Hellclough (Ell Clough) |
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| District: Lancashire
Ordnance Survey map reference: SD 903342. Landranger map number: 103. Latitude: degrees. Longitude: degrees. Architecture: ?. Length of the major axis: 11 metres. Length of the minor axis: 11 metres. Height of the highest stone: metres. Shape: ?. Number of stones in the circle originally: 7? Number of stones in the circle now: 4 Impression of the site (10 amazing, 1 limp): 1 Burl rating of the circle: 5 (Uncertain Status). Thom reference for the circle: -. Astronomical alignments from this circle: -. Excavations undertaken at this circle: 1886. Details of any finds at this circle: An urn with burnt bones of 2 people, a 4" bronze pin, animal bones and ashes of a funeral pyre. This circle is not in state care. Access to the circle: As with the nearby stone circle of Delf Hill, the Hellclough site has the wrong co-ordinates for it given in Aubrey Burl's book 'The Stone Circles of the British Isles, 1976'. As a result I didn't manage to find the site when I visited the area in 1987. However since then I have been informed by John Belbin of Colne that the true location of Hellclough or Ell Clough, lies some 1.5km to the north west of Burl's co-ordinates and is marked on the 1:50,000 OS map as a tumuli. For directions on how to get to the site see Delf Hill. Description:The following description of the site was researched and sent to me by John Belbin and I pay thanks to him for his help in clearing up my previous discrepancy's on the details of this site and the neighbouring site of Delf Hill. This site is very well known and was once the best in the Burnley area. Excavated in 1886 an urn with burnt bones of 2 people was found plus a 4" bronze pin, animal bones and ashes of the funeral pyre. It had seven stones four of which were still standing in 1927 (ibid). The circumference is 50m, diameter 11m and four stones are gathered together at one point - whether any of these are part of the original circle is anyones guess. Inside there is a small ditch, now a foot deep, with a large central mound. It is clear from the description and photographs that Hellclough has suffered somewhat in recent years and is now barely recognisable as a stone circle. I doubt that it ever was a true circle in the real sense of the word, judging by the height of the central space, it is most likely the remains of a complex ring cairn, although if the diameter of 11m is correct, this does seem quite large for a cairn. |
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| The remains of Hellclough or Ell Clough. Picture courtesy of John Belbin. | ||||||||||||||||||
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