Wandlebury Enigma
Encyclopedia
The Wandlebury Enigma refers to a number of suggested hypotheses about the purpose, function and decoration of Wandlebury Hill
.
The first is the suggestion that an ancient hill figure had once been carved into the side of Wandlebury Hill
, similar to the Cerne Abbas Giant
. This was thought to have been overgrown or effaced in the 18th century. The figure was first recorded by Bishop Joseph Hall in 1605 and later by others including William Cole and John Layer. Investigation was carried out in 1954 by Thomas Charles Lethbridge
, an archaeologist and parapsychologist. He found small lumps of chalk to the South of the hill and proceeded to survey the area with a sounding bar, probing areas of soft ground and disturbed chalk. By placing markers he was able to draw out the pattern of what he claimed were 3 hill figures picturing ancient British
deities - A horse
Goddess (Magog
or Epona
), a Sun
God (Gog
, Bel
, Belinus
or Lucifer
) and a warrior figure with sword and shield. The Times
reported on Lethbridge's discovery as a "previously lost, three thousand-year-old hill-figure". A later article about Lethbridge's efforts was written by W.A. Clark in 1997 which did not confirm his claims, nor did magnometer and resistivity meter testing. This suggestion was dismissed by Professor Glyn Daniel who commented that Lethbridge had not found any real antiquities but was "probably confusing geological features". A report by the Council for British Archaeology
concluded that the 'hollows' were caused by common geological processes.
Another Wandlebury Enigma dismissed by Glyn Daniel that was featured in a 1978 Sunday Telegraph
article is the Line A Loxodrome or Cam Valley Loxodrome, a series of what retired geologist Christian O'Brien
considered to be hand-carved stone monolith
markers placed 1,430 metres apart between Wandlebury Earthworks and Portingbury Hills
Mound at Hatfield
Broad Oak, in Hatfield Forest
. O'Brien stated that eleven of the original twenty-six stones are still in situ, with several oothers lying nearby. According to O'Brien local records indicate that at least one was moved due to it impeding modern agriculture.
The names suggested for the stones featured include the Wandlebury Stone, Great Chesterfield Stone, Bordeaux Stone, Wendens Ambow Stone, Shortgrove Monolith, Newport Stone (also known as The Leper Stone
), Springfield Stone, and the Priory Stone. The line forms a perfect rhumb line
, so that wherever an observer stands on the line between Wandlebury and Portingbury, the North Star is always at the same oblique angle. Based upon this alignment, O'Brien believed that the line's builders possessed knowledge that the Earth was round, and also of its approximate circumference
. O'Brien believed it to have been created in the Bronze Age
.
O'Brien was following up a suggestion put forward by Alfred Watkins
that the Wandlebury bank had astronomical purposes. According to O'Brien dents point from its exact centre to the North Star, the midsummer sunrise and the lunar summer maximum, he suggested probabilities for this and the markers being in the correct locations by pure chance were in the order of 10 million to one. By factoring in the Earth's drift, O'Brien placed the date of its construction around 2,500 BC. His hypothesis met with mixed comments. Interviewed by the Sunday Telegraph, Glyn Daniel, Professor of Archaeology at Cambridge University dismissed the paper as "nonsense" and could find nothing in it to revise the documented view of Wandlebury. Archie Roy, Professor of Astronomy at Glasgow University commented that "in the absence of a more convincing explanation, this conclusion also has to be taken very seriously.” Alexander Thom
stated that he believed it to be only an Iron Age
Hill Fort.
Wandlebury Hill
Wandlebury Hill is a hill in the Gog Magog Downs, a ridge of low chalk hills extending for several miles to the southeast of Cambridge, England. The underlying rock is present in a number of places on the hill...
.
The first is the suggestion that an ancient hill figure had once been carved into the side of Wandlebury Hill
Wandlebury Hill
Wandlebury Hill is a hill in the Gog Magog Downs, a ridge of low chalk hills extending for several miles to the southeast of Cambridge, England. The underlying rock is present in a number of places on the hill...
, similar to the Cerne Abbas Giant
Cerne Abbas giant
The Cerne Abbas Giant, also referred to as the Rude Man or the Rude Giant, is a hill figure of a giant naked man on a hillside near the village of Cerne Abbas, to the north of Dorchester, in Dorset, England. The high, wide figure is carved into the side of a steep hill, and is best viewed from...
. This was thought to have been overgrown or effaced in the 18th century. The figure was first recorded by Bishop Joseph Hall in 1605 and later by others including William Cole and John Layer. Investigation was carried out in 1954 by Thomas Charles Lethbridge
Thomas Charles Lethbridge
Thomas Charles Lethbridge was a British explorer, archaeologist and parapsychologist. According to the historian Ronald Hutton, Lethbridge's "status as a scholar never really rose above that of an unusually lively local antiquary" for he had a "contempt for professionalism in all fields" and...
, an archaeologist and parapsychologist. He found small lumps of chalk to the South of the hill and proceeded to survey the area with a sounding bar, probing areas of soft ground and disturbed chalk. By placing markers he was able to draw out the pattern of what he claimed were 3 hill figures picturing ancient British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
deities - A horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
Goddess (Magog
Magog
Magog may refer to:* Magog , a grandson of Noah in the Old Testament* Gog and Magog, a Biblical pair * Magog, Quebec, a town in southern Quebec, Canada...
or Epona
Epona
In Gallo-Roman religion, Epona was a protector of horses, donkeys, and mules. She was particularly a goddess of fertility, as shown by her attributes of a patera, cornucopia, ears of grain and the presence of foals in some sculptures suggested that the goddess and her horses were leaders of the...
), a Sun
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
God (Gog
Gog
Gog, Gogg or Gogs may refer to:Biblical:* Gog and MagogPeople:* Anikó Góg, Hungarian triathlete* Gog or "gogledd", a person from North Wales from the Welsh word for "north"...
, Bel
Bel
Bel can mean:* bel , a unit of ratio used in acoustics, electronics, etc. A derived unit of 1 decibel = 0.1 B is often used.* Bel , a Semitic deity * Belenus aka Bel; a Celtic deity...
, Belinus
Belinus
Belinus the Great was a legendary king of the Britons, as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of Dunvallo Molmutius and brother of Brennius. He was probably named after the ancient god Belenus.- Earning the crown :...
or Lucifer
Lucifer
Traditionally, Lucifer is a name that in English generally refers to the devil or Satan before being cast from Heaven, although this is not the original meaning of the term. In Latin, from which the English word is derived, Lucifer means "light-bearer"...
) and a warrior figure with sword and shield. The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
reported on Lethbridge's discovery as a "previously lost, three thousand-year-old hill-figure". A later article about Lethbridge's efforts was written by W.A. Clark in 1997 which did not confirm his claims, nor did magnometer and resistivity meter testing. This suggestion was dismissed by Professor Glyn Daniel who commented that Lethbridge had not found any real antiquities but was "probably confusing geological features". A report by the Council for British Archaeology
Council for British Archaeology
Established in 1944, the is an educational charity working throughout the UK to involve people in archaeology and to promote the appreciation and care of the historic environment for the benefit of present and future generations...
concluded that the 'hollows' were caused by common geological processes.
Another Wandlebury Enigma dismissed by Glyn Daniel that was featured in a 1978 Sunday Telegraph
Sunday Telegraph
The Sunday Telegraph is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961. It is the sister paper of The Daily Telegraph, but is run separately with a different editorial staff, although there is some cross-usage of stories...
article is the Line A Loxodrome or Cam Valley Loxodrome, a series of what retired geologist Christian O'Brien
Christian O'Brien
Christian Arthur Edgar "Tim" O'Brien C.B.E was a British exploration geologist and author. In 1936 he was also involved in the discovery of the Chogha Zanbil Ziggurat in Southern Iran...
considered to be hand-carved stone monolith
Monolith
A monolith is a geological feature such as a mountain, consisting of a single massive stone or rock, or a single piece of rock placed as, or within, a monument...
markers placed 1,430 metres apart between Wandlebury Earthworks and Portingbury Hills
Portingbury Hills
Portingbury Hills or Portingbury Rings is a hill in Hatfield Forest, Little Hallingbury, Hatfield Broad Oak, Essex, suggested to date to the Iron Age or Bronze Age...
Mound at Hatfield
Hatfield
- Places :Hatfield is the name of several places around the world. It comes from O.E. Haeth field , meaning field of heather.In Australia*Hatfield, New South Wales, located in the Electoral district of Murray-DarlingIn England:...
Broad Oak, in Hatfield Forest
Hatfield Forest
Hatfield Forest in Essex, England lies between the parishes of Little Hallingbury and Takeley, and covers 1,049 acres of woodland, grassland with trees, lake and marsh. It is approximately 40 minutes north east of London by car, just off Junction 8 of the M11 motorway. Bishop's Stortford and...
. O'Brien stated that eleven of the original twenty-six stones are still in situ, with several oothers lying nearby. According to O'Brien local records indicate that at least one was moved due to it impeding modern agriculture.
The names suggested for the stones featured include the Wandlebury Stone, Great Chesterfield Stone, Bordeaux Stone, Wendens Ambow Stone, Shortgrove Monolith, Newport Stone (also known as The Leper Stone
Leper Stone
The Leper Stone or Newport Stone is a large sarsen stone near the village of Newport, Essex. The name Leper Stone probably derives from the hospital of St. Mary and St. Leonard , a nearby hospital for lepers...
), Springfield Stone, and the Priory Stone. The line forms a perfect rhumb line
Rhumb line
In navigation, a rhumb line is a line crossing all meridians of longitude at the same angle, i.e. a path derived from a defined initial bearing...
, so that wherever an observer stands on the line between Wandlebury and Portingbury, the North Star is always at the same oblique angle. Based upon this alignment, O'Brien believed that the line's builders possessed knowledge that the Earth was round, and also of its approximate circumference
Circumference
The circumference is the distance around a closed curve. Circumference is a special perimeter.-Circumference of a circle:The circumference of a circle is the length around it....
. O'Brien believed it to have been created in the Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
.
O'Brien was following up a suggestion put forward by Alfred Watkins
Alfred Watkins
Alfred Watkins was a businessman, self-taught amateur archaeologist and antiquarian who, while standing on a hillside in Herefordshire, England, in 1921 experienced a revelation and noticed on the British landscape the apparent arrangement of straight lines positioned along ancient features, and...
that the Wandlebury bank had astronomical purposes. According to O'Brien dents point from its exact centre to the North Star, the midsummer sunrise and the lunar summer maximum, he suggested probabilities for this and the markers being in the correct locations by pure chance were in the order of 10 million to one. By factoring in the Earth's drift, O'Brien placed the date of its construction around 2,500 BC. His hypothesis met with mixed comments. Interviewed by the Sunday Telegraph, Glyn Daniel, Professor of Archaeology at Cambridge University dismissed the paper as "nonsense" and could find nothing in it to revise the documented view of Wandlebury. Archie Roy, Professor of Astronomy at Glasgow University commented that "in the absence of a more convincing explanation, this conclusion also has to be taken very seriously.” Alexander Thom
Alexander Thom
Alexander "Sandy" Thom was a Scottish engineer most famous for his theory of the Megalithic yard, categorization of stone circles and his studies of Stonehenge and other archaeological sites.- Life and work :...
stated that he believed it to be only an Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
Hill Fort.
Papers
- O'Brien, C.A.E., 1975, The Wandlebury-Hatfield Heath Astronomical Complex, Thaxted.