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The Modern Antiquarian Forum » Stones on PD James book cover |
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fitzcoraldo 2709 posts |
Oct 09, 2008, 14:32
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The Cumbrian SMR is more or less on-line as the Historic Environment Record and can be accessed via http://www.cumbria.gov.uk/planning-environment/countryside/historic-environment/HER_online.asp. Which could be developed into an excellent resoucre once they have added all the info and links. Unfortuantely the National Park's records are not included. Your 'Four Poster' is on the on-line record listed as Alston Four Poster, SMR No. 19867 cheers fitz
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Stoneshifter 379 posts |
Oct 09, 2008, 14:51
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Thanks ! Don't you fancy going to get some pictures of it ? There's the Alston Staton Field Earthwork, not far away, as well. It's allowed on TMA as it's interpreted as Iron Age - and then there's Alston as well. It's got interacting back lanes that only the residents (and former residents, of course) know about. Someone told me the Gossipgate gallery was reopening too!
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fitzcoraldo 2709 posts |
Oct 09, 2008, 16:38
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As it happens I'm just in the process of buying a new camera so as always David, I'll go if you come with me and give me your interpretation of the site, the same goes for your Cumbrian open circle, square henge and various other bits and bobs. I can collect you and drop you off at Darlington or Penrith stations and would be happy to provide refreshments and badinage as long as you don't mind travelling with a slightly smelly terrier. I might even bring the dog (-: cheers fitz
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Stoneshifter 379 posts |
Oct 09, 2008, 17:38
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Tempting but, no, thanks - please take Hob instead ! I'll go and dig out the original photographs and scan and post them - it'll take a week, as there's a big pile. You'll not meet many people that have seen Survivre Avec Les Loups! I've changed the name Whitehouse to Alston, for the name of that four poster. It's a better name - it never occurred to me that there were other associations beside White House. The back two stones are set on quite a steep slope and seem to have, perhaps, slid down a foot or so in the intervening years. There's also what seems to be a quite well-formed round barrow nearby but the area has been extensively and informally mined for anthracite over a few hundred years. There's certainly another large barrow not far away. I guess I should send that in. I intended to spend an afternoon over there, in the summer, but was just too tired out and knackered to do it. I'll try again next year. I think the Cumbria SMR has what I call the Station Field Earthwork as 'earthworks in Alston'. That could do with a proper name. I'm separating from these monuments in the South Tyne and need to 'pass them on'. The professionals would be laughable, if the remains weren't so blinking important. It tickles me that as well as Holymire, which is probably in the top ten largest diameters, I've also found the Alston Four-Poster, which may be one of the smallest.
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fitzcoraldo 2709 posts |
Oct 09, 2008, 19:52
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Have you come across 'shoading' for lead? It was practiced in the Alston area for hundreds of years. Basically you had shoad and float ores. Float ores were collected from rivers and were water worn and shoad ores were oxidised surface lumps. Both were smelted by erecting a pile of stones on the western brow of a hill with fuel collected from a neighbouring hill. The hill where the smelting took place was a bole or bayle hill and the source of the fuel was a hag hill or bank. I've a couple of nice 1885 TCWAAS articles on the Alston area, if you'd like them drop me an e-mail to my name at hotmail dot com. cheers
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tiompan 5758 posts |
Oct 09, 2008, 19:57
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Stoneshifter wrote: I've changed the name Whitehouse to Alston, for the name of that four poster. It's a better name - it never occurred to me that there were other associations beside White House. The back two stones are set on quite a steep slope and seem to have, perhaps, slid down a foot or so in the intervening years. Does that mean that the diameter would have originally been greater or smaller ?
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Stoneshifter 379 posts |
Oct 09, 2008, 22:39
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It takes professional excavation to determine these things but - greater. I'm also not sure that, in the FlashEarth improved image that I've posted, that the stones are too close together to distinguish between two pairs and that the two smaller white spots aren't sheep. The stones are squat and stumpy, the tallest being about a metre high, and this seems characteristic of many four-posters. One of Fourwinds examples, the last one, I think, is quite similar.
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Stoneshifter 379 posts |
Oct 09, 2008, 23:06
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Thanks - but no thanks. I'm sick of lead. I've been a lead whistleblower and suffered the consequences. In Alston there'd be an occasional walking vegetable and you'd know that somehow they'd encountered a huge dose of environmental lead when they were growing up. I managed to keep my kids totally away from it all until they were in their teens, so past the danger period, and had friends in 'Nent', which is widely contaminated. Floating, hushing, the Bayles (who used to live there ?) The houses were really cheap after the mining collapsed, early seventies, so there was a massive influx of people, from London and Newcastle. I was one of them - but to Featherstone, in the Tyne valley. Mancunians went to Hebden Bridge (which was only contaminated by wool!) There's loads of mine heritage freaks there - and a visitor centre where you can riddle your nuggets (my friend help set it up) but I don't want to go there. My pal that drives me places and me argue - don't take me to Nenthead - I'm not going to Nenthead! I spoke to a man living in Nenthead in May and he'd been down the Tynehead Mine - which has been suspected of producing silver in the Bronze Age, by EMRG. He described how a flooded tunnel, waist deep in water, was still the vivid green of Malachite, the copper ore that's found in these quartz seams. Tynehead's a few miles south of Garrigill and beside the Tyne source. The mine at the Knar is the focus for some astounding monuments - three huge long cairns, for instance, and I've found and recorded most of them. But I've never ever been to Tynehead, it's ten, fifteen years since I've been to Garrigill even, but I'm pretty sure the area around the Tynehead Mine will be similarly stacked up with barrows, cairns, rows, maybe circles and rock art. Nobody's ever looked for them. Surprisingly, for aged hippies, there is nobody into megaliths up there. After the old guys died, for a while, I was the best waller on Alston Moor, and so part of the place. Many domestic supplies are unwittingly contaminated by lead. There's a good argument that remediating these would be cheaper than investing in schools for improving literacy and numeracy.
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