Anglezarke Moor Finds ??

Lancashire 17

Image by johnes

Rivington Pike Jul 29, 2003 08:10:03

Hi All,

Just spent Saturday on Anglezarke moor looking for Charles Wimpenny's stone Circle without success. (has anyone seen it !!)

http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/browse.php?site_id=1247

but, making my way up to the top of Hurst Hill were the peat has eroded away, I found a stone with 2 deep grooves in it (see photo's) when I put my compass next to it to give an indication of scale the grooves aligned to magnetic north.

http://photos.freeserve.com/public/detail.html?c_album=351979

I also noticed a low mound picked out in the change in vegetation approx 40 metres in diameter.

I don't want to log them as new features / sites if they are not significant.

What do you think,

RIV

Wotan Jul 29, 2003 11:07:15

Replying to Rivington Pike

hey - i was up at Angelzarke on Sta, walking the dog round the reservoir - damn fine day out!

IronMan Jul 29, 2003 12:54:45

Replying to Rivington Pike

Eyup Riv!

I must say I've been unable to find Charles Wimpenny's Stone Circle (even with my GPS), but I've got to admit that last time I was there it was covered in snow and the grass was quite long, so it could well have been hidden.

That stone looks interesting - do you have a grid reference for it?

I'm fascinated by that whole Winter Hill/Anglezarke area - the other night I went to watch 'The Hulk' at Horwich cinema and was well impressed by the view of the Pike from there. It's even pretty tempting to develop a theory of alignment with the Reebok Stadium... ;-)

BTW - that quarry you mentioned a few weeks ago - do you have a grid reference for that? I'd be interested to see it, but I'm not sure where it is...

AtomicMutton Jul 31, 2003 08:21:26

Replying to Rivington Pike

Cool !!!

I've found a few crudely carved rocks in Smithills - none with anything as interesting as a face on though. You're two parallel grooves facing north look like sheep leg bones to me - in those days the handle of the Great Frying Pan (Ursa major) was vertical and indicated close to true north. The simplest of astronomers would have given that meridian great significance. We did !

Don't stop.

The best time to search the Pennine moors for ancient stones is just after the heather's been burnt January, February, March, before the new growth starts.

The Arke, in Anglezarke, is the old Rivington barn, incidentally. The Anglez were I guess our Saxon forbears, Christian farmers who pushed the stones over respectfully, re-used them as boundary markers (check these), and sometimes crudely carved their initials or a cross on them http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/image.php?image_id=12719

There's stuff all the way from where you are - to where I am. Just waiting to be discovered. I'm glad IronMan's spiral is getting some attention.

(And so on) ...