Andy Burnham's Blog, page 202

Pierre Levée (Collias)

"La Pierre Levée" now stands in a private property in Rue de la Pierre Levée in the village of Collias. The menhir was broken in two parts and condemned to be totally destroyed by excavators.
A man in the village of Collias has chosen to bring it to his home and to repair it. This stone is now in the garden. Bravo !!!

Free MP3 Download/Podcast: Neolithic life in the Cotswolds

A fresh look at the Neolithic Cotswolds brings to light how its people lived their lives. Research has traditionally focused on the tombs and monuments of the period but Dr Nick Snashall (National Trust archaeologist for Avebury) makes it a matter of life as well as death, in a lecture that that explains how new evidence is revealing Neolithic life.

Knocklane

Just in, these wonderful kite aerial photo from Hamish Fenton. Knocklane Promontory Fort in Co. Sligo. A multi-vallate promontory fort on a narrow finger of land, with the sea around three sides. On its east side three banks and two ditches protect the main enclosure c.60x70 metres, at the seaward end of the main enclosure are two more banks and a ditch that protect the headland enclosure c.57x35 metres.

Twyn-Yr-Oerfel B

A fairly prominent barrow on the ridge above the Sirhowy valley. The barrow is surrounded by many large blocks of stone to prevent the off road drivers driving over it, but this does not prevent the bikers.

Valley of Stones circle

Possible large stone circle in the south-easterly section of the Valley of Stones in Dorset. Gerald Ponting writes: When I went down there I became convinced that this was a genuine megalithic circle. As far as I know, there seems no record of this as an archaeological site - unless you know better.

Farthing Downs

If you are well and not isolating, now is a perfect opportunity to explore the ancient sites in your local area as part of your allowable daily exercise. Don't travel to Cornwall or the Highlands - unless you already live there of course! Even the most uninspiring looking lumps and bumps have a story to tell. Click here for our map of ancient sites around you (requires location access). Anglo-Saxon barrow bemetery and Iron Age Enclosure in the London Borough of Croydon. Photo: A couple look over towards Canary Wharf and the view of London. The map shows four Anglo-Saxon barrows here. The most visible barrow is just to their right. This site could really use an information board!

Offa's Dyke north of Trefonen

Don't miss the Offa’s Dyke Digital Day of online presentations coming up on the 4th April. Featuring a host of Offa's Dyke and Early Medieval experts, for more details see the comments below on our page.. A very fine section of Offa's Dyke dyke north of the village of Trefonen, Shropshire. The trail (Offa's Dyke Long Distance Path) runs along the top of the dyke, not the best way of protecting a national treasure.

A view of some propped stones in West Penwith and Bodmin

David Shepherd writes: A little while ago I was in contact with Tony Blackman regarding propped stones we had noted in Cornwall, the South Pennines and the Yorkshire Dales (Blackman 2011, Shepherd 2013), sadly our projected collaborative paper never happened because of Tony’s untimely passing. A recent visit was a belated attempt to follow on from our discussions, and these notes are, in a sense, an outsider’s view of Cornish propped stones. My time was limited and each site was visited once. I was only able to gather sparse details before my trip, but I did succeed in locating at least ten features – without getting into the ‘possible/probable/definite’ debate. The following seem to be well-known already, although not formally recorded, and I have supplied GPS-derived grid references, photos and inevitably incomplete commentaries.

Syvhøje Viemose Skov Rundhøj 6

A well preserved round barrow. 3 x 20 metres. Part of a cluster of round barrows. (see nearby sites list for the others)

Ballach-a-Heathry

Ballach-a-Heathry in Dumfries and Galloway is a robbed out grassy cairn of uncertain age according to Historic Environment Scotland. It lies 2 miles NE of Glenluce on the Three Lochs road. It is approximately 25 yards across its N-S axis and 30 yards across the E-W axis.