BERKSHIRE
Rivers were dominant as the boundaries of the historical Royal county of Berkshire. In the E the clays and gravels of the Thames, valley, give way to acid sands further S. To the W the chalk down land is cut by tributaries of the Thames and the Kennet. The rivers and ancient track ways were important for trade, communication and movement of both hostile and defensive forces as well as being foci for settlement. The Berkshire Downs show extensive traces of prehistoric and Roman activity; the central area was the economic hinterland of the Iron Age settlement and later Roman town of Silchester, situated just outside the S border of the county. Between the 7C and 9C two probable Saxon provinces which became Berkshire were disputed territory between Mercia to the N and Wessex to the W. Estates, many Royal, settlements and Minster churches were evident in both provinces. Berkshire suffered from Danish incursions from the 9C to the early 11C. William I built a motte and bailey castle at New Windsor beside the Thames to defend the approaches to London. Later this became a Royal palace which with another Royal foundation of the 12C,the Benedictine Abbey at Reading, dominated the county in the Middle Ages.
1.Combe Gibbet Long Barrow
Impressively situated on Inkpen Beacon this Neolithic site is named after the recently restored gibbet which was originally erected on the mound in 1676. The barrow remains unexcavated..
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2. Lambourn Seven Barrows
A large group of Bronze Age round barrows can be seen spreading along the bottom of Upper Lambourn valley to the SE of the damaged Neolithic Lambourn long barrow. The best of the group are within, and to the S of, a small nature reserve run by BBONT.
Numbers 1 to 5 are aligned on the long barrow and consist of: 1. a disc barrow, the central mound now very low and spread, 2. a ditched bowl barrow almost 2m high, 3. a similar ditched bowl barrow, partially overlying a small bowl barrow, 4. twin bowl barrows enclosed by a single ditch , 5. a bowl barrow which contained the burnt bones of a woman within a stone cist. A second line of barrows to the S and on a slightly different alignment has: 6. a double barrow enclosed by a single oval ditch, 7. a large ditched bowl barrow standing up to 3m tall, 8. a slightly smaller ditched bowl barrow, 9. a disc barrow with a broad central mound around 0.3m high. S of the road are: 10. a bowl barrow around 1m high, 11. A large bell barrow which has been planted with a ring of trees and which overlaps a small bowl barrow containing a male burial with a variety of flint implements 12. a small bowl barrow which has been dug into, 13. a saucer barrow whose low mound covered two graves, one containing the bones of a child and a man buried with pottery and flint tools and in the second another child, 14. a bell barrow which had a later cremation in a stone cist. There are two further small bowl barrows E of the road, 15 and 16. Other barrows exist to the S and the N.
Finds suggest that the cemetery was in continuous use from 1,400 BC to 1,000 BC..
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3. Wash Common Barrow Cemetery
This group formerly of 5 Bronze Age round barrows was thought at one time to represent the graves of those who fell during the battles of Newbury during the Civil War .They are all bowl barrows except the W one which is a disc barrow with an indistinct central mound. One barrow has now been destroyed..
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A replica of a large cup marked stone may be seen next to the closed off entrance to this neolithic tomb. A second phase introduced a polygonal ring of kerb stones to a mound now sliced through by the roadway.
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Innisidgen carn is a well preserved Neolithic tomb which is similar in many ways to Bant's Carn. The retaining wall of the mound stands up to three courses high and there are the remains of an outer wall to the N. The tomb at Lower Innisidgen is not in such good condition and only part of the surrounding kerb survives.
See location map for 2. Porth Hellick Down
Before the chamber collapsed in 1815 it was said that a man on horseback could ride under the massive capstone. It was repaired in 1824 and now stands 1.5m tall. The original long mound is now much disturbed. Towards the S end are the tumbled remains of a number of cists.
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This enormous Neolithic burial chamber was once surrounded by a large oval mound. Today the corner of the sloping capstone stands over 4m above the ground. two flanking stones form a small ante-chamber to the E where a small rectangular hole in a corner of the facing stone gives access to the interior.
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Standing amongst the remains of a circular mound this Neolithic burial chamber is just under 2m high. Stones to the S may mark an entrance passage or secondary cist ,while there are remains of an enclosing kerb to the N.
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Although the massive capstone has collapsed this Neolithic burial chamber remains impressive with stones over 2m high. This is despite some vandalism including an attempt to reuse the stones to build a small hut, the remains of which still stand to the E.
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The defaced remains of this Neolithic henge monument with a later insertion during the Bronze Age of a stone circle was excavated in 1905. Only 15 stones of an original 28 remain and only 4 of these are standing. the surrounding bank stands to a maximum height of only 0.60m.
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This neolithic henge has a long history. originally approached from the N an extra entrance was added in the 13C when the enclosure was adapted as an amphitheatre. It was reused during the civil war as an defensive outpost. The surrounding bank stands up to 2m high
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This curious monument, its name means 'stone of the hole', is generally considered to be the remains of a dismantled burial chamber. Some of the stones have certainly been moved in historic times. A number of beliefs about the stones powers to promote healing and prophecy have been noted.
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This Bronze Age stone circle was restored in 1862, today there are 19 upright stones, between 0.8 and 1.4m tall, one of which, on the SW side is made of white quartz. The first Cornish Gorsedd (a gathering of Bards) in modern times was held here in 1938.
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Despite its small diameter this Bronze Age monument remains impressive with the tallest stone reaching up to a height of 2.7m. Unlike other Cornish granite circles the stones here are quartz. the circle was restored in the 1860's
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The closely set stones of this large circle may have retained an earth bank to form a sacred enclosure some time in the Bronze Age. of the 35 upright stones the tallest is 1.3m tall.
see location map for 23. Rough Tor
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16. Merry Maidens Stone Circle
This small but apparently complete Bronze Age circle consists of 19 stones graduated in height from 0.8 to 1.4m so that the tallest stones stand to the SW. the gap may be an original entrance. As with many such circles stories were told about a group of dancers changed into stone for profaning the Sabbath. the outlying standing stones, the Pipers and the Blind Fiddler were described as the musicians who had been fleeing the scene. This tale has been traced back to the 1730's. See location map for 4.Tregiffian Chamber Tomb
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In the 16C the antiquary, William Campden recorded a local tradition that, 'they had been men sometime transformed into stones for profaning the Lord's day with hurling the ball'. Excavations in 1935 dated these Bronze Age circles to c. 2,000 BC and revealed that the N circle had been paved in granite and that a path had joined it to the central circle. Care had been taken to shape the stones and set them it pits so that the tops were all level. many of the stones have been re-erected and stand between 0.6 and 2m tall. There are several burial mounds in the vicinity and a further small damaged circle was discovered in 1923 c. 1 km to the NW.
The Rillaton Barrow which stands about 500m to the NE was opened in 1818. The stone cist which can still be seen on the E side of the mound contained a skeleton together with a bronze dagger and a small handled cup made from corrugated gold. The finds are in the British Museum. A copy of the cup may be seen in the Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro.
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This Bronze Age alignment originally pointed to a standing stone some 500m to the NE known as the 'The Fiddler'.or 'The Magi Stone'. This stone has now fallen as has the N most in the row which is 3m long. A number of other stones can be seen around the site most of which have been cleared from the fields.
Of the 12 surviving stones 8 remain upright although some lean alarmingly. The average height is about 1.4m, a fallen stone towards the centre is thought to be a modern boundary stone.
See location map for 10. Stipple Stones Henge
Standing Stones
Cornwall is home to well over a hundred standing stones or menhirs as they are sometimes called. Most are assumed to date from the Bronze Age and some, such as the Pipers and the Blind Fiddler appear to be associated with stone circles. Little evidence survives of their function and indeed they were probably erected for a variety of reasons,some undoubtably mark burial sites but others may have defined boundaries or have been used for religious purposes. In more recent times farmers have erected smaller stones as rubbing posts for cattle.
The curiously eroded stones of the Cheesewring are a well known geological feature. On the hill top to the N of them are two enclosures marked by lines of tumbled stones. The larger to the N has numerous hut circles. Traces of other walls descend the hill slope suggesting the beginning of a system of fields and drove ways. the site is unexcavated but is probably late Bronze Age.
See location map for 17. The Hurlers.
This small hill fort is defended by a massive stone wall standing up to 2.5 m in places faced on both sides with stone slabs. The two entrances are marked b fine sets of door jambs. Surface finds suggest a long period of occupation from the Neolithic through to the 8C.
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Excavations in the 1970's showed that a defended Neolithic settlement had been founded c. 3900 BC. Large numbers of flint arrowheads suggested the site may have fallen to a violent assault. The remaining ramparts are thought to be iron Age as are the hut circles in the middle of the fort. the castle, a modern building is reputed to have 14C origins.
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23. Rough Tor - Bronze Age Landscape
This area of Bodmin Moor is thickly spread with a complex pattern late Bronze Age fields and drove roads lined with granite blocks. Scattered around are numerous circular hut sites and smaller piles of stone that have been cleared form the fields. Rough Tor itself was fortified with a double line of stone walls. possibly during the Iron Age although some authorities suggest it belongs to the 2nd or 3rd millennium BC. Some of the longer banks and areas of rectangular fields are medieval..
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Occupation on this site extended from the Bronze Age to Post-Roman times. Excavations in 1935 and in the late sixties revealed a variety of circular huts and adjacent yards and garden plots. Most of the existing remains are from the late Roman period. the surrounding area bears traces of a complex system of fields banks and lynchets with further scattered round houses.
See Location map for 2. Porth Hellick Down.
Excavations here revealed Bronze Age settlement which had been replaced in the Iron Age by timber built accommodation followed by the existing courtyard houses dated to the 1st C BC. An impressive underground passage or fogou, with walls up to 2m high, leads from the N house and connects with a circular chamber with a corbelled roof. The function of these passages remains something of a mystery although they are not uncommon on Iron Age settlement sites. The houses were abandoned around 400.
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One of the largest and best preserved of these curious underground passages this one originally passed under the rampart of a defended Iron Age settlement. The passages are up to 1.9m high with a corbelled roof and heavy stone lintels and jambs.
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Despite some restoration Chysauster remains the most impressive and informative settlement of a type of house which seems to have developed in Cornwall in the Romano-British period. The basic arrangement is of a thick walled courtyard with housess and smaller farm buildings built into the walling. Here 8 houses can be seen in pairs each side of a winding village street. Further outlying houses exist to the S. Five of the houses have been totally cleared revealing walls which still stand up to 3m high. Stone paving, drains and hearths can still be seen . To the S are the remnants of a fogou or underground passage once about 15m long, only a couple of capstones survive. The village is surrounded by a network of small terraced fields although unfortunately some to the NE have recently been destroyed.
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