St Bartholomew (Sproxton)

Trip No.121  Entry No.3  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 4 Access 4

Log Text: Sproxton Cross, St Bartholomew's Church: This church was a little way out of the village and we parked in a small metalled area next to a 'gallop' at SK 85667 24972 and braved the wind to walk back down the road to the gate into the churchyard.

The vicar had previously told us the cross had been moved inside the church, but looking after 11 churches in total, he must have been confused, because as soon as we rounded the west end of the church to reach the entrance through the south porch, the cross came into sight. What is inside the church is an 11th century cross slab/grave marker.

This is a very quiet spot, apart from the occasional car that came hurtling past.
The inside of the church appears relatively modern, but has some really interesting corbels. We also found a portion of carving, either part of a fluted column, or cemented to it, next to the north western side of the door into the tower.

We did have a good scout around for the shaped stone in the south western wall mentioned by The Journal of Antiquities, but were unable to find it.

In the field to the south of the church is a well, but could find no mention of this on Pastscape or Historic England.

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.

All Saints (Asfordby)

Trip No.121  Entry No.1  Date Added: 24th Mar 2019
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Leicestershire and Rutland)
Visited: Yes on 17th Mar 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: All Saints, Asfordby: The church is usually open on Saturdays between 2pm and 4pm, but we were fortunate because there was a service here today, from 10.30am until 11.30am, so we arrived as close as we could to the finish time of the service (which, because we got lost, was 12 noon). The congregation was having coffee and biscuits, but made us hugely welcome – even our son and DIL’s Labrador was allowed into the church and made a fuss of. The vicar had very kindly made arrangements for us to meet the Secretary and Historian of the church, who warmly welcomed us, introduced us to the Curate, and showed us round the church.

All Saints is very obviously a vibrant, active church, and the building is well used for community activities, which is lovely to see.

Miriam, the historian, very kindly showed us the three Anglo Saxon stones cemented into the far south western corner of the nave, with members of the congregation very kindly re-arranging tables and chairs for us to have easier access.

I came prepared with a list of features I really wanted to see, including the rare Tudor painted bench end (next to a pillar just to the east at the north western corner of the nave), the Green Man (on a boss high up in the middle of the nave) and Norman aumbry (in the northern wall at the north eastern corner of the nave) with its original Norman chevrons. Miriam also pointed out a ‘ladder’ (stairway to heaven) on the pillar at the north eastern side of the nave, and pilgrim crosses and what looked like a scratch sundial on the external western side of the door frame into the church.

I really could have spent a lot longer in the church, as it had a lovely, calm, reflective atmosphere and would love to attend a service here.

St Mary and St Hardulf (Breedon on the Hill)

Trip No.120  Entry No.1  Date Added: 20th Mar 2019
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Leicestershire and Rutland)
Visited: Yes on 15th Mar 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 5 Access 4

Log Text: St Mary & St Hardulph, Breedon on the Hill: This church is visible from miles around, perched on top of its hill, which used to be an Iron Age hillfort (The Bulwarks). Most of the fortifications have been quarried away, and at the eastern side of the church there is a steep drop down into a large quarry, protected by a substantial metal fence and barbed wire. This is also the site of a beacon.

We arrived on a day when there was a weather warning for high winds, and my goodness, the winds were high. Other walkers were sitting in their cars in the small car park at the viewpoint, whilst we struggled to open the car doors and braved the winds to walk up to the south porch to let ourselves into the church! I am glad I had my husband with me, as the wind made the outer porch door rattle badly and it sounded as if a group of people were standing just outside the door having a muffled conversation. Very spooky, although the atmosphere in the church was friendly and welcoming, and I could have spent several more hours here.

There is a church guide with a plan of the stones, but not all of them are included individually. I went armed with a copy of A W Clapham's paper "The Carved Stones at Breedon on the Hill, Leicestershire, and their position in the History of English Art". I had problems linking his descriptions with the actual stones, so ended up making my own drawing and labelling the stones and photo numbers, so it was easier to 'unpick' once I was at home.

I could have spent at least several more hours here, but time was pressing, and I left reluctantly, to brave the wind yet again!

Camp Hill (Catcherside)

Trip No.119  Entry No.5  Date Added: 28th Feb 2019
Site Type: Hillfort Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 24th Feb 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Camp Hill Hillfort, Catcherside, Knowesgate: We drove up to Catcherside, which was very obviously a very well looked after cluster of farmhouses with a common courtyard between. As Andrew was looking for somewhere to park, a man walked out of Catcherside Cottage so I leapt out of the car and asked if it would be OK if we could park for 20 mins to go and look at the settlement. He said it was his daughter’s farm, but went away to ask, came back and said that was OK. As Andrew came back from parking a little way out of the lane, he hadn’t brought my walking poles, so the gentleman lent me one of his. Nice!

As we walked by the gate into the garden of the cottage, I spotted a carved stone at NY 99191 87596, which looked like a round cross or pillar base (reminded me of the one we saw at Bamburgh Castle in the Stones Museum).

The farmland here looks really fertile, and the sheep were magnificent. The hillfort has been ploughed out on the southern and south western side, but the ditch, rampart and hollow way through the entrance on the north western sides are still clear. We did look for signs of structures within the oval platform at the top of the hill, but these looked as if they had been ploughed out by rig and furrow. A really nice walk on a warm February evening.

Rugley Walls (Cambo)

Trip No.119  Entry No.4  Date Added: 27th Feb 2019
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Saw from a distance on 24th Feb 2019. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Rugley Walls Holy Well: (note wellies a must if trying to get to the well): We stopped off here very quickly as we wanted to leave enough time to see the settlement at Catcherside.

Whilst we could see the source of the well, and there was a gate into the field, we would have need our wellies to get over the stream and boggy area to reach the well. As the light was starting to fail, we elected to carry on to Catcherside.

The well is shown on HE map but no mention on Pastscape. I need to look up the Holy Wells of Northumberland papers. All indications from Keys to the Past are that the well is connected to the deserted medieval village of Rugley Walls, which lies to the eastern side of the B342 road which runs through here.

I'd really like to see the structure that Andy Curtis photographed, so a return visit is on my wish list.

The Elsdon Stone

Trip No.119  Entry No.3  Date Added: 27th Feb 2019
Site Type: Early Christian Sculptured Stone Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 24th Feb 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: St Cuthberts, Elsdon (The Elsdon Stone): We stopped off at the very friendly and informal tea shop for tea (one tea bag in a pot for 2) and an ‘omelette sandwich’ (was supposed to be fried egg, and it took me a while to recover from the taste). We’ve been to the church before, but not with the HE and Pastscape information with us.

Spotted the unique Roman soldier’s tombstone (it lists his entire military career), the medieval cross slabs and the horse skulls. We thought we’d seen everything in this church on a previous visit on 25th August 2013, but indeed missed a great deal. Whilst I photographed most of what we took in today, at the time I wasn’t so interested in the medieval grave slabs and the Elsdon Stone (after all, it was only Roman, wasn’t it?!). I really wished I’d thought to take Peter Ryder’s articles on the medieval grave slabs, but until we got to the village, had no real thought of going back to the church.

I was really saddened to see how much the inside of the church has deteriorated since our visit four and a half years ago. There is so much black mould and dust around, especially towards the western end of the church.

I also hadn’t realised how complicated the stone work around the junction of the nave and the transept was – all small spaces and intricate junctions.

I could have spent all afternoon the churchyard photographing all the amazing grave markers.

Steng Cross and Winter's Gibbet

Trip No.119  Entry No.2  Date Added: 25th Feb 2019
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 24th Feb 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Steng Cross & Winter's Gibbet, near Elsdon: If there was a category for Ambience = Spooky/Very Spooky I would assign it to this site.

This is a remote spot, at the very top of the moor at the western end of the forest which runs along the north side of the road. The thought of anyone being hung in chains and left to rot, murderer or not, doesn't bear thinking about. I expected to turn around and find the ghost of William Winter breathing over my shoulder at any moment. Even the birds seemed silent with the cold wind whistling along the long, straight road nearby. I was glad to escape back to the car and head off to Elsdon.

Just inside Northumberland National Park, St Cuthbert’s Way runs on the south side of the fence next to the cross, although to get to it you have to walk back to the road, a little further west, then onto the marked footpath.

The Rothbury Cross

Trip No.119  Entry No.1  Date Added: 25th Feb 2019
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 24th Feb 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: The Rothbury Font/Anglo Saxon Cross & Other Fragments: We started off in Rothbury, parking on Haw Hill, just outside the church. We intended to go for a cup of tea, but the town was inundated with tourists and bikers, so we went straight to the church to find the font. I’d forgotten how glorious this was, but then it’s a long time since we looked in the church.

There were odd lights in the church, highlighting a few pieces, including the font, but it was so dark under the tower that, after hunting unsuccessfully for the light switches, we had to go and get the large flash gun from the car.

I also photographed the pieces on the west interior wall of the porch, and a sundial to the south of the nave. At the NW corner of the tower, there was a collection of fragments and a bell. The sign said: “These fragments of an Anglo Saxon Cross was discovered during recent building work in the All Saints Churchyard. It is believed to have been a carving that broke as it was being worked on”. The way the fragments were stacked in a jumble made it impossible to see any carvings on them.

We missed two scratch clocks on the exterior south wall; I looked for a church guide book, but the only thing on display were postcards, cards and the parish magazine.

On the western wall of the south transept, on the window sill, is a modern carving. The sign reads: “This carving celebrates the 500th anniversary of Bernard Gilpin. It depicts a historic incident in Rothbury Church. Bernard Gilpin was a Catholic priest whose brave efforts to bring Christianity and peace to the warring families of the Borders eventually earned their respect. They rewarded him with the honorary title of The Apostle of the North. Queen Mary order Gilpin to be brought to London to be burnt at the stake as a heretic. However, the Queen died before he reached London so he was able to return to the North to continue his good works”.

The notice board by the Font reads:
“The pedestal consists of the base of the ancient Saxon cross of Rothbury dating from the 8th century AD.
East Side: Before the Fall of Man
North Side: The Ascension of Christ with angels wither side and the Apostles looking upwards. The Evangelicals hold their gospels (this is said to be one of the oldest carvings of this subject in Britain).
West Side: After the Fall
South Side: The Saxon knot-work pattern
Other fragments of the Rothbury Cross are in the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne (Great North Museum). [The bowl is dated 1664].”

The Fawns (Kirkwhelpington)

Trip No.118  Entry No.5  Date Added: 17th Feb 2019
Site Type: Rock Art Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 14th Feb 2019. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Cairn SE of The Fawns (220m west of Broom House farm): This cairn is easily visible from the top of the ridge, as we walked from the Fawns Farm/Moated Manorial Earthworks, along the footpath, then down hill. The brown blob of the rubbing post comes into sight first, then the circular mound of the cairn comes into view as you get nearer.

A lovely spot to be buried in - very peaceful and quiet, at the bottom of two hillocks, with a small stream (now) running to the south. The gate from this field onto the footpath back to the village crosses this stream, which needs a long stride to get over it, but it's not very deep.

Wish I'd been able to see the rock art panel and the urns, but a trip to London would be necessary (if the British Museum can find these!).

It is a gentle walk down to the river valley below from here, following ancient dry stone walls now white with lichen. We drove to Kirkharle for a cup of tea and some soup, then visited St Wilfred's Church just along the road, which is where Capability Brown was baptised (he was born in Kirkharle). We stopped to see a very strange monument dedicated to "A Most Unfortunate Man" at the side of the road between the church and Kirkharle Courtyard.

Fawns Moated Site

Trip No.118  Entry No.4  Date Added: 17th Feb 2019
Site Type: Misc. Earthwork Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 14th Feb 2019. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Fawns Medieval Moated Site: "One of the few surviving examples in Northumberland and exceptionally well preserved" is how Historic England describe this site. As the third stop on our short circular walk to the east of Kirkwhelpington, this was a nice site to stop and look at. Easier to see the layout from the aerial photographs at home. Just a shame this site is on private land, as I'd have loved to have walked over the site to take a closer look.

There is much evidence of medieval field boundaries and rig and furrow ploughing all around here. The land looks rich and fertile, with magnificent sheep grazing in the fields.

St George's Well (Kirkwhelpington)

Trip No.118  Entry No.3  Date Added: 15th Feb 2019
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 14th Feb 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: St George's Holy Well, Kirkwhelpington: The second stop of four on our short circular walk around Kirkwhelpington. This well is in a lovely location, very peaceful and quiet (once the farmer and his numerous dogs had driven off in his four-wheel drive buggy!). Two holy wells within a couple of hundred yards was a treat, although I'm interested in finding out how they became known as holy wells and what they cured.

The water emerges very peacefully up into a small pool at the base of the stones. By the time the water has gone a couple of metres further downslope, it is quite lively, creating ripples through the grass.

Boulders appear to mark the edge of the pool and water channel, although I couldn't see any signs of a permanent structure.

St Mary's Well (Kirkwhelpington)

Trip No.118  Entry No.2  Date Added: 15th Feb 2019
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 14th Feb 2019. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: St Mary's Well, Kirkwhelpington: We had previously stopped off at St Bartholomew's Church in the village, and photographed the sundial and some medieval grave slabs. Parking at the eastern end of the the village, almost opposite the entrance to Eastlands, we crossed the small bridge over the ford and headed up over the fields. Having passed the last houses to our left hand side, we let ourselves through the gate into the field and turned right (east). This was the start of a short circular walk which took in 2 holy wells, the ruins of a moated medieval manorial complex and a tumulus.

No signs of the well in the field, which should have been located about 50m due west of the only tall tree in this part of the field, but walking down by the small stream, I spotted a spring issuing out of the bank, with larger stones above it, and what appeared to be a small iron basin over which the water flowed. Has the water from the well been culverted down to here?

There was no end of rig and furrow around here. This land used to belong to Newminster Abbey, which used to own land up to the Scottish Borders. The ruins of the Abbey can be found in Morpeth town centre.

Hallington Holy Well

Trip No.118  Entry No.1  Date Added: 15th Feb 2019
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 14th Feb 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Hallington Holy Well: We drove past this well, despite having the OS map with the location of the well marked. In the end we drove slowly back towards Hallington village, identifying the field because it is smaller than the others, with a fence line and line of trees that runs parallel to the road, about 100m away.

The gate into the field was open, but a large wooden shed indicates the field is usually used for horses. We walked south to the well pool, about 50m from the gate, coming across a large hollow with boulders/stones poking out of the bank; we interpreted this as having at one point having been a larger well pool.

The spring bubbles up from the western bank of the channel, just where the larger ‘pool’ narrows into the channel into which the water flows south to the field boundary. The water is clear and freely flowing. The collection of stones and wooden blocks leading across the mud indicated people still collect the water today, although I didn’t’ taste the waters.

This is a very lovely spot, and it was a great start of our afternoon out.

Barningham Moor 99

Trip No.117  Entry No.9  Date Added: 13th Feb 2019
Site Type: Rock Art Country: England (County Durham)
Visited: Yes on 6th Feb 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Barningham Moor 99: This was a lovely stone, found a few metres east of the track. The cup with three penannulars was clearly made out. The cup marks were a little more difficult to spot on the day, but could be felt by running my finger tips over the rock. The five cups towards the north end of the rock appear slightly darker than the rest of the rock on the photo.

Barningham Moor 114

Trip No.117  Entry No.8  Date Added: 13th Feb 2019
Site Type: Rock Art Country: England (County Durham)
Visited: Yes on 6th Feb 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 3

Log Text: Barningham Moor 114: This triangular shaped rock sits in relative isolation on the moor. There is considerably more lichen on the stone than when it was surveyed by NADRAP and photographed by rich32 in 2009. It was a good job I had the description with me, but even with rich32 pointing out the motifs, I’m still not sure I understood what I saw on the day. Looking at the photographs (which were taken in not too good lighting) together with the ERA drawing of the panel hasn’t really helped, either! I did query on the day if the grooves might have been the result of water running down the stone, but there was no fluting at the top to indicate this.

Cowclose House (Barningham Moor)

Trip No.117  Entry No.7  Date Added: 12th Feb 2019
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: England (Yorkshire (North))
Visited: Yes on 6th Feb 2019. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Cowclose House Unenclosed Settlement, Barningham Moor: In some ways, this settlement was much easier to identify on the ground than Grey Stones, just to the south east, as there was a ditch running east-west alongside the southern side of the metalled track, and a clear circular enclosure, which stood out as being bright green, shorter grass on the north side of the road.

Would love to go back with the notes and the plan and look round again.

Barningham Moor 97

Trip No.117  Entry No.6  Date Added: 12th Feb 2019
Site Type: Rock Art Country: England (County Durham)
Visited: Yes on 6th Feb 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Barningham Moor 97 rock art panel: This rock was easy to pick out amongst the others on the hillside. It has clearly been squared off and has ‘feather’ marks in the middle as if it was just about to be quarried, but the workmen have walked off and forgotten about it.

Richard pointed out the domino pattern on its south eastern corner, but my goodness I had to look hard for it, then once I’d seen it, it was difficult not to see.

Unfortunately, the light wasn’t brilliant. Would like to come back with a bottle of water and a brush or on a day with brilliant sunlight to bring out the motifs.

Grey Stones (Barningham Moor)

Trip No.117  Entry No.5  Date Added: 12th Feb 2019
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: England (Yorkshire (North))
Visited: Yes on 6th Feb 2019. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Grey Stones Settlement, Barningham Moor: As we parked just to the east of this settlement and walked south onto the moor, it was obvious we were walking up into something, but what that something was a little difficult to make out, until I started to be able to see low, circular banks. The blocks positioned on the banks made these easier to see.

Taking some photos and later comparing them with the HE and Pastscape records made it easier to understand what it was we were standing in. I’d love to go back with the notes and walk around again.

The carved rock (Barningham Moor 97) is within the settlement.

Barningham Moor 1.

Trip No.117  Entry No.4  Date Added: 12th Feb 2019
Site Type: Rock Art Country: England (County Durham)
Visited: Couldn't find on 6th Feb 2019. My rating: Access 4

Log Text: Barningham Moor 1: Despite having the grid co-ordinates and also being with rich32, who knew where this stone had previously been located, we were unable to find it. in the end we started a few hundred yards to the west of Barningham Moor 96 and the three of us walked in a line back to BM 96, but no stones were visible in the ground. This panel was completely covered by grass and moss. Shame, perhaps we'll be able to see this on another visit.