Miscellaneous Posts by thesweetcheat

The monument comprises the remains of several prehistoric round cairns, burial mounds probably dating to the Bronze Age (c.2300 BC - 800 BC). Located on an elongated plateau at nearly 360m above OD, the number of cairns is exceptional.

Seventy-eight small stony mounds have been identified scattered irregularly over an area about 640m north-south by 230m wide. One mound (Cairn A) is 6.1m in diameter and 0.6m high and appears to have contained a cist and to have been surrounded by a rough kerb. The remainder comprise structureless cairns of stone, mostly very low and inconspicuous; only three are as much as 1m high. The majority (sixty-six) have their larger diameters ranging from 2.8 to 6.7m; of these, fifty-one are round, the rest oval. Ten are larger, four being round measuring from 7.3 to 10.4m in diameter, the remainder being oval, lengths ranging from 8 to 11m. Near the northern limit of the group, a low bank, about 3.7m wide and 0.6m high where best preserved crosses the plateau. Near its eastern end two upright slabs 1.7m apart probably indicate its original width. A branch to the south forms an incomplete enclosure. Near the southern limit are the foundations of two rectangular buildings about 10.7 by 4.6m, now represented by slight low banks about 0.9m wide. The presence of these buildings and of the low bank suggests that some of the cairns may be no more than clearance dumps, but some would be acceptable in isolation as burial cairns, especially that which shows traces of kerbing, and the larger cairn at the south-eastern limit of the group.

Southern cairn (SS9197090610)

An oval stony mound, 7.6m E-W by 6.1m and 0.3m high.

Entirely grass-covered and roughly flat-topped mound, slightly dished in from the edges; stone can be detected in the interior so it is unlikely to be a ring cairn, unless the centre was later filled. Sheep track runs across monument N-S, and appears to have dug into it slightly.

Northern cairn (SS9198291967)

This low circular cairn measures 6 metres in diameter, and is up to 0.5 metres high. It is covered with bilberry and grass.

Garn Lwyd (SS9198090140)

A suggested ring cairn, 14m SW-NE to 12.5m overall diameter, in an uncharacteristic on a steep NE-facing slope.

Pant Blaenhirwr SW (SS9170189893)

A low mound, 3.5 metres in diameter and 0.3 metres high with a high stone content. The vegetation cover was grass in December 2011.

The round barrow cemetery includes six bowl barrows, all of which have been excavated and all survive differentially: four are circular mounds of between 11.8m and 24m in diameter and from 0.2m up to 2.1m high surrounded by buried quarry ditches from which the construction material was derived; two are preserved as entirely buried structures layers and deposits visible as soil or crop marks on aerial photographs with diameters of 10.9m and 21.9m. Two of the extant mounds are conjoined but excavation showed them to be two entirely separate bowl barrows.

All except one of the bowl barrows were excavated by Cunnington in the period from 1855-8. They produced a wide range of finds, including barbed and tanged arrowheads, burnt bones, animal bones, daggers, worked antler, a quartz pebble, whetstones, a slate wrist guard, a bell beaker and sherds of Romano-British pottery as well as the primary and secondary cremations and inhumations set into grave pits or wooden boxes. One further bowl barrow was excavated by Thurnam in the mid 19th century but only an empty cist was revealed. The southernmost ‘barrow’ excavated by W Cunnington in 1805 appeared not to be a bowl barrow despite still surviving as a circular mound of 15m in diameter and up to 1m high. Instead this mound was a hlaew which contained a primary Anglo-Saxon inhumation orientated east to west and accompanied by an iron ring, a bone gaming piece and a shield boss. A second excavation (by a different Cunnington – Henry or William Jnr) carried out in 1877 which produced a flint knife and whetstone may not have been from this mound at all.

The entire cemetery lies within the Registered Battlefield - the Battle of Roundway Down, 1643 - an English Civil War skirmish which saw a defeat for the Parliamentary forces many of whom were killed as cavalry horses hurtled over the steep scarp sides at nearby Oliver’s Castle (scheduled separately) plunging into what became known as ‘Bloody Ditch’.

Northwestern barrow (SU01490 64839)

Two confluent bowl barrows. The West mound was opened and revealed a wooden coffin containing burnt bones and a dagger. East mound contained a primary cremation and other finds. Also an intrusive burial of unknown date. Barrow G5b contained a small unworked pebble with a fractured end. It was Petrologically tested and found to be a rolled chert pebble. An unworked fragment of stone from the primary cremation in barrow G5b was also Petrologically tested and found to be coarse grained grey sandstone, and two other fragments of stone proved to be ferruginous sandstone.

Southwestern barrow (SU 01937 64340)

Bowl barrow with intrusive Saxon burial, opened by William Cunnington in 1805, who also found an iron ring, bone gaming pieces and a possible shield boss. Thought to have been opened again in 1877 by Henry or William Cunnington Jnr., who recovered a flint knife. An irregularly shaped tabular whetstone from a primary cremation in the bowl barrow was sent for Petrological testing, and was identified as being made of fine grained reddish sandstone.

Central barrow (SU02128 64604)

Bowl barrow opened by J Thurnam who found an empty cist indicating a previous disturbance.

Eastern barrow (SU02513 64754)

Mutilated Bronze Age bowl barrow.

Posted 17 Jan 23ce  |  Comments (0)  |  Add a comment  |  Permalink

A robbed cairn 16m in diameter with a few stones protruding through its grass covered surface. It is 0.6m high on the E side and 0.2m high on the W side. There are shallow depressions in the top and sides. No cist or retaining circle is visible.

A cairn 23m in diameter with a maximum height of 1m. A fragmentary rim is visible but within the rim mutilation is extensive and the mound is of irregular height and plan. No cist is visible. The cairn is partly grass covered and is in the path of an encroaching coal tip.

The cairn is situated on the top of the ridge, in a grass field. It is turf covered, c.13m in diameter and 1m high. In the middle two slabs of a cist are showing, 1m and 0.75m long, in a depression, 1.5m by 1.5m and 0.7m deep. Some small stones are lying in this depression, and some larger ones are lying on the surface. On the northern side is a disturbance hollow, turf-covered, 2m in diameter, and 0.5m deep, with a few large stones lying in it. To the W of the cairn is an area of quarrying.

On a narrow strip of open land between field walls and a track over the mountain lies the remains of a ring feature. It is defined by an arc of stony bank, open on the W side, measuring 2m-3m wide and 0.5m high on the outer E side but only 0.25m internally. The overall diameter of the ring would have been about 10.5m.

A possible standing stone near the intersection of a field boundary and road south-west of Tyle-gwyn Farm, Wyllie of presently undetermined date and character.

A.N. Coward, RCAHMW, 02.01.2019

There is a high likelihood that the lake was a place of sacred importance in the Iron Age given the find of a hoard of La Tene Late Iron Age metalwork (NPRN 419531) a kilometre to the south-east on the mountain path up to the lake. However, further archaeological investigation of the landscape environs of the lake are required to place it in a more robust archaeological context.

Field visit by Toby Driver, RCAHMW, 11th December 2013. The find spot is marked by a prominent glacial boulder, naturally fallen into its present position and propped up on massive upright stones so as to resemble an artificial 'burial chamber'. Beneath the boulder is a dark, nartually formed 'chamber' which may have attracted Iron Age people to use the site as a place of deposition. The find spot lies alongside the modern Minffordd path up to Llyn Cau and Cadair Idris, suggesting considerable antiquity to this particular route. Across the path from the propped boulder, and below the line of the track, is a minor spring formed of rock slabs on three sides of a cleared, damp area. This spring head, if ancient, may have further influenced the hoard site. The boulder marking the find spot is the most prominent and impressive of its kind flanking the path as it ascends from the valley floor to the open mountain above. It is perhaps the only boulder formation which may have suggested an artificial construct or chamber to prehistoric people. It is likely that the corrie lake at Llyn Cau was the focus for any traveller climbing this path in antiquity, perhaps for ritual purposes, and therefore the attribution of the hoard to 'Tal-y-llyn' is potentially misleading in the interpretation of its landscape context.

On the highest point at 750m, approx 18m N/S and 12m E/W, with high crags dropping to the E.

Heavily robbed for the modern wall crossing the cairn but with undisturbed cairn material surviving up to 0.5m above the natural hill top.

Just W of the wall are two arcs of large, radially set stones and two large edge set stones, 1.5m and 1m long, set at 90 degrees, forming part of a cist which appears to have been robbed.

The two round cairns, 655m and 882m SSW of Blawearie are reasonably well-preserved and are highly representative of their period. The presence of upstanding remains indicates that the monument will contain archaeological deposits relating to its construction and use. The presence of a covered cist indicates that these will include below ground funerary deposits and comparison with other similar sites suggest that they may also include evidence of earlier funerary structures such as stake-holes or the remains of prior treatment of the ground surface such as ard marks.

...

The monument includes the remains of two round cairns of Bronze Age date, situated on a north west-south east ridge-top stretching northwards from Tick Law. The southerly cairn (NU0810 2158), which measures approximately 7.6m in diameter and 0.4m in height, has evidence of kerbstones and a depression in its centre that has revealed a stone cist cover stone. To the north west is a second cairn (NU0825 2176) measuring approximately 7.6m in diameter with a height of up to 1.1m. The presence of kerbstones, a cist cover and the similarity between the two suggests them both to be funerary structures.

Northern cairn at SO1315203399

A circular mound, with a slightly dished centre and well defined edges. The barrow is covered by grass and bilberry, but the composition is clearly of stone; a large upturned stone slab (probably the remains of a cist) is exposed in the centre, and six other large stone fragments are also evident. Many smaller stones are visible on the surface or can be detected by probing.
Dimensions: diameter 8.5m; height 0.5m.

Central cairn at SO1317903242

A circular mound, with a dished centre and moderately well defined edges. The barrow is covered by grass and bilberry, but abundant stone can be detected beneath the turf.
Dimensions: diameter 6.2m; height 0.6m.

Southern cairn at SO1297503097

An approximately circular mound on roughly level ground to the S of Cefn-y-Brithdir. The edges are poorly defined and difficult to discern, and the S half of the monument is badly damaged. The barrow is covered by grass and ferns but stone can be detected beneath the turf. At the centre, a leaning slab 1.1m long, 0.7m wide and 0.15m thick probably represents the remains of a cist; a few metres to the S a partly buried stone may be the dislodged capstone.
Dimensions: diameter c9m; height c0.7m

SW cairn (SW 4191 3545)

WC Borlase recorded two cairns at Watch Croft. The south west barrow, 8.8m in diameter and enclosed by a ring of twenty stones set on edge, was excavated by him in 1863. Inside he found a cist containing an urn. On top of a cist, below its covering stone he found several Roman coins. The OS surveyed the cairn at 1:2500 in 1960. It is 1.7m high and 13.0m in diameter, and consists of a circular dry stone wall of large granite blocks with loose granite rubble piled within and around it. The top is slightly inclined towards the centre and a large outcropping rock is built into the south side of the wall. The cairn is very spread and mutilated by two excavations within the walling. The natural rock and shallow depression mentioned by Borlase is just inside the north circumference of the wall. The depression may be natural as two other large rocks near the cairn here have well formed rock basins. No trace remains of the cist which Borlase discovered.

Southern cairn (SW 4205 3524)

Pool in 1960 noted a barrow at Trevean. The OS who surveyed the remains at 1:2500 in 1961 record a cairn with a maximum height of 1.2m. The perimeter is retained by a drystone wall of large stones with a pronounced inward batter. The wall is mostly of large stones on edge but in places there are two courses visible. An excavation trench has been driven through the mound from east to west with a large circular hollow a little east of the centre. Spoil from this excavation is scattered on the outside of the cairn, particularly to the north east. Russell in 1971 lists the extant remains of a mound with retaining wall.

WNW barrow (SW 4138 3130)

The site was partially excavated by WC Borlase in 1862. Extant remains comprise an overgrown earth and granite mound, overgrown with heather and bracken, standing 1.4m high, into which an excavation pit, 0.8m deep was dug, presumably by Borlase, in 1862. Part of a cist was found at the bottom of the pit. No further details. The monument is included in the Schedule. The barrow is visible on aerial photographs as a low earth and stone mound and was plotted as part of the NMP.

Central barrow (SW 4141 3129)

It is unclear whether the site was excavated by WC Borlase though others in this group clearly were. Surveyed by the OS in 1961 who remark on its slightly different constructional make up from neighbouring sites 16171.2 and 16171.1. A fact recorded by Russell who used it as a ring of stones around a natural boulder. Extant remains comprise an overgrown mound of stone and granite rubble 12m in diameter and 0.8m high. A pit dug south of the centre of the site, 0.6m deep, dismissed as a cist, indicates disturbance and two large stones visible on the mound's surface on its south-west side may be part of a kerb. The monument is included in the Schedule. The barrow is visible on aerial photographs as a low earth and stone mound and was plotted as part of the NMP.

ESE barrow (SW 4143 3127)

The site was excavated by WC Borlase in 1862 which accounts for its mutilated condition. Extant remains comprise an overgrown earth and granite mound 1.4m high and 10m in diameter. A single granite stone set on edge in situ is probably the remains of a cist. The OS in 1961 noted more recent displacement of stone though the CAU survey adds no further details. The monument is included in the Schedule. The barrow is visible on aerial photographs as a low earth and stone mound and was plotted as part of the NMP.

The main enclosure is bounded by a rampart and outer ditch, but because it is situated on a west to east slope the ditch disappears and the rampart degenerates into little more than an outer scarp on the downhill (eastern) side. No continuation of the southern end of the western outwork can be traced, but the northern end turns and is linked by a scarp to the main enclosure.

There are traces of stone building foundations in the northeast part of the inner enclosure where a track enters. Whybrow mentions that a good deal of stone is evident in the structure at and near the northeast entrance, as well as at one or two other points, and it is possible the rampart was originally stone revetted.

The site lies at 240 metres above Ordnance Datum on a spur running roughly northwest to southeast immediately northwest of Selworthy village. Situated on the tip of a spur, with a steep drop on two sides, but a gentler approach to the southwest. The enclosure is subrectangular in plan with slightly curving sides and rounded corners, having an internal area of 0.21 hectares enclosed by univallate earthworks. The defences are greatest on the upper sides, with a bank up to 2 metres high and outer ditch up to 2 metres deep, forming an external face 1.7 metres high. On the lower sides use is made of the natural slope which has been scarped to form a bank 0.2 metres high above a drop of 1.8 metres, with a slight outer terrace. The earthworks have a steep, well preserved profile. The most likely original entrance is in the centre of the northeastern side where there is a disturbed area consisting of a gap in the rampart and a mound of stone extending out from the interior of the enclosure, truncating the ditch which turns out along it. This may represent a tumbled outturned entrance or collapsed gatehouse. Uphill from this there is a counterscarp bank outside the ditch. The present entrance on the southwest appears to have been created by a modern trackway over the ramparts. Uphill, 32 metres above the enclosure, is a crossridge work with two arms meeting at a shallow point on the crest of the ridge. The northeast arm, 45 metres long, runs parallel to the top side of the enclosure, and the second arm runs south from this for 45 metres. It is formed of a bank approximately 2 metres high and an external ditch approximately 2 metres deep, of similar proportions to the upper side of the enclosure, forming an external face 2.5 metres high. On the north-east this work runs to the edge of the spur and turns briefly towards the enclosure as a scarp and terrace. A length of natural scarp completes the gap between the two. On the south, however, the work ends well short of the edge of the hill, suggesting that approach was intended from this direction. There is a gap through the crosswork immediately south of the apex, consisting of a shallowing of the ditch and lowering of the bank, but this appears to be modern. The crosswork may have defined an outer enclosure, but a more likely purpose was to provide better visibility both from and of the site along the uphill approach. Such crossworks covering the otherwise blind approach to a defended site are a feature of several sites in the region. The outer edge of the cross-work ditch has been reused as the course of a later field enclosure bank, and it has been faced with drystone walling. Redundant field banks are present around the site and date from the post-medieval or early modern period.

Curbar Edge NW (SK 2548 7560)

18m in diameter and 1m high, hollowed out as a result of excavation 24.4.1913 by the gamekeeper Mr. E. Peat and the Marquis of Granby who found a bronze knife-dagger, burnt bones, a food vessel, flint thumb scraper and a central cist of large slabs.

Curbar Edge SE (SK 2589 7509)

The monument is prominently located 50m from the edge towards its southern end and includes a roughly circular heather-covered gritstone cairn with a diameter of c.12m and a height of c.1.2m. Although the monument has not been excavated, its form and location, together with its proximity to other prehistoric remains, indicate a Bronze Age date.

A round barrow situated at SP 06701239 upon the gentle north-facing slope of a ridge. The barrow measures in diameter 29.0m north-south by 26.0m transversely, with a maximum height of 1.0m. There are no visible remains of a ditch; under plough.

Two upright slabs seen in 1936 after ploughing are no longer visible.

The Bronze Age barrow is not clearly visible on the available aerial photographs, although a lighter coloured area, which is probably caused by a spread of the stone material that formed the mound, is visible in 1946.

1999 - Site visited by A Douthwaite of English Heritage on 04/02/1999 as a result of MPP. The barrow was first reported in the late 1970s, by Saville and Drinkwater during fieldwalking, as a small mound about 8m in diameter and 0.3m high with a small central excavation crater.

On visiting the site it became clear nothing of the mound survived. The area in which it was reported to lie is currently under pasture, but was ploughed until c.1990 and it is quite possible that the barrow was destroyed during this period.

Southern barrow (SO 4286 9241)

The monument includes a bowl barrow situated overlooking a steep east-facing scarp slope. The barrow is visible as a well defined, slightly oval, mound with dimensions of 10m north-east to south-west by 9m transversely and standing up to 0.6m high. The summit of the mound has been disturbed and hollowed to a depth of 0.2m by exploration at some time in the past. Although not visible at surface level, a ditch, from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument, surrounds the mound. This has become infilled over the years but survives as a buried feature some 2m wide.

Visited during a condition survey by the English Heritage Field Monument Warden, in 2000. Condition recorded as fair - covered by thick old heather.

Northern barrow (SO 4290 9244)

The monument includes a bowl barrow situated on the lip of a steep east facing scarp slope. The barrow is visible as a well defined, slightly oval mound of earth and stone construction, with dimensions of 11.7m north east to south west by 10m transversely and standing up to 0.8m high. The summit of the mound is flattened and slightly hollowed as a result of exploration at some time in the past forming a shallow central crater 3m in diameter and 0.2m deep. The centre of this crater shows the inner fabric of the mound to comprise angular limestone blocks of a fairly uniform size between 10cm and 20cm. Although not visible at surface level, a ditch, from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument, surrounds the mound. This has become infilled through the passage of time but survives as a buried feature some 2m wide.

Visited during a condition survey by the English Heritage Field Monument Warden, in 2000. Condition recorded as fair - covered by thick old heather.

Summit barrow (destroyed - SO 4300 9265)

The most northerly of the three barrows on Grindle Nills, circular in plan, 40ft in diameter by 18ins high.

The barrow has been destroyed. Its site is marked at SO4302 9265 by a roughly circular bed of stones, within an area of heather, 7.5m in diameter, upon which, on the N side, stands a modern cairn of stones. Embedded into the S side is an OS triangulation bolt.

The earliest evidence for occupation on the headland was uncovered by excavation in 1963. There survived the part remains of a large pre-Roman round house measuring 11.5m in diameter within a wall of upright posts set within a narrowly dug foundation trench. There was a doorway through the south wall. An outer concentric line of post holes which held the eave posts was situated 0.6m beyond the inner wall giving an overall diameter of 14m. Roman pottery found above the foundation trench indicated that the house had gone out of use by the late second century AD. It is thought that the house may belong to a much more extensive Iron Age settlement, possibly a promontory fort where the neck of land which joins the headland to the mainland would be defended by a palisade or a series of ditched defences.

The 1963 excavations at Tynemouth also uncovered the remains of a second circular house, 4.5m in diameter and of different form to the first. This house was not considered to be contemporary with the first, instead it was dated to the later Romano-British period. There was a concentration of Romano-British pottery in this area as well as a scatter across the rest of the excavated area and one of the pieces of pottery was dated to the late second century AD.

There are no visible prehistoric remains on St Patrick's Isle, but archaeological excavations found a shallow hollow, in which flint tools had been manufactured. These tools have been dated to the Mesolithic period, when such hollows were commonly dug to provide shelters in which to work, process food, eat and sleep. The variety of flint tools discovered suggests the islet was seasonally used around 8000 years ago. St Patrick's Isle continued to be used into the Neolithic period, as worked flints, stone tools and some pottery characteristic of this time have also been discovered.

Evidence of more permanent occupation from the Bronze Age onwards has been revealed in the form of post hole foundations for a series of roundhouses. Their sheltered location on the east side of the islet and apparently continuous occupation into the late Iron Age suggests that the site was both attractive and significant. Its apparent security resulted in the construction of a large roundhouse about 8.5-9m in diameter which served as a granary and would have been controlled by the local elite. A substantial deposit of charred timber and grain however showed that the building, which had stored large quantities of spelt wheat and smaller amounts of emmer wheat and barley, had been completely destroyed by fire just over 2,200 years ago.

SX 11607782

The mutilated cairn comprises a ragged, turf-covered mound which incorporates an incomplete kerb of upright slabs (the tallest is 1.1m high). The overall dimensions of the mound are about 7.2m by 6.9m although much of its centre and north-west side have been robbed; the kerb is approximately 4.4m in diameter.

The cairn material may have originally been contained within the standing slabs.

SX 11627783

A disturbed turf-covered cairn approximately 7.7m in diameter and 0.4m high. It has traces of a kerb fringe of the mound. Its top has been mutilated and a large earthfast boulder lies to one side of an 0.3m deep central pit.

Posted 13 Nov 19ce  |  Comments (0)  |  Add a comment  |  Permalink