Curious that this site is not better known as it is at a very public location. Stonor Park is visited by thousands but on the web site no mention is made of this Neolithic(?) monument. The circle is right next door to the Catholic Chapel and does one sense a touch of embarrassment?
I visited this site a huge number of years ago(I used to knock around with one of the younger sons of the family) so the memory is a bit dim but I remember an earthwork and several standing stones. There is a small image available on the Google search but it's not much help.
I tried trawling through Oxfordshire CC's Web but couldn't find much, perhaps someone knows the right site to go to for more information.
Some pics would surely bring this circle back to the prominence it deserves.
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As Grrr notes this is all occupied by a very smart stud farm but a footpath skirts the N side and views of the ramparts can be seen from here. Following the side road signposted to the church, much better views can be had of the S side.
Disabled: Parking might be possible at the stud farm (Please ask) and part of the N part is circled by a flat path with wide views to the N. To the S, parking is possible where the road branches to the church (is this area private?) but the road is steep.
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What a busy little bit of Hampshire this is! The Counties of Dorset and Wiltshire meet, the Dorset Cursus approaches from the SW,the Ditch(Dyke?) forms the boundary in association with Grim's Ditch, a Long Barrow, tumuli and enclosures and a finely prominent aggar of the Roman Road.
A short walk SE shows that the earthwork is still very well defined and preserved, on the NE(Hants) side a deep ditch, on the SW(Dorset) side a smallish bank, Which was the defended side? Grim's Ditch marks the boundary of a vast Bronze Age ranch so it would be nice to know which earthwork came first.
Disabled: Difficult from where I parked in the lay-by on the A354. However, my old map didn't show the new parking area shown on Streetmap. Where I walked was flat but bumpy.
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Couldn't see this at first as the approach to the top of this bare and almost flat topped ridge hides it from view. Once there however it's quite rewarding, a sinuous ditch with banks in places, sometimes climbing gently up the hill or following the contours where the ditch becomes a flat path with the natural steepness of the hill on one side and a smaller bank accentuating the drop on the other. From looking at this very short section it's impossible to say whether it was built to keep raiders out, stock in or a huge statement of property ownership. Was it pallisaded? It seems unlikely as maintenance and patrol of this vast ranch boundary would tax even a modern stock farmer.
("Soldiers Ring" ESE, marked by a prominent clump of trees, is Roman)
Disabled: Parking available up a cobbled road, right next to a gate. Gentle slope on grazed turf to top from where some of the ditch can be seen. Extensive views.
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An Iron Age Fort, roughly oval in plan but associated with several Bronze Age earthworks.
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An example of a Bronze Age boundary ditch still marking the border between two counties, Hants and Wilts. More obvious to the SW where Bokerley Dyke and the Grim's Ditch serve the same purpose. What is more startling about this area is the disparity between the concentration of ancient sites either side of the dividing line. To the W. a huge number of tumuli and earthworks, to the E. none at all! The landscape is of similar form and there is no large physical barrier such as a river to provide a logical boundary. A line drawn between two tribes of dissimilar wealth?
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This is but a very short section of the remains of a massive earthwork which encloses much of this part of Hampshire. The County boundary still follows the course of this dyke (although not here) which gives western Hampshire a huge penninsular of land which juts into Wiltshire and Dorset. Part of the W boundary is defined by the Bokerley Dyke and a short stretch by a Roman road. Much of the Dyke consists of twin banks with a ditch between. The area enclosed is about 16 sq.miles in extent and deliniates a large ranch belonging to the Middle/Late Bronze Age.
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Pevsner/Lloyd (Hampshire & the Isle of Wight) mention that in the 1960s, an excavation near the N defences found the plan of a circular wooden house 25ft in diameter. Pottery dated it to Iron Age B cultures. The site was occupied in the Mesolithic and Roman periods.
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Two large ramparts and outer ditches with a counterscarp on the northern half. The fort covers about 16 acres and is Iron Age in date.
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This is really quite a delightful site. Very close to the centre of the bustling market town of Petersfield, an area of sandy heath with a large lake. No better place to play the game of "Spot the barrow" as some stand proud, dominated by noble trees, others lurk shyly in light woodland and some seem to stand guard over the boundary of the little cricket pitch. One or two are difficult to distinguish as there are a few natural tiny hills in the area. To the SW,the dominant Butser Hill. A charming place to exercise the dogs/children, to do a bit of fishing and to search for a distant past.
Disabled: Excellent. Dedicated parking and flat access to the Millennium Walk which encircles the lake. Short cropped grass walks traverse the site with very gentle gradients.
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Not one but four long barrows not all shown on Streetmap. All sites within less than a mile radius.
W.Barrow marked by post.
E.Barrow by uneven ground.
Long Barrow, W. of Moody's Down Farm. SU426387.
Long Barrow SE of Middlebarn Farm. SU417382.
Other sites in this group;
2 Bowl Barrows SU436384.
3 " " " 1 visible SU418389.
2 " " " SU406370.
1 " " " SU418362.
1 " " " 17M by 0.6M SU420362.
A remarkable collection within such a small area. The first two long barrows may be unique as they were built within a few metres of one another (Although see Milston Down nr Bulford http://www.wiltshire-web.co.uk/history/barrows.htm )
Sadly time has not been kind to these monuments, most are badly damaged or only visible as crop marks. However the loss of the first two is unbelievable, the raised bank of the army firing range (The butt?) was dumped straight on top of them! Even to have put it a few metres to the E would have avoided this wanton damage.
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Some confusion here, compare and contrast. The first extract from Hampshire Treasures, the second from Pevsner/Lloyd "The Buildings of England", "Hants and the IOW"
"Popham Beacons. Situated in arable field, on broad flat top of a prominent hill. The group consists of two bowl barrows, a saucer barrow, a disc barrow and two probable bell barrows."
"This is a linear cemetery of five barrows. The S site is a fine bell barrow 7ft high and 130ft in diameter, N of it are first a bowl barrow 118ft in diameter and 6ft high and a saucer barrow partly cut through by the building of the former mound and by a second bell barrow. 40ft N is a further bowl barrow, 90ft in diameter and 6ft high."
From a site visit the first impression is of only 3 barrows as the N barrow is hidden from view aproaching from the field gate. I think that the heights quoted are very much an under-estimation especially for the 1st and 3rd barrows, (Counting from the left ie S) and I would add possibly just about half as much again. Some trees on top which is a shame as they will surely be damaging the barrows. Middle (apparent) barrow lower.The N barrow, a smooth dome, clear of vegetation and shifted E of the line of the first three. Of the other two barrows mentioned, by squinting along the ground I think that I could just make out a vague, circular very shallow ditch between barrows 3 and 4.
A site visit by someone more conversant with barrow types than I am might clear up the confusion.
When I visited it was the begining of what proved to be the hottest day ever recorded in the UK, I will probably return when my brain will be less fried!
The "Three Barrows" mentioned in the original post are described as follows again by Pevsner/Lloyd.
"...The group consists of two disc barrows, a bell barrow and a twin barrow - two mounds surrounded by a common ditch. the disc barrows have been almost obliterated by ploughing and are difficult to detect. The bell barrow, 70ft in diameter and 9ft heigh, was excavated in 1920 and found to cover a central pit containing a cremated male burial. The twin barrow, which was excavated at the same time, proved to have been robbed"
Disabled: Parking at field gate leading straight to site on level grass.
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"Occupies an extremely strong position at the N. end of a spur. Defences comprise a single rampart and ditch with traces of a counter-scarp bank in places. There is an additional scarp on the N. up to 2m in height where the site is weakest. Original entrance is in the ridge to the S."
Hampshire Treasures.
No entry I'm afraid as it's on a private estate. Visible for miles due in part to the massive Redwoods planted on the summit probably in Victorian times. A surprisingly rural and wooded site so close to Southampton and on the Greensand rather than the Chalk.
Disabled: No access.
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An Iron Age settlement overlain by probable Roman earthworks but a Mesolithic quartzite pebble was found here showing that the site has had a very long history.
Unlike Chilworth this modest little square earthwork was not built upon when this suburb of Winchester was extended from the 1950s onwards.
Disabled: Parking at shops opposite. Pavement on three sides, very small and shallow ditch.
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"Small univallate hillfort I.A. Bank and outer ditch with 2 possible entrances."
Hampshire Treasures.
A curiosity or a disaster?
In this very affluent suburb of Southampton an Iron Age hill fort has been converted into a sort of roundabout of detached houses. When was this built upon? None of the houses look much earlier than the 1960s.
The original bank can only be seen in the E. quadrant where it is followed by the road.
The nearby Castle Hill earthwork to the W. was probably a cattle enclosure.
Disabled: Drive-by only for all.
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"Bowl Barrow 32M by 1.8M high. 2 ring ditches indicating 2 sites of other barrows"
Hampshire Treasures (Edited)
H.T. says this is 320M across which stirred the imagination but logic prevailed and, as proved correct, the edited version is nearer the truth.
Pretty well preserved with only a tiny chunk taken out by an old (?) farm track on the N. The ring ditches are probably only visible as crop marks from the air.
In this area of gently rolling chalk it commands quite extensive views including the upper reaches of the Test valley.
Almost impossible to photograph as it seems to disappear from sight within a few meters and there are no trees to climb to get a better view.
No info as yet on the origin of the name but it would be great if one of the other barrows was called "Cadabra"!
Disabled: Parking (with permission) at farm but then quite a long hill to site on good grass and track.
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"Promontory Fort I.A. Relying on the rivers Test & Dever & marshland to protect other approaches. 1 entrance at centre"
Hampshire Treasures.
An interesting site as the area protected must heve been quite small if, as H.T. suggests, there was extensive marshland to the NE/S. I was expecting a bank but found that it was a pretty large ditch, in places aprox 6/7M below the crest of the W. bank with a berm on the E. side followed by a small bank. Not sure about the last as it seems too small to have had any defensive purpose and is probably just a field boundary.
Heavily wooded and with scrub so the entrance was not obvious. The N. end has been destroyed by the A303 but the S. end fades rapidly by the track with no obvious continuation to the River Dever.
Disabled: Parking close by or "drive by" on farm track but the site is seriously overgrown, see pics.
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From Brit Arch 1998 No. 39
"...from one of the two entrances, a ditched avenue led to a large sub-circular enclosure some 30M. across in the centre of the fort. According to Mr Payne, the enclosure may have contained a timber shrine as is thought to have existed at Danebury "
I was a bit reluctant to visit this site as I had heard that it was completely ploughed out and when I asked permission to walk to the site from the cottage (It's on private land) the very helpful lady said there was little to see. She suggested that I drive around the field boundary as my passenger couldn't walk far. It was baking hot, well over 30C and was grateful for the offer so a couple of minutes later I parked the car in the shade of the trees which define the NE/NW quadrants and started exploring.
Pleasantly surprised to find that although the SW/SE part is completely under the plough the remainder is surprisingly intact with a small outer ditch, then a bank, then another larger ditch followed by larger bank.
This part has quite extensive views over the upper reaches of the River Dever, a tributary of the Test.
The only problem is that the ditches and banks are completely smothered with tree and scrub and photography is almost impossible, I did try! However perhaps the vegetation has preserved the remains of the fort as the ground does not fall that steeply on this side and field enlargement would have been quite easy.
Hampshire Treasures describe it as an Iron Age Fort (c600BCE) of univaillate form.
Disabled: Bank and ditch almost impassable but read fieldnotes for access.
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Obvious confusion with Silbury, (as Google keeps telling me) one wonders if the name comes from the same root? The trees planted in the 1960s are now being removed (since Sept 2002) and the area allowed to revert to the natural chalk downland. Access is difficult as it is on or near MOD land and there are tank tracks and occasional artillery firings over the area.
I've flown over the site hundreds of times as the Parachute Centre I used to belong to (Netheravon) is next door. I loved hanging out the door of the plane trying to spot as many archaeological features as I could, things like the Cursus and the Avenue showed up well in dry summers.
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Felt rather sorry for this stone as it is miles from any (known) companion and is leaning badly. Asked at the local farm for permission to walk on their land and was asked for a contribution to the Devon Air Ambulance Service! Pretty cool and no prob. The farmer said that a dowser had found several lines emanating from it but was a bit vague about the details.
There are simple crosses carved near the top on all four faces and the top. I couldn't see or photograph this as the top of the stone, even in its leaning condition, is 2M+ in height but it can be felt easily enough. The crosses are just two lines at right angles but do I detect a circle round the one on the W face?
The stone doesn't seem to have been worked, except for the top which is fairly flat. To judge by the debris in the field, the local stone may split naturally into this form.
BTW. The stone is about 50M to the W. of the location shown on Streetmap, across the road somewhere about the "g" of "Long Stone".
Disabled: Parking on verge opposite stone. Field was/is ploughed.
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The pic should be interpreted correctly!!! It's a game played in our local to show how experienced cavers, myself included, can crawl through tight spaces. As the pub has a distinct lack of thick limestone in it, bar stools have to do. Honest.....
TMA re-kindled my interest in ancient history when I got my first PC and went on line early in 2002.
Other interests; architecture, natural history ( I'm a Landscape Gardener), parachuting (I used to be an instructor), and chatting in pubs.
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