Fyfield Down
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox landform Fyfield Down (Grid reference Script error: No such module "Ordnance Survey coordinates".) is part of the Marlborough Downs, about Script error: No such module "convert". north of the village of Fyfield, Wiltshire. The down is a 325.3 hectare biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest, notified in 1951. The down has the best assemblage of sarsen stones in England, known as the Grey Wethers.
The site is to be distinguished from another Fyfield Down also in Wiltshire, east of Pewsey and on the edge of Salisbury Plain, near another place called Fyfield. The two places are only about Script error: No such module "convert". apart.
Sarsens
The down has the best assemblage of sarsen stones in England. The stones are known here as the Grey Wethers for their likeness to sheep when seen from a distance. They were noted by Col. Richard Symonds in his diary for 1644: "They call that place the Grey-wethers, because a far off they looke like a flock of sheepe."[1] They support a nationally important lichen flora. An alternative name for this natural rock feature is Mother's Jam.[2]
The Polisher
On the west side of the down (Grid reference Script error: No such module "Ordnance Survey coordinates".) is a recumbent sarsen stone with grooved markings.[3] It is thought to be a prehistoric grinding bench for shaping, whetting, and polishing stone axe-heads, and is similar to other Neolithic and Bronze Age examples in France.[3]
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Dolmen
To the east is a prehistoric dolmen known as The Devil's Den (Grid reference Script error: No such module "Ordnance Survey coordinates".). It is the remains of a Neolithic passage grave which was reconstructed in 1921.[4]
References
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- ↑ E. Herbert Stone, Stones of Stonehenge, 2003:50]).
- ↑ The Mother's Jam Template:Webarchive, www.themodernantiquarian.com, retrieved 21 May 2013
- ↑ a b MONUMENT NO. 221769 Template:Webarchive, Pastscape, retrieved 21 May 2013
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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Sources
- Natural England citation sheet for the site (accessed 31 March 2022)
External links
- Natural England website (SSSI information)
- Sarsen stones on Fyfield Down on geograph
- Improvised music recorded on Fyfield Down
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