New Views over Megalithia

[Mick Harper]

I don't violently disagree with any of this. I too was struck by Pearson's foot. I haven't really kept up but I wasn't sure whether orthodoxy had accepted the idea of a Golden Metric Norm and was on the hunt for how long it was, how long it lasted and how long was its reach, or finds the whole idea risible given their general view of the long ago.

[Boreades]

Chaidh clachan ùra a lorg aig A' Chomraicha tha coisrigte do Máel Ruba.

[Boreades]

[Mick Harper]

I was a bit miffed by this discovery when I read about it, to be honest. The theory put forward in Megalithic Empire is that cursuses are designed to intercept travellers who have missed their mark, returning them safely to their immediate destination. I couldn't imagine that the Isle of Arran would be large enough to require such (is it?). On the other hand this kind of cursus only needs to be a) reasonably long lasting and b) impossible not to stumble past, so a simple low, wide earthwork is sufficient. No wood is required. So these sound like 'not-cursuses' which since archaeologists supposed them to be Roman race-courses, hence the name, gives plenty of scope.

Let's have some Scotch Theories. Maybe the hilly terrain makes line-of-sight navigation difficult, requiring constant pointers in the right direction.

[Boreades]

[Boreades]

[Boreades]

[PeterC]

Hello, first time posting. Only recently saw a video of the talk at Megolithimania and then followed up by an excited blast through Megalithic empire.

The main reason for my excitement was that it seemed to link together things I’d noticed in my local landscape; I continued Mick’s new Michael line, from the direction of Mont St. Michel to Burgh (Michael) island until it joined the Michael line proper. As I predicted they intersect at St Michaels, Brentor (formerly beacon tor). This line nicely hugs the edge of Dartmoor meaning that Ingot movers emerging from the Tamar Valley or from Exmoor could follow the Michael line to Brentor and then follow the ‘new’ Michael line to Burgh Island without dealing with too much Dartmoor or winding up in Plymouth (something people desperately avoid still today).

My local church Walkhampton sits atop a promontory on the edge of the moor with a clear line of sight to Brentor with a few straight roads, fords and crossroads inbetween. Walkhampton Church is supposedly build on a megalithic site; no remains are obvious other than some massive granite gate posts casually reused in the local fields. However, the church does have a couple of other megalithic features - it sits on an almost unrecognisable crossroads made of mainly ancient drove ways and footpaths, the church apparently (according to Wikipedia, looking for confirmation) was dedicated to St Dionysius, the church house, apparently the old vicarage, has been used as an inn, and finally, most damning of all, the church’s alignment is not east/west, but northeast/southwest and is supposedly the alignment of the previous structure. It has been suggested that this refers to midsummer sunrise, which is in fact much further north that the church points, but I feel like the alignment is at a right angle to the ley line it respects.

The line can be traced onwards to Yennadon Down which, although is historically featureless, today has a stand of tress that is visible for miles. Just downhill is a ford (meavy) which is surrounded by ancient oaks, unusual for an area that was pretty much treeless only 150 years ago (the village of Meavy also contains an ancient ‘Royal Oak’ and a pub bearing the same name). The line seems to continue towards the Dewerstone (Devon’s only ‘enclosed’ tor) and then on to Boringdon Camp, Iron Age site.

It gets sticky here as we now get to where the Chiba clay works are that have completely altered the landscape and then into the south hams where farmers and second home owners have made their impact on the surrounding areas.
Possibly a cross roads at Hermedon? Nothing to do with Hermes historians say….

Thank you for turning me on to the opportunity of possibly rediscovering something which has been unknown for a millennia. Get on Google Earth and see if you agree or not

[Mick Harper]

[PeterC]

I’ll head on over to the new site and check it out.

But just quickly - the Dewerstone is a tor/Rocky outcrop over looking where the River Plym joins the River Meavy. The side of the hill is covered in industrial revolution-era mining relics so I imagine like the rest of area has been used as such for millennia.

What makes it unique is that it’s a Neolithic/Bronze Age enclosed tor. These are basically only found in Cornwall. I actually think the only two outside of Cornwall are in Devon, and the Dewerstone is one of them. It is a very easy to pick out landmark, visible from many places around despite the generally high elevation of the area. Pretty sure it has associated pixie myths like many places locally and Bronze Age settlements are still visible above ground in spitting distance.

Fair point about Google Earth, I’ve been using google maps for years and calling it Google Earth until someone told me there was a difference.