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Crickley Hill
Date Added: 11th Jun 2021
Site Type: Hillfort
Country: England (Gloucestershire)
Visited: Yes on 8th Jun 2021. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4
Crickley Hill General submitted by vicky on 10th Sep 2002. Crickley Hill in Gloucestershire - Neolithic enclosure and Iron Age Hillfort.
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Log Text: Walking the Cotswold Way north around Crickley Hill, and the first thing seen is a large bank across the headland. After the turn at the point, progressing back along the northern side and it is seen that there were once substantial defences, and many modern day concrete markers show the points where the huts etc were found. A series of notice boards give a full history of the place and there is an information centre, which I did not have time to look round today. Somewhere to come back to on another time.
Fantastic views all around, the Malvern Hills to the north, the Forest of Dean and Black Mountains to the west, and all along the Cotswold edge in both directions.
Birdlip Camp
Date Added: 11th Jun 2021
Site Type: Hillfort
Country: England (Gloucestershire)
Visited: Yes on 8th Jun 2021. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 3
Birdlip Camp submitted by 4clydesdale7 on 30th Apr 2013. S end of the Outer Bank and Ditch - the line is just discernible and proceeds from middle foreground towards the skyline and then off to the top left corner
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Log Text: Walking the Cotswold Way north from Birdlip and the sharply pointed headland has slight remnants of a ditch and banks across the neck in these beautiful woodlands.
Crippet's Barrow
Date Added: 11th Jun 2021
Site Type: Chambered Tomb
Country: England (Gloucestershire)
Visited: Yes on 8th Jun 2021. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 3
Crippet's Barrow submitted by Humbucker on 17th Mar 2018. Crippet's / Shurdington Long Barrow from the south east. I visited late afternoon in the Autumn of 2017. I had heard of very inquisitive horses in the field, but it was empty when I visited.
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Log Text: Walking the Cotswold Way north from Crickley Hill, and I forgot to keep a look out for Crippet's Long Barrow, but at this point the footpath and separate bridleway are well fenced in, so I wouldn't have been able to get to the edge of the woodlands at the top of the hill to have a look anyway. I later got a long distance view from near the radio masts and reservoir entrance, just about making out the large barrow in its tree covered setting.
West Tump
Date Added: 10th Jun 2021
Site Type: Long Barrow
Country: England (Gloucestershire)
Visited: Yes on 31st May 2021. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4
West Tump submitted by Dabberdave on 15th Jan 2017. West Tump long barrow after recent tree clearance.
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Log Text: Walking a Cooper's Hill Circuit of the Cotswold Way from Cranham, and on the way back to Cranham I made a diversion into the woods to find this long barrow. It’s a massive lump, now mostly cleared of trees, and built in an east to west sense, significantly bigger at the eastern end, which was no doubt the main entrance.
High Brotheridge
Date Added: 10th Jun 2021
Site Type: Misc. Earthwork
Country: England (Gloucestershire)
Visited: Yes on 31st May 2021. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 3
High Brotheridge submitted by 4clydesdale7 on 7th Jul 2014. Inturned Banks at S Entrance
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Log Text: Walking a Cooper's Hill Circuit of the Cotswold Way from Cranham, and passed around the western edge of this massive hilltop settlement with various bits and pieces of defensive ramparts to be seen.
Tile Well
Date Added: 10th Jun 2021
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring
Country: England (Gloucestershire)
Visited: Yes on 31st May 2021. My rating: Ambience 4 Access 3
Tile Well submitted by TheCaptain on 10th Jun 2021. Partway down the north facing hillside above the Roman Villa, is found this gushing source of crystal clear water, seemingly appearing from under the tree roots.
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Log Text: Walking a Cooper's Hill Circuit of the Cotswold Way from Cranham, and partway down the north facing scarp, above the Roman Villa, is found this gushing source of crystal clear water, which can be heard from a fairly large distance today.
Cranham Corner Earthworks
Date Added: 10th Jun 2021
Site Type: Misc. Earthwork
Country: England (Gloucestershire)
Visited: Yes on 31st May 2021. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4
Cranham Corner Earthworks submitted by TheCaptain on 10th Jun 2021. Small earthworks within the woodland at Cranham Corner.
I am not convinced they would have been of much use defensively, being on a slight slope not at the top of the hill, and not very large.
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Log Text: Walking a Cooper's Hill Circuit of the Cotswold Way from Cranham, and first off had a look at these small earthworks. I am not convinced they would have been of much use defensively, being on a slight slope not at the top of the hill, and not very large.
Brackenbury Ditches
Date Added: 25th Apr 2021
Site Type: Promontory Fort / Cliff Castle
Country: England (Gloucestershire)
Visited: Yes on 24th Apr 2021. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 5 Access 3
Brackenbury Ditches submitted by Humbucker on 16th Jun 2020. The footpath along the ridge of The West Woods follows the ramparts to Brackenbury Ditches on this section from North Nibley to Wotton Under Edge.
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Log Text: Beautiful sunny morning walk from Wotton-under-Edge, up and over to Waterley Bottom down the valley to join the Cotswold Way and head up through North Nibley and up the steep Cotswold Edge to the Tyndale Monument. Then all along the edge of the hills, through beautiful bluebell, wild garlic and anemone filled woods, taking in the atmospheric old iron age fort of Brackenbury Ditches before out into the open above Wotton, dropping steeply down into the town for a pint in The Star.
Bellever Tor 3
Date Added: 29th Jan 2021
Site Type: Cairn
Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 18th Sep 2020. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 3
Bellever Tor 3 submitted by Anne T on 13th Oct 2016. The Black Newtake North 1 cist, submitted on behalf of Prehistoric Dartmoor Walks.
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Log Text: A long and difficult walk through long grass on very uneven ground to try and find this marked on the map as "Cist", which I only found using the gps. I found a single standing stone which I thought must be it, but then while taking photos I almost fell into the cist nearby!
Pierre Couverte de Bué
Trip No.205 Entry No.269 Date Added: 13th Dec 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Centre:Indre (36))
Visited: Yes on 27th Sep 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 5 Access 4
Pierre Couverte de Bué submitted by theCaptain on 14th Dec 2010. A couple of kilometres to the southeast of the village of Bagneux near to the hamlet of Bué, can be found this dolmen in a lovely situation in the forest.
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Log Text: A couple of kilometres to the southeast of the village of Bagneux near to the hamlet of Bué, can be found this dolmen in a lovely situation in the forest. The dolmen is well signposted from all around, and from a parking place at Bué it is about 400 metres walk. The large capstone, 6m by 4m sits on top of a chamber 5m by 3m. It has a backstone and six sidestones in various positions of uprightness. The capstone is between 1 and 1.5 metres above the ground.
It has got its own bench nearby on which to sit and contemplate, with falling acorns a hazard, and a woodpecker pecking away amongst other things. This really is a lovely spot, and so gets a 5 for ambience.
I will make this my last megalithic site on my 6 months trip round France, it really is a nice place to finish on, and an unexpected dolmen at that.
It is now 2:30pm, and I really ought to be getting on driving back towards my sister's. Romorantin, Blois (roadworks), Vendome (Roadworks, big crane, school traffic), St-Calais (terrible traffic), Le Mans (rain, traffic jams), Alencon (slow traffic), Argentan, Flers (dug up, closed roads, diversions within diversions). It takes forever to find Vire, now in the complete dark, St-Lo (more diversions) and finally back to Sara's at about 9:30pm. I was amazed I didn't get tired or dozy at all while driving. Parked with 117630 km on the clock, 545 for today. Sausages and eggs (yummy), large beer, then to bed after seeing a depressing news on the telly. I've not missed missing all the bad news from around the world while away in my campervan.
Pierre Levée de Boisy
Trip No.205 Entry No.268 Date Added: 13th Dec 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Country: France (Centre:Indre (36))
Visited: Couldn't find on 27th Sep 2005
Log Text: The village of Bagneux has a signposted footpath of length 5.5 km which takes in three megalithic sites. One of these sites is this menhir. I didn't have time to do the full walk, and without a detailed map, and no obvious signs to the menhir, I didn't really know where to look. I have since found this menhir marked on a detailed map, and it would have perhaps been a fairly simple few hundred metres walk from the Bellevue farm.
Tréfoux deux menhirs
Trip No.205 Entry No.267 Date Added: 13th Dec 2020
Site Type: Standing Stones
Country: France (Centre:Indre (36))
Visited: Yes on 27th Sep 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4
Tréfoux deux menhirs submitted by thecaptain on 19th Sep 2008. Near to a corner in the road are two standing rocks, which are clearly not naturally like that. One is about 1 metre tall, the other about 1.2 metres tall.
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Log Text: Marked on my ign map to the southeast of Bagneux are menhirs. Driving along the little road that passes them is lots of what looks like natural stone outcropping, and perhaps the remains of a dolmen. However, near to a corner in the road are two standing rocks, which are clearly not naturally like that. One is about 1 metre tall, the other about 1.2 metres tall. Around them are many more rocks. It is not difficult to see what is perhaps an alignment of 5 or 6 rocks with others fallen. Or perhaps it is the remains of an allée couverte type structure. I am not sure exactly what is going on here, but it is a nice spot in the forest. A bit further along the road to the west is what seems to be the remains of another fallen menhir or two.
La Pierre Levée (Graçay)
Trip No.205 Entry No.266 Date Added: 13th Dec 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Centre:Cher (18))
Visited: Saw from a distance on 27th Sep 2005
La Pierre Levée (Graçay) submitted by thecaptain on 19th Sep 2008. Just to the south of the D.68 road between Graçay and Nohant-en-Graçay, near to the hamlet of Les Villaines can be seen the remains of this dolmen, about 100 metres from the road in a field.
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Log Text: Just to the south of the D.68 road between Graçay and Nohant-en-Graçay, near to the hamlet of Les Villaines can be seen the remains of this dolmen, about 100 metres from the road in a field. When I was here, the field had been recently planted, so I did not venture any nearer to the dolmen. It was hard to make out any details, but one capstone can be seen to be still raised above the ground on its supports.
Liniez Tumulus elliptique
Trip No.205 Entry No.265 Date Added: 13th Dec 2020
Site Type: Chambered Tomb
Country: France (Centre:Indre (36))
Visited: Saw from a distance on 27th Sep 2005
Log Text: Just outside the village of Liniez, along the D.926 road towards Vatan, and to the left of the road about a kilometre beyond the dolmen is the remains of a large tumulus. I found it difficult to stop here, and there was lots of fenced off land and woodland, so I didn't get to see this directly.
Pierre Levée (Liniez)
Trip No.205 Entry No.264 Date Added: 13th Dec 2020
Site Type: Passage Grave
Country: France (Centre:Indre (36))
Visited: Yes on 27th Sep 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 5
Pierre Levée (Liniez) submitted by thecaptain on 16th Jan 2009. The back cell of the chamber is still all nicely erect, making this a pleasant monument to visit. It is all orientated towards the east at 070°.
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Log Text: Just outside the village of Liniez, along the D.926 road towards Vatan, and to the right of the road can be seen the remains of this allée couverte. It was probably an Angevin type allée couverte, but there are no obvious remains of the porchway. The remains of the chamber are 10 metres long by 4 metres wide, and it was probably covered by four capstones, of which three remain in various positions, from still in place at the back end, sloping in the middle and flat on the ground at the front. Several side slabs remain, as does the backslab, and there is evidence of a possible internal partition, although it could be bits of broken capstone. The back cell of the chamber is still all nicely erect, making this a pleasant monument to visit. It is all orientated towards the east at 070°.
Les Chateliers
Trip No.205 Entry No.263 Date Added: 13th Dec 2020
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement
Country: France (Centre:Indre (36))
Visited: Saw from a distance on 27th Sep 2005
Log Text: At the village of Moulins-sur-Céphons is a reconstruction of an ancient Gallic village. I did not visit.
La Pierre cromlech
Trip No.205 Entry No.262 Date Added: 13th Dec 2020
Site Type: Stone Circle
Country: France (Centre:Indre (36))
Visited: Couldn't find on 27th Sep 2005
Log Text: While at the La Pierre dolmen, I could find no signs of any cromlech. Perhaps the form of the sideslabs of the dolmen was enough for this to once be thought of as a cromlech ?
La Pierre Dolmen
Trip No.205 Entry No.261 Date Added: 13th Dec 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Centre:Indre (36))
Visited: Yes on 27th Sep 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4
La Pierre dolmen submitted by theCaptain on 16th Dec 2010. What I found here is probably the remains of an Angevin dolmen, made with a single backstone, two sidestones each side with two capstones, the rear one in place, the forward one broken and fallen into the chamber.
There are signs of an entry portal, now all a bit broken.
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Log Text: It was a bit of a struggle to find this, due to several of the roads being closed for some reason. However, take the D.23 road southwest from Moulins-sur-Céphons towards St Martin-de-Lamps. About midway between the two is the hamlet of La Pierre, and there are signs to the dolmen. It is about 800 metres walk from the road, round the back of the houses.
What I found is probably the remains of an Angevin dolmen with a large 6 m by 3 m chamber, made with a single backstone, two sidestones each side with two capstones, the rear one in place, the forward one broken and fallen into the chamber. There are signs of an entry portal, now all a bit broken. Some of the stones are massive thick chunks, not nice slim slabs.
Pierre du Tombeau
Trip No.205 Entry No.260 Date Added: 13th Dec 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Country: France (Auvergne:Puy-de-Dôme (63))
Visited: Yes on 26th Sep 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 2 Access 5
Pierre du Tombeau submitted by thecaptain on 13th Oct 2006. Pierre du Tombeau, Davayat menhir, Montotoute menhir. Take your pick for its name.
A little sign near to the menhir.
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Log Text: Right in the middle of the village of Davayat, near to the traffic lights, this menhir resides in amongst the houses, and is half hidden in a garden yard. It is 4.8 metres high, leaning nicely, and is one of the biggest menhirs in the Auvergne region.
The menhir is perhaps lucky to survive right here between the houses, and in many respects perhaps owes its survival to it being seen as an important and sacred monument throughout history by the inhabitants of the village. There was once another large menhir nearby, but traces of this can no longer be found, it falling victim to agricultural "progress".
Plateau de Mons
Trip No.205 Entry No.259 Date Added: 13th Dec 2020
Site Type: Barrow Cemetery
Country: France (Auvergne:Cantal (15))
Visited: Saw from a distance on 26th Sep 2005
Log Text: On top of the plateau is a large collection of earthen barrows dating to the iron age which can be seen from the track.