Adventures in Ancient Stones

This Blipday came as a bit of a surprise, but I knew exactly where I was going to go. However, the forecast was not good and yesterday I decided the idea of going in search of stones high up on the moors was not a good one. So, to Plan B. I was wandering the web looking for stones indoors, when I came across a reference to some ancient stones in the church of St Hilda, Hartlepool. At that moment amazingly, Kath Gordon sent me a message saying she had come across . . . you got it, some ancient stones in the church of St Hilda, Hartlepool - a little pop-up museum. 

So, we arranged to meet up this morning and spent a fascinating hour or so looking at Anglo-Saxon namestones (grave markers) as well as once again learning more about the church itself and the monastery that was there before. Kath wrote about it all yesterday and posted a great picture of a namestone that was found there. It was really good to meet up again and share in a wander through this beautiful building. 

As we set off for home, we decided to go by way of Hadrian’s Wall and just see whether it was possible to return to Plan A. We drove north of Hexham and up to Simonburn, saw that it was brighter and decided it was worth the risk of rain to go in search of the stone circle I had hoped to find. After a climb up a track and then across moorland through a howling gale (slight exaggeration), we arrived at Goatstones.

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Goatstones Stone Circle

This is a special kind of circle known as a ‘Four Poster’, for obvious reasons. There are a number of these in Scotland, but only a few in England and this is one of them. Dating from the Bronze Age, the four uprights usually mark the four cardinal compass points (Gordon checked – these do). As always when seeing stones like this, I am fascinated by the thought of how long they have been here, and just what they were for. Although a solitary place now, and in the shadow of a rock outcrop, Ravensheugh Crags (seen in the background), the Roman Wall is close by as is also an important drove road. A lot of people have passed this way through the centuries. In fact the name itself is thought to have come from ‘Gyet-stones’ – wayside stones. It was cold and windy and you can see the rain in the distance but, just as I was taking photographs, the sun came from behind the clouds and lit up the stones quite magically. 

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So Blip number 2,500. Not a lot to say, except I am still here, and I am very glad that you are all here too.