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Heritage Journal
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Castle Hill can be protected
May 24, 2005, 10:28 am
[url=http://www.heritageaction.org/?page=heritagealerts_castlehill ]Castle Hill [/url] near Huddersfield in West Yorkshire is one of the most spectacular Iron Age hillforts in the north of England. But now controversy surrounds the site due to the rebuilding of a public house that has existed on Castle Hill for 200 years. Builders did not stick to the plans that were applied for and granted and the building has been ordered to be dismantled by 8 June 2005.
Photo: Dave Kendall-Smith
Now Kirklees Metropolitan Council is asking the public for ideas of what can be done with the site. The council is keen to protect the ancient earthworks of the hillfort which is a scheduled ancient monument.
Kirklees Council deputy leader Cllr John Smithson said: "I promised back in November 2004 that there would be public consultation once the structure was demolished. I am very pleased that this will now include a comprehensive conservation plan as required by the Heritage Lottery Fund."
There is now an excellent opportunity to embrace the ancient history of the area and recruitment for a ranger for the area which includes Castle Hill has already begun.
Heritage Action would like to see no further development in the area in order to preserve the green space, earthworks and archaeological evidence for future generations.
If you have any ideas for the site that would help promote the protection of the earthworks and bring interest to Huddersfield's distant past please contact Heritage Action using our Heritage Alert page.
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Quarrying will destroy neolithic treasures at Thornborough
May 17, 2005, 4:56 pm
The Thornborough henges are one of neolithic Britain�s largest monuments; a huge complex of three ancient earthworks surrounded by other features including ritual causeways, a cursus, burial grounds and settlements.
Photo: Jane Tomlinson
However, Tarmac want to build a quarry there. In preparation for their planning application to quarry at Ladybridge farm, close to the giant henges at Thornborough, Tarmac started a small scale excavation, exploring only 2% of area they plan to exploit. Many heritage campaigners were very sceptical that a 2% evaluation would find any archaeology at all.
Ironically, Tarmac discovered several pits containing neolithic pottery. The finds are of the same type as those discovered in nearby Nosterfield and shows that the ritual settlement in the area extended as far as Ladybridge. It confirms that probably a great many more archaeological treasures lie hidden beneath the soil - unexcavated - at Ladybridge farm. The finds are of the same date as the henges and are probably the remains of camps made by short term neolithic visitors to the area.
George Chaplin, member of Heritage Action and chairman of TimeWatch, a group campaigning to preserve the Thornborough landscape, said: "Even from this tiny excavation we can tell that 5,000 years ago, neolithic people rested and relaxed here between henge ceremonies and sharpened their tools by the fire."
This is the strongest confirmation possible that archaeology of national importance will be destroyed if this quarry is allowed to proceed and vindicates the campaigns to save the henges and surrounding areas from quarrying and commercial exploitation.
To read more about the fight to save Thornborough, see these pages.
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How did they move the stones?
May 16, 2005, 5:18 pm
What technology did neolithic and bronze age people use to transport, lift and erect the megaliths used to construct their monuments? It is a question that many have asked and many theories have been put forward. But none of them truly satisfied Gordon Pipes, a carpenter from Derbyshire, and member of Heritage Action. So he formed a group of interested amateur antiquarians called 'the Stonehengineers' and last weekend they attempted the first proper practical experiment using his revolutionary theory.
His theory involves the use of levers - a technology which our ancestors would have known - making fewer workers necessary during construction. It makes large stones transportable just as easily uphill, downhill or across uneven, scrubby land. Gordon calls it 'stone rowing'.
Stone rowing
Gordon finally got the chance to test his theory with the help of a bunch of volunteers - including many who are members of Heritage Action. Mr Pipes' experimental archaeological project was a complete success and proved that his theory worked.
Photo: Barry Teague
Elaine Swann of Heritage Action was there. She said: "The levers and fulcrums were put in place and it was all hands on deck. Gordon stood at one end and on his word we pressed down on the levers taking the weight of the 12 ton concrete block. We walked forward and, wow, the stone moved! Only six inches with the first try, but it moved. The levers were reset and we tried again. This time we moved it even further and with the final go we found that in two minutes, we had moved the block one metre up hill."
Steve Gray, an engineer and also a member of Heritage Action who was there, said: "We moved it 38 inches in two minutes, that's equivalent to 32 yards per hour. I'm sure with practice we could easily get up to 100 yards per hour. Our ancestors would have known all the things we were trying to learn and could have done it much faster."
"Works like a dream'
Nigel Swift, chairman of Heritage Action who witnessed the experiment, said: "We spent a lot of time getting the variables right - which levers, how long, which fulcrum, how many people and we figured a lot of it out. Gordon's method works - like a dream. It's an extraordinary sight to see 12 tons rise up and move forward through the air and then settle gently a foot forward from where it was. I wonder who last saw it done?"
Buoyed up with their success at stone rowing, the Stonehengineers wanted to try lifting the block using a similar technique. They used levers to raise it up onto a series of level wooden supports. It worked a treat and they managed to raise the block 80cm.
Photo: Nigel Swift
A full-scale event on Salisbury Plain is being planned for next month using the same stone. An attempt will be made to cover a substantial distance by stone-rowing and then they will try to elevate and drop the stone into a pre-dug hole, hopefully with the stone finishing upright.
Gordon is excited the prospect: "With enough manpower, shorter, lighter levers and stable fulcrums we should be able to cover a great deal of ground in a day."
For more information see the Stonehengineers' website.
Gordon Pipes stands on the concrete block. Photo: Nigel Swift
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Rollrights - good news at last
May 10, 2005, 5:32 pm
Positive things are happening at the Rollright Stones, Oxfordshire, which were grievously attacked by a paint-splashing vandal in April 2004. The already well-run visitor facilities have been much enhanced.
A new pathway has been created to provide a direct route from the main circle, The King�s Men, to the Whispering Knights, a megalithic burial chamber standing 400 metres to the east. In the next month or two grass will have grown through the structure and will then be mown, providing a route that will both look attractive and be completely pram and wheelchair friendly.
An audio tour is currently being developed so that visitors will be able move around the sites at their own pace and listen to a commentary. This will include detail about the King Stone and some otherwise little-noticed features that lie on the other side of the road. Having tried it, we can confirm it greatly enriches a visit.
Work on removing the yellow paint that was splashed onto every stone last year has not yet started. We understand that English Heritage have called for tenders for the work.
Although three empty paint cans were found not far away from the stones, there is insufficient evidence for charges to be laid against the criminal responsible. Sadly, the damage will remain for a while longer including to this 800-year-old lichen, probably the oldest measured colony in Britain. pictured below
photos: N Swift
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Pagans join NT to help care for Avebury
May 10, 2005, 1:19 am
Pagans and the National Trust (NT) have joined forces to set up the Avebury Guardians, a volunteer group that aims to help preserve and protect the sacred sites in the Avebury area that are owned or cared for by the Trust.
Pagans believe that ancient sites around Avebury are important to their spiritual beliefs, which also include a reverence for the natural world. Local pagans have worked with NT as voluntary wardens for a number of years and the idea for the Avebury Guardians came from a pagan conservation volunteer group and the Avebury NT warden.
The Avebury Guardians recognise that people from all walks of life and with many different backgrounds can help care for the Avebury monuments, pagan and non-pagan alike. They will not only help with things like erosion control and litter picking, but can also input into management issues such as the summer solstice celebrations.
An group induction day, organised by the NT, was followed up by a training weekend in late April when volunteers learned about the archaeology of the Avebury landscape and the management of the sites, health and safety and dealing with people
Nick Snashall, property archaeologist for the National Trust at Avebury, welcomes the group. She said: "Anyone is welcome to join. Among the pagans are people with very different beliefs, but we are all working together to care for Avebury."
If you are interested in joining the scheme contact the National Trust on (01672) 539250.
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Uffington talk
May 1, 2005, 1:13 pm
On Friday evening David Miles, chief archaeologist with English Heritage, gave an talk in Uffington on the ancient chalk hill figure of the Uffington White Horse in Oxfordshire.
photo: Jane Tomlinson
Miles spoke with great affection and enthusiasm of his involvement in the research and excavations carried out between 1989 and 1995, which revealed that the hill figure was probably carved around “700 BC give or take a few centuries”. He described the geological formation of the chalk hills themselves and, in order to provide a chronological context for the creation of the hill figure, he discussed the high number of prehistoric features in the immediate vicinity of the horse and their meaning. Other chalk hill figures, he said, particularly the Cerne Abbas Giant and the long Man of Wilmington disappointingly appear to be Tudor/Restoration carvings rather than Bronze Age. like the Uffington whitle horse.
His personal theories about the original use of the Ridgeway, the ancient trackway which runs just metres past the Uffington White Horse, were particularly fascinating. He wondered if it may have been an ancient migration route marked by successive generations of wild animals and that Uffington Castle, which once straddled the Ridgeway itself, was a kraal in which the herds would find themselves captured. This brings up some interesting thoughts about what The Sanctuary, the ancient site at the terminus of the Ridgeway near Avebury, may have been used for.
Books
Referring to material just published in his most recent book, The Tribes of Britain (Weidenfield & Nicolson £20), Miles discussed the tribes living in the vicinity of Uffington during the Bronze Age.
Even more can be read in: David Miles, S.Palmer, G. Lock, C.Godsen, and A.M.Cromery, Uffington White Horse and its Landscape: investigations at White Horse Hill Uffington 1989-95, and Tower Hill Ashbury 1993-4 (Oxford Archaeology Thames Valley landscapes Monograph No. 18, 2003 £30 includes CD Rom).
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