Early British trackways, moats, mounds, camps, and sitesWatkins, Alfred
History
Early British trackways, moats, mounds, camps, and sites
Watkins, Alfred
Great Britain -- Antiquities; Leys -- Great Britain; Megalithic monuments -- Great Britain; Mounds -- Great Britain
Bitterley Churchyard Cross has a circular hole through its shaft at a
convenient height for sighting. Mr. J. C. Mackay kindly had the exact
direction of this taken for me by sighting compass. It is 28½° E. of
Magnetic N., and this on the map exactly strikes Abdon Burf (or Barf),
the high point (1,790ft.) of the Brown Clee. Southwards the line runs
through Stoke Prior and Hope-under-Dinmore Churches, is confirmed in
other ways, and goes over the Wye at Belmont House.
Bitterley Cross is of 14th century date; it must be the successor of a
sighting stone which in some way pointed the direction of the ley, and
it suggests that sighting along a ley had not quite died out by the
14th century.
These two proved instances of sighting stones, together with the cases
of stone rows on Dartmoor, and sighting columns on Sutton Walls, will
give the clue to the hitherto unknown purpose of many important ancient
stone monuments.
It is probable that the flat face of a mark stone, as in Wergin’s Stone
(Plate X.), pointed out a ley. There is a Dial Post near Tewkesbury
which, with the Dial Carreg near Cwm-yoy, seems to denote the above
purpose, and the last stone is an upright shaft of rectilinear shape
like the supposed cross at Capel-y-fin (Plate X.).
[Illustration:
PLATE VII.
CAUSEWAYS.
1. Over Olchon Brook, Longtown.
2. To Centre of Pond, Ingestow, Ross.]
[Illustration:
PLATE VIII.
LEYS DISPLAYED.
1. Track Climbing Ridge, Llanthony Abbey.
2. Straight Wye-side Causeway, Bartonsham, Hereford.]
TREES.
I find that practically all the named historic trees (including Gospel
Oaks) stand on leys. Such as King’s Acre Elm, Eastwood Oak, Great Oak
at Eardisley, Oak near Moreton-on-Lugg Bridge, etc. Place names (which
in my previous articles on Crosses I too hastily held to signify the
site of a cross) also indicate trees as marks. Such are Lyde Cross
Tree, Cross of the Tree at Deerfold, Cross Oak, Cross Ash, Cross Colloe
(hazel tree cross), and two leys cross at these points. Actual trees
are shown at the cross roads in two of the above in Taylor’s fine
county map of 1757.
The Oak in the horse-shoe meadow at Ross is on the ley passing over
Over Ross (the place name indicates it) and Wilton Castle. The steep
little street coming down to the river from the Swan Hotel is dead on
this ley.
Where a natural hill came under a ley it was often made a sighting
point by the planting of a single tree, hence the numerous “one tree”
hills, as at Backbury and on the Holmer Golf Links. All places called
“The Grove” seem to be on a ley, and a small group of trees (as at
Ladylift) was also used to mark a sighting point. Existing trees are
probably successors of original ones.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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