Littlestone
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Re: Circles under churches
Oct 03, 2009, 18:04
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It was assimilating as much as necessary in order to suppress.
Aye, think that just about sums it up!
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Littlestone
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Edited Feb 22, 2010, 17:48
Re: Circles under churches
Feb 22, 2010, 17:45
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St. Nicholas Church in Brighton might also be of interest; it was, "... the site of some impressive standing stones, they surrounded the church of St. Nicholas. 19th century sketches (in Brighton Museum) show that at least two stones were upright at the time..."
More here - http://heritageaction.wordpress.com/2010/02/22/like-a-rolling-stone/
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goffik
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Re: Circles under churches
Feb 23, 2010, 10:11
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I had no idea there was anything like this in or anywhere near Brighton! Excellent. Will seek this out on my next visit. Great article!
I wonder if there's any clues or visible stones left in or around the church as well as the fountain? Y'know - sarsens in the wall/floor or something...
G x
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drewbhoy
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Re: Circles under churches
May 18, 2010, 20:55
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Midmar, stone circle in church yard, Kinellar church wall built on top. Leochel Cushnie built on top of a cairn, Marnoch built within a circle.
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tjj
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Edited May 19, 2010, 07:23
Re: Circles under churches
May 18, 2010, 23:33
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drewbhoy wrote: Midmar, stone circle in church yard, Kinellar church wall built on top. Leochel Cushnie built on top of a cairn, Marnoch built within a circle.
Hah! Well done for resurrecting this venerable old thread Drew - and good that it now has some Scottish examples.
Here's my enquiry from the Druid Folly thread, re:-
http://www.stonor.com/stonor_stone_circle.htm
The stone circle at Stonor House in Oxfordshire was apparently moved from its original site after the chapel was built there. One of the stones was incorporated into the chapel as a corner stone. My enquiry was to ask if there are other examples of stone circles that had actually been moved in this way rather than buried or destroyed - and do they still count (here) as an ancient site.
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tiompan
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Re: Circles under churches
May 19, 2010, 07:53
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tjj wrote: My enquiry was to ask if there are other examples of stone circles that had actually been moved in this way rather than buried or destroyed - and do they still count (here) as an ancient site.
Strichen has had a colourful life ,stones removed ,then re-arranged with the recumbent shifted to the north which would have made it the only example with that orientation .It then became a folly albeit a genuine one .Then destroyed only to rebuilt as faithfully as possible .There are probably other misfortunes I've forgotten .
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drewbhoy
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Re: Circles under churches
May 19, 2010, 11:31
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Your right Mr T plus it is in good circle/cairn country. (plus my mate Duncan Perkins painted it and now hangs in my living room next to a picture of Mr D. Gillespie)
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Littlestone
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Edited May 20, 2010, 12:53
Re: Circles under churches
May 20, 2010, 10:12
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Perhaps what this thread has illustrated is just how much more common (and widespread) is the evidence for pre-Christian 'structures' at Christian sites; stones found either under a church (Alton Priors), built into its fabric (Pewsey) or scattered close by (Ingatestone). Perhaps it's also safe to assume now that many of these pre-Christian sites started off as (sacred) meeting places, often close to rivers, streams or wells. The number of churches found along the Winterbourne and Kennet seem to reinforce the idea of a still very active pre-Christian belief system along those waterways well into the second half of the first millennium - a belief system that the early Church here found necessary to suppress or assimilate.
In some ways the question of, 'Were the pre-Christian belief systems suppressed or assimilated?' is more interesting than the (surviving) Christianised megaliths themselves. It may be of concern, however, that the Church itself is sometimes not aware of these megaliths (sometimes literally on its doorstep) and this lack of awareness could lead to them being lost or damaged. TMA has gone a long way towards recording some megaliths under its Christianised Sites section, and there are several contributors here who are in the process of compiling their own lists - perhaps it will be possible to bring them all together at some point.
It's good that the awareness level for Christianised sites and Christianised megaliths has been raised but also at risk are the megaliths that lie scattered along our roads - megaliths which are now used as buffers between house or shop fronts and passing traffic. Perhaps some sort of record of these is also needed so they are not torn up and cast aside the next time a new house or shop is built, or road improvements are implemented. With that in mind please see - http://themodernantiquarian.com/forum/?thread=57970&message=730021
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drewbhoy
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Re: Circles under churches
May 20, 2010, 10:14
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Some of the Scottish circles/ring cairns are referred to as Auld Kirks e.g. at Tough and Alford.
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BuckyE
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Re: Circles under churches
Jun 09, 2010, 13:36
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Was going to try to add Les Sept Saintes (see Burl, Megalithic Brittany) to the Christianized Sites list, but couldn't figure out how. Never posted a site.
Only information on line is a Google Book posting of the third edition of Cadogan Brittany. Excellent book for stones seekers.
Les Sept Saint(e)s church; village of Les Sept Saintes, near Plouaret, France.
Burl: "Without doubt one of the megalithic curiosities of Brittany." The south transept is built partly over an allee-couverte. A wooden gate closes off the end of the dolmen, and little statues of Brittany's patron Seven Saints can be seen inside. Existing church not ancient; 1702-1714. Possibly the site of an earlier church.
Cute as a bug and twice as strange.
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