wideford
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'gates' in dykes
Oct 17, 2005, 19:42
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Any other dykes with small crossings gated by standing stones known ?
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Moth
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Re: 'gates' in dykes
Oct 17, 2005, 20:04
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The one here http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/post/28142 kinda looks like that & I seem to remember there were a couple further up the dyke?
love
Moth
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StoneLifter
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Re: 'gates' in dykes
Oct 17, 2005, 20:31
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I had a pair posted here but the opposition got too strong and I pulled them. Pairs of standing stones there certainly were and it's not unlikely that they were incorporated into later hedges and dykes. You don't shift heavy stones if they can be easily adapted. But standing stones were also moved into new positions, they were certainly broken up and they may have been refaced. I've rebuilt a two step stile in a drystone wall and I'm pretty sure the stones were previously standing stones. Just because a stone is a gatepost now, or fairly recently, doesn't mean that it has never had a previous use. Stone is a versatile material in that it is 100% recyclable.
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wideford
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Re: 'gates' in dykes
Oct 17, 2005, 21:06
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Ah, yes, Leafea is a very good size match. And I know the pair by Congasquoy were a gate because there was a nearby dwelling called Grind 'gate' as A.W. Jonstone says. So which came first, dyke or gate. Unless they were a package from the start after all.
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wideford
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Re: 'gates' in dykes
Oct 17, 2005, 21:09
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should have said Leafea too
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StoneLifter
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Re: 'gates' in dykes
Oct 17, 2005, 21:30
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The problem with that reasoning is that in Norse 'gate', I think pronounced 'gatay', meant a road or thoroughfare. In Notlob (home of the Vikings) we have Deansgate, Churchgate and Bradshawgate, the three main thoroughfares of the old town (before the A666 eg).
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wideford
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Re: 'gates' in dykes
Oct 17, 2005, 22:23
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Grind meaning English gate, I know about Messigates and the like.
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StoneLifter
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Re: 'gates' in dykes
Oct 17, 2005, 22:50
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Hence 'grindle' - sorry I didn't know that !
There is no absolute test for a standing stone but, more often than not, the longer side will point to something else significant.
Are you going moonwatching (northernmost rise) on Saturday evening ?
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