Walking through Harptree Combe the other day and noted a variety of plant growth including the Scarlet Elf Cup (Sarcoscypha coccinea) growing on a branch lying on the woodland floor,
Many-zoned Polypore (Coriolus versicolor),
however the identification of the specimen pictured below has so far eluded me.
Been over the Severn Bridge into south Wales to carry out an archaeological investigation at a site in Trellech.
Trellech was one of the major towns of medieval Wales, it is most likely that the town was established by the De Clare family specifically for the exploitation of local supplies of iron ore and charcoal, to provide weapons, armour and iron work for their military advances in Wales. By 1288 there were 378 burgage plots recorded in Trellech, which would have made it bigger than Cardiff or Chepstow at the time. Trellech was largely destroyed in 1291, however, as a result of a raid following a dispute over alleged deer poaching. The Black Death struck in 1340 and again in 1350. Subsequently the ravages of Owain Glyndwr and his men in the early 15th century further reduced the prosperity and in consequence the importance of Trellech.
A stroll around the present day village reveals a number of interesting sites:
Tump Terret [above] is a 13th century Norman motte, the bailey has disappeared under later village developments.
There is a medieval cross [above] located in the churchyard.
Harold’s Stones [above] dated to the Bronze Age comprise of ‘puddingstone’ a locally derived conglomerate. The name ‘Trellech’ apparently originates from these stones ‘Tri’ (Welsh for three) and ‘llech’ (meaning flat stone).
The Virtuous Well [above], also known as St. Annes Well is located on the outskirts of the present day village. It’s healing waters are thought to come from four mineral rich springs, it is still in use today.
English Heritage carried out an analytical eathwork survey of Richmont Castle in March 2008 (see pdf below).
“The castle ruins have been badly affected by stone robbing and later mining activity and all that remains is a small fragment of the rubble core of the curtain wall near the donjon and the partial remains of the donjon. The earthwork evidence shows that the castle includes two concentric banks and a third, possibly earlier, outer bank and ditch. The castle lies at the end of a spur with deep combes on either side. The western combe was dammed just below the donjon, providing a fishpond and a watery landscape along the valley. Map evidence would suggest that there was a small deer park to the south and east of the castle as well as a possible deer course” (Brown, 2008. EH).
Note: the underlying geology comprises Dolomitic Conglomerate, although part of the Mercia Mudstone Group it is not Keuper Marl as stated in the EH report.
In the combe a few remants of the castle are still visible although overgrown in places.
Part of a tower [donjon] remains can be seen to the northwest of the site and, here some remnants of wall are still standing.
Around the castle site glimpses of other structures are evident.
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In the valley floor to the west of the castle are the remains of a dam, suggested to be medieval in date.
Where the dam has been breached there is some possible evidence of the dam’s construction.
Further up the valley are the remains of a second dam.
The castle site and combe are well worth a visit, especially with a copy of the earthwork survey – and bring a light to explore the mines located nearby.
6th January 2013. A while ago I noticed a small rift in Harptree Combe near to the aquaduct (NGR ST 5618/5598).
Entrance is ~1 metre x 0.7 metre, rift is ~3 metres deep. In dolomitic conglomerate and is probably formed along a slip joint, there appears to be a very small continuation at the base of the rift. There are no obvious signs of mining activity.
Ridge Lane was dug c. 1989 – 1992 by myself and Rob Taviner, while we both resided in the East Harptree area, with the occasional assistance of others including Tony Jarratt. Shaft approx. 7 metres deep in [silicified] dolomitic conglomerate, very hard going, to no real conclusion. Interest waned when we both moved out the immediate area, other projects took priority and the farmer started tipping waste around the depression. The depression, photographed on 31st December 2012, is now almost completely filled.
Following another period of heavy rain onto already saturated ground I thought it would be a good time to go out walking. While out on Smitham Hill came across an interesting double collapse in a depression (NGR ST 5545/5360).
One of the collapses was taking a substantial flow of water.
This collapse is approx. 2m diameter x 2m depth, within mostly clay material, no solid rock was noted.
The second, dry collapse is slightly higher than the wet sink and is possibly some indication of ‘passage’ direction, approx. 3m long x 2m width and up to 2m depth, water appears static.
28th December 2012 and another damp day for a walk about. Decided to go up through Harptree Combe to Smithams Hill and into Harptree Woods.
In the woods we visited a relatively recent dig site of mine – Harptree Woods Sink (NGR ST 5503/5433), a site I was originally attracted to because of the amount of water that was flowing into it. A double depression in the woods has a number of drainage ditches running into it and at times has been seen to take a substantial amount of water. The sink is developed within the Harptree Beds and there are exposures of this rock type evident in the depression sides (see image below). Since my last digging trip there has been some slumping of material and flood debris has also washed in so access to the small chamber below the entrance was not possible. Harptree Beds are not the best of material for digging and are generally fractured making it unstable, silicified and contain large amounts of clay.
Water can be seen sinking in a number of other spots within the depression, there is one among the brambles (see image below), and there was evidence of recent high water levels.
Potential is probably limited as the depression is located at a higher level, just above Frances Plantation Swallet (see image below). The majority of water flowing into this particular sink comes from a separate source to the west of the plantation.
This site was dug by the Wessex Cave Club (WCC) in the mid-1960’s to a depth ~3m in Red Marl or Dolomitic Conglomerate and has been abandoned for decades. There are a number of other depressions in the woods including Smitham Sink (see image below). This site was scratched at in 1976 by the WCC, to no real conclusion.
Smitham Sink has always taken a ‘good’ flow of water, unfortunately, the potential for significant cave development is probably limited.
16th December 2012. While out walking the dog in Stockhill Woods came across small rift [~1.0m L x ~0.4m W x ~1.0m depth] with small stream, some evidence of greater water flow recently.
Located in small depression at north end of a group of larger depressions. Appears to be in limestone shale. Considered to have seen the attention of miners in the past.
Following discussions with others it is likely that the site has been previously noted.
24th November 2012
Plans to go digging in Hallowe’en Rift today were cancelled due to adverse weather being forecast. It’s been a week of heavy rain and flooding, Cheddar Gorge has been closed to traffic because of the huge amount of debris that has washed out.
Decided to take walk down through Velvet Bottom to Longwood Valley and have a look at where the water has been sinking. All the way up through the valley it was obvious that there had been a lot of water flowing. At present the water has found it’s way into Longwood Valley Sink.
This once active site hasn’t seen any attention for a number of years – I bet there will be some interest now!
There is a lot of water disappearing into the depths below and it doesn’t seem to backing up too much.
Further up the valley is the Longwood Aust sink which has backed up and is overflowing.
In Velvet Bottom can be seen some remains of Mendip’s lead mining and smelting industry. The remains include buildings, pictured above and areas where industrial processes occurred, for example the buddles pictured below.
Buddles were used to wash the crushed ore to remove the impurities.
18th November 2012 with Alex Gee.
“A local bloke from Rodney Stoke, more fond of beer than labour, was recommended by a friend, to go and be a caver…”
In the last few weeks a couple of different people have mentioned to me the existence of a cave, or more accurately a rock shelter that has turned up some Bronze Age pottery. So on a fine frosty sunny morning collected Alex from the Belfry and headed over to Draycott Sleight (sleight is a Mendip word for ‘sheep pasture’) and a walk over to the Stoke Woods area. Followed the footpath down through the woods to reach the field stile, then southwest to a stile into Little Stoke Woods where we located a number of possible sites on the outcropping limestone rocks.
Not entirely convinced we continued the search until we arrived at the likely location of the site we were looking for – Ewe Cave ST 4886 5040 +/- 7 metres, elevation ~80 metres.
There were very obvious signs that persons unknown had already been scratching around this site in the past.
Some of the rock exposures encountered in the area had some very interesting signs of weathering.
On the return back up the hill to Draycott Sleight we decided to continue up to take a look at the entrance to Draycott Cave.
A fine 2.5 hour morning stroll with great weather and some fine panoramic views that are not fully appreciated in a photographic image.
Lunched at the Hunter’s Lodge Inn, Priddy to discuss an enjoyable morning’s walk.
11th November 2012. A mid-morning walk through Harptree Combe with my wife and Buster, the Jack Russell.
When the sun shone through into the combe the colours were fantastic, and there was no-one else around.
In the combe is the scheduled site of Richmont Castle dating back to the early 12th century although not much now remains, the image below is taken on one of the paths leading up to the castle site.
Given the much publicised ‘Ash die back fungus’ now about to spread throughout the countryside, particularly affected will be the lime rich soils, Cotswolds, Mendips, etc. where there is a high percentage of ash growth. I wonder what the landscape will become if some forward planning to start planting alternative indigenous species is not put into action immediately, there will be obvious cost implications and the Government will have to front up.
It seem’s to be that someone has taken some shortcuts to make a’ fast buck’ and the countryside will suffer as a result. In Australia and New Zealand there are extreme restrictions regarding plant imports, hindsight perhaps, but what more ‘benefits’ will an open European market bring.
2nd September 2012.
Inspired by the recent birthday gift of a book – Earth Colours: Mendip and Bristol Ochre Mining by Marie Clarke, Neville Gregory and Alan Gray, published in 2012 by Mendip Cave Registry and Archive (MCRA) – I decided on a trip down memory lane.
The site of Red House Quarry and the Redding Pits were the places where I had my first underground experiences many years ago. Following the byway leading south off Redding Pit Lane a number of relicts of a bygone industry are soon encountered.
One complete millstone and three others that are incomplete or broken, the millstones are more than a metre across.
The complete millstone shows that it comprised of two haves stapled together, in the example above one of the staples can be seen still in-situ.
Remnants of other machinery or structures are also visible, although these are now very decayed and rather indistinct, although I suspect a former miner [or quarry worker] would recognise the equipment straight away.
Along the track are signs of the ochre and oxide material that was the foundation of a local industry that spanned the mid to late 19th into the 20th century and provided local employment and allowed some farmers to supplement their incomes for a while.
Although the quarry has now been mostly naturalised I can remember the area as a barren red, purple and yellow landscape with a number of buildings and plenty of evidence of the extractive industry.
Winford Ochre Mine was the first place that I ventured underground at the age of 12 – 13 years, I can still remember those tentative first steps holding my bicycle lamp, nervously looking back as daylight disappeared, back tracking to make sure I could find my way back out, standing in awe looking at the size of the place (well it did look big to me then!). There were colours of red, purple and yellows, greens and most of it was engrained on me – on my hands and face, my clothes, it has to be said that my mother wasn’t quite so impressed!
Unfortunately the ‘health and safety police’ have been prominent in recent years and the entrance has been gated, and it is becoming overgrown resulting in the underground site appearing rather unvisited which I feel is a great shame.
Managed to poke the camera through the grille and take a snap of the entrance chamber. There are some significant workings beyond with a number of features still in-situ and well worth a look.
Another entrance to a mine has also been gated, at least the bats can come and go – almost as they please!
After touring around Red House Quarry headed over to the areas that flank Greatstone Lane on the south side of the lane is evidence of past workings (above).
There is always the possibility that adits lead off from these cuts, just a question of a little bit of digging to see.
It is always very disappointing to see the extraordinary lengths that some people will go to just to illegally dump their rubbish in the countryside, Greatstone Lane is a narrow, muddy and restricted byway, the access is not easy. Why should landowners, or any one else, be left to clear up the crap left by the irresponsible and anti-social actions of others?
It is likely that Greatstone Lane was the shortest route leading from the Redding Works over Dundry Hill to Bristol in the early days when the extracted ore was processed in the Red House vicinity and when, later, the ore was taken to the mills at Littleton for processing. Along the present day byway there has been some recent repairs, it is obvious that over-usage by horse riders is causing some considerable damage although, thankfully some of the route is, at least, unused by four wheel drive vehicles and motorcycles.
