Shepperton Henge

Date Added: 2nd Jan 2014
Site Type: Henge Country: England (Surrey)
Visited: Yes

Log Text: I think these boxes rather difficult to tick, as what can be seen depends on the imagination.

Phil Jones book, or pamphlet, is in Staines Library (well it isn't, its on my floor, but it will be when I return it.) I'm ttrying the 458 from Kingston to Staines which seems to pass nearby, you can see a lot more from a bus. Then I'll try walking with the OS Explorer.

From the book it is rather difficult to work out where it is, but I think I have the broad idea.

There is a review of the book in the Surrey Arch. for I think about 2009.

Surrey Archaeology incidently greps in google to their site, and the back run of the Collections has been digitised. It is catalogued in BIAB so if you know some sort of string, something is findable. At the moment I'm working on the Carshalton one.

Reigate Heath Barrows

Date Added: 19th Dec 2013
Site Type: Barrow Cemetery Country: England (Surrey)
Visited: Yes. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Why is th eoption driven to?

It is reachable easily by walk or bus.

#Skimmington Castle is a pub on a walk from Reigate Priory Park.

There is no signing on Reigate Heath so they take a bit of finding, i found two out of five.

Horsell Common W

Date Added: 14th Feb 2013
Site Type: Barrow Cemetery Country: England (Surrey)
Visited: Yes on 14th Feb 2013. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: |I've heard there has been some excavation around here recently, but haven't yet been able to track down any references. It looks as if there has been at least some scrub clearance.

West End Common Barrows

Date Added: 14th Feb 2013
Site Type: Barrow Cemetery Country: England (Surrey)
Visited: Yes on 14th Feb 2013. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: The 34, 35, bus, four an hour, with a stop at Red Road. This is the beginning of the Brentmoor Nature Reserve, or the Aldershot Military Lands, depending on your preferences. The four barrows are a short walk along the right of way. There is a Surrey Wildlife Trust Board, and a megalith, or sarsen stone, which they seem to have placed there. If there is no evidence of excavation, then how it is known that it is a barrow cemetry is beyond me. There is a reference to Needham and Longley, so that text I'm going to try to track down. I wonder why it couldn't be called a battered long mound?

Stumblebury

Date Added: 1st Dec 2012
Site Type: Round Barrow(s) Country: England (Kent)
Visited: Yes on 1st Dec 2012. My rating: Ambience 2 Access 3

Log Text: I don't think I've found it, but I can't be sure. Saw it on the village map in Otford, you then walk beyond the station, past the chalk pit, turn right up the hill, and then you will find the poster for the North Downs Way. Opposite, walk up the track, mud, clay, chalk, right to the top of the downs. I think it might be on the edge where the clearing starts but not sure. There isn't a lot here, it isn't in Halstead, so need to check more. Otford has a really good train service so is easy to reach. The best accound of Kent recently seems to be Jessup so that is my next point fo call. Arch Cant isn't available online.

Arminghall Henge

Date Added: 6th Jul 2012
Site Type: Henge Country: England (Norfolk)
Visited: Yes on 1st Jul 2012. My rating: Condition 1 Ambience 2 Access 3

Log Text: Went past the site in teh 587 bus, two and hour, then got off in Trowse. There isn't much to see in the field but you aren't far from Whitlinghan country park. someone has already mentioned white horse lane, and I'm taken by whit lin ge ham... in the country park there is a thoroughly misleading poster board. One wonders whether something more couldn't be made of all this. Nothing in Norwich Museum which only starts with the Romans from what I can see. The 587 bus continues, or comes from, Caister, so you can add in some Roman stuff. The Pastscape article has bibliography, so to the UEA library for a read.

Seaford Head

Date Added: 20th May 2012
Site Type: Hillfort Country: England (East Sussex)
Visited: Yes on 1st May 2012. My rating: Ambience 5 Access 4

Log Text: The walk from Seaford station is wonderful up onto the head but the matter then becomes with golf course, I can't seperate anything from barrows or bunkers and can't see what I am supposed to be able to see.

There is a phone number for the council, so we might try to work on this, and the matter of the barrow.

Springfield

Date Added: 16th Apr 2012
Site Type: Timber Circle Country: England (Essex)
Visited: Yes on 14th Apr 2012. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 2 Access 4

Log Text: This is a case of the words and things for this pops up as a timber circle, and I am presuming it is in the right place to be a load of other things, almost all the terms we need. See words and things, though I don't know how to reference this. I found the two volumes in Chelmsford Library, 1981 on the cursus, but I don't want to have to repeat this text there, and the 1987 on this, which they don't call a timber circle.

It is now a mess. It needs a spiral of virtue, perhaps with YOI to make something of it, and could be a real celebration. I wonder where to start?

The industrial estate and the housing estate show that we have unlearned rather a lot about planning.

Seven Hills

Date Added: 8th Apr 2012
Site Type: Barrow Cemetery Country: England (Suffolk)
Visited: Yes on 6th Apr 2012. My rating: Condition 1 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Interesingly the crematorium is called Seven Hills. There seems to be quite a lot of continuity in places of death. The complexity of finding out any more is that the museum authority is Colchester and Ipswich, if you are in Ipswich. Then there is Suffolk Archaeology. And the Suffolk Record Office. In the Ipswich museum there is a map showing a mass of things around this Nacton site, but only for one age, the other maps are only of Ipswich.

In addition there is a suffolk institute of archaeology which produces proceedings so now to track all this down. The museum curator said start with suffolk archaeology

Dyke Hills

Date Added: 8th Apr 2012
Site Type: Hillfort Country: England (Oxfordshire)
Visited: Yes on 7th Apr 2012. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: The bus X39 or X40 from Reading Station, or from Oxford, stop called the Dorchester layby, on the main road which lies over the Dorchester Cursus. I think the bus stops and foot bridge at the endpoint of the cursus, and it lies, or lay, under the road. There is a short walk into the village, then the abbey, and Watling Lane, which takes to a view of Wittenham Clumps and suddently the Dyke Hills comes into view. The footpath continues and the site is open and walkable, with a footpath to the Thames, the lock, and the Clumps. So this is really quite a combination. There is a good local museum though most of the stuff has gone to the Ashmolean. The museum has a good local booklet with bibliography which is more than enough for a walk and a read.

Avebury

Date Added: 3rd Apr 2012
Site Type: Stone Circle Country: England (Wiltshire)
Visited: Yes on 2nd Apr 2012. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 2 Access 3

Log Text: Salisbury railway station from the 09.41 out of Surbiton, then the bus 2 to Devizes change to the 49 to Swindon. Bus stop by pub. Huge amount of traffic means walking life threatening. There are no maps in the NT retail opportunity for the area, and they don't do walkers' leaflets. The interchange in Devizes should fail so time to do the museum. This is a spiral of virtue matter. There is also a bus 4 to Marlborough with a really strange timetable, but that means Bedwyn Marlborough or Marlborough Salisbury. The unusability of rail tickets across the network is another spiral of virtue matter, so that is two small ones.


Add to the bibliography Pollard Avebury.

Then in Field on Earthern long barrows I find something on Horslip Bridge which adds to the complexity, what is an enclosure, causewayed, what is a barrow, long, earthern, and why are they called morturary or burial when many don't appear to have any bodies at all?

Merlin's Mount

Date Added: 1st Apr 2012
Site Type: Artificial Mound Country: England (Wiltshire)
Visited: Yes on 31st Mar 2012. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 2 Access 4

Log Text: There was a charity day at Marlborough College so the grounds were open and walkable. I think the access button needs something about public private rather than simply how to get there. There is a research project going on, and I found Marlborough Mound producing a web site with some documentation. At the moment the base of the mound is blocked off, so I don't think it is walkable up, but perhaps there is some sort of access plan. It seems clear now that it is neolithinc, whatever that means in marlborough college. My Murray has a reference to a museum in the college with stuff.


I should have added that there is a wonderful walk on the other side of the Kennet from which you can see the gardens of the college, and perhaps, in winter, you might see the mound? so the mound is placed near the Kennet. A little further on is the church of .. now don't have my Pevsner or Murray with me, so leave out the place name for now, but church on river nearly by OS Explorer scale.

Chisbury Camp

Date Added: 1st Apr 2012
Site Type: Hillfort Country: England (Wiltshire)
Visited: Yes. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: actually I'm not sure whether I quite got there or not, only to the woods... for there are kids scramble bike marks everywhere around and I can't tell what is vallation and what devallation and whatever bike scramble rides are called antiquarianwise. It is a short walk from bedwyn station, and well connected with footpaths and rights of way. It is near the river Dun with wonderful views.

Bury Hill (Hampshire)

Date Added: 26th Mar 2012
Site Type: Hillfort Country: England (Hampshire)
Visited: Yes on 1st Jan 2012. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: A short walk from Andover station, along a designed path through the town by the river, then up the hill.

Rather puzzling that Andover returned so many hits on search, must work this one out.


The museum of the iron age has much. The church looks to me to be on a mound. There is another site, trashed apparently by road building which didn't pop up in search but I can't remember the name without my map.

Whitehawk

Date Added: 19th Mar 2012
Site Type: Causewayed Enclosure Country: England (East Sussex)
Visited: Yes on 1st Mar 2012. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Found this last week, number 1 bus to another set of tower blocks, then a short walk. There is no signing that I could find so interpretaton depends on imagination. You are on Brighton race Course so you could imagine that as a ccursus.

Excavated by Curwen, Archaeology of Sussex, in the Brighton History Centre. There is a 2004 book by the Friends of Whitehawk, an organisation worth supporting perhaps.


The whole area could do with a bit of loving attention. This becomes a spiral of virtue matter.


I asked locally where it was, and the locals don't know. There is though a white hawk carved in the chalk somewhere or other hereabouts. How to do a good walk from here to Hollingbury I haven't worked out yet, that is a green and smart matter.

The group of Whitehawk, Hollingbruy Ditchling Beacon, Devil's Dyke would seem to me to be a collection of national importance which makes it a #disKUvery matter.

Hollingbury

Date Added: 19th Mar 2012
Site Type: Hillfort Country: England (East Sussex)
Visited: Yes on 1st Mar 2012. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: The bus 50 to the surestart or the 26, 46 to Hollingbury Park, or the 79 to Ditchling Beacon on Sundays and soon, Saturdays, one per hour, from the Railway Station. I was trying to work out whether you can see Ditchling Beacon from Hollingbury, and vice versa.

Now I have to go to Curwe, Archaeology of Sussex, 1934, and then try to track the literature in the Brighton History Centre and Senate House.

Therfield Heath Five Hills

Trip No.1  Entry No.2  Date Added: 6th Mar 2012
Site Type: Barrow Cemetery Country: England (Hertfordshire)
Visited: Yes on 1st Feb 2012. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: A short walk from Royston Station, or, wonderful, the 90 bus which goes to Bygrave and Ashwell from Baldock and Letchworth. Use traveline to see bus route maps and timetables.

there is a pub at the bottom of the hill.

Pity about the bunkers.

The stunning thing is the view, then as the train pulls back to London, you see a pair of barrows forming a notch on the skyline. Pure navigation.

Waulud's Bank

Trip No.1  Entry No.1  Date Added: 6th Mar 2012
Site Type: Henge Country: England (Bedfordshire)
Visited: Yes on 1st Jan 2012. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: This is almost opposite Leagrave Station so a really short walk, towered over by gargantuan housing in Luton. The combination of four thousand years of humanity makes a stunning contrast. This is also the source of the river Lea, or Lee, looking at the moment like a muddy puddle. My imagination has the ring, which might be a better word than ditch, filled with water again, puddled with white clay and a Midsummer Night's Dream being performed on the stage. Theseus and Hippolya, Phaedre and Hipplolytus, Shakespeare, Aeschylus, Euripedes is made for a place like this, and would put Luton onto the OlyUNpics (which is the cultural alternative to running 26 miles).

Cissbury Ring

Date Added: 18th Dec 2014
Site Type: Hillfort Country: England (West Sussex)
Visited: Saw from a distance on 18th Dec 2014. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: The bus from Worthing to Midhurst, 1, or the other way round, with a stop at Pulborough for the other railway, passes.

What needs noting now is the wonderful library in Worthing, and the Museum.

The local studies centre for west Sussex is here, there is a complete run of SAC, a run of Archaeologia, and of the Archaeological Journal.

How to use these to find out more about the place perhaps means knowing about the BIAB, which is public access and open, and the ADS, which is also mainly public access and open. Worthing has Access to Research but I haven't worked out yet how useful that is.

Etton Causewayed Enclosure

Date Added: 30th Apr 2012
Site Type: Causewayed Enclosure Country: England (Cambridgeshire)
Visited: Saw from a distance on 30th Apr 2012

Log Text: I've now tried to find this in google earth, and tried to work out the bus from Peterborough which isn't frequent enough in the bad weather, but I have now found the literature, sometimes it is called Etton, which isn't a good grep string, for places including etton, of which there are a lot, pop up. pryor is an author. There is a really good collection of material in Peterborough library local history collection. Material from the site is in the British Museum in gallery 50.

The puzzling thing though is the cursus, rather than the causewayed enclosure but that gets us back to the words matter.