacement works, the wedding was moved to Aymestrey. Lovely church (from what we could see of it behind the scaffolding, almost Minster sized), but the cross took a little bit of spotting, as at first glance it looked just like a sundial (to be viewed from the back of a horse).

A gate from the near the entrance to the churchyard leads off onto a pleasant walk towards the motte and bailey site. As we enjoyed our walk, the rain started to pelt down, so we retreated back to the car. Nice site, and a lot to see.

Bredwardine Church

Date Added: 27th Jul 2021
Site Type: Carving Country: England (Herefordshire)
Visited: Yes on 13th Jul 2021. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Brewardine Church (St Andrew's): A very pretty church, in a lovely setting, and we were very surprised to not only find it open, but a number of other visitors came and went whilst we were there.

There is parking for a number of car in the small lane that runs up to the church, although most of the other visitors came on bicycles.

In addition to seeing parts of the 12th century structure, a number of carvings and a Norman font on weird tripod-like legs, there is also a churchyard cross. We spent some time just enjoying being able to look round a church and its churchyard again after a good 15 months of not being able to do this. And in glorious sunshine, too!

Arthur's Stone

Trip No.168  Entry No.2  Date Added: 28th Jul 2021
Site Type: Chambered Tomb Country: England (Herefordshire)
Visited: Yes on 13th Jul 2021. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Arthur's Stone: This was a really weird visit. No sooner had we parked in the small layby next to the stone's enclosure, and I'd started to take photographs, than a lady walked along the lane, right into the enclosure, sat down and started to have a picnic, so she was prominent in all the photographs. I was absolutely gobsmacked!

I plucked up the courage to ask her to move whilst I finished taking photographs, which she very kindly (but reluctantly) did, to the railing of the enclosure. Feeling somewhat guilty, I started talking to her, and it turned out she was an archaeologist who had come up to join a party of university students in a dig. A pleasant enough chat, but left me feeling uneasy that people would act that this (but then perhaps that's just me), and sort of ruined the visit for me.

Kilpeck church

Trip No.168  Entry No.3  Date Added: 28th Jul 2021
Site Type: Early Christian Sculptured Stone Country: England (Herefordshire)
Visited: Yes on 13th Jul 2021. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Kilpeck Church and Castle: Our second church of the day, and I was delighted to find this open. Again, there was a steady stream of visitors, many of whom had a quick look in the church then walked round the outside to look at the corbels and gargoyles.

I bought a book about the church, largely aimed at children, called "From Big Bang to Beasties and Beyond" by Diana Thomas, which is very informative, with lots of information.

After taking photographs inside and out (including all the corbels and most of the gargoyles), we wandered over to the motte and bailey site - much, much larger and more interesting than we thought, and spent a happy half hour enjoying the sunshine. Only one other couple wandered over to look at the castle whilst we were there.

Higgin's Well

Trip No.168  Entry No.4  Date Added: 29th Jul 2021
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (Herefordshire)
Visited: Yes on 13th Jul 2021. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Higgins's Well, Little Birch: We parked outside the church (St Mary's) and walked down the lane towards the well. We could hear water running in the distance, so followed our ears.

A very small stream runs downhill behind the well from Athelstan's Wood currently appearing to flow both into the well and to another pond and stream, joining a larger stream which runs to the south of the well.

The well is very overgrown, and was deep in shadow at the time of our visit. Stepping inside the gate, there is an 80cm stone slab which runs between the northern wall of the well and the well pool, so it's possible to step into the well and, if you wanted, dip your bucket into the well pool.

St John the Evangelist (Gressingham)

Date Added: 6th Jun 2015
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Lancashire)
Visited: Yes on 4th Jun 2015. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: 9th Century Anglo Saxon Cross Fragments, St John The Evangelist, Gressingham: Having decided upon a day out in Lancashire/Cumbria on an Anglo Saxon Cross hunt, this was our stop of the day. We approached from junction 35 of the M6, taking the B6254 through Over Kellet and taking a right hand turn, named Fall Kirk, down to Gressingham. This is a pretty little village with the church on the junction of Fall Kirk and Back Lane, sited on a hill next to a small stream which joins the River Lune to the south. Not having phoned through before visiting, we were delighted to find the church open, with a lovely Norman arch over the entrance door on the south wall. But whilst it was warm and sunny outside, this Grade 1 listed church was cold inside.

Whilst the Pastscape and Wikipedia notes talk about more than one fragment of 9th cross inside the church, we could only spot one, despite a thorough hunt by both of us. This was strapped into the north-east corner of the nave, just before a large tomb for George Marton, so I was unable to turn it round to photograph the reverse side. The 9th cross shaft built into the external south-west corner of the nave was easy to spot, with the sunlight picking out the decoration nicely [note: having reviewed the Pastscape notes, another fragment might be inside the vestry, which we didn't check].

There was a pulpit of dark wood dated 1714 on the south side of the church, and retained some of the original box pews. There was also a tapestry on hessian against the south wall, opposite the chest tomb and the stone fragment which caught my imagination – someone has put a lot of hard work into this.

St Margaret (Hornby)

Date Added: 6th Jun 2015
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Lancashire)
Visited: Yes on 4th Jun 2015. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: Anglo Saxon Cross Fragments, St. Margaret's Church, Hornby: From Gressingham, we continued east along the twisty-turny Back Lane, over the narrow bridge over the River Lune, to its junction with the A683. Turning right, we were almost immediately in Hornby. St. Margaret’s sits on the left hand side of the road, before the main road takes a right hand turn. There is ample parking on the right hand side of the road opposite the church which is distinctive with its octagonal tower.

Opening the gate from Main Street, you fall into the porch of the church, which is very dark. Inside, the church appears very modern and (to me) without personality, although there is evidence of much older structures such as the traces of old roof lines in the interior west wall; Pastscape records it as having building having started in 1514, with the nave being rebuilt in 1817 with clerestorey being added in 1889.

There was no church guide, just one board with an A4 sheet of notes. This told us that: “Under the tower are two fragments of 9th century crosses, one showing the five loaves and two fishes; this is unique in England, though there are two in Ireland. They both came from the Priory ...”, although the Pastscape record says they are 8th to 9th century and that both fragments had been reused in a 19th century barn wall at Priory Farm before coming to the St. Margaret’s. The church notes continued: “The churchyard contains a huge cross base, which may be pre-Conquest or Norman. The original cross could have been twelve feet high. Its presence is something of a mystery.”

The Anglo Saxon Cross Fragment with the carving of the five loaves and two fishes was impressive, and definitely worth stopping to see. Alongside it, to the right, was a much smaller fragment with chevrons.

The churchyard is beautifully kept, with well mown grass and shrubs being clipped into amazing shapes and kept low to the ground. The cross base is huge in comparison to others that I’ve seen – I had to climb on top of a stone to photograph the top, which has a slot for a cross to go into on top.

Halton St Wilfrid's Churchyard

Date Added: 6th Jun 2015
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Lancashire)
Visited: Yes on 4th Jun 2015. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Ancient Cross, St. Wilfrid's, Halton: From St. Margaret’s in Horby, we followed the busy A683, turning off onto the road to Halton just south of Caton. Although only a side road, this road seemed busier than the main road.

This must be one of the most dangerous sites I’ve visited. The church is located on a bend on this busy, busy road and the gate into the church is less than a foot from the edge of the road with no pavement, and it’s quite stiff to open – nearly got run over trying to get into the church and had to be very careful exiting, as you couldn’t see what was coming round the bend to the right.

The church looks more like a house with a stone tower, and unfortunately was locked, which was a shame, because the Pastscape record tells us there are pieces of 5 Anglo Saxon stones built into the interior of the tower.

According to the Pastscape record 41153, the pre-Norman cross (restored in 1890) tells the story of the Sigurd legend (which I’ll need to find out about), although to my eye not all the pieces matched and must be several crosses amalgamated together. A bit of a disappointment really.

St Wilfrid (Melling)

Date Added: 18th Jun 2015
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Lancashire)
Visited: Yes on 6th Jun 2015. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Anglo Saxon Cross, St. Wilfrid's Church, Melling: From seeing the reconstructed cross at Halton, we set off back to Melling, to work our way back towards Levens Park/Sizergh Fell to end the day. Following the A683 back through Hornby, we drove through the village of Melling, with very narrow roads, and with cars and huge trucks trying to pass each other, it was a bit precarious to say the least. The church is on a very narrow section of Main Street, so we ended up parking in Gillison Close, having to turn right just past the church into a road that eventually turns into Lodge Lane. There was no footpath for 200 yards down this small road, which, given the amount of traffic on it, was exciting for pedestrians [note: there are steps up to the church, so disabled access is going to be difficult].

Formerly called St. Peter’s (but I haven’t been able to find out when the dedication changed), this pretty church is Grade 1 listed. The British History Online notes state that the church “stands on the west slope of an elevated plateau, the top of which forms an ancient earthwork known as Castle Mount”. This church looks ancient from outside but deceptively modern inside, apart from the tower. The ADS website was down at the time of writing this, but both Wikipedia and the “A Church Near You” website states that “the earliest fabric in the church dates from around 1300 or earlier ... it is possible that a church has been on the site since the 10th century.”

We found a fragment of Anglo Saxon cross tucked away on a window sill on the west interior wall, alongside a modern ceramic bowl and a piece of medieval grave marker. This short piece of cross shaft has basket-work interlacing which British History Online says was taken out of the churchyard wall a few years ago. Curiously, the on-line records of the Corpus of Anglo Saxon Stone Sculpture has only a one line mention of this stone, saying there are similarities with cross shafts found at Aspatria and Lancaster.

There is apparently a piece of Norman chevron ornament, found below the tower floor, which is now built into the vestry wall, but this was not accessible during our visit.

In the porch there are a couple of medieval grave markers displayed against the east wall. Outside, near the south wall, there is a very tall sundial, which must have been meant to have been read from horseback. It still has it’s (now green) brass plate on the top, but no gnomon. Wikipedia says it probably dates from the 18th century and is Grade II listed.

St John the Baptist (Tunstall)

Date Added: 7th Jun 2015
Site Type: Early Christian Sculptured Stone Country: England (Lancashire)
Visited: Yes on 4th Jun 2015. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Votive Stone, St. John The Baptist, Tunstall: Driving from St. Wilfrid’s, Melling, we continued north along the A683. Just mile or so along the road, the A683 becomes a ‘minor road’ splitting off to the left, whilst the main carriageway continues as the A687. Following the A683 into Tunstall village, Church Lane is the last turn to the right hand side, almost at the end of the village. This road disappears into green fields with a few large houses along the way. After about 600 metres, the church appears to your left hand side, with parking places outside the entry stile. This is a glorious country setting with a beautifully looked after churchyard.

The ADS web site was down at the time of writing, but the British History Online notes are really helpful, telling me that this church, now named St. John The Baptist, used to be dedicated to St. Michael, and is largely of “15th century date .... there are some remains, however, of a 13th century structure, fragments of which have been used in the rebuilding”.

The church guide was £5, so we didn’t buy it, but quickly looked through it to find it mentioned a Roman altar as well as the votive stone, but no clues as to the whereabouts of either - I had to use my phone to find out where the votive stone was; we found no suggestion of the Roman altar, although there was a display of architectural pieces and medieval grave markers by the west door which included what looked like a very worn Anglo Saxon cross head.

To assist future visitors, the votive stone is on the eastern-most of the three windows (nearest to the organ), on the left hand side of the window surround. Curiously, it has been placed on its side.

At the east end of the south aisle there is a small chapel which contains a much broken effigy, said to be of Sir Thomas Tunstall. There is also an ancient chest just outside the south chapel and outside a sundial shaft which stands on three octagonal steps.

Asfordby Cross

Trip No.121  Entry No.2  Date Added: 19th Mar 2019
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Leicestershire and Rutland)
Visited: Yes on 17th Mar 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Asfordby Village Cross: Not really much to see, as the cross shaft is obviously modern, on an older base, but as this was just round the corner from All Saints, we whizzed round to take a very quick look.