Santon

Yet more old stones.

 

Wednesday 18th September, 2013

 

While I was researching the old stones at Braaid and St. Patrick's Chair, I noticed some photos of the "chambered cairn" at Ballakelly and checked the location on my map.  We had never visited the Ballakelly stones because they are not on one of our usual walking routes and there is no suitable parking nearby but I thought I might plan a route which would include a visit to Ballakelly and a hike around the coastal footpath near Port Grenaugh.

 

This week's weather looked a bit too windy for the west coast walk that we had discussed last week so we changed the plan and met at Port Grenaugh on the east coast.   We arrived at the secluded little bay after another encounter with the morning rush hour traffic on the outskirts of Douglas. 

 

The route that I had chosen started off along the cliff path in a southerly direction.  The wind wasn't as strong as we had anticipated and the sun was shining.  I have never seen Port Grenaugh looking bluer.

 

And the icing on the cake was my first (and probably only) sighting this summer of a Painted Lady.

 

As we approached the junction with the path up past Ballafurt we saw that the field contained too many cows for comfort.  The only alternate route was to walk all the way along the coast path to Santon Gorge, which would have made the walk too long, so we braved the cows.  They may have been heifers and bullocks but as far as I am concerned "a cow is a cow is a cow" and I don't hang around long enough to examine them closely.  The path led straight through the middle of the herd so we decided to deviate slightly and walk up the edge of the harvested field on the far side of the hedge.  The "cows" were rather skittish and started a mini-stampede up their field into a higher field.  We waited until they had all passed us, hoping they hadn't gone to fetch reinforcements, and then continued on our way.  Fortunately they seemed to be even more wary of us than we were of them and they kept their distance.

 

We climbed over a stile and continued along the road up the hill behind Ballafurt.  It would be easy to assume that Ballafurt would be translated as Farm of the Fort but it was originally Ballaphurt and means Harbour Farm.  The farmlands must have extended all the way down to Port Grenaugh.

 

Along the lane we came across a welcome sign of autumn.  The blackberries are starting to ripen at last.

At the top of the hill we turned right and walked along the road towards Santon church.  It must be windy up here because we passed some wheelie bins and their lids were weighed down with heavy stones.

 

Santon was one of the original sixteen ancient parishes established on the Island in the middle of the twelfth century.  The name of the parish, Santon, has changed throughout history.  Starting as Sanctain and ending up as Santon, or less often Santan.  At one time it was mistakenly assumed that the church was dedicated to St. Anne!

 

The present St. Sanctain's church was erected in 1774 but it has a longer history because it was built on the site of an ancient church or keeill dating back about fifteen hundred years.

We never have enough time to explore these old churches and churchyards during walks but I went inside to take some interior photographs.  I had read that there were a few old Celtic crosses in the church. 

 

If I was superstitious I would believe that I was fated to get a copy of a little booklet on sale in the church.  There was only one copy left and it cost £2.  Now I don't take money with me on walks but I happened to be wearing my light anorak to keep out the cold wind and there happened to be two pound coins in the pocket.  I had put them in my pocket after returning supermarket trolleys and then forgotten to take them out.  The booklet was written by the Rev. J.M. Cotter, Vicar of Santon in 1977 and is an absolute mine of information.  

 

There wasn't much about the Celtic crosses but he wrote this about the stone with the inscription:  "The third stone is, in the Island's history, a rarity.  In fact, it is probably unique in that it is believed to be the only Roman remains of its kind ever to be found on the Island.  Its origin and history are quite unknown.  It was found amongst the foundations of what was once a former Church or Keeill during the excavating which took place for the building of the present Church.  It was once part of a gravestone and dates back to the seventh century.  Old gravestones have been used to form part of the foundations of Church buildings in many parishes.

 

The Roman stone in Santon Church bears a brief Latin inscription as follows:-

'AVITI MONOMENTI'  (The Tomb of Avitus).  Nothing is known about the Manx Avitus, but it was a fairly common Roman name in those early times and presumably had some connection with the Island, and with the Parish of St. Sanctain, in particular.  It is possible that he could have been a Christian priest, who had been sent to the Island by St. Augustine, and who lived and conducted worship on this site."

I would like to go back and browse through the churchyard.  According to the Rev. Cotter  there is an interesting gravestone - of Daniel Tear, a tinker and vagrant.  The epitaph was composed by Sir Wadsworth Busk, Attorney General of the Island and reads:

"Here friend is Little Daniel's tomb,

To Joseph's age he did arrive;

Sloth killing thousands in their bloom

While, labour kept poor Dan alive,

How strange, yet true, full seventy years

Was his wife happy in her Tears.

 

Daniel Tear, died 9th Dec. 1787, aged 110 years."

 

And another long lived inhabitant of the churchyard is ". . . Thomas Arthur Bridson, the noted Manx artist, who died in 1966 at the age of 105.  Every year, up to and including his attaining the age of one hundred, he climbed to the top of Snaefell mountain on his birthday."  I have been unable to find out his exact birth date.  I would guess that his birthday is not in midwinter like mine.

 

The road past the church led to the junction with the Old Castletown Road and we turned north and walked along the road for about a mile.  There wasn't a lot of traffic but the cars that passed us were travelling fast and we were glad to see the Ballakelly stones in a field alongside the road.   There were more "cows" in this field but they seemed quite relaxed and weren't very interested in us.  The only way into the field was over a gate which was securely tied shut.  

 

 No record remains of the first excavation of the site in 1865 but a few of the stones have been moved since the site was first recorded three years later and some prone slabs which form a rough circle around the monument were added early in the twentieth century.   I found some information about the stones on the internet.  According to Illustrated Notes on Manks Antiquities by P.M.C. Kermode and W.A. Herdman (1904):  "A stone circle on Ballakelly, Santon, may be Neolithic. It consisted of a double circle of large stones of the local Santon granite, set on edge, of which enough remains to show the original plan; in the centre is a cist also of heavy stones on edge one of the stones of the inner ring is ornamented in one corner by rows of small cup-hollows."

 

And in his address The Ancient Monuments of the Isle of Man in 1929, P.M.C. Kermode wrote in more detail "The ruined monument at Ballakelly, in the parish of Santan, seems to have been of this long-barrow type. Scarcely anything remains but the chamber, which approaches the appearance of those seen in the west of Britain. It is the only instance of a long barrow in the Isle of Man in which the burial has been found in a distinctly formed chamber instead of in a portion of the passage. There is now no trace nor remembrance of a facade, but there remains an oval space about 48 ft . by 30 ft . , with scattered blocks of stone, suggesting a passage running S.E. to N.W., towards which end is a well-formed chamber of three great boulders of the local granite, having flat faces looking inwards, and measuring 5 ft. by 2 ft. 6 ins., with a height of about 4 ft. The capstone is gone, but a fallen stone, 9 ft. by 2 ft. 6 ins., lying to the S.E. would fit this position. This is surrounded by seven rather smaller boulders (with a space from which another has been removed) in horse-shoe form, leaving the entrance open. The large outer boulder at the N.W. end is of special interest to the Cambrians since it was on this, as our Museum Chairman, Mr. Callow, remembers, that a group of cup-marks was found for the first time in this Island, during their former visit in 1865. On examining the inner face of the stone I found more cup-marks, which, from the first, must have been hidden in the ground. Of these I had a cast made, now in our Museum."

 

 

But my favourite reference was from Jenkinson's Practical Guide to the Isle of Man by Henry Irwin Jenkinson (published in 1874) "A mile from the Crogga stream there will be observed, in a field to the right, on the Ballakelly farm, a dozen large upright stones which are placed rather irregularly. They appear to form a grave some 10 yards long and 3 or 4 yards wide. The stones are unhewn, and 3 or 4 feet high, placed almost due east and west ; but what now appears to be the head is to the west. The natives call it a Giant's Grave, and in one stone is a number of round holes about ½ inch deep, which they say were made by the giants with their fingers when the stones were being brought to the spot. It is scarcely to be wondered at that ignorant, superstitious people should look with awe on these wonderful monuments of an unknown past, which are perhaps more plentiful in Man than in so limited an area in any other part of the world."

 

They are not very distinct but you may be able to make out the giant's finger prints in the top right hand corner of this stone.

We continued along the Old Castletown road until we reached a small road which turned off towards the coast and forms part of the Raad ny Foillan (Way of the Gull - the coastal footpath).  The path doesn't follow the coast all the way around the Island because some of the landowners refused to give permission for the path to cross their land - so there are a couple of detours inland to avoid the forbidden areas.  Our road eventually became a farm track and then we climbed over a stile and crossed a couple of fields (only sheep this time, thank goodness) until we reached the cliff tops.

 

Just north of this point is a little inlet marked on the map with the curious name of Pistol Castle.  I found an explanation of the name: 

Pistol (Bay and Castle).

Scand. Fiskastallr, ‘fish rock.’ In Hebridean Place-Names stal (Scand. stallr) means a ‘precipice or over-hanging rock.’

 

Tim took this photo of the view to the north showing part of the "private" stretch of coastline between Pistol Castle and Port Soderick with the Marine Drive cliffs in the distance.

Our route turned south.  I got a bit left behind because the narrow path was rather steep at first and I am nervous about slipping and falling so I am painfully slow on steep downhill stretches especially when the surface is a bit slippery.  While I was walking along I heard a strange noise from below.  In the water at the bottom or the cliff were three seals all staring up at me and apparently discussing the strange land mammal walking above them.  I tried to get a photo but they played hide and seek and ducked under the water every time I tried to focus on them.  All I managed to get were a few ripples and the shiny back of one seal as it disappeared under the water. 

 

A little further on I found a nicely static rock which reminded me of a sphinx with the top of its head missing.  The light is causing problems for photography now because the sun is lower in the sky and backlight can be a problem.  I would love to get a really good shot of the shining silvery sea and dark shadows of the clouds but it isn't easy.

Most of the way back the path followed the edge of the cliffs.  It was quite scary at times with a sheer drop, just a foot or so from the path, down to the rocks way below.  When we reached a stream below Meary Veg there was a steep climb down to cross the little bridge and then almost as a steep a climb up the other side.

There are a number of promontory forts along this stretch of coast line.  The "celebrity" fort is Cronk ny Merriu (Hill of the Dead) which features in a film at the Manx Museum but this nameless little fort also deserves a photo.   You can just make out the defensive bank on the inland side of the fort - in the centre of the photo.

 

Finally, we reached Cronk ny Merriu and Tim stood up on the defensive bank and took this photo of me and Dorothy muttering about some vandals who had apparently had a barbeque in the middle of the old Viking long house. 

I love the view from the fort across the clear water of the little bay.  The big white house in the centre was built fairly recently.  Ballafurt is further up the hill amongst the trees on the left.

While the others were getting ready to leave, I nipped down to the beach.  I wanted to take a photo of Cronk ny Merriu from the shore but there was too much backlight.  So I took a photo of the attractively weathered "striped" stone on the beach instead.

We all enjoyed the walk but Tim and I were glad that we no longer take a dog.  Apart from the danger of one of the old boys falling off a cliff there were the added problems of too many cows as well as speeding cars.

 

We are hoping for good weather at the beginning of next week because Dorothy and Trevor are off to Ireland later in the week.  They will be away for two weeks so we would like to have one more walk before they leave.