Not so many stones really...
On Saturday, we decided to drive up to Suffolk, to revisit the bookshop in Clare, that has a good range of old topology and archaeology books at excellent prices. The only site we bothered with en-route was the Sturmer Barrow. I did have details of some other possibles on the way, including a cursus at Harlow, but the time didn't feel right for investigating further.
Taken from the EH Scheduled Monument record:
On Sunday, we fancied a stroll down to the New Forest, and rather than hunt down more barrows, I set myself the task of trying to find the South Baddesley Stone. I failed.
South Baddesley is a small place: a church, a school and a few cottages. We parked in the church car park, a couple of hundred yards North off the Lymington-East End road. I walked back down the lane to the junction, but could see no sign of a sarsen, even though the GPS said I was on the spot. There's a small triangle of grass at a junction with a side lane, that would have been an ideal spot if the stone had been moved, but it was bare.
Sadly it looks as if this is no more (or is now recumbent in a ditch, covered by undergrowth).
We stopped off on the way home at Figsbury Ring - a weird place with a most amazing collection of butterflies.
I only spotted this on the way home as I took a wrong turning. Parking in a layby I looked across and thought "hello, what's that?". Checking the map, the opportunity was too good to miss, and we carefully made our way up the deeply rutted track to the even more deeply rutted car park.
As others have said before me, the 'fort' is impressive. I was totally unprepared for the inner ditch, and knew right away that this was special in some way. It's a bit too 'jagged' for a proper henge ditch, to my mind, and looks a bit rough and ready.
Great views though, and a large and varied butterfly population.
The only Stones connection for the weekend was the traffic for the concert at Twickenham on the way home... but I don't suppose that counts?
Taken from the EH Scheduled Monument record:
A bowl barrow situated on a west facing slope overlooking the River Stour. The barrow is visible as an earthen mound which measures 48m in diameter and 2.5m high. Although no longer visible at ground level, a ditch, from which material was excavated during its construction, surrounds the mound. The ditch has become infilled but survives as a buried feature 2m wide.This bowl barrow 500m north-west of Sturmer Hall is well preserved.
On Sunday, we fancied a stroll down to the New Forest, and rather than hunt down more barrows, I set myself the task of trying to find the South Baddesley Stone. I failed.
South Baddesley is a small place: a church, a school and a few cottages. We parked in the church car park, a couple of hundred yards North off the Lymington-East End road. I walked back down the lane to the junction, but could see no sign of a sarsen, even though the GPS said I was on the spot. There's a small triangle of grass at a junction with a side lane, that would have been an ideal spot if the stone had been moved, but it was bare.
Sadly it looks as if this is no more (or is now recumbent in a ditch, covered by undergrowth).
We stopped off on the way home at Figsbury Ring - a weird place with a most amazing collection of butterflies.
I only spotted this on the way home as I took a wrong turning. Parking in a layby I looked across and thought "hello, what's that?". Checking the map, the opportunity was too good to miss, and we carefully made our way up the deeply rutted track to the even more deeply rutted car park.
As others have said before me, the 'fort' is impressive. I was totally unprepared for the inner ditch, and knew right away that this was special in some way. It's a bit too 'jagged' for a proper henge ditch, to my mind, and looks a bit rough and ready.
Great views though, and a large and varied butterfly population.
The only Stones connection for the weekend was the traffic for the concert at Twickenham on the way home... but I don't suppose that counts?
posted by Alan S. | 13:35
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