The Modern Antiquarian Forum » Wolstonbury » Wolstonbury: henge or hillfort |
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tjj 3606 posts |
Apr 13, 2011, 21:38
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Was out walking at the beginning of the week around the village of Brimpsfield in Gloucestershire; at the end of the walk I suggested we have a quick look at the village church which was set apart from the village and accessed only by a field path. Walking up to the church there was on the left something that looked very similar to a hillfort - earthworks surrounded by a deep ditch. It was in fact the remains of Brimpsfield Castle which was built in the 12/13th century and later destroyed. Set alongside the church (also Norman) both were on an escarpment overlooking the surrounding countryside. A wind picked up as we walked towards the church and there was a sense of a 'time-shift' - I couldn't lose the hillfort image but can find nothing to suggest either church or castle were built on a more ancient site. History is a continuation of pre-history when all is said and done and I wondered if the model for medieval castles, encircled by a defensive moat was based on the hillfort principle. Just musing, sorry if I've wandered off topic.
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Resonox 604 posts |
Apr 14, 2011, 05:58
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tiompan wrote: Sanctuary wrote: I've always believed that Neolithic man believed in the Afterlife George and that water played a huge part of that belief, hence many monuments were built near to it. Water cleansed the body and by definition purified it and the soul prior to beginning its journey into the next world. It represented the border between this world and the next! Sorry should have been a bit clearer about the water /henge connection . It is just that even when not close to water courses henge ditches show signs of having being silted and even today are seen to hold water .
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tiompan 5758 posts |
Apr 14, 2011, 07:59
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Resonox wrote: tiompan wrote: Sanctuary wrote: I've always believed that Neolithic man believed in the Afterlife George and that water played a huge part of that belief, hence many monuments were built near to it. Water cleansed the body and by definition purified it and the soul prior to beginning its journey into the next world. It represented the border between this world and the next! Sorry should have been a bit clearer about the water /henge connection . It is just that even when not close to water courses henge ditches show signs of having being silted and even today are seen to hold water . True , but siting of some possibly "ceremonial " or at least not obviously utilitarian monuments in relation to water courses has been noted sometimes speciously from the phenomenologists but portal tombs are commonly aligned on the route of a small water courses with the portal aimed towards the source . Conversely Stonehenge is sited in a desert .
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danielspaniel 90 posts |
Apr 14, 2011, 10:03
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I've always been led to believe this is a dew pond, not 'natural'. Apparently there is another temporary pool within the enclosure in one of the many 19th Century open cast flint mining pits atop the hill - it only appears when it is very wet!
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danielspaniel 90 posts |
Apr 14, 2011, 10:04
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There are fairies in the dew pond apparently: http://sussexrambler.blogspot.com/2010/04/cowslips-on-wolstonbury-hill.html ;-)
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