'The great old mound, with its grey time stained stones, among which bushes of the blackthorn maintain a stunted growth, commanding as it does a view of the great part of the sacred site of Avebury, has still a charm in its wild solitude, disturbed only by the tinkling of the sheep bell, or perhaps the cry of the hounds. Shade too, is not wanting; for on the north side of the barrow, occupying the place once filled by the encircling upright stones, are, what are rarely seen on these downs, several ash and elm trees, of fifty to seventy years growth. At the foot of the hill, half a mile away to the east, lies one of those long combs or valleys, where the ... Read More

'The great old mound, with its grey time stained stones, among which bushes of the blackthorn maintain a stunted growth, commanding as it does a view of the great part of the sacred site of Avebury, has still a charm in its wild solitude, disturbed ... Read More

William Barnes, the self-taught Dorset writer and poet, concisely described folklore in his 'fore-say' to Dorsetshire  Folk-lore by John Symonds Udal as: 'Folklore, taken in broad meaning, is a body of home-taught lore, received by the younger folk from elder ones in common life, and in the forms of knowledge or faith, or mindskills and handskills'. William Barnes, born at Bagber in the Blackmore Vale on 22 February 1801, hoped he had 'done some little to preserve the speech of our forefathers' and was a great advocate of a pure speech. For example, using the suffixes of 'lore' and stead', ornithology becomes birdlore, pathology: painlore, geology: earthlore, astronomy: starlore, optics: lightlore, an aviary: a birdstead and a museum, a lorestead. None of these terms remain with us today, ... Read More

William Barnes, the self-taught Dorset writer and poet, concisely described folklore in his 'fore-say' to Dorsetshire  Folk-lore by John Symonds Udal as: 'Folklore, taken in broad meaning, is a body of home-taught lore, received by the younger folk from elder ones in common life, and in ... Read More

In February 1971, a young lad of fourteen years of age by the name of Timothy Roberts of Bristol was on a family visit to Maiden castle in Dorset. During the course of walking along the second (middle) bank on the southern side of the hillfort, he noticed the above carved chalk object protruding from the makeup of the bank, with its outer face towards the crest of the bank and 'opposite the point where the ramparts curve inwards in conformity with the original defences of the eastern knoll'. In an article on this chalk carving by Mr RAH Farrar, published in the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society Proceedings for 1974, Volume 96, published in 1975, Mr Farrar writes in respect of the date attributed ... Read More

In February 1971, a young lad of fourteen years of age by the name of Timothy Roberts of Bristol was on a family visit to Maiden castle in Dorset. During the course of walking along the second (middle) bank on the southern side of the ... Read More

In an article published in the recently published October edition of Wiltshire Life, public historian Brian Edwards predicts another short tunnel is about to be announced by Highways England as the preferred route for the A303 at Stonehenge. Those regularly travelling the A303 will be familiar with the locations where the entrances to this tunnel are likely to be positioned, because they know where the pigs and the strawberry sellers will be spotted, he says. If you are familiar with the fields where the pigs can be spotted from the A303 in the World Heritage Site, says Edwards, the field south of the current road in which pigs will be spotted nearest to the stones is likely to be the site of the new western ... Read More

In an article published in the recently published October edition of Wiltshire Life, public historian Brian Edwards predicts another short tunnel is about to be announced by Highways England as the preferred route for the A303 at Stonehenge. Those regularly travelling the A303 will be ... Read More

We visited Midmar Kirk recumbent stone circle on Sunday 18 June 2017, during a recent research visit to  Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The afternoon sky was leaden, but as chance would have it, rain held off during our short visit. First impressions of this uniquely distinctive site in a rural setting were strongly influenced by its location in the grounds of Echt and Midmar parish church, along with a setting amongst recent gravestones. The web pages for the parish church here indicate: Midmar Church was built in 1787 under the ministry of Rev. John Ogilvie. It was deliberately built close to the circle -- we can't be sure why, other than that we know that the Rev. Ogilvie was interested in the monument that was believed to be a ... Read More

We visited Midmar Kirk recumbent stone circle on Sunday 18 June 2017, during a recent research visit to  Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The afternoon sky was leaden, but as chance would have it, rain held off during our short visit. First impressions of this uniquely distinctive site in ... Read More

During a visit to Aberdeenshire in June 2017 to observe as many recumbent stone circles as our eleven days in Scotland would allow, I visited Sunhoney recumbent stone circle on two occasions. Located on the coastal plain near the foothills of the Grampians, its exact location near the village of Echt is described here on The Megalithic Portal. The first occasion was the afternoon of Sunday 18 June 2017, after visiting Midmar Kirk recumbent stone circle less than two kilometres to the west. Driving along the B9119, the first indication of arrival at the location is the sign below.   Sunhoney recumbent stone circle stands on private land, forming part of a working farm, and is not managed by Historic Scotland. On arrival, Terence Meaden, who ... Read More

During a visit to Aberdeenshire in June 2017 to observe as many recumbent stone circles as our eleven days in Scotland would allow, I visited Sunhoney recumbent stone circle on two occasions. Located on the coastal plain near the foothills of the Grampians, its exact location ... Read More

Further to an earlier geophysical survey and aerial footage, the University of Reading have been excavating a field in the Vale of Pewsey known as Cat's Brain, southeast of Hilcott, a possible Neolithic long barrow. The monument is listed on Historic England's Pastscape record here, and Tim Daw last week indicated a possible equinoctial alignment of the long barrow on his blog www.Sarsen.org here. From the Middle English cattes brazen, the name appears to be a reference to rough clay mixed with stones that’s widespread in certain areas, as opposed to feline anatomy. On Sunday 9 July 2017, I visited the excavations with my friend Pete Glastonbury and his daughter Sammy. Dr. Leary, the project director, kindly invited us to remain, as a short lecture was given providing an update ... Read More

Further to an earlier geophysical survey and aerial footage, the University of Reading have been excavating a field in the Vale of Pewsey known as Cat's Brain, southeast of Hilcott, a possible Neolithic long barrow. The monument is listed on Historic England's Pastscape record here, ... Read More

Seventeen years ago today at approximately 12 noon on 29 May 2000, after heavy rains, a collapse of the 1776 excavation shaft was discovered on the summit of Silbury Hill in Wiltshire. Hugh Percy, Duke of Northumberland, financially supported an excavation in 1776 by Colonel Edward Drax, who used a team of miners from the Mendip Hills in Somerset to excavate a vertical shaft from the top of the mound, but no clear records of this excavation exist. (Brian Edwards's 2010 article published in Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine, ‘Silbury Hill, Edward Drax, and the 1776 Excavations’, is here). There is, however, a reference in 1793 by Revd. James Douglas in Nenia Brittannica stating ‘The only relic found at the bottom, and which Colonel Drax showed me, ... Read More

Seventeen years ago today at approximately 12 noon on 29 May 2000, after heavy rains, a collapse of the 1776 excavation shaft was discovered on the summit of Silbury Hill in Wiltshire. Hugh Percy, Duke of Northumberland, financially supported an excavation in 1776 by Colonel Edward ... Read More

The publication Monumenta Britannica by John Aubrey is described as 'in four parts, chiefly written in about 1665-93, with notes added by John Evelyn and Dr. Thomas Gale. These volumes contain a large amount of curious observations and original work, and are of considerable value from the numerous illustrations and the first-hand information relating to British antiquities.' The manuscript is available to view via a link on Tim Daw's blog here. On page n23 of the manuscript available to view on the link above, after describing a visit to Nine Stones stone circle near Winterbourne Abbas in Dorset, Aubrey adds: 'In this roade, halfe a mile farther westwards stand three stones as in fig. 2. These stones are four foot high+. From A to B eight paces. ... Read More

The publication Monumenta Britannica by John Aubrey is described as 'in four parts, chiefly written in about 1665-93, with notes added by John Evelyn and Dr. Thomas Gale. These volumes contain a large amount of curious observations and original work, and are of considerable value ... Read More

Of Kingston Russell stone circle in Dorset, Historic England state on their Pastscape record that it 'is a large irregular circle of Late Neolithic or Bronze Age date, consisting of eighteen fallen conglomerate or sarsen stones situated on a chalk ridge 750 metres northeast of Gorwell Farm. In 1815 one stone to the south was still standing. The circle appears to retain its full number of stones, although many of them may not be in their original positions. Two stones of a similar kind to those comprising the circle lie by the side of an adjoining fence (see record 450259). The circle has a diameter of 30 metres and has 18 visible stones. The stones vary in size from 2 metres by 0.5 metres to ... Read More

Of Kingston Russell stone circle in Dorset, Historic England state on their Pastscape record that it 'is a large irregular circle of Late Neolithic or Bronze Age date, consisting of eighteen fallen conglomerate or sarsen stones situated on a chalk ridge 750 metres northeast of ... Read More