Lovely video, Adam. Heart breaking that so many monuments were intentionally destroyed for the stone or just to make way for industry and farming. But thanks for putting this information together and sharing with us.
I believe they not only destroyed these important sites to make way for industry and farming, but also to deny us our history and our knowledge of the technologies of our ancestors.
If you are thinking that it was irresponsible to destroy such a monument and that it would never happen today, THINK AGAIN. Look at the Rotherwas Ribbon, just outside Hereford. A new road was being built to bypass some of Hereford and they found a track. They unearthed this spiraling pathway which was believed to be ceremonial. It turned out that it was the only one ever found IN THE WORLD. Nothing else like it anywhere. What did they do with it???? They buried it under the road, despite a neighbouring farmer offering them an alternative route. To bury a world treasure from public view was a crime, and if handled properly, would have brought much needed money to the counties meager economy. The local council didn't care. They just pushed on with their agenda and ignored our cultural heritage. Power corrupts.
I recently did some consultancy work for that field. It is indeed sad! Though, I suspect their 'serpentine megalithic monument' theory is pretty spurious.
We approach our history with a similar amount of vandalism afaict. Short termism is the worst of faults. What was the saying.. "Society grows great when men plant trees they will never shelter under their shade" or somesuch.
@@AdamMorganIbbotson Yeah, I know a few people in the Herefordshire archaeology world (used to be one myself, in a small fashion) and they said it seemed more likely that it was the remains of a burnt mound that had washed down the hill over time. I'd love to know your thoughts, as it seems like you may have some? I was kinda interested as I grew up around there and there's not much in the way of Neolithic/Bronze age archaeology in that area for whatever reason, or at least not much that has been found thus far.
Thank you so much for this video, i'm belgian and i came over to the Lake District in 2018 during the heatwave to visit a friend in Kendall, had an absolute blast! The north is so stunning!! I knew about the Roman stuff up there but i had no idea about all of this stone age magnificence. This warrants another trip methinks!
This came up in my feed, fascinating. I was particularly interested because as a geology student in 1972 I spent some weeks in Shap doing the compulsory geology map for the exams. Walking back from the fell one evening I met a farmer and pointed out a standing stone in his field. He told there used to be more, they made very good ‘yetstoups’ (gateposts), the farmers split them with fire and water and wooden wedges, which sounds like an ancient technique. He said the stone posts of the gate I was leaning on came from an old stone. But until I saw your video I had no idea there had been such an impressive monument, perhaps memory of it had been lost. I wonder how many more isolated stones one sees about the countryside used to part of something more. Have subscribed.
During world war 2 the british government and its army went around the uk smashing up all the old ancient sites. Turned megalithic wonders into quarry sites all over. They also commandeered lots of sites for military use only.
@@MichaelCook84 I dug at an Iron Age hillfort called Moel y Gaer near Mold in N Wales. Apparently the army had used it as a tank training ground until the locals stopped them somehow. The destruction to the ramoarts and parts if the interior was all too visible.
'Yetstoups.' Very Interesting. You may know of Symonds Yat in the South West (from memory I think it's near the Welsh border) apparently 'Yat' means gate. As for 'stoup'.....rearrange 'post' & it could read 'stop.' I put this as humour, but many a true word spoken in jest !
Never even knew it was there. I used to stare at the remains of the stone circle from the train when going to Penrith., and always thought how careless to destroy our history. Your right. This needs a proper survey to find the holes where the stones originally stood.
@@AdamMorganIbbotson I suspect Stonehenge is the most complex and unique example in the UK with its multiple stages of reconstruction over the odd 1,000 to 1,500 years. I do agree its a shame that so few of the others have been as well studied. Mind you I think its even worse in France as no one has looked at many of the structures since they were originally mapped in the late 1800s. Like the UK they are fading away rapidly.
@@nickbrough8335 You sadly suspect wrong! Almost all prehistoric monuments and megalithic enclosures in Britian / Europe saw constant reconstruction and evolution over thousands of years. Stonehenge is just the BEST evidenced, becasue the tourist trade encourages study there (alongside numerous historic excavations). Avebury likely has a more interesting chronology...
@@AdamMorganIbbotson Some certainly, but all ? Wouldnt that imply the the conclusion that Castlerigg is early difficult ? Its possible that Banks/Ditches might be added later as "fashionable" upgrade (as a species we really do seem to love showing off and keeping up with the neighboughs) that Castlerigg didnt get ? I'm being tongue in cheek here :) as I have no idea, However, seriously its a chronology question as much as anything, but it rather suggests without detailed study on a site by site basis, its going to be very hard to reach firm conclusions regarding building style over time.
Ive found a huge stone they have used as an ornamental stone on a 10year old "new" estate that has markings on the top matching the megaliths worldwide with the metal support hooks across each stone. 😮😮 Also have noticed they built a road and clearly moved some megalith/henge stone arrangement of sorts and split it either side of the road and the council have the cheek to put notices up asking if anyone knows about the mysterious henge appearing from brambles, either side of a road build early 2000s. Its clear they just moved it out the way for the road so their plans weren't interrupted by unesco of whatever. Its not on ordinance survey maps before the road was built obviously because there was no road there they have dug it up and hidden it in the bushes for ten+ years! They are mocking our heritage right under our noses
The infamous traintrack. Destroyer of archaeology worldwide. Here is Spain we have Los Millares, the oldest metal melting site in the world built around 5000BC. Spanish not only didn’t care what it was, or find out what it was, they just plowed their high speed rail directly through the MIDDLE of it.
If you've ever visited the humungous stone rows at Carnac -- some of which were tragically removed recently too! -- or the equally atmospheric rows on Dartmoor which incorporate small stone cysts along their courses, these are special places. It's a disappointing remnant of what must've been there in the Neolithic to Bronze Ages but still worth a visit. Shap was particularly bleak when I visited in the 90s but it was also a fascinating ancient landscape. The cairns and ritual stone 'circle' looming in the mist that day. Yes, I found the cup and ring mark you mentioned too. I recall visiting a cluster of prehistoric sites on the moor on the other side of the road from the Shap landscape (interesting, but not as good) which you've probably seen too. Think I'll get Aubrey Burl's classic book From Carnac to Callanish off the shelf and have a browse as your video's reminded me of these curiosities. Love me a bit of megalithic magic. Nice!
@@AdamMorganIbbotson Really? I've not seen North Ings but I'll add it to my long list. I wandered on Dartmoor so often I saw/photographed over about 80 prehistoric sites, but even that was only a fraction of them. Wonder if the folk of Neolithic or Bronze Age Dartmoor knew of the similar landscapes and culture that developed up in Cumbria and Yorkshire -- or even up in mysterious Orkney? The spread of tools and art (incl. rock art) which represent cultural connections throughout Britain would suggest it. Cheers.
(Update) Oh yeah, looked at North Ings pics and those could be on Dartmoor easily. Lovely. There's apparently a cross incised on one of the 83 stones, which might be a much later Christian attempt to sanctify the 'heathen' construction (though the person doing so had no idea who made the rows). Interesting.
The thing about stones being removed from Carnac was wrong or misleading, by fault of the mainstream media (as seems to happen with almost everything that they report). There were some stones removed to make way for some DIY store or something, but there was no evidence that those ones were anything more than field boundary stones and are not thought to be part of any neolithic stone monument. I went to Carnac a couple of times as a kid when on holiday in Brittany and some of their dolmans or long barrows were in really good condition (you could walk into them). Also there was a place around that area where there were a couple of really tall thin stones, with one still standing and the other toppled and broken (in two iirc) on the ground. And there is a big stone called the roche tremblade (trembling rock) somewhere in that area (I did not feel it trembling)
Hiding in secret, Remakeble! ghost painting, time traveling True Art in a mystery of Hidden Historical significant! It's tragic that Stone Rose was so deeply hidden away ! This needs to be preserved!
Yes , progress in 1844??- by the Lancaster & Carlisle Railway then taken over /merged ? into Th London & N. Western Rly in 1846 which lasted til 1923 (the 'Grouping' +-a govt Act of 1921) Now it's pt of th W Coast Mainline. Shap summit with its 1 in 75 gradient requd most steam trains to be 'banked😮
This is a new site for me! Thank you for bringing it to my attention. I love it that you in Great Britain have preserved so much of your ancient heritage. Even if you do lose a few now and then. Over here in the states, most of ours were lost to farming long ago.😞💔🐝
Hadrian's wall provided useful, ready mined stonework for centuries after its abandonment. Saved the locals much labour when they set to and built homes, farm buildings, and places of worship nearby. Many other ancient buildings suffered similarly.
Today I learned a new thing! Great video. I had not heard of this avenue before. Such a travesty it's now destroyed! I hope a survey is done so they can determine where the stones once stood.
Hi Adam, this is the first of your videos I’ve seen & I absolutely loved it! Great energy, presentation & information, instant sub. Hope you’re well & thank you!
The stones are still being destroyed. Even now. I've found the remains of four stone rows at Slaggyford - a few miles into Northumberland - but nothing like Shap. Tiddlers. Also found a couple of henges at Alston from LiDAR image but nobody seems interested. The larger henge has two opposed entrances, with the Alston-Brampton main road running through. Double-entrance henges have a curious association with both an ancient trackway and a Roman road and this Alston henge fits that pattern. The trackway was called the Maiden Way but this part is now better known as the Pennine Way. There's so much we don't know or understand about our distant ancestors - boy, were they strong!
Unexpectedly this appeared by curtesy of UA-cam, it brought back memories of a trip a friend and I made in the early sixties. We visited Avebury and Stonehenge, in those days there was no fence and we were able to walk around and even sit on some of the stones, we also climbed Silbury Hill. The wonder stayed with me and twenty five years later I took my children on the same trip so they could see the monuments.
Hey Adam, that was really very well made. Your choice of content was very compelling. It is incredible that as far back as 6000 yrs ago people were taking the time to move these gigantic stones across the land. It would have been good it you could have found out where the stones likely came from. Your voice, personality and style is all absolutely perfect. You are quite nqturally a great presenter. You have that star quality! In fact, if you would ever value a channel intro jingle complete with variouw fill in stings, let me know and Il compose something very British and magnificent for you! (On the house). Subscribed, keep it coming my dear Morgan!!! Basil Simon.
In those times of small populations it is surprisiing that so much time and effort was able to be spent on finding, digging up, moving and placing these stones when living hand to mouth with food supply. Who designed them and persuaded presumably large numbers of men to stop hunting and gathering and fed them whilst engaged in the task?
@@electricelf-music I argue regularly with the middle east cradle of civilization model proponents just because hot, dry places obviously retain huge evidence of structures and that the archaeology... Northern Europe was forested and had a changeable climate but huge megalithic structures must indicate civilisations here even if wooden homes and associated goods are long lost due to decay...
@@paulberen that was an expansion on my point which coincidentally seems bourn out by discovery of 30 or more hectare in size, almost stone aged cities in Romania... Estimates of 10,000 at a time lived in up to 250 such places...
@@neddyseagoon9601 Well the Cucuteni-Trypillia civilisation in the area of Ukraine/Romania potentially predates the Sumerians and contained probably the largest cities in the world at the time.
@@Arkantos117 I don't doubt it. I've lived in Bulgaria where the ancient gold jewrly and artifacts were found and travelled extensively in the entire region... The massive gold find and its age is indicative of social society in the region going way back, even if the less dry climate, (than the middle east), and numerous ever modernising warrior races moving through left little of solid structures to mark the places... The oldest ritual burial known in Britain is about 35,000 years old but wood and mud for buildings was never going to survive to prove civilisations above stone aged hunter gatherers must have existed here...
Thank you Adam. When I lived and worked in the area of north Cumbria, I was amazed at the preponderance of ancient historic stones and circles. but I never joined the dots, as it were. But the Eden valley landscape and ancient trading routes were fascinating and had me pouring over maps, your video has helped me to start to make sense of it all. Now I live in a similar landscape of the Cotswolds where once again evidence of early settlers and tribes litter the landscape and again I cycle and walk to visit these to try and understand how they may be linked. You video os very inspiring.
Great vid ! I've worked on many construction projects moving and lifting large heavy objects, including stones, the size of these. These projects done with only manpower are hard to wrap my head around.
Very interesting thanks. I expect the landowner family keep their heads down on this as a dirty little secret as they knowingly gave permission for the site to be plundered for stone in exchange for money over the years but primarily access to the railway. Terrible vandalism and very surprising in Britain we're good at preservation of monuments.
There is a stone circle at risk from development just now, in South East Scotland. Yadlee, in Berwickshire is part of many, similarly aged standing stones and known prehistoric sites in the area, already lost to and engulfed by, a gigantic renewable development, with a further solar array and storage infrastructure in planning, much is about to be lost to the bulldozers. I appeal to all who care about a past, that is obviously trumped by money, to fight against this in Berwickshire and East Lothian, soon there will be nothing left. South West Scotland is not safe either, with over 100 turbines, infrastructure and destruction, threatening Newcastleton and Wauchope. First you see development of basic access and tree clearing, prior to any planning application. Then, when they sneak that in, approval is almost certain. The landowners, developers and those who are paid "commission" for granting such developments, are only in it for the money. OBJECT NOW!
@@AdamMorganIbbotsonI doubt very much much if they’ll bother doing Excavation ! Money speaks and walks roughshod over our ancient history ! As it shows in this video ! What should be done is a vast scan of UK by Lidar as the did in the Amazon Jungle ! The results were amazing ! UK has major Hidden History thats continually being destroyed Why ! Doesn’t make sense so much is to be learned from our past ! If your an open minded person one book I would recommend is ( Where Troy Once Stood by Iman Wilkens, who followed the history of Ancient Rivers dykes etc etc which don’t change there names though time ! UKs a very important part of this book ! Also the Ancient Pre Roman Palace that was excavated down in South of England back in 1890 which by all accounts was absolutely amazing But was ordered to be closed down before the end of the dig .But has not been allowed to be re excavated Since 1890 knowing full well what lies beneath and land owner willing to go ahead. Film footage showed of field ware the remains are ! Allan Edwards and Baram Blacket both were black listed by the establishment for archeological work ! but then many years later Honored for the Historical Archeological work they’d done !!! Both are pretty old now ! But have written books on UK pr History and findings ancient Welsh Language etc on historical stone in I’m pretty sure was in Cypress That they had been trying to decipher for 40 years ! So yes there a H.l of a lot we don’t know and a H..l of a lot well Hidden about our ancient history! They both went through an horrendous time to the point where Baram nearly lost his life and is more than lucky to be alive ! What they experienced and went through is unbelievable ! I hope you take the time to look up the above and this opens a new door/ direction in your life !
Awesome is right. Long Meg and Her Daughters is one of the most impressive megalithic monuments in the area, IMO. Hope you saw the hogback Viking-era stones near there on your visit (see Adam's recent video if you aren't familiar with these).
@@peterburgess5974 Mayburgh blows it out the water, but just imagine if the avenue survived! Also - get yourself to Gunnerkeld, it’s one of the very best in the country!
@@AdamMorganIbbotson Thanks, I will. Keep up the great work. I know the effort you put in and I enjoy your quirky take on a subject I find fascinating. Ad altiora!
Thank you Adam. Im very interested in landscape archaeology so as well as enjoying your prehistory i was also intrigued by the ridge and furrow around Shap as well as some of the more ancient field systems still in existence. fascinating, thank you.
@@martinfrancis3285 I found a previously undocumented square mound there while I was gathering LiDAR for the video. One of two in the valley - possibly Iron Age. Magical place, if a bit horrible in the modern day!
When I was 17 in 1982 (Thatcher), a group of friends and myself put on some gators and went out rambling at Shap. The only difference is we took with us a good few gallons of the aptly named Local Scrog! We camped beneath the Gogglesby Stone, drinking the Scrog and being youthful. In the morning we all agreed this was a bad idea - the place is imbued with wonderful qualities that some youthful Leeds lads could disrespect. Every year, myself and my wife return to the Gogglesby Stone and leave a smear of Brasso on the floor next to it. I've been told in the Local Shap Pub, the Crown Inn, that this helps ward off the evil naysayers! Thanks Adam
Have stayed in Shap many times whilst travelling between Scotland and England, thanks for telling the story. As these remnants must have been much more prevalent than they are now it does suggest our ancestors were very busy and organised.
@@nickbrough8335 I'm doing a PhD now, and that's actually the plan! Keep your eyes peeled in this space. Also check out my recent peer reviewed paper on this: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01426397.2024.2387184
@@AdamMorganIbbotson Good luck. Remember its a Marathon not a sprint. Doing mine took 4 years and all my thoughts and efforts as a full time "job" and I still had more than a few things I still wanted to investigate when I finished. At least another year. Sadly there was no funds for any of that.
In a few years we may get affordable camera drones that let us view things like this from the air in real time while on foot and make a permanent record.
I'd love to have seen this. I wonder how many more things have been removed from around Britain. Maybe where sheep and cattle grazed they were too much trouble to remove so we see more in these areas. There's a nice little cafe in Shap if instead you take the road through Shap and not stay on the motorway.
Dear Adam, Hi! I really enjoyed your video about Shap, which told me so many things I had never heard about! I wanted to mention to you an interesting fact about the area where Shap is located. At about the latitude of Shap, on the day of the summer Solstice, the angle between the setting sun and rising sun equals ninety degrees. Perhaps Shap was constructed at this place to observe this astronomical event. There is another megalithic site called Beaghmore in Ireland at the same latitude as Shap. As you know, at the latitude of Stonehenge, the angle between the sun at the solstice and the position of the full moon during the month of the solstice also equals ninety degrees. Finally, a very large megalithic structure in Germany is located at the same latitude as Stonehenge and the ninety degree sun-moon angle can also be observed there. So, perhaps astronomical considerations may help explain why all these structures were built at these site. I've posted a video on UA-cam that explains all these things. Take a look, if it interests you, at this link: ua-cam.com/video/iAM1zlX07Ko/v-deo.html Best wishes!
@@JK-gc7rj Thanks! I enjoyed your video, very well explained. I believe, like many sites in northwest England, Shap Avenue aligned with the mid winter solstice sunrise. And, conversely, Kemp Howe could be considered similar to that horseshoe at Stonehenge; catching the sun on the summer solstice sunset.
I came across Shap in two ways. In the early 80's i read a book called Strangers at Snowfell by Malcolm Saville. Secondly, walking Wainrights Coast to Coast. Whilst staying and walking through Shap. I found it a lost soul. Something eirie about it.
Hiya. Liked and subbed. I wonder, I have a sample from a vitrified fort in Scotland that shows evidence of being flash-heated from above. Any chance of a look at the 60+ vitrified forts?
What is seldom pointed out, is that the people who planned these massive monuments had no written language. What units of measurement did they use: and were those units universal. Did they draw up the plans on animal skins and pass them out to the leaders of the workforce? It is believed that linear perspective did not appear until 1415, so how did the envisage the results of their ideas? This, combined with the lack of a written language, makes their achievements even more amazing.
Linear perspective in some form was known to both the Egyptians, and most definitely the Greeks. But unfortunately neither was particularly artistic in the form of landscapes so it remained a mathematical oddity.
Excellent video about a place that haunts me. That it survived to within touching distance is such a tragedy. Standing by the remains of the circle as a train thunders by is one of my most moving antiquarian experiences. Cheers.
Interesting. I'm quite near to Avebury so the West Kennet Avenue is familiar to me. But even it is a small remnant. The Halloween/Samhain procession up to the Sanctuary by the resident Druids of Avebury is very special and could well have had parallels to the now sadly lost Shap Avenue.
That's interesting! Is the place where they wanted 'the best wines known to humanity!' there too? Not that we saw much of the area as it was suitably bleak where Uncle Monty's decrepit holiday home was. And Withnail & pal were too off their heads to notice the megaliths and cairns about.
we lost a lot of history in the 18th and 19th centuries. Most of Hadrian's Wall disappeared during this time. There was a large double stone circle of over 20 stones demolished near Belsay in Northumberland and used for dry stone walling and gateposts, only one stone remains. Some stones were taken to add as curiosities to large houses. Another circle, smaller than the Belsay one in size of circle but likely larger stones vanished near Simonburn (there are two nearby small stone circles that survive but the large one has gone). We lost a large carving of an ancient god at Ridsdale because the landowner got tired of tourists coming to see it and decided to blow it up to prevent trespassing.
Don't be silly. It was just ignorance and not seeing the value of keeping these artifacts. The farmers and railway companies saw them as in the way and of no practical use except to break up the stones for building. Please don't create nonsense conspiracy theories. It's ignorant and unhelpful.
@@AdamMorganIbbotsonyes, I've already knocked out most of your library and was thoroughly impressed. Do you have any future plans for longer, more in-depth videos? I enjoy short videos so please don't think I'm criticizing, I'm just curious. Thank you 😊
Who actually holds the painting? I couldn't quite catch it from your, excellent, video. But it may be they are claiming a particular form of tax relief. If so, then they have to make it accessible on request.
@@AdamMorganIbbotson See if you can find the work on this register. You may have to experiment with search terms: www.visitukheritage.gov.uk/servlet/com.eds.ir.cto.servlet.CtoChatSearchServlet
Thank you for a very interesting video. You can find maps in the National Libraries Scotland Collection -NLS UK of the Westmorland area which maps these stones.
Interesting piece and showed me some places I'd like to visit. I did wonder however why you didn't mention any of the many stone rows on Dartmoor in Devon, both double and single, some with with rings and cairns, and including the longest row in the world. Staldon stone row.
@@bubarowe I drew a box around the area when I mentioned Cornwall. They do have very little in common with Neolithic stone avenues (as I try to explain), and date to a later period. Avenues are basically extensions of stone circles / henges. Stone rows, like those in Yorkshire / Devon / Dartmoor are likely funerary or boundary
@@paulberen sorry, by ‘boundaries’, I don’t necessarily mean political or defensive boundaries. I mean a line that delineates the start of one area, and the end of another. A lot of stone rows seem to mark the land between funerary areas (with burial mounds etc), and residential or cultivated areas.
5th biggest stone circle in the UK is at the north of this line called Long Meg that has some very large stones. Runs from shap intersecting with the High Street the roman road at Lytham and continues past Penrith. There are a lot more sites than shown here, but a lot of things I didn't know about thanks.
I'd go as far as to call Long Meg either the 3rd or 2nd largest in Britain. It's certainly larger than those on Orkney, and composed of larger stones. Stanton Drew is also small to my measurments. My next video will focus on it!
I am wondering if the alignments are more SSE/NNW.? I personally have found that the correlations to the Solstices seem to be quite modern for all ancient sites such as this. The more I look into it I think an alignment with the seasonal rising and setting of the Pleiades is more likely for various reasons, especially with all the nearby barrows and burials of the dead..
Great video, Adam. Can you help me with this? I recently discovered such a parallel double row of standing stones, some seven feet high above ground, at the top of a mountain in south Wales. There are about five or so each side that I can see before they reach a building that looks like a farm outbuilding (there is a farm about a quarter of a mile away). The astonishing thing is that the avenue the stones form is now being used as a driveway by whoever owns the building there!! The land is enclosed by a stone wall and there is an iron barred gate at the entrance. Two of the stones, one still upright, and one fallen, are outside of this gate, so not on private land like the others. I have tried to get local history societies and even a historian in south Wales who makes UA-cam vids interested but have received no replies, even though I could supply photos. I am revisiting soon and will make a short vid to put up myself. I am wondering what the avenue leads to but cannot see further than the building, as the avenue appears to bend away into woods at that point. It’s so frustrating that no one seems bothered to find out more about what is clearly an ancient site. How on earth did the owner get planning permission to erect a building there? Any interest or ideas, anyone?
When he was young, my son and I used to holiday near a small village 7 miles S of Appleby in Westmorland. We roamed all over the place up there. Sometimes just walking all day. Eg to the linestone pavement north of Orton. Just us, the dog and nature. Otherdays were spent driving up to and along Hadrian's wall. Or over toward Keswick and Casterigg etc. There is small circle just off the road between Orton and Sunbiggin. Further up the hill to the north I spotted a small but oddly white stone set in a wall in a field. I often wondered if it was accidental or some sort of marker. The Eden valley is indeed beautiful. The view to Lancashire, my home county, from High Cup Nick to the north is in my mind's eye as I write. We were once lucky enough to have our holiday during the 1st week of June. Appleby horse fair. Another relic of a bygone age. Also well worth visiting not just for the horses and atmosphere but for Appleby itself. A wonderful area. From the brooding Howgills to the Pennines north of the valley. A branch of the Pennine way runs up here somewhere. You need a paper map and compass to really explore. But I never even heard of this sadly destroyed monument. Thank you.
There was a stone henge in Nottinghamshire at the bottom of ‘mutton Hill’ at Annesley. They were tipped over and buried to widen the road. A straight road leads to the site called ‘nuncargate road’ (Nunna’s car gate) or the road to Nunna’s (saxon chieftain).
How much short sightedness must of been needed to think ruining that monument was a good idea? I imagine plenty of folk would like to see Shap avenue rebuilt, sympathetically. It would be something great to see one day, maybe. 👍🏼
@@taleandclawrock2606 Have a look on the ARCHI UK website. They have a full LiDAR map of the UK. I’ve already found a few Roman / Iron Age settlements in the area, as well as a possible Iron Age burial mound! No sign of the stones though…
NICE! Yay cup and ring marks! Callanish is incredibly beautiful in to visit, gorgeous slender pillars. It's hill forts for me, but it seems that whole landscapes where ritualised, looking at the humble monuments on Stanton moor near me, it looks as though the entire place is a massive centre of ritual/religious activity. I wonder if we can link ritualised places with specific tribes, and thus hill forts. At present I'm seeing if I can work out who killed Fin Cop by looking at tribal boundaries.
This likely predated hillforts by a few millenia. This was as old to the Iron Age brits, as the Romans are to us... imagine that! Then some idiots destroyed it...
Largest stone circle in Scotland by diameter is in Dumfries, 12 apostles, not much to look at, but very large boulders. They reckon theres destroyed ways and such up to the circle, which would made it quite a complex. Just a shame its gone. I think this is the problem of living on an island, the habit of recycling the land.
@@harryjones5260 Ah yes. A callback to the Younger Dryas impact event, which caused the Atlantians to drift over and teach these folk how to erect stones etc. Jokes aside, I’ve always considered these linear arrangements to mirror snakes.
Lovely video, Adam. Heart breaking that so many monuments were intentionally destroyed for the stone or just to make way for industry and farming. But thanks for putting this information together and sharing with us.
@@DanDavisHistory thanks Dan - really appreciate it! It’s really amazing to imagine how much has been lost…
I believe they not only destroyed these important sites to make way for industry and farming, but also to deny us our history and our knowledge of the technologies of our ancestors.
Fuck yeah!
Thanks for sharing this Dan Davis. Love your channel.
There will be even less surviving ancient monuments if the destruction of historical England is allowed to persist.
If you are thinking that it was irresponsible to destroy such a monument and that it would never happen today, THINK AGAIN. Look at the Rotherwas Ribbon, just outside Hereford. A new road was being built to bypass some of Hereford and they found a track. They unearthed this spiraling pathway which was believed to be ceremonial. It turned out that it was the only one ever found IN THE WORLD. Nothing else like it anywhere. What did they do with it???? They buried it under the road, despite a neighbouring farmer offering them an alternative route. To bury a world treasure from public view was a crime, and if handled properly, would have brought much needed money to the counties meager economy. The local council didn't care. They just pushed on with their agenda and ignored our cultural heritage. Power corrupts.
I recently did some consultancy work for that field. It is indeed sad! Though, I suspect their 'serpentine megalithic monument' theory is pretty spurious.
We approach our history with a similar amount of vandalism afaict. Short termism is the worst of faults. What was the saying.. "Society grows great when men plant trees they will never shelter under their shade" or somesuch.
@@AdamMorganIbbotson Yeah, I know a few people in the Herefordshire archaeology world (used to be one myself, in a small fashion) and they said it seemed more likely that it was the remains of a burnt mound that had washed down the hill over time. I'd love to know your thoughts, as it seems like you may have some? I was kinda interested as I grew up around there and there's not much in the way of Neolithic/Bronze age archaeology in that area for whatever reason, or at least not much that has been found thus far.
@@AdamMorganIbbotson Also, your videos are awesome. Only just found this channel and am very glad I did!
@@jozefdoran7236 Really happy you enjoy it! It's just a pleasure to be the person sharing this info with an audience!
The hours of work to make this is greatly appreciated
Thank you so much for this video, i'm belgian and i came over to the Lake District in 2018 during the heatwave to visit a friend in Kendall, had an absolute blast! The north is so stunning!! I knew about the Roman stuff up there but i had no idea about all of this stone age magnificence. This warrants another trip methinks!
@@BelgianDoomer get the 2nd edition of my book in October. It’ll change your life and rock your socks off
This came up in my feed, fascinating.
I was particularly interested because as a geology student in 1972 I spent some weeks in Shap doing the compulsory geology map for the exams. Walking back from the fell one evening I met a farmer and pointed out a standing stone in his field. He told there used to be more, they made very good ‘yetstoups’ (gateposts), the farmers split them with fire and water and wooden wedges, which sounds like an ancient technique. He said the stone posts of the gate I was leaning on came from an old stone. But until I saw your video I had no idea there had been such an impressive monument, perhaps memory of it had been lost. I wonder how many more isolated stones one sees about the countryside used to part of something more.
Have subscribed.
Great observation. I did my preliminary geological mapping course at Shap as a first year Durham undergrad in 1984 (ish).
During world war 2 the british government and its army went around the uk smashing up all the old ancient sites. Turned megalithic wonders into quarry sites all over. They also commandeered lots of sites for military use only.
Came up on my feed as well
@@MichaelCook84 I dug at an Iron Age hillfort called Moel y Gaer near Mold in N Wales. Apparently the army had used it as a tank training ground until the locals stopped them somehow. The destruction to the ramoarts and parts if the interior was all too visible.
'Yetstoups.' Very Interesting. You may know of Symonds Yat in the South West (from memory I think it's near the Welsh border) apparently 'Yat' means gate. As for 'stoup'.....rearrange 'post' & it could read 'stop.' I put this as humour, but many a true word spoken in jest !
These are great little documentaries. Never heard of the Shap stones before. What a pity that they are lost.
Never even knew it was there. I used to stare at the remains of the stone circle from the train when going to Penrith., and always thought how careless to destroy our history. Your right. This needs a proper survey to find the holes where the stones originally stood.
@@DavePocklington Nah, we clearly need a few thousand more surveys to figure out where each stone of Stonehenge is from…
@@AdamMorganIbbotson I suspect Stonehenge is the most complex and unique example in the UK with its multiple stages of reconstruction over the odd 1,000 to 1,500 years. I do agree its a shame that so few of the others have been as well studied. Mind you I think its even worse in France as no one has looked at many of the structures since they were originally mapped in the late 1800s. Like the UK they are fading away rapidly.
@@nickbrough8335 You sadly suspect wrong! Almost all prehistoric monuments and megalithic enclosures in Britian / Europe saw constant reconstruction and evolution over thousands of years. Stonehenge is just the BEST evidenced, becasue the tourist trade encourages study there (alongside numerous historic excavations). Avebury likely has a more interesting chronology...
@@AdamMorganIbbotson Some certainly, but all ? Wouldnt that imply the the conclusion that Castlerigg is early difficult ? Its possible that Banks/Ditches might be added later as "fashionable" upgrade (as a species we really do seem to love showing off and keeping up with the neighboughs) that Castlerigg didnt get ?
I'm being tongue in cheek here :) as I have no idea, However, seriously its a chronology question as much as anything, but it rather suggests without detailed study on a site by site basis, its going to be very hard to reach firm conclusions regarding building style over time.
Ive found a huge stone they have used as an ornamental stone on a 10year old "new" estate that has markings on the top matching the megaliths worldwide with the metal support hooks across each stone. 😮😮 Also have noticed they built a road and clearly moved some megalith/henge stone arrangement of sorts and split it either side of the road and the council have the cheek to put notices up asking if anyone knows about the mysterious henge appearing from brambles, either side of a road build early 2000s. Its clear they just moved it out the way for the road so their plans weren't interrupted by unesco of whatever. Its not on ordinance survey maps before the road was built obviously because there was no road there they have dug it up and hidden it in the bushes for ten+ years! They are mocking our heritage right under our noses
The infamous traintrack. Destroyer of archaeology worldwide. Here is Spain we have Los Millares, the oldest metal melting site in the world built around 5000BC. Spanish not only didn’t care what it was, or find out what it was, they just plowed their high speed rail directly through the MIDDLE of it.
@@vanbalzup6481 Farmers, antiquarians, and train tracks. The three horsemen on the archaeology apocalypse.
Oh no. That's sad. Big loss
This is incredible. Really surprised this hasn't been talked about more.
@@sparkleypegs8350 me too!
It is known about in Cumbria, by many.
If you've ever visited the humungous stone rows at Carnac -- some of which were tragically removed recently too! -- or the equally atmospheric rows on Dartmoor which incorporate small stone cysts along their courses, these are special places. It's a disappointing remnant of what must've been there in the Neolithic to Bronze Ages but still worth a visit.
Shap was particularly bleak when I visited in the 90s but it was also a fascinating ancient landscape. The cairns and ritual stone 'circle' looming in the mist that day. Yes, I found the cup and ring mark you mentioned too. I recall visiting a cluster of prehistoric sites on the moor on the other side of the road from the Shap landscape (interesting, but not as good) which you've probably seen too. Think I'll get Aubrey Burl's classic book From Carnac to Callanish off the shelf and have a browse as your video's reminded me of these curiosities. Love me a bit of megalithic magic. Nice!
They're certainly special. If you get chance - North Ings, in the North York Moors is fantastic. Very similar to examples on Dartmoor.
@@AdamMorganIbbotson Really? I've not seen North Ings but I'll add it to my long list. I wandered on Dartmoor so often I saw/photographed over about 80 prehistoric sites, but even that was only a fraction of them. Wonder if the folk of Neolithic or Bronze Age Dartmoor knew of the similar landscapes and culture that developed up in Cumbria and Yorkshire -- or even up in mysterious Orkney? The spread of tools and art (incl. rock art) which represent cultural connections throughout Britain would suggest it. Cheers.
(Update) Oh yeah, looked at North Ings pics and those could be on Dartmoor easily. Lovely. There's apparently a cross incised on one of the 83 stones, which might be a much later Christian attempt to sanctify the 'heathen' construction (though the person doing so had no idea who made the rows). Interesting.
The thing about stones being removed from Carnac was wrong or misleading, by fault of the mainstream media (as seems to happen with almost everything that they report).
There were some stones removed to make way for some DIY store or something, but there was no evidence that those ones were anything more than field boundary stones and are not thought to be part of any neolithic stone monument.
I went to Carnac a couple of times as a kid when on holiday in Brittany and some of their dolmans or long barrows were in really good condition (you could walk into them).
Also there was a place around that area where there were a couple of really tall thin stones, with one still standing and the other toppled and broken (in two iirc) on the ground.
And there is a big stone called the roche tremblade (trembling rock) somewhere in that area (I did not feel it trembling)
I remember running and standing on the Carnac stones when we were there as youngsters in the very early 1980 s
What a treat, really well told and a fantastic edit
Wow, thanks Paul - massive fan of your channel!
@@AdamMorganIbbotson thanks Adam. I've just subscribed. 🙂
Hiding in secret, Remakeble! ghost painting, time traveling True Art in a mystery of Hidden Historical significant! It's tragic that Stone Rose was so deeply hidden away ! This needs to be preserved!
Fascinating!! So sad that these amazing structures were destroyed to make way for "progress"
@@Noble4Truths hm, I’ll keep my heated towel rail and living til 85. But the stone avenue was cool!
Yes , progress in 1844??- by the Lancaster & Carlisle Railway then taken over /merged ? into Th London & N. Western Rly in 1846 which lasted til 1923 (the 'Grouping' +-a govt Act of 1921) Now it's pt of th W Coast Mainline. Shap summit with its 1 in 75 gradient requd most steam trains to be 'banked😮
This is a new site for me! Thank you for bringing it to my attention. I love it that you in Great Britain have preserved so much of your ancient heritage. Even if you do lose a few now and then. Over here in the states, most of ours were lost to farming long ago.😞💔🐝
Was in Wales last month and walked for EVER to some remote circles.
Hadrian's wall provided useful, ready mined stonework for centuries after its abandonment. Saved the locals much labour when they set to and built homes, farm buildings, and places of worship nearby.
Many other ancient buildings suffered similarly.
Really, it’s a shame so many of our ancestors went and plonked their monuments on future farmland. Appalling lack of foresight.
At Gobekli Tepe, they had the brilliant foresight ro plonk it in the middle of a limestone pavement.
@@AdamMorganIbbotson Weren’t the “temple areas” also at the bottom of a slope, so that the soil kept washing down onto them?
@@mirandamom1346 Not sure! Either way, no ploughs made it up there!
Today I learned a new thing! Great video. I had not heard of this avenue before. Such a travesty it's now destroyed! I hope a survey is done so they can determine where the stones once stood.
Hi Adam, this is the first of your videos I’ve seen & I absolutely loved it! Great energy, presentation & information, instant sub. Hope you’re well & thank you!
The stones are still being destroyed. Even now. I've found the remains of four stone rows at Slaggyford - a few miles into Northumberland - but nothing like Shap. Tiddlers. Also found a couple of henges at Alston from LiDAR image but nobody seems interested. The larger henge has two opposed entrances, with the Alston-Brampton main road running through. Double-entrance henges have a curious association with both an ancient trackway and a Roman road and this Alston henge fits that pattern. The trackway was called the Maiden Way but this part is now better known as the Pennine Way. There's so much we don't know or understand about our distant ancestors - boy, were they strong!
Really enjoyed this, and great to see after following your tweets about this.
Thanks Matt, really glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks for sharing Adam much appreciated
Really well researched and presented interesting film. I have walked through Shap on C2C and had no idea. Thanks for taking the time
Glad you enjoyed it!
Unexpectedly this appeared by curtesy of UA-cam, it brought back memories of a trip a friend and I made in the early sixties. We visited Avebury and Stonehenge, in those days there was no fence and we were able to walk around and even sit on some of the stones, we also climbed Silbury Hill. The wonder stayed with me and twenty five years later I took my children on the same trip so they could see the monuments.
Hey Adam, that was really very well made. Your choice of content was very compelling. It is incredible that as far back as 6000 yrs ago people were taking the time to move these gigantic stones across the land. It would have been good it you could have found out where the stones likely came from. Your voice, personality and style is all absolutely perfect. You are quite nqturally a great presenter. You have that star quality! In fact, if you would ever value a channel intro jingle complete with variouw fill in stings, let me know and Il compose something very British and magnificent for you! (On the house). Subscribed, keep it coming my dear Morgan!!! Basil Simon.
@@BasilSimon Wow thanks Basil, that’s quite the review!
In those times of small populations it is surprisiing that so much time and effort was able to be spent on finding, digging up, moving and placing these stones when living hand to mouth with food supply. Who designed them and persuaded presumably large numbers of men to stop hunting and gathering and fed them whilst engaged in the task?
It makes more sense that they were efficient. They had time to make art and develop culture, they weren't highly pressured to constantly gather food.
@@electricelf-music I argue regularly with the middle east cradle of civilization model proponents just because hot, dry places obviously retain huge evidence of structures and that the archaeology... Northern Europe was forested and had a changeable climate but huge megalithic structures must indicate civilisations here even if wooden homes and associated goods are long lost due to decay...
@@paulberen that was an expansion on my point which coincidentally seems bourn out by discovery of 30 or more hectare in size, almost stone aged cities in Romania... Estimates of 10,000 at a time lived in up to 250 such places...
@@neddyseagoon9601 Well the Cucuteni-Trypillia civilisation in the area of Ukraine/Romania potentially predates the Sumerians and contained probably the largest cities in the world at the time.
@@Arkantos117 I don't doubt it. I've lived in Bulgaria where the ancient gold jewrly and artifacts were found and travelled extensively in the entire region...
The massive gold find and its age is indicative of social society in the region going way back, even if the less dry climate, (than the middle east), and numerous ever modernising warrior races moving through left little of solid structures to mark the places...
The oldest ritual burial known in Britain is about 35,000 years old but wood and mud for buildings was never going to survive to prove civilisations above stone aged hunter gatherers must have existed here...
Thanks Adam, great watch & listen.
Thank you Adam. When I lived and worked in the area of north Cumbria, I was amazed at the preponderance of ancient historic stones and circles. but I never joined the dots, as it were. But the Eden valley landscape and ancient trading routes were fascinating and had me pouring over maps, your video has helped me to start to make sense of it all. Now I live in a similar landscape of the Cotswolds where once again evidence of early settlers and tribes litter the landscape and again I cycle and walk to visit these to try and understand how they may be linked. You video os very inspiring.
Great vid ! I've worked on many construction projects moving and lifting large heavy objects, including stones, the size of these. These projects done with only manpower are hard to wrap my head around.
? Probably not just 'manpower'. Maybe --the 'giants (Nephilim) before th Flood.
@@Tom-gv2eo Or aural levitation as documented by British travellers in Tibet - trumpets etc....worked at Jericho!!
Very interesting thanks. I expect the landowner family keep their heads down on this as a dirty little secret as they knowingly gave permission for the site to be plundered for stone in exchange for money over the years but primarily access to the railway. Terrible vandalism and very surprising in Britain we're good at preservation of monuments.
I wasn't aware of this. Sad, this bit of history is lost.
There is a stone circle at risk from development just now, in South East Scotland. Yadlee, in Berwickshire is part of many, similarly aged standing stones and known prehistoric sites in the area, already lost to and engulfed by, a gigantic renewable development, with a further solar array and storage infrastructure in planning, much is about to be lost to the bulldozers. I appeal to all who care about a past, that is obviously trumped by money, to fight against this in Berwickshire and East Lothian, soon there will be nothing left. South West Scotland is not safe either, with over 100 turbines, infrastructure and destruction, threatening Newcastleton and Wauchope. First you see development of basic access and tree clearing, prior to any planning application. Then, when they sneak that in, approval is almost certain. The landowners, developers and those who are paid "commission" for granting such developments, are only in it for the money. OBJECT NOW!
At the very least the'll do some excavations I imagine. I work in planning consultanty - and the amount of red tape in insane. Fear not!
@@AdamMorganIbbotsonI doubt very much much if they’ll bother doing Excavation ! Money speaks and walks roughshod over our ancient history ! As it shows in this video ! What should be done is a vast scan of UK by Lidar as the did in the Amazon Jungle ! The results were amazing ! UK has major Hidden History thats continually being destroyed Why ! Doesn’t make sense so much is to be learned from our past ! If your an open minded person one book I would recommend is ( Where Troy Once Stood by Iman Wilkens, who followed the history of Ancient Rivers dykes etc etc which don’t change there names though time ! UKs a very important part of this book !
Also the Ancient Pre Roman Palace that was excavated down in South of England back in 1890 which by all accounts was absolutely amazing But was ordered to be closed down before the end of the dig .But has not been allowed to be re excavated
Since 1890 knowing full well what lies beneath and land owner willing to go ahead. Film footage showed of field ware the remains are !
Allan Edwards and Baram Blacket both were black listed by the establishment for archeological work !
but then many years later Honored for the Historical Archeological work they’d done !!! Both are pretty old now ! But have written books on UK pr History and findings ancient Welsh Language etc on historical stone in I’m pretty sure was in Cypress
That they had been trying to decipher for 40 years ! So yes there a H.l of a lot we don’t know and a H..l of a lot well Hidden about our ancient history! They both went through an horrendous time to the point where Baram nearly lost his life and is more than lucky to be alive ! What they experienced and went through is unbelievable ! I hope you take the time to look up the above and this opens a new door/ direction in your life !
Absolutely fascinating. Thank you for sharing all of this information in such an engaging way. Really enjoyed the video.
Thanks, really appreciate it!
Just found your channel, great content and well presented in an extremely engaging way. Am off to watch more of your videos. Thanks!
I was up there last weekend along with a visit to Mayburgh. Awesome stuff!
Awesome is right. Long Meg and Her Daughters is one of the most impressive megalithic monuments in the area, IMO. Hope you saw the hogback Viking-era stones near there on your visit (see Adam's recent video if you aren't familiar with these).
@@peterburgess5974 Mayburgh blows it out the water, but just imagine if the avenue survived! Also - get yourself to Gunnerkeld, it’s one of the very best in the country!
@@AdamMorganIbbotson Thanks, I will. Keep up the great work. I know the effort you put in and I enjoy your quirky take on a subject I find fascinating. Ad altiora!
Thank you Adam. Im very interested in landscape archaeology so as well as enjoying your prehistory i was also intrigued by the ridge and furrow around Shap as well as some of the more ancient field systems still in existence. fascinating, thank you.
@@martinfrancis3285 I found a previously undocumented square mound there while I was gathering LiDAR for the video. One of two in the valley - possibly Iron Age. Magical place, if a bit horrible in the modern day!
When I was 17 in 1982 (Thatcher), a group of friends and myself put on some gators and went out rambling at Shap. The only difference is we took with us a good few gallons of the aptly named Local Scrog! We camped beneath the Gogglesby Stone, drinking the Scrog and being youthful. In the morning we all agreed this was a bad idea - the place is imbued with wonderful qualities that some youthful Leeds lads could disrespect. Every year, myself and my wife return to the Gogglesby Stone and leave a smear of Brasso on the floor next to it. I've been told in the Local Shap Pub, the Crown Inn, that this helps ward off the evil naysayers! Thanks Adam
Not to mention the headache I had the day after the Scrog consumption! Back down the A66 with a migraine.
Very cool indeed, loving the voice-acting, liked and subbed :)
You’re not THE Gary Mckinnon, are you?
@@AdamMorganIbbotson Yes that was me, unfortunately ! But all is good now, we won the case against my extradition back in 2012.
@@GaryMcKinnonUFO glad to hear it Gary! Happy you enjoyed my video
@@AdamMorganIbbotson Cheers :)
I very much enjoyed that. Thanks Adam. You gained a sub.
Fascinating, thank you. Has any Lidar been done?
This was fascinating, thank you so much. I've always been drawn to Shap, but I never knew about the avenues of stones.
"I always loved The Beatles, but had no idea they did music" - what on earth were you drawn to Shap for!
@@AdamMorganIbbotson Who can tell why one is drawn to a place? Congenial energies, perhaps?
Really very intetesting and intriguing. What short sightedness towards our ancient past
Absolute top quality!
Thanks!
Have stayed in Shap many times whilst travelling between Scotland and England, thanks for telling the story. As these remnants must have been much more prevalent than they are now it does suggest our ancestors were very busy and organised.
@@syncrosimon Thanks!
Some houses in shap have standing stones in the walls of their houses or garden walls, they were pillaged over the years , such a shame
Fascinating, thank you Adam
Thanks Adam. Would be nice to see a split screen showing the actual location of the painting today.
@@Russpng I’d love that, but I’d have to stand on a railtrack to get the shot! I.e, the place it’s painted from is also loooong gone!
@@AdamMorganIbbotson I know there's probably a data access issue. but doesnt 3D mapping software allow you to reconstruct the view from the location ?
@@nickbrough8335 I'm doing a PhD now, and that's actually the plan! Keep your eyes peeled in this space. Also check out my recent peer reviewed paper on this: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01426397.2024.2387184
@@AdamMorganIbbotson Good luck. Remember its a Marathon not a sprint. Doing mine took 4 years and all my thoughts and efforts as a full time "job" and I still had more than a few things I still wanted to investigate when I finished. At least another year. Sadly there was no funds for any of that.
In a few years we may get affordable camera drones that let us view things like this from the air in real time while on foot and make a permanent record.
I'd love to have seen this. I wonder how many more things have been removed from around Britain. Maybe where sheep and cattle grazed they were too much trouble to remove so we see more in these areas.
There's a nice little cafe in Shap if instead you take the road through Shap and not stay on the motorway.
Compelling and intriguing 👏👍👌
@@ianlawrie919 Thanks, really appreciate it!
Dear Adam,
Hi! I really enjoyed your video about Shap, which told me so many things I had never heard about! I wanted to mention to you an interesting fact about the area where Shap is located. At about the latitude of Shap, on the day of the summer Solstice, the angle between the setting sun and rising sun equals ninety degrees. Perhaps Shap was constructed at this place to observe this astronomical event. There is another megalithic site called Beaghmore in Ireland at the same latitude as Shap. As you know, at the latitude of Stonehenge, the angle between the sun at the solstice and the position of the full moon during the month of the solstice also equals ninety degrees. Finally, a very large megalithic structure in Germany is located at the same latitude as Stonehenge and the ninety degree sun-moon angle can also be observed there. So, perhaps astronomical considerations may help explain why all these structures were built at these site.
I've posted a video on UA-cam that explains all these things. Take a look, if it interests you, at this link:
ua-cam.com/video/iAM1zlX07Ko/v-deo.html
Best wishes!
@@JK-gc7rj Thanks! I enjoyed your video, very well explained.
I believe, like many sites in northwest England, Shap Avenue aligned with the mid winter solstice sunrise. And, conversely, Kemp Howe could be considered similar to that horseshoe at Stonehenge; catching the sun on the summer solstice sunset.
I came across Shap in two ways. In the early 80's i read a book called Strangers at Snowfell by Malcolm Saville. Secondly, walking Wainrights Coast to Coast. Whilst staying and walking through Shap. I found it a lost soul. Something eirie about it.
It's one of them dark pastel landscapes that makes you a little uneasy.
Brilliant but shocking...our "shopkeeper" society, always putting money first. 😢
Dan Davis recommended you. Glad he did. Great work!
@@honeybadgerisme He has fantastic taste.
Hiya. Liked and subbed. I wonder, I have a sample from a vitrified fort in Scotland that shows evidence of being flash-heated from above. Any chance of a look at the 60+ vitrified forts?
Arthur c Clarke look into this in mysterious world.
What is seldom pointed out, is that the people who planned these massive monuments had no written language. What units of measurement did they use: and were those units universal. Did they draw up the plans on animal skins and pass them out to the leaders of the workforce? It is believed that linear perspective did not appear until 1415, so how did the envisage the results of their ideas? This, combined with the lack of a written language, makes their achievements even more amazing.
Linear perspective in some form was known to both the Egyptians, and most definitely the Greeks. But unfortunately neither was particularly artistic in the form of landscapes so it remained a mathematical oddity.
Excellent video about a place that haunts me. That it survived to within touching distance is such a tragedy. Standing by the remains of the circle as a train thunders by is one of my most moving antiquarian experiences. Cheers.
@@WC21UKProductionsLtd Preferably on a dark pastel day, in the drizzle
@@AdamMorganIbbotson exactly that!
There’s loads of megalithic looking stones on the side of the m6 around shap
There's also a big stone circle called 'Gunnerkeld' you can see when heading south!
Interesting. I'm quite near to Avebury so the West Kennet Avenue is familiar to me. But even it is a small remnant. The Halloween/Samhain procession up to the Sanctuary by the resident Druids of Avebury is very special and could well have had parallels to the now sadly lost Shap Avenue.
Fun fact- Shap is the location of the cottage in the film ‘Withnail & I’ which was filmed in 1986 and starred Richard E Grant and Paul McGann. 👍🇬🇧
That's interesting! Is the place where they wanted 'the best wines known to humanity!' there too? Not that we saw much of the area as it was suitably bleak where Uncle Monty's decrepit holiday home was. And Withnail & pal were too off their heads to notice the megaliths and cairns about.
I mention that in the video!
The actual location is Sleddale Hall in Wet Sleddale
@@djbondi7137 thanks. 👍
@@PaIaeoCIive1684 I’m not sure where the tea room is. 👍
we lost a lot of history in the 18th and 19th centuries. Most of Hadrian's Wall disappeared during this time. There was a large double stone circle of over 20 stones demolished near Belsay in Northumberland and used for dry stone walling and gateposts, only one stone remains. Some stones were taken to add as curiosities to large houses. Another circle, smaller than the Belsay one in size of circle but likely larger stones vanished near Simonburn (there are two nearby small stone circles that survive but the large one has gone). We lost a large carving of an ancient god at Ridsdale because the landowner got tired of tourists coming to see it and decided to blow it up to prevent trespassing.
Is there no mention of any of these stone megaliths in the writings of The Romans when they conquered or occupied some of Britain?
No.
The ever fearful hierarchy. Destroying any evidence of those more advanced and intelligent than them.
Don't be silly. It was just ignorance and not seeing the value of keeping these artifacts.
The farmers and railway companies saw them as in the way and of no practical use except to break up the stones for building.
Please don't create nonsense conspiracy theories. It's ignorant and unhelpful.
It's still going on - Woodland Trust, Bolton Museum, Manchester University - there's more ...
Great video Adam (me)
Thanks Adam (me). I agree, it is pretty good!
I agree - fantastic video! Thanks Adam.
@@AdamMorganIbbotson Both Adams are correct, this tale of the lost rocks rocks!
Great video Adam, thanks!
Thanks Jamie
Great presentation
I'm glad I happen to have landed on this video. I thought I had already subscribed to every history channel, but obviously I missed this one.
@@markschuler1511 missed the best one
@@AdamMorganIbbotsonyes, I've already knocked out most of your library and was thoroughly impressed. Do you have any future plans for longer, more in-depth videos? I enjoy short videos so please don't think I'm criticizing, I'm just curious. Thank you 😊
@ I have one coming out very soon, which will be 40+ minutes. These shorter videos take ages to edit!
Great video (Subscribed)
Interesting. Hope to see more.
If you subscribe, you will
Very interesting 👌 👍
Great video! You've got a new Sub! 👍
Much gratitude to you for your hard work, your imagination, and your presentation. I'll subscribe
@@paulapridy6804 Thanks- you won’t regret it
Up here on holiday so will look and see... Thanks 😊
Have fun!
We went to Mayburgh Henge and Arthur's seat.. Arthur's seat is close to Mayburgh with another site but these last 2 are part destroe8 by road bjilding
As an American, I have a huge facination with British pre history.
Even as a young boy.
I can't explain why.
Thanks so much for this fascinating vid.
Who actually holds the painting? I couldn't quite catch it from your, excellent, video. But it may be they are claiming a particular form of tax relief. If so, then they have to make it accessible on request.
Charles Lowther I believe. I managed to contact the family, but they're pretty frosty.
@@AdamMorganIbbotson See if you can find the work on this register. You may have to experiment with search terms:
www.visitukheritage.gov.uk/servlet/com.eds.ir.cto.servlet.CtoChatSearchServlet
Thank you for a very interesting video. You can find maps in the National Libraries Scotland Collection -NLS UK of the Westmorland area which maps these stones.
Interesting piece and showed me some places I'd like to visit. I did wonder however why you didn't mention any of the many stone rows on Dartmoor in Devon, both double and single, some with with rings and cairns, and including the longest row in the world. Staldon stone row.
@@bubarowe I drew a box around the area when I mentioned Cornwall. They do have very little in common with Neolithic stone avenues (as I try to explain), and date to a later period. Avenues are basically extensions of stone circles / henges. Stone rows, like those in Yorkshire / Devon / Dartmoor are likely funerary or boundary
@@paulberen Double stone rows aren’t the same as stone avenues. If they’re avenues, I agree
@@paulberen sorry, by ‘boundaries’, I don’t necessarily mean political or defensive boundaries. I mean a line that delineates the start of one area, and the end of another.
A lot of stone rows seem to mark the land between funerary areas (with burial mounds etc), and residential or cultivated areas.
never knew... thanks
5th biggest stone circle in the UK is at the north of this line called Long Meg that has some very large stones. Runs from shap intersecting with the High Street the roman road at Lytham and continues past Penrith. There are a lot more sites than shown here, but a lot of things I didn't know about thanks.
I'd go as far as to call Long Meg either the 3rd or 2nd largest in Britain. It's certainly larger than those on Orkney, and composed of larger stones. Stanton Drew is also small to my measurments.
My next video will focus on it!
@@paulberen I meant smaller*. Not small.
But yes, Stanton Drews largest circle is smaller than Long Meg!
That was a mega lithic watch Adam... Hope someone with funds funds you.
I'm most definitely subscribed.
@@peternall6566 thanks Peter! Really appreciate it!
Someone should open a gymin Shap " Get into Shap" 😂😂😂❤
Terrific video!❤
Feed the algorithm guys!
Let's get more people interested
I agree!
Great video, many thanks.
Glad you enjoyed!
I am wondering if the alignments are more SSE/NNW.? I personally have found that the correlations to the Solstices seem to be quite modern for all ancient sites such as this. The more I look into it I think an alignment with the seasonal rising and setting of the Pleiades is more likely for various reasons, especially with all the nearby barrows and burials of the dead..
Great video, Adam. Can you help me with this? I recently discovered such a parallel double row of standing stones, some seven feet high above ground, at the top of a mountain in south Wales. There are about five or so each side that I can see before they reach a building that looks like a farm outbuilding (there is a farm about a quarter of a mile away). The astonishing thing is that the avenue the stones form is now being used as a driveway by whoever owns the building there!! The land is enclosed by a stone wall and there is an iron barred gate at the entrance. Two of the stones, one still upright, and one fallen, are outside of this gate, so not on private land like the others. I have tried to get local history societies and even a historian in south Wales who makes UA-cam vids interested but have received no replies, even though I could supply photos. I am revisiting soon and will make a short vid to put up myself. I am wondering what the avenue leads to but cannot see further than the building, as the avenue appears to bend away into woods at that point. It’s so frustrating that no one seems bothered to find out more about what is clearly an ancient site. How on earth did the owner get planning permission to erect a building there? Any interest or ideas, anyone?
@@petrovonoccymro9063 I’ll help you. What’s the coordinates (preferably national grid reference) of this supposed site.
@@AdamMorganIbbotson thanks for the reply. Trying to find out the grid ref. Will get back to you.
Brilliant, thankyou
When he was young, my son and I used to holiday near a small village 7 miles S of Appleby in Westmorland. We roamed all over the place up there. Sometimes just walking all day. Eg to the linestone pavement north of Orton. Just us, the dog and nature. Otherdays were spent driving up to and along Hadrian's wall. Or over toward Keswick and Casterigg etc.
There is small circle just off the road between Orton and Sunbiggin. Further up the hill to the north I spotted a small but oddly white stone set in a wall in a field. I often wondered if it was accidental or some sort of marker.
The Eden valley is indeed beautiful. The view to Lancashire, my home county, from High Cup Nick to the north is in my mind's eye as I write.
We were once lucky enough to have our holiday during the 1st week of June. Appleby horse fair. Another relic of a bygone age. Also well worth visiting not just for the horses and atmosphere but for Appleby itself.
A wonderful area. From the brooding Howgills to the Pennines north of the valley. A branch of the Pennine way runs up here somewhere. You need a paper map and compass to really explore.
But I never even heard of this sadly destroyed monument. Thank you.
@@helenamcginty4920 that stone circle near Orton: Gamelands. Dating to the same time as Shap Avenue
There was a stone henge in Nottinghamshire at the bottom of ‘mutton Hill’ at Annesley. They were tipped over and buried to widen the road. A straight road leads to the site called ‘nuncargate road’ (Nunna’s car gate) or the road to Nunna’s (saxon chieftain).
Great video
Fabulous video✌️thank you
@@Serenity07-10 Glad you enjoyed it
How much short sightedness must of been needed to think ruining that monument was a good idea? I imagine plenty of folk would like to see Shap avenue rebuilt, sympathetically. It would be something great to see one day, maybe. 👍🏼
I would. The Germans do it! Get some archaeology done, and stick in some small obelisks like those at Avebury to at least mark the spots!
It would be amazing to see a detailed lidar scan of the wider area. Clearly alot was going on in that wider site. ❤❤❤
@@taleandclawrock2606 Have a look on the ARCHI UK website. They have a full LiDAR map of the UK. I’ve already found a few Roman / Iron Age settlements in the area, as well as a possible Iron Age burial mound!
No sign of the stones though…
Crazy! It boggles the mind how many ancient structures were destroyed during the industrial revolution!
NICE! Yay cup and ring marks! Callanish is incredibly beautiful in to visit, gorgeous slender pillars. It's hill forts for me, but it seems that whole landscapes where ritualised, looking at the humble monuments on Stanton moor near me, it looks as though the entire place is a massive centre of ritual/religious activity. I wonder if we can link ritualised places with specific tribes, and thus hill forts. At present I'm seeing if I can work out who killed Fin Cop by looking at tribal boundaries.
This likely predated hillforts by a few millenia. This was as old to the Iron Age brits, as the Romans are to us... imagine that! Then some idiots destroyed it...
Excellent Vid
@@andystagg7668 thanks!
Fascinating video
Largest stone circle in Scotland by diameter is in Dumfries, 12 apostles, not much to look at, but very large boulders. They reckon theres destroyed ways and such up to the circle, which would made it quite a complex. Just a shame its gone.
I think this is the problem of living on an island, the habit of recycling the land.
@@DrumToTheBassWoop same culture as Cumbria. Probably Irish
Very educational...I understand that Farmers for example have been altering the landscape for time immemorial... Stones reused over and over
99.999% of what once was, is now lost. Almost all because of farming and land reuse. Which is fine - we do need to eat!
Thanks - some very interesting information...
Crickey i always stop just off the M6 there and did wonder what was near by great film
@@BronzeAgeSwords There’s a stone circle just off the M6 there, called Gunnerkeld. Later than the avenue, but right next to the M6 when heading south!
Interesting stuff. What a shame that it was destroyed. Thanks for the video.
the outline shapes look like representations of comets
@@harryjones5260 Ah yes. A callback to the Younger Dryas impact event, which caused the Atlantians to drift over and teach these folk how to erect stones etc.
Jokes aside, I’ve always considered these linear arrangements to mirror snakes.