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Rocky Clump (TQ328102)


This is an intriguing site. If you are checking out the barrows and dykes in the area it is worth a look. It is within easy walking distance of Pudding Bag Wood Bowl Barrow and Pudding Bag Wood Prehistoric linear boundary

There are several large, partially buried sarsens about, and a bit of a mess left by Brighton & Hove Archaeological Society! (tsk, tsk).

There's been a fair amount of archaeological work done up here with a burial site and lots of Iron age/ Roman stuff found. There was definitely a lot of activity going on at Rocky Clump at that time.

Pics:
Pic 1
Pic 2
Pic 3
Pic 4
Pic 5

Links:
http://www.homeusers.prestel.co.uk/aspen/sussex/stones.html#sites9

http://www.brightonarch.org.uk
(Search for Rocky Clump to see reports)

There are a lot of sarsen stones in the area (Stanmer means 'Stony Pond'), and there are rumours of a destroyed stone circle at a copse nearby called 'Grannys Belt'. There are stones there, but any circle is unsubstantiated. More likely field clearance, but who knows?

There are a few big sarsens in Stanmer Park and environs, but most aren't of 'megalith' size.

Pudding Bag Wood Bowl Barrow — Fieldnotes

20.04.09ce
Nice spot this, and always unusual to visit barrows and cross dykes that have had woodland planted around them (this site would have originally been on open downland)

Look South West to the Pudding Bag Wood Prehistoric Linear Boundary

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A Sussex Solstice


I don't need much of an excuse to take the day off work, so this Summer Solstice I did just that. Here's what I got up to:

Being a late riser, I really can't handle these summer sunrises, and despite my good intentions it is 6:45 am and well past sun up by the time I drag myself up Wolstonbury Hill. A glorious Solstice morning it is, nevertheless.

I do my usual perambulation of my favourite henge, and greet an early morning dog walker going the other way. When I get round to the North entrance it looks like the dogs must have killed a rabbit. It lies with it's fur wet and neck broken, a solstice sacrifice to the fox and magpie.

I play self portrait with the timer on my camera like the sad muppet that I am, and then rock over to check out a couple of the other earthworks on the hill. The cross ridge dyke, bowl barrow and platform barrow and that lie 310m to the south east of the main henge.

Wolstonbury — Images

06.07.05ce
<b>Wolstonbury</b>Posted by danielspaniel

Wolstonbury Cross Ridge Dyke — Miscellaneous

06.07.05ce
This linear earthwork appears to be one of the later prehistoric linear boundaries recorded from the southern chalklands. What exactly their purpose was has regularly defied interpretation. They have variously been referred to as; roads, defensive outworks, covered ways, barriers, toll bars or drove ways, 'Celtic' fields, ranch boundaries or pastoral enclosures. Even precise terminology is difficult. (I am using 'Dyke' on TMA for want of a better site type, but please do not take this as an implication of function.)

Wolstonbury Cross Ridge Dyke — Fieldnotes

06.07.05ce
This 'dyke' cuts across the southern spur neck of Wolstonbury Hill, and this morning I find myself wondering where the main point of access was (if one originally existed) on this linear earthwork. Could it be at the central kink in the dyke, where a round barrow now sits on the Northern bank, or the area where the modern track bisects the bank? I walk down the ditch to where the dyke peters out and the slope gets steeper. The date of construction remains unknown. It could relate to a late Bronze Age/ Early Iron Age period of cultivation. Or, it could represent a 'defensive outwork' to the (speculative) period of defensive remodelling of Enclosure 'C' on top of the hill. As yet, nobody knows. I turn back and follow the ditch up to the 'barrow'.

Wolstonbury Bowl Barrow — Fieldnotes

06.07.05ce
Like so many, the apparent bowl barrow on Wolstonbury has been raided and flattened by the plough. It lies on farm land just to the east of the main track that leads to the hill from the south, at the kink in the 'cross ridge dyke'.
While it seems to be sited across the northern bank of the linear ditch and so appears later than the dyke itself, this may be a false impression. The barrow has been so badly disrupted (presumably by an unrecorded antiquarian investigation) that it is possible that excavated soil has been thrown over the linear earthwork.
It is also possible that the round mound could represent the mutilated remains of a later fire beacon mound. (But let's keep that quiet until someone proves it, eh?)

Wolstonbury Bowl Barrow — Images

06.07.05ce
<b>Wolstonbury Bowl Barrow</b>Posted by danielspaniel<b>Wolstonbury Bowl Barrow</b>Posted by danielspaniel

Wolstonbury Platform Barrow — Miscellaneous

06.07.05ce
This interesting specimen is also situated on farm land, just to the NW of the bowl barrow. It is a long stretched out thing that runs down the slope to the west. Again it seems badly truncated, but it is the only platform barrow I have knowingly visited, so it is worth a look.

Wolstonbury Barrows — Miscellaneous

06.07.05ce
It should also be noted that William Hamper, in 1806, noted a barrow within the NW quadrant of the Wolstonbury hilltop enclosures. No clear trace of this exists, and it is possible that Hamper mistook quarry spoil for a barrow. However, if it was a barrow it is possible that some of the Roman coins recorded by Hamper and the other prestige items and weaponry alleged to be found within the enclosure may have originated from it as primary or secondary deposits.

Later on, we go for a picnic to a place I haven't been before; Chanctonbury Ring. It is an interesting site with quite a bit of recent folklore attached to it, which always adds to the intrigue.

Chanctonbury Ring — Fieldnotes

06.07.05ce
If you park in the car park to the NE of the ring, it is a long climb up a 'bostal' path, and then you double back on yourself as you turn left at the top onto the South Downs Way. This is a bit of a drag, but better than trying to scramble more directly up the steep, wooded slopes. We tried coming down the 'quick way' but soon realised the only way down was on your backside!
Alternatively you could park to the SW and take the South Downs Way east to the ring.
I must admit to having a slightly strange sense of foreboding as we made the climb and I am not sure why. Maybe it was the vehicles we had seen parked up on the hill, or the spooky local folklore I had read (see links).

When you get up here, you are rewarded with a fantastic view. Cissbury Ring and flint mines to the South with the blue sea as a backdrop and Wolstonbury jutting out sphinx-like to the East. An excellent vantage point.
We were disappointed to discover 3 4WD's and parked next to the Ring, with their drivers were packing up after a nights camping. When I spotted them from the bottom of the hill I was expecting a wild Solstice free festival, but it was just some SUV driving muppets who didn't even give us the time of day. Quite what these individuals were doing up here on the midsummer's eve I don't know (black magic to bring petrol prices down perhaps?), but how lazy and disrespectful to bring your stinking vehicles across an area of outstanding natural beauty and park them next to an ancient monument. Needless to say we were happy to see them trundle off and then we had the place to ourselves.

Most of the beech trees planted by Charles Goring in 1706 were indeed flattened in the storms of 1987. The ones that remain are on the south bank mostly, and provide some delicious shade. The interior of the Ring has been replanted, but is still quite scrubby and immature.
We were surprised to find a barbed wire fence around the interior, but there is a well worn entrance at the east (close to the original entrance).
I am always interested in places that the R*man's decided to build temples on. Maiden Castle is one of the most famous examples, and it always suggests an existing sacred function for the site.

I ventured into the interior and it is a bit of a creepy wood with evidence of lots of campfires.
It is so overgrown I couldn't see any evidence of the temple, which is apparently only a few inches below the surface. I did manage to get a bit lost in there and had a brief 'Blair Witch' moment when I was convinced I wasn't going to find my way out! I now put this down to the 8% Cider and an overactive imagination.

There are also a couple of interesting cross ridge dykes, bowl, saucer, platform barrows and hlaews (rare Saxon Burial mounds) Click the Magic plug in on this page for more info on their locations.
Check out the links on this page for more background and go and feel the vibes of this absorbing place for yourself.

Chanctonbury Ring — Images

06.07.05ce
<b>Chanctonbury Ring</b>Posted by danielspaniel<b>Chanctonbury Ring</b>Posted by danielspaniel

All in all, it was a fun and sunny solstice. I am glad I took the day off!

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Prehistoric Bike Rides 1 (Dorset - Chalbury and Came Wood)


This bike trip took about an hour and a half, and covered a distance of about 5 miles in total.

I set off from my mum's house in Osmington at about 8:30am and turned right onto the A353.
Nothing much of prehistoric interest in Osmington itself, although the 3ft flinty stone that stands at the village crossroads should get a mention, although I have no idea of its provenance. As I crest the Osmington Hill I get a peek of the White Horse hill figure to my right. This is a rather recent carving, and a Royalist one to boot, so I'll say no more here!
Weymouth Bay spreads out to the left as I whiz down the steep hill, and as I turn the corner and come down into Preston I catch my first site of Chalbury and have to stop and take a picture. I head on through Preston, turn right at the roundabout onto the Littlemoor Road then sharp right onto Coombe Valley Road. The road climbs through the base of this valley, and large rocks are strewn about, including the intriguingly named 'Boiling Rock' (shown on 1:25000 maps) at grid ref: 694835. I reach the disused quarry and stash my bike under a dumped sofa (how quaint!) and storm Chalbury

Chalbury — Fieldnotes

09.06.05ce
I approached this fort from the disused quarry on Coombe Valley Road to the west of the fort.
Possibly not the best way as it involves scrambling up sheer cliffs and over a fence.
It was obvious others had come this way though, and it did give me the feeling of being an invading Roman (which I quickly shook off, with a shudder!). If you carry on further up Coombe Valley Road there are footpaths for a gentler approach.

It's a cute, roughly triangular little enclosure of about 4 hectares and was protected by a single ditch and a rampart of limestone slabs, obtained from quarry ditches inside the fort.
There is an entrance on the South East side and many hut circles were discovered inside the ramparts that suggest the site was intensively occupied around 450BC. I am just going to have a peek over the western ramparts and then get back to my bike. This fort looks cool from a distance,
and the view down the valley must have reminded the occupants that this was a land worth defending.
There are some barrows within the ramparts also, but I know nothing about them.

Chalbury — Images

09.06.05ce
<b>Chalbury</b>Posted by danielspaniel


Back on the bike I continue the climb up Coombe Valley Road. To the SW I can see Bincombe Barrows (known locally as Bincombe Bumps).
These barrows have always meant a lot to me as they were clearly visible from the house I grew up in Weymouth. I am not visiting them today, but viewing them from this new angle it is clear they were designed to make an impact from all directions. I reach the crossroads and go straight across to my next destination; Came Wood Barrow Cemetery.

Came Wood — Miscellaneous

09.06.05ce
Came Wood is a feast of Neolithic and Bronze Age barrows of several varieties. The round barrows and long barrow south of the woods are generally on arable land and under cultivation, but in the wood itself there are 2 bell barrows, a pond barrow and a long barrow.
They lie at the end of the cemetery of barrows that stretch along the South Dorset Ridgeway. It has been suggested that they formed the boundary of territory based around the major Neolithic ritual monuments of Maiden Castle, Maumbury Rings, Mount Pleasant and the destroyed Flagstones and Greyhound Yard sites in Dorchester.


The two parts of this necropolis I checked out were Culliford Tree Barrow and Came Wood Bank Barrow

Culliford Tree Barrow — Fieldnotes

09.06.05ce
This tree covered round barrow lies between the road and the east side of Came Wood itself. (It actually lies to the West of the road, and I hadn't read Rhiannons folklore post so didn't listen for fairy music - it was too early in the day anyway!)

This is an atmospheric place and I feel compelled to sit awhile and soak it up. Although I have mixed feelings about the old fashion of planting barrows and earthworks with a crown of trees, they certainly add to the sacred feel of this site, encasing me in a green chamber on this June morning.

The crater in the top tells of a 'volcano' excavation;
In 1858 four internments were discovered, one of which had a necklace of amber beads, two of which had gold casings.

Look East and you face towards a line of 5 round barrows, with the bank barrow just beyond.
Many carvings on the trees here, the earliest I can spot is 1939. Needless to say, I don't add to them!
Think I'll go and have a peep through the trees at the wooded long barrow down the path to the North.

Culliford Tree Barrow — Images

09.06.05ce
<b>Culliford Tree Barrow</b>Posted by danielspaniel<b>Culliford Tree Barrow</b>Posted by danielspaniel

Broadmayne Bank Barrow — Fieldnotes

09.06.05ce
Now this is a barrow! I've just got to walk the length of this thing, and
I am rewarded when I reach the other end and a deer springs out from behind one the two round barrows that sit next to each other just to the North of this incredible monument.
She runs through the crops to the hedge while I stand, exalted, snapping away like a madman, trying to capture a moment I should just be in, but I suppose that is the modern condition!
These 2 north flanking barrows aren't shown on the OS map, but the round barrows at both ends are. The road runs between the east end of the bank and the round barrow at that end. This is Chalky Road, which interestingly runs straight up to Broadmayne and the stones/ earthworks there.

Looking around:
Barrows, Barrows everywhere!
An important spot,
I think.

Broadmayne Bank Barrow — Images

09.06.05ce
<b>Broadmayne Bank Barrow</b>Posted by danielspaniel<b>Broadmayne Bank Barrow</b>Posted by danielspaniel<b>Broadmayne Bank Barrow</b>Posted by danielspaniel



I was hoping to get up to Dorchester to visit a few more sites, but it is June in the UK, and the rain drove me back to Osmington. I take the turning to Sutton Poyntz (left off the Coombe Valley Road) on the way back and get a nice look at the Eastern side of Chalbury and a breathtaking view of a definitive Dorset Valley. This route is highly recommended!
Originally from Weymouth in Dorset, I now live in Hurst, West Sussex.

Would be pleased to meet up with folk in the area to visit and discuss local sites.

I have a particular interest in the mysterious collections of Sussex sarsens at various sites and the enigma of Wolstonbury Hill.

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