 Previous 20 | Showing 61-69 of 69 miscellaneous posts. Most recent first
'Five free standing stone slabs, marking 2 thirds of the circumference of an elipse. The stones are between 0.55m and 0.4m high. Partially obscured by heather, it has a diameter of 16.5m'
Info courtesy of MAgiCmap and English Heritage.
|
Cup and groove marked stone, currently re-incarnated as a gatepost.
This may have been quarried from a ridge to the north. 17definite cups, 3 possible. " cups are joined by a short groove. This part of Northumberland is replete with gateposts that suggest re-use of megalithic remains, and Hexhamshire is lacking any other confirmed reports of rock art*. This one managed to get reported in 'Archaeology in Northumberland, 1992-3'
*Hexhamshire is starting to grudgingly reveal the occasional cup mark here and there, mostly in the area to the west of High Shaws, south of the Stublick faultline
|
I'm not posting this as fieldnotes as I didn't actually get to the top. However, the Hownam Law merits a mention, not as much because of the IA fort, as because of the striking nature of the hill upon which the fort sits.
When approached from the north, it looks quite unremarkable, yet when approached from the south, it looks totally forbidding and conspicuous. The aspect it presents from The Shearers stone row suggests it may have been significant in the decision to place The Shearers where they are.
From a distance, no earthworks can be seen, but a stone wall is clearly visible, running the entir breadth of the southern side. If there are earthworks surrounding the plateau on the summit, they must be some of the most extensive in the borders. But it would make a darn good fort, even without earthworks, the scarps around the summit would have made it an easily defensible place.
The Kale valley has some very clear cultivation terraces, and those at the foot of Hownam Law are the clearest, and most extensive. Some of which look like they are starting to erode.
|
The EH RSM report states that the stones are still in their original positions, based on the presence of the packing stones at their bases. The damage to the circle took place in the medieval period when the field was farmed. Presumably this didn't last long, as the start of the border reiver period would have made this prime raiding territory, and arable farming would not have been easy when your neighbours keep stealing all your crops.
The EH report also says that the south circle has a diameter of 61m by 42.7 m, with an average interval of 16-20m between the stones, if those detected by sub-surface probes are included, though it doesn't actually say how many are underground in the south circle. It goes on to say that the north circle is 60m by 45m, and 6 buried stones have been detected.
|
28 stones, in an east-west alignment.
Known locally as the eleven shearers, possibly because not all of the stones are high enough to be visible.
RACHMS alleges it may be simply the remains of a field boundary.
|
|
Lyne Farm to the south of the hill is in the middle of a medium sized roman camp, and in a burn nearby Iron Age burials of an early christian nature were found. It's also a decent place to stay self-catering if you want to spend a few days exploring the the upper end of the Tweed.
|
Just to the west, down the hill from the three brothers and the fort, are the caves known as the dog holes. I couldn't find these, but subsequently found that evidence of burial, possibly
romano-british was excavated here.
|
|
Go late in the afternoon and see if the black and white sheep dog greets you and gives you the guided tour. It was very obliging when I was there with the family and went out of it's way to point out the fogou, before retiring to a discreet distance, all the while keeping an eye out to make sure we didn't cause trouble, then escorted us back to the car park.
|
Previous 20 | Showing 61-69 of 69 miscellaneous posts. Most recent first |
I like the Prehistoric Rock Art of Northumberland:
Ketley Crag
Chatton
Weetwood Moor
Dod Law
Roughting Linn
Lordenshaw
Fowberry Cairn
Hunterheugh
Old Bewick
Morwick
Currently obsessed with waving torches at things, often including rocks, as a prelude to some serious waving of torches at rocks that will inevitably appear here on tma at some point :)
|
Log in |
Register
Top of page