On 16 September 2015, during a brief visit to Harlyn in north Cornwall, I set out in the morning in search of Trethevy Quoit on Bodmin Moor. As soon as I entered the environs of Bodmin, the weather shifted from earlier sunshine on the coast to sunshine and showers, with an occasional blustery wind accompanying the rain. Rather than religiously consorting with a map, I motored on with a broad idea of where I was heading, and followed my nose.   [caption id="attachment_1762" align="aligncenter" width="743"] King Doniert's Stone[/caption]   The first site I happened across that morning was King Doniert's Stone, Men Myghtern Doniert. These two granite cross bases are decorated in late 9th century style and probably date from that time. The shorter stone carries ... Read More

On 16 September 2015, during a brief visit to Harlyn in north Cornwall, I set out in the morning in search of Trethevy Quoit on Bodmin Moor. As soon as I entered the environs of Bodmin, the weather shifted from earlier sunshine on the coast to ... Read More

St Nectan's Waterfall is in St Nectan's Glen, an area of woodland in Trethevy near Tintagel, north Cornwall, stretching for around one mile along both banks of the Trevillet River. A link to the history of the site is here. In the Cornish language St Nectan's Glen is Glynn Nathan, meaning deep wooded valley of Nathan. The sixth-century Saint Nectan is believed to have sited his hermitage above the waterfall. According to legend, Saint Nectan rang a silver bell in times of stormy weather to warn shipping of the perils of the rocks at the mouth of the Rocky Valley. 'The sunset of life gave to the saint the spirit of prophecy, and he told his weeping followers that the light of their religion would grow dim in ... Read More

St Nectan's Waterfall is in St Nectan's Glen, an area of woodland in Trethevy near Tintagel, north Cornwall, stretching for around one mile along both banks of the Trevillet River. A link to the history of the site is here. In the Cornish language St Nectan's ... Read More

The 2015 archaeological field excavations at West Kennet Avenue, Avebury, conducted by the National Trust, concluded in early August 2015 and their 18 daily blog updates of the excavations are here. A post hole was discovered this year and described on the Day 16 blog as: 'What we have is an absolute whopper of a post hole. It's getting on for 1.5 metres deep and originally contained a post approaching 0.6 metres in diameter. The post it contained is likely originally to have stood something in the region of 6 metres or more tall. It had been packed in place with large sarsen stones (some of which were as much as 0,5 metres wide). Then chalk had been rammed in between the gaps and water added ... Read More

The 2015 archaeological field excavations at West Kennet Avenue, Avebury, conducted by the National Trust, concluded in early August 2015 and their 18 daily blog updates of the excavations are here. A post hole was discovered this year and described on the Day 16 blog as: ... Read More

From earliest childhood memories, the chalk hill figure of the Cerne Abbas giant in Dorset has been welded into my consciousness. My first memory was of a family holiday, driving from Bournemouth to Cornwall in the West Country. My father hired a Morris Minor for the holiday and as we drove past the enigmatic hill figure, my brother and I sniggered together in the back of the car. To this day, by my mind it is the iconic image of Dorset, as Stonehenge is to Wiltshire and the White Horse of Uffington is to Oxfordshire. Many stories, legends, and of course folklore, have arisen among us Dorset folk over the generations relating to this gigantic figure (180 feet long and 167 feet wide). The round baby-like ... Read More

From earliest childhood memories, the chalk hill figure of the Cerne Abbas giant in Dorset has been welded into my consciousness. My first memory was of a family holiday, driving from Bournemouth to Cornwall in the West Country. My father hired a Morris Minor for ... Read More

On 22 July 2015, Pete Glastonbury guided me around ancient features in the archaeologically rich area of Devizes, Avebury, and the Vale of Pewsey. The tour included a visit to a long barrow. Long barrows are the oldest known architecture in the British Isles, dating from the early Neolithic, around 4000BC to 2500BC. This one, however, at All Cannings in Wiltshire, was created not by our distant Neolithic ancestors, but in the 21st century by Tim Daw, a local farmer, and is described in further detail here. Pete Glastonbury witnessed the construction of the All Cannings Long Barrow in Wiltshire during 2014 and has kindly provided the photographs above and below, taken during the construction process in April and May 2014, respectively. 'The first "Neolithic" long ... Read More

On 22 July 2015, Pete Glastonbury guided me around ancient features in the archaeologically rich area of Devizes, Avebury, and the Vale of Pewsey. The tour included a visit to a long barrow. Long barrows are the oldest known architecture in the British Isles, dating from ... Read More