Saturday, August 30, 2003
OVERLOOKING
Go to the side of Wideford Hill , over to the Wideford Hill Cairn and enjoy the large sweep of the valley down to Finstown and across all the way to Evie and beyond . Go to Cuween Hill , way up to Cuween Hill Cairn and look back across the valley to Wideford Hill . Go the other side of the Finstown pass , up to Binscarth House and around to beneath the Howe Harper Cairn and see right across to Hoy in the distance . Where do you look back to Finstown from ? Buckan that oversees the Brodgar peninsula , maybe the southern range of hills that look at the road from Stenness on , perhaps as far away as Hoy itself ? Of course this is meaningless in an archaeological context , there are so many other cairns between Kirkwall and Stromness I haven't tried to use , simply using for my purpose three having chance prominence . But I attribute meaning to those three points . And because I have seen a pair looking at each other I search for a fourth term to complete the extrapolated second pair . Could be that there are such pairings all over the place but that the specific pairings changed over time . But at least archaeologists do admit the dwellings of the dead are placed on hillsides to keep a watch on the affairs of the living .
SACRED LANDSCAPES
Why should the Brodgar peninsula be the only such complex on Orkney ? On a less overpowering scale perhaps the Dingieshowe area should be looked at ( no stone circles I admit ) . An elongated strip of land between two stretches of water that looks across to several islands and has a hill above it . And much better islands for sacred rites ( if someone is seeking another Mine Howe CANMORE in discussing a Christian site on one of these includes the throwaway line that nearby used to be a well with steps going down inside , and this could bear looking into even at this late date ) . The Thing itself is of impressive size still . I wonder if the extensive dunes are relatively recent , otherwise why build a broch on such a size , or much older in which case one wonders what might still lie beneath . What kind of instrument survey could peer beneath sand dunes ?
The trolls were supposed to have their thing at Dingieshowe on All Hallow's Eve , whereas the Brodgar complex seems to be solstice-based .
Go to the side of Wideford Hill , over to the Wideford Hill Cairn and enjoy the large sweep of the valley down to Finstown and across all the way to Evie and beyond . Go to Cuween Hill , way up to Cuween Hill Cairn and look back across the valley to Wideford Hill . Go the other side of the Finstown pass , up to Binscarth House and around to beneath the Howe Harper Cairn and see right across to Hoy in the distance . Where do you look back to Finstown from ? Buckan that oversees the Brodgar peninsula , maybe the southern range of hills that look at the road from Stenness on , perhaps as far away as Hoy itself ? Of course this is meaningless in an archaeological context , there are so many other cairns between Kirkwall and Stromness I haven't tried to use , simply using for my purpose three having chance prominence . But I attribute meaning to those three points . And because I have seen a pair looking at each other I search for a fourth term to complete the extrapolated second pair . Could be that there are such pairings all over the place but that the specific pairings changed over time . But at least archaeologists do admit the dwellings of the dead are placed on hillsides to keep a watch on the affairs of the living .
SACRED LANDSCAPES
Why should the Brodgar peninsula be the only such complex on Orkney ? On a less overpowering scale perhaps the Dingieshowe area should be looked at ( no stone circles I admit ) . An elongated strip of land between two stretches of water that looks across to several islands and has a hill above it . And much better islands for sacred rites ( if someone is seeking another Mine Howe CANMORE in discussing a Christian site on one of these includes the throwaway line that nearby used to be a well with steps going down inside , and this could bear looking into even at this late date ) . The Thing itself is of impressive size still . I wonder if the extensive dunes are relatively recent , otherwise why build a broch on such a size , or much older in which case one wonders what might still lie beneath . What kind of instrument survey could peer beneath sand dunes ?
The trolls were supposed to have their thing at Dingieshowe on All Hallow's Eve , whereas the Brodgar complex seems to be solstice-based .
Friday, August 29, 2003
The bridges of Orkney are rather better represented on CANMAP as far as I can tell but only as far as they are pieces of 17th or 18th century engineering . I feel that perhaps they fall between the two stools of archaeology and architecture . And even though it goes down to 1:10,000 scale I haven't come across a single bridge on my travels marked yet , however large they may have been in Orcadian terms . Surely they are every bit as important as tracks or field boundaries .
It is only this last year that I became sort of obsessed with looking at bridges . Most aren't that obvious , only revealing themselves when you look over the side of the road or track . The smaller ones are my preference and the bridges that distress me are those 'repaired' with chunks of concrete or having had large plastic pipes stuffed into them . Other than the modern accretions how do you date them , has anyone done a study of Orcadian bridges ( which reminds me that I have often thought it would make a nice project for someone to survey the stone walls of Kirkwall , map them out and make a stab at dating them - strange that in towns elsewhere in Britain every piece of old stone wall is marked and treasured ) .
Some of the ones I have seen in recent weeks are obviously very old water crossings because the stone pavements under or alongside them must at one time have been fords ( I wonder where the ford of Wideford Hill was , for I presume it is no more ? ) . Some are obviously the result of two periods of building . The second stage probably came about when the modern roads were being built and the bridges had to be further across to accomodate these ( and often come higher up ) , for one side is obviously older than the other and I presume the original other half is buried beneath ( which prompts another digression . Look at some of the smaller farm buildings and you will see a line of thin stones running across a few courses below the point where the roof springs from , and my guess is that this is where an older turfed roof has been removed and the slate roof required a different kind of footing ) .
Take a Tingwall bus to the Lyde road and strike across to the hills . There is a road at the bottom of the hill that runs under the shadow of the hills all the way back to Finstown . Not a bad walk , a couple of hours say .And so many varieties of bridge in the first half . A few fall away steeply . Some bridges are only to let the water through - there is the cutest little one in front of a cottage , at right angles to the road in order to carry the end of a wall it seems .
This reminds me of another type of bridge you can see elsewhere in Orkney , now presenting an ornamental appearance but I think originally a simple ?clapper bridge . What you see now is a cottage the other side of a stream from the road and across the stream two or three areas of turf looking like garden overflow but really unwalled bridges . Often this type is very English-looking to my eyes , though they are not .
If you fancy a little picnic my suggestion would be Davies Brig that lies roughly halfway between Kirkwall and Finstown . Actually there are two bridges here , one as it stands now the result of an EEC development grant , and a small wooded area . There is a parking area for lorry drivers to take time out but it is really picturesque anyway .
A few weeks back I walked the road that runs past Swannay Farm in Harray . I was surprised not to find it listed on CANMAP as it is a lovely example of a water-management system to my eyes , intricate but understated . Going past by vehicle you will see nothing . Get out and stretch those legs . None of the visible parts are built to carry people , only water . A complicated system of stone-lined channels including an area under the corner of a wall where the stream forks into two channels . For some reason a large but slim slab of stone has been placed across the main stream stood up on its longer edge . Most curious .I assume the holes in the walls thereabouts are to drain the snows .
Talking of channeled water I should be remiss not to mention Tormiston Mill or the working mill out in Birsay , the former for the height of the upstream walls and the latter for its managed stream curving gently round .
There is one more place that intrigues me , but you can only see it from the road as you go to the airport . I was lucky enough to be passing it one day before the new fence went up , and this was of help . Though it presumably at one stage performed a bridging function I hesitate to call it a bridge because the stream is so narrow there and there are crossing places no distance away both upstream and downstream . On either side you can see the remains of structures . Having mentioned the walled stream upstream of Tormiston there could be some kind of resemblance on a far smaller scale .
It is only this last year that I became sort of obsessed with looking at bridges . Most aren't that obvious , only revealing themselves when you look over the side of the road or track . The smaller ones are my preference and the bridges that distress me are those 'repaired' with chunks of concrete or having had large plastic pipes stuffed into them . Other than the modern accretions how do you date them , has anyone done a study of Orcadian bridges ( which reminds me that I have often thought it would make a nice project for someone to survey the stone walls of Kirkwall , map them out and make a stab at dating them - strange that in towns elsewhere in Britain every piece of old stone wall is marked and treasured ) .
Some of the ones I have seen in recent weeks are obviously very old water crossings because the stone pavements under or alongside them must at one time have been fords ( I wonder where the ford of Wideford Hill was , for I presume it is no more ? ) . Some are obviously the result of two periods of building . The second stage probably came about when the modern roads were being built and the bridges had to be further across to accomodate these ( and often come higher up ) , for one side is obviously older than the other and I presume the original other half is buried beneath ( which prompts another digression . Look at some of the smaller farm buildings and you will see a line of thin stones running across a few courses below the point where the roof springs from , and my guess is that this is where an older turfed roof has been removed and the slate roof required a different kind of footing ) .
Take a Tingwall bus to the Lyde road and strike across to the hills . There is a road at the bottom of the hill that runs under the shadow of the hills all the way back to Finstown . Not a bad walk , a couple of hours say .And so many varieties of bridge in the first half . A few fall away steeply . Some bridges are only to let the water through - there is the cutest little one in front of a cottage , at right angles to the road in order to carry the end of a wall it seems .
This reminds me of another type of bridge you can see elsewhere in Orkney , now presenting an ornamental appearance but I think originally a simple ?clapper bridge . What you see now is a cottage the other side of a stream from the road and across the stream two or three areas of turf looking like garden overflow but really unwalled bridges . Often this type is very English-looking to my eyes , though they are not .
If you fancy a little picnic my suggestion would be Davies Brig that lies roughly halfway between Kirkwall and Finstown . Actually there are two bridges here , one as it stands now the result of an EEC development grant , and a small wooded area . There is a parking area for lorry drivers to take time out but it is really picturesque anyway .
A few weeks back I walked the road that runs past Swannay Farm in Harray . I was surprised not to find it listed on CANMAP as it is a lovely example of a water-management system to my eyes , intricate but understated . Going past by vehicle you will see nothing . Get out and stretch those legs . None of the visible parts are built to carry people , only water . A complicated system of stone-lined channels including an area under the corner of a wall where the stream forks into two channels . For some reason a large but slim slab of stone has been placed across the main stream stood up on its longer edge . Most curious .I assume the holes in the walls thereabouts are to drain the snows .
Talking of channeled water I should be remiss not to mention Tormiston Mill or the working mill out in Birsay , the former for the height of the upstream walls and the latter for its managed stream curving gently round .
There is one more place that intrigues me , but you can only see it from the road as you go to the airport . I was lucky enough to be passing it one day before the new fence went up , and this was of help . Though it presumably at one stage performed a bridging function I hesitate to call it a bridge because the stream is so narrow there and there are crossing places no distance away both upstream and downstream . On either side you can see the remains of structures . Having mentioned the walled stream upstream of Tormiston there could be some kind of resemblance on a far smaller scale .
Saturday, August 23, 2003
OOps . Just had a look again on the CANMORE website and find that against Wasbister Loch ( where The Burrian is ) as evidence of a crannog is noted that the peninsula on the E shore of Wasbister loch is largely man-made . So maybe The Burrian is too .
The search for crannog+Orkney also came up with Stoney Holm on Swannay Loch , but no further relevant description . And using CANMAP I now see that though Parker Holm nearby isn't listed as a crannog site the description says it is possibly an artificial island ! Crannogs become less improbable here then .
The search for crannog+Orkney also came up with Stoney Holm on Swannay Loch , but no further relevant description . And using CANMAP I now see that though Parker Holm nearby isn't listed as a crannog site the description says it is possibly an artificial island ! Crannogs become less improbable here then .
Visiting an ancient stones website week before last The author at one point was discussing a visit to Rousay and tour during which he had seen a site he thought was a crannog ( an artificial islet ) . From his description I was able to identify it as The Burrian Lo , just as he said there was nothing about the place being artificial . I have never read of any crannogs in Orkney . Then again if you see a loch islet ( often called holms here ) knowing about the rise in sea levels roundabout you will lead you to assume that either it has always been that way or else was at ane time connected to the land . But , in my extensive travels on Orkney Mainland since , I have myself seen quite a few suspiciously circular islets . So who knows , maybe Orkney too is host to crannogs .
