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Heritage Journal
news and views from Heritage Action
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Tarmac's 'cynical and bogus gift' at Thornborough
August 27, 2005, 10:03 pm
TimeWatch Chairman George Chaplin has launched a withering attack on what he termed "Tarmac's latest stunt" in their ongoing campaign to quarry away the archaeology surrounding the incomparable Thornborough Henges, North Yorkshire.
"Tarmac have offered what amounts to a cynical and bogus gift to the nation" said Mr Chaplin. "They have made a great fuss over their offer to gift some separate land to the community. Initially the offer was conditional upon their current application being successful, although under pressure they've now been forced to say there are no strings attached. So it was never a gracious or disinterested offer, but now that the exact details have come to light it's quite evident it was also a virtually valueless one!
The land they are giving is not under threat; it's a boundary area that they wouldn't have been able to touch so it's of no real value to them. It's a near worthless gift and they should be given no credit for it."
In it's response to Tarmac's "mitigation strategy", of which the gift of land is the centrepiece, Timewatch has also said that the archaeology of the Ladybridge Farm area, Tarmac's current target for quarrying, has been confirmed by English Heritage as being "nationally important" so destroying it would be in conflict with PPG16 - the Government's strict policy on such archaeology.
"Just how Tarmac can continue to say that bodies like English Heritage and the Council for British Archaeology are wrong and that they are right is a mystery" said Mr Chaplin. "But offering not to rob Barclays if they are allowed to rob Nat West (that was never under threat anyway) isn't going to make anyone think their views are believable. If they wish to give the nation a gift we suggest they simply leave Thornborough alone.
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Better access at Duddo
August 26, 2005, 10:03 pm
A recent agreement allowing public access to the stone circle near the Northumbrian village of Duddo has proved highly successful.
Photo: Ian Hobson
On a recent visit Heritage Action site inspector Ian Hobson found a small sign by the road, marking the agreed route.
This allows visitors to reach the stones by the easiest route from the nearest road, and minimises crop damage by directing visitors to gaps running from the edge of the field to a newly designated plough free space around the five stones, protecting the monument from accidental damage by farm machinery.
The new informative sign. Photo: Ian Hobson
Congratulations must go to owners Penmar Farming Ltd and to DEFRA's Countryside Stewardship Scheme (CSS) and English Heritage. DEFRA said: "This CSS agreement is a wonderful example of what can be achieved through partnership. Working closely with the landowners, their agents and English Heritage we have an agreement that will help sustain the arable farm business, enhance the environment and safeguard these important historical features."
While this seems to be the case, apart from the small sign, virtually hidden in a hedgerow, there is no visible sign of the 'access furniture being installed as a priority' that was promised. The present route is not accessible to all though, as it involves a walk through narrow gaps in an arable crop. If further improvements can be made, Heritage Action suggests that the portion of the route over the field be made accessible to children's buggies and wheelchairs.
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Eathorne menhir stands proud again
August 25, 2005, 10:03 pm
In mid August Eathorne menhir was re-erected. It is a slim granite Bronze Age standing stone, 2.4ms tall near Treverva close to Constantine in Cornwall.
At some point before 1992 it was uprooted and moved by Phil Clemoes, a farmer who was concerned by its pagan origins and as a devout Methodist didn't want it on his land. Outraged locals launched a campaign and in1993 he reluctantly re-erected it close to a hedge. Later he covered it with chicken wire and encouraged ivy to grow over it.
Recently the farm changed hands and the new owner agreed to have the stone put back where it belongs. A team of volunteers, including many from Cornwall County's Historic Environment Service, excavated the site of the stone, dug out the stone from by the hedge and lowered it back into place with a crane.
A crane lifts the stone and swings it over its socket.
 
The stone is carefully manoeuvred into position.
The menhir stands proud in the landscape once more.
Andy Norfolk, who helped with the menhir's re-erection, said: "It looks really good!"
Ann Preston-Jones from Cornwall Historic Environment Service, said: "It was a great project and a very exciting day."
Heritage Action heartily congratulates all those involved in the work.
Photos: by kind permission of Historic Environment Service, Cornwall County Council.
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New audio tour at the Rollrights
August 24, 2005, 10:03 pm
The Rollright Trust, guardians of the Rollright stones on the Warwickshire/Oxfordshire border has just launched an innovative audio tour facility.
Photo: Alan Simkins
From their website, you can download a sound file for your iPod or MP3 player. But if you haven't got the technology you can buy a CD with the tour on when you arrive at the stones and they will even lend you a CD player to listen to it on while you are there.
The audio tour is split into three tracks, one for each of the monuments at the site: the King's Men stone circle, the Whispering Knights burial chamber and the King Stone standing stone.
The audio tour is given by George Lambrick, chair of the Rollright Trust and the leading expert on the site, its history and archaeology.
The Rollrights are an excellent example of how ancient monuments can be run to the benefit of all without turning them into a Disneyland-style tourist attraction.
It is one of the first heritage sites in the world to offer a guided tour as an MP3 download and earlier this year, access for visitors who are wheelchair users was improved at the site.
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Ghostly cairn at Elterwater?
August 23, 2005, 10:03 pm
Heritage Action site inspectors Suzanne Forster and Brian Kerr were out and about in Cumbria last week. They visited Copt Howe, a series of huge boulders with ancient carvings incised into the rock and stopped off in the village of Elterwater near Ambleside for a stroll. They spotted what they thought looked like a possible cairn at NY331049, not marked on the map.
To get a closer look they made their way over the marshy area of Elterwater Common, where they could make out what seems to be a cairn-like structure.
Photo: Brian Kerr
Brian says: "From every angle it looks like a robbed out cairn. We spotted a main front vertical stone, side panels and a possible roof slab. And the built up area to the rear of the structure looks distinctly man-made. When you look from the rear of the stones you get a perfect alignment to both Copt Howe and Pike O' Stickle. Is this co-incidence or something planned?"
It is not unusual to find burial mounds and tombs aligned on significant features in the landscape.
Brian spoke to Douglas Warrell, a local historian. Mr Warrell said he didn't know of any excavation in the area and always assumed the stones were a natural feature. They may well be, but just look at that photo above and ask yourself: does that standing stone look natural? It certainly looks suscipious to Suzanne and Brian.
Local folklore, said Mr Warrell, tells of a strange ghost-like creature called the Neddy Bogle, which centuries ago appeared to a local man who was leaving the village to return home on his horse. The apparition appeared from the place where the stones stand.
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English Heritage will tunnel Silbury
August 19, 2005, 10:03 pm
English Heritage (EH) has announced they WILL be tunnelling Silbury to repair it. We at Heritage Action are calling on them to explain their reasoning to the public, and not to go ahead on a unilateral basis.
Photo: Moth Clark
This decision may be right, though what details they've published suggest that tunnelling will involve vastly more damage than the grouting option and be vastly more expensive. Yet they've announced that's their choice without a single word to explain why! So we, and presumably the public, are left entirely bemused.
You can read the full account. If you agree that an explanation is owed - and that's actually all we are asking for - PLEASE write to English Heritage. We have prepared easy-to-use letter-writing packs for you. Send a letter or send an email
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Rare snail may save Bremore tombs
August 18, 2005, 10:30 pm
We recently heard about an ambitious proposal to develop a new deepwater port facility near Balbriggan, County Dublin. The proposed location is dangerously close to a complex of five ancient passage tombs at Bremore, one of which is three metres high and 30 metres long. They perch close to the shore occupying a magnificent position.
The main mound (right) and western mound from the south.
Photo:Tom Fourwinds
Environmentalists are objecting as they say the proposals will have a devastating affect on the habitat of the rare Pisan snail, Helix Pisana, pictured below.
The mollusc is recorded as living only in two locations in Ireland – Mornington beach and in the beach lands surrounding Balbriggan.
Heritage activists and historians are planning to challenge the proposed development given that the port would be so close to the tombs, which may well be as old as famous tombs at Newgrange.
Heritage Action is currently seeking more detailed information to decide whether it will challenge the plans.
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Callanish: tough for wheelchair users
August 17, 2005, 10:30 pm
Today, we received an email from Dr Jacqui Rodgers from Tyneside who was recently on holiday in Scotland with her husband and daughter, Brigit, who is a wheelchair user.
They visited the Isle of Lewis to see Callanish, a stone circle and stone avenues which together create a cruciform shape. It is believed that this monument charts the cycles of the moon. It is one of Britain's finest and most high-profile prehistoric sites.
Photo: Callanish by Moth Clark
Jacqui said: "I was really looking forward to finally seeing Callanish but was appalled at the restrictive access for wheelchair users. Access to the visitor centre is fine, but the path from it to the stones includes two kissing gates which you can't get through with a wheelchair. This must also be the case for those who have small children in buggies.
"The irony is, if the site is approached from the village, rather than from the visitor centre, access is not a problem. But there is no indication of this on approaching the site, where signs point to the visitor centre.
"I intend to contact the visitor centre (it was just closing when I was there, so the opportunity to do so in person was sadly missed) and ask if there is an alternative route from the centre to the stones, though other than leaving the centre and climbing the very steep incline just outside it, I could not determine an accessible route. The route via the steep hill is clearly unacceptable to those with mobility issues, as is the lack of an accessible route directly from the visitor centre to the stones of Callanish."
What a shame Jacqui's visit was marred in this way! Perhaps Historic Scotland should take a leaf out of the book of the Rollright Trust who recently improved access for wheelchair users to the Rollright stones in Oxfordshire, which we reported on earlier this summer.
Andy Sweet, Heritage Action site inspector added: "There are some very large kissing gates on parts of the West Highland Way that I'm sure you'd get a wheelchair through. If kissing gates are necessary at Callanish these bigger ones should be installed."
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East Aquhorthies marked with a 'B'
August 10, 2005, 5:55 pm
Aberdeenshire is rich in stone circles boasting more than 50. Many are recumbent stone circles - a uniquely Scottish phenomenon where one stone is deliberately left lying down, like a table or alter and flanked closely by two upright stones. It is thought that these sites were built to mark significant moon phases.
Heritage Action site inspector Suzanne Forster was lucky enough to be in Aberdeenshire last week and visited one of the best examples of a recumbent stone circle at East Aquhorthies.
Photo: East Aquhorthies recumbent stone and flankers by Suzanne Forster
She spotted a carving of a large B on one of the stones which so far we have not been able to explain. She said: "I wondered if it might have been old, because it was quite deep and looked weathered, but some kind soul had recently re-done it with a bit of chalk."
Photo: Suzanne Forster
Does anyone know if this is new graffiti? Or was it done by the authorities in less-enlightened times as some kind of labelling? If you know, please let us know!
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An invitation to Tara - 15 August 2005
August 9, 2005, 6:01 pm
The people of Ireland are invited to visit the Hill of Tara on 15 August 2005 to express their opposition to the proposed twice-tolled Motorway through the Tara Skryne Valley. Information and maps will be available giving details of the proposed road. Gather from 3pm onwards and at 7pm we hope that politicians will join us for information and photographs.
Bring your county flags, the tri-colour and banners with you to show your opposition the routing of the proposed road through the Valley.
15 August is a significant date in Irish history. In 1843 Daniel O?Connell held a meeting at Tara attended by an estimated 750,000 people. These people believed that the strength of their unity could make a difference to their freedom. That same flicker of belief burns deep within us all.
Daniel O?Connell was not alone in choosing Tara as a rallying point. In the 16th century the O?Neills used itas their focal point for the 1641 rebellion. There was a skirmish there during the 1798 rebellion and one of the major battles between the Norse and the high-king of Ireland was the Battle of Tara fought for the prize of the kingdom of Brega (the land surrounding Tara) and for Tara itself.
The National Roads Authority and Meath County Council have issued a propaganda pack on the archaeological aspects of the M3 and this is being selectively distributed countrywide. The pack includes a CD outlining how the proposed motorway might fit into the landscape. However, Rath Lugh, one of the main outposts of Tara, has been completely ignored. Perhaps the NRA and MCC do not want the public to know that it would be separated from its core? The impact on the Valley itself is also overlooked.
For more information go to the Sacred Ireland website or email spokes@sacredireland.org
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Unsung stone in Perthshire - but what is it?
August 3, 2005, 4:42 pm
Heritage Action site inspector Andy Sweet was out and about on his bike in Perthshire recently and came across this standing stone at grid reference NO07176430.
Photo: Andy Sweet
He was surprised to see it as it was not marked on his map, so he checked it out for references on The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland database which is called CANMORE. It wasn't listed.
At first he wondered if it was just a track marker stone, as there is a ditch next to the track which could cause problems in winter. Despite there being a few track markers on the Cateran Trail, they are all much smaller, and this stone is on the other side of the ditch, so does not follow the track marker pattern.
As Andy says: "If it was there to mark where the edge of the track is, it wouldn't do a very good job as you would be in the ditch before you reached the stone!"
Photo: Andy Sweet
The stone stands approximately 1.2m high and around the base there are packing stones visible. He's dubbed the stone Calamanach after the wood nearby and has reported it to the county archaeologist for his opinion and to get any further information. We'll keep you posted as to what we find.
Read more about Andy Sweet's megalithic wanderings
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