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England
Grime's GravesAncient Mine / Quarry
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Virtual Reality at Grimes GravesOne of the mines, Greenwell's Pit, has been mapped by laser to allow visitors to "fly" in virtual reality over the surface and along the shafts and galleries. It should be in place next year as part of the overhaul of the visitor facilities at the site... continues... |
Posted by Rhiannon15th September 2004ce Edited 16th September 2004ce |
Tour of Grime's Graves - 27th June 2004From English Heritage website. Guided tour: Grime's Graves Neolithic flint mines Grime's Graves is one of only handful of Neolithic flint mines in Britain, and the only one where you can actually go down into one of the 5,000 year old mine shafts... continues... |
Posted by pure joy8th January 2004ce |
Hi-tech view of Stone Age flint mineFrom the Eastern Daily Press: CAT BARTMAN September 7, 2002 10:15 A 3-D image of the 4000-year-old flint mine at Grimes Graves. A unique insight into the life of Stone Age miners in Norfolk has been unearthed for the first time with the help of high-tech laser equipment... continues... |
Posted by Rhiannon 10th September 2002ce |
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An uncharacteristic trip east far beyond the Peak district, hah !! Norfolk laughs in the face of the Peaks easterlyness. It still took a yawning three hours to get here, and this was the only destination on the list (except Sherwood forest on the way back). It was Saturday morning in early June and we had the entire site to ourselves, which was nice. We bought our tickets and went straight to the shed that houses the stairway to below, which threw the guide a bit as most people have a look around first, but not me, time for chilling amongst the sleepy hollows later, right now I want my mind blowing, and Grim was the man for the job. Our lad Eric chickened out and wouldnt go down, so me and the wife took it in turns, she went first, she came back up 5minutes later with a glazed look on her face, and said "uummm that was cool" . I'll be the judge of that said I, then the earth swallowed me whole and I was in a different world. The air was cool down below and I was all alone, the only sound was the tour guide many feet above me wittering on about the Iceni no doubt, what do they say about a bit of knowledge? I settled into the place and explored as fully as possible every nook and cranny. I really liked the well worn floor under the stoop, but I only hope ancient feet made it and not some self important victorian dudes. Hayley was right, it was cool Time to go back up top side, half way up is a line of big black flint nodules still poking from the mine walls, then when light starts to make a come back so does the mosses and ferns. The tour guide was just telling Eric how the miners were six year old children and it only took one summer to fully excavate and fill back in again. My spidey (bollocks radar)sence tingling we exited the shed and the guideman sent us in a easterly direction towards Boudiccas mound where she may or may not have adressed her native followers to expel those dreadful Romans. She's understandably a major theme round here as this was centre of the Iceni home turf. More than four hundred mines, thousands of buttercups and a handfull of singing birds chilled me right out after too. Why not visit Weeting castle afterwards a delightful ruin amongst strong mature trees ,we did, which was nice. |
Posted by postman3rd August 2009ce Edited 3rd August 2009ce |
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Visited Easter Bank Holiday Monday, 2006. The brown sign pointing to the lane that Grime's Graves is down is missing and we missed it. They're using a makeshift sign attached to a red stand. Admission prices up to £2.70 for an adult. (Didn't catch any increase for other groups.) Suprisingly we got the mine to ourselves on a bank holiday monday! The rest of the complex was as peaceful as I remember it when I came here as a boy. |
Posted by Herne17th April 2006ce |
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Open between 10am and 6pm seven days a week between 1st April and 30th of September. Admission fees at time of writing were £2.60 for an adult, £1.30 for a child and concessionary fees are £2. More details here: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/conProperty.24 |
Posted by Joolio Geordio7th June 2005ce Edited 7th June 2005ce |
| Back in the 1920's my father was the village policeman at Mundford. One day he was told that a motor cycle and sidecar had been seen standing at Grimes Graves for some time. In those days the site was on "common" ground. He cycled over and ultimately decided that the owner must have gone down into the mine. With the help of some locals and a ball of string to act as a life line, he went down into the pit and eventually found a young couple in one of the tunnels. Apparently they had got disoriented, their light had failed, and they were unable to find a way out. They were cold and hungry but otherwise none the worse for their adventure. |
Posted by Ralph 18th March 2003ce |
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Went to Grimes Graves on route from North Norfolk to London but it was closed for lunch. Those pesky miners and their rights. Couldn't wait to go down but will go again. Above ground though, what a vibration. Devils holes abound in the ground in a Thetford Forest clearance. The man in the shop said they were Grim's holes. Grim being olde name for Odin apparently. But to spoil the thrill of the olde its just land slippage but buy a post card. I didn't. |
Posted by wmsjarchetype 16th October 2002ce |
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We visited Grimes Graves in Summer 2000, following a bit of a Megalithic crusade around the UK. It is the only Megalithic site in East Anglia (apart from Seahenge), and it's pretty good. We got quite an erie feeling coming out of the forest and seeing loads of pockmarked holes in the large clearing. It is very strange to don a helmet and descend into the earth to see a site - the temparature drops by about 10 degrees. Once down the ladder (a feat in itself) you can see the workings of the ancients as they scrabbled about for flint. It is amazing to think that they did this without A) electric light and B) a nice hard-hat! Well worth a visit, but 2 words of warning: 1. Don't plan your trip during the school holidays as only a few people can descend at one time... 2. They close for lunch! Bye! Bob & Tracey... PS and don't forget to wave to the US airforce! |
Posted by bobandtracey 5th November 2000ce |
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Are these just the suppositions of a Victorian Gentlemen or have they got some basis in local folklore? Curious ideas, whichever...In Norfolk one of the hundreds, or subdivisions of the county, is called Grimshoo or Grimshow, after (as it is supposed) a Danish leader of the name of Grime or Gryme. [..] In about the centre of this hundred is a very curious Danish encampment, in a semicircular form, consisting of about twelve acres.From Notes and Queries s1-V (123): 231. (1852) http://nq.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/s1-V/123/231-a.pdf |
Posted by Rhiannon 14th August 2006ce |
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I just want it noted that I went to Grimes Graves on 30/03/03. We arrived on motorbike, numb and slightly terrified with ringing ears - or was it skylarks? A friendly biker that works there chatted about his Ducati (I'm a push-cyclist - I know narthing) and told us to come back after lunch. So we had a decent veggie burger at the Crown Inn on Crown Road. Funny place to visit really, an old industrial site, so don't expect it to awe and inspire like a stone circle. Its not exactly Magna either, but its a good stroll up and down the hummocks. There is a little section of mine that you can climb into, which gives some idea of how confined the mines were (but don't do as I did - don't enter this place with a flatulent friend). Did they use slaves or children? There is also a gift shop, which is essential these days, isn't it? If you're into skeletons, there seem to be plenty of bones on the surface. I've got a lovely rodent skull. If you are not into bones, enjoy the skylarks and breath the fresh fresh Norfolk air... |
Posted by AgentOrange 2nd April 2003ce |
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English HeritageDetails of the 'virtual reality' project, and links to opening hours, pictures and other information. |
Posted by Rhiannon 19th June 2006ce |
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