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READ THIS PLEASE
Due to circumstances beyond our control February’s will be the last meeting to be held at The Angel.
From March meetings will be held at The Woodshaw, Garraways, Woodshaw, Wootten Bassett, see directions below.
After more than 10 years we are on the move. Due to issues about the use of the room we have had to look for somewhere new. Shaun and friends have had a few busy days looking for an alternative location. Unfortunately we will finally have to start paying for the use of a room, which will obviously have an impact on membership fees over the long term. We have not yet had time to consider the issue short term but the entry fee for non-members will be going up slightly.
No prizes will be awarded for showing up at the wrong venue, although the Salsa Club will probably make you welcome!
From the M4 junction 16 head towards Wootton Bassett along the A3102. At the 1st roundabout take the 1st exit signposted to Interface. Follow the road to the next roundabout and take the 3rd exit signposted to Broad Town. After about 100 yards turn right signposted to Woodshaw. Shortly take the 1st left then the 1st right and right again which should lead you into the pub’s car park. There is plenty of parking in the pub car park, on the road nearby and probably in Tesco’s car park about 30 yards away.
The Woodshaw serves food from 6pm on in the evenings. Hope to see you all there.
The Stonehenge Trip is all but sold out. If you wish to come please give Chris a ring before sending any money. Her number is in the front cover.
Please note that the subject of the forthcoming talk by Sig Lonegren has been changed to “Sig’s Hypothesis No2” and will be about why alignments at ancient monuments such as chambered tombs, for example, vary and don’t always behave according to the expected. Don’t forget it will be at The Woodshaw, Wootten Bassett.
Lockeridge Dene, at Lockeridge, near Marlborough is the venue morning part of the field trip for February.
The map ref. is SU 147675, more detailed instructions inside the back cover of the journal. You should be able to park near the field of sarcen stones. This site is an important deposit of these huge stones, often referred to as “grey wethers”, due to their similarity to sheep when viewed from a distance.
The stones capped the underlying chalk in the distant past, and the small holes in the stones are caused by the roots of palm trees which grew here in former times. The stones were valued by Neolithic and Bronze-age builders who used them to construct many of our well-known nearby stone monuments.
Other sites nearby include Devil’s Den, the Sanctuary and Overton Hill.
After the usual pub lunch afternoon activities will be according to weather conditions, there are a number of interesting sites close by. Don’t forget the wellies and waterproofs - see you there. S.C.
The new season got off to a good start with a well-attended and interesting talk on the stone circles of Stanton Drew, by Gordon Strong, author of several books about the site.
The site is about 6 miles from Bristol, near Chew Magna. Aubrey Burl, the eminent archaeologist believes that there are connections between the Stanton Drew circle complex and Avebury.
The name of Stanton Drew comes not from any associations with Druids, but from ”stan tun”, which is Anglo-Saxon for farm [or village] near the stones. Dru was the name of the family who owned the land in the middle-ages.
Gordon began with a brief description of the circle complex, and told some of the theories various people have had regarding the purpose of the circles and connections with the surrounding landscape. He said that the stones seemed to have been placed so that their most interesting faces were visible and that each stone may have been chosen for specific character.
The large size of the biggest circle might be an indication that it was used for very large gatherings. This circle has recently, [in 1996], been found to have once had a wooden structure in it, preceding the current stone circle, similar to the one at Woodhenge, near Durrington.
There is an alignment from the Stanton Drew group of stones [known as “The Cove], in the garden of the village pub., running through the centre of the largest stone circle of the main site, to the small circle at the North East. Gordon said this may indicate the use of the N,E. circle as a ceremonial place.
Another alignment, from the small South Western circle leads through the centre of the large circle to a nearby standing stone known as Hauteville’s Quoit. The S.W. circle is on elevated ground and it is possible that this circle was used by the hierarchy to supervise activities in other parts of the site.
Gordon pointed out that opinion is divided as to whether these alignments are energy lines or not. He often takes parties of dowsers there and half usually insist that they are energy lines while their colleagues are adamant that they are not!
Back to the pub! The afore-mentioned Cove is situated in the garden of the Druid’s Arms. These stones are large but there is no evidence that they were ever assembled in a similar way to the trilithons at Stonehenge, The large flat stone is believed to have always lain flat and may have been used as some sort of indicator, according to Guy Underwood.
The major part of the circle complex is on private farmland. The farmer has an honesty box at the entrance [entry fee was £1 last time I went], along with a box of information leaflets, and he has provided a small parking area for the use of visitors to the stones.
Dogs are not permitted as there are often livestock near the stones.
The jury is out on the exact purpose of the Stanton Drew circle complex, and the reason for its construction, but several ideas Gordon discussed were a calendar, comet plotting, Winter Solstice celebrations or other religious or ceremonial rites.
Thanks to Gordon for such an interesting talk - I know it inspired two of our members to go there to celebrate Imbolc, on 1st, February.
If you plan to visit Stanton Drew the map reference is ST 601 631 and whilst in the area visit Stony Littleton long barrow at ST 735 572 both on Landranger map 172.
Gordon has offered to give us a guided tour of the site next time we have a field trip to Stanton Drew. We will probably take him up on this kind offer when arranging the next season’s field trips.
In one of the early medieval Irish Tales is described a test set by a lady for her semi-divine suitor where he had to go without sleep for a year. She named the calendar points of the year’s cycle, using not the Christian calendar but the openings of the four seasons One of these was Imbolc, which was listed by the Romans on their calendar as 1st. February.
This can be spelled in several ways, including Oimelc, Imbolg or Imbolc. The letter “b” is silent so the different spellings all sound similar. The word is probably much older than the Christian era but little is known about it other than it is believed to refer to the coming of the sheep milk in spring.
Ronald Hutton, in his excellent book “The Stations of the Sun” states that Eric Hamp suggests that the old Irish words for milk and milking derive from a lost Indo-European term for purification, and that this is the aim of the festival. Of course this is only speculation.
Later this feast became dedicated to Brigid, an important figure in the early Irish church, who was probably the Christianised version of an earlier pagan goddess. This goddess may have been a triple figure or even several different ones and was associated with poetry, healing, metal-working and learning.
In many places the Eve of St. Brigid was believed to be the occasion for a visit from the saint to all virtuous households to bless the occupiers as they slept, and sometimes food would be left out for her. I wonder if this is where the more modern idea of Santa Claus came from? The food offerings were sometimes buns or cakes, and frequently a cross made of straw or rushes was hung above the door or window, where it would be left for the rest of the year to bring luck to the household.
Information for the above was largely obtained from “The Stations Of The Sun.” by Ronald Hutton. Published by Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-2880454
This is a meticulously researched book about the ritual year in Britain from the earliest written records up to the present day,
It was great to see such a good turnout at such a potentially cold time of year. In fact we were fortunate to have decent weather and were able to make a foray up to Adam’s Grave after lunch. The parking area at Adam’s Grave was a bit of a quagmire but everyone managed to get out without too much trouble.
The pre-lunch session was spent at the old churches at Alton Priors and Alton Barnes, mostly at Alton Priors which has the plainer but far more interesting church and of course the wonderful 1700 year old Yew Tree.
Last month I mentioned that one of the trap-doors in the floor of the church had been partially blocked by a new step. However, this time we were able to lift the trap-door, the step having been altered, but to our surprise the hole in the floor contained not an old sarcen but new cement!
It would be interesting to know more about what is going on there – can anyone enlighten us?
Adam’s grave [Woden’s Barrow], is situated at the top of Walkers Hill in the Wansdyke area. Here a lady once claimed to have been frightened by the sound of loud hoof - beats although no horses were nearby. In Ken Watts’ book “Exploring Historic Wiltshire”, he writes that this lady believed the hoof-beats that she heard were an echo of one of the battles fought at the site when the Saxons invaded and fought over Wessex, in 592 or 715.
A very pleasant day out – it certainly got this years trips off to a good start!
The book by Ken Watts mentioned above is “Exploring Wiltshire Vol. 1” It is a very good basic guide for the walker who is also interested in the history and legends of the Wiltshire countryside. Published by Ex Libris Press ISBN 0-948578-85-8.
He has written several books about the area and I believe they are all still available, along with a brand new one I haven’t yet seen.
Candlemas falls on the day after the aforementioned Imolc, and is a Christian festival in honour of the Virgin Mary and marks the first visit to the Temple, where Christ was taken by his mother. Many Catholic countries mark the festival with candlelit processions and services. Folklore suggests that these are a follow-on from pagan spring festivals where torchlit processions across the fields would promote a healthy crop.
In some countries candles that have been blessed as part of a Candlemas service are sometimes kept as a protection against thunderstorms, disease and witchcraft.
In some parts of the British Isles, good weather on Candlemas Day is held to be a sign of further winter weather to come! S.C.
Don’t forget to let Shaun know if you want him to book you in for the campsite, and he also has Bed & Breakfast addresses in the area for the less adventurous.
The trip lasts from the Thursday until Sunday and you can come for whichever days you wish. The area we will be based in is near Kilpeck Church in the south of Herefordshire and will cover a number of ancient and interesting places in that general area.
Full details can be obtained Shaun.