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Sarcens... (Read 1793 times)

Duma

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Sarcens...
July 29, 2020, 08:42:58 pm
anyone been for a look? Hard to tell scale from the pic:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jul/29/archaeologists-discover-source-stonehenge-giant-sarsen-stones

Preseli where the bluestones are from turned out to be decent, and the rock quality at Avebury (only a couple of miles down the road) looks nice so perhaps some hope?

teestub

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#1 Re: Sarcens...
July 29, 2020, 09:07:59 pm
I just had a look on Geograph and couldn’t find any pics of Sarsens in West Woods which is a shame. On the OS there’s no outcrops of quarry marked so maybe they took all the big ones for Stone Henge?!

The actual quarry in Preseli where the bluestones came from is no good for climbing, but like you say the nearby bouldering is amazing on great rock.

Nutty

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#2 Re: Sarcens...
July 30, 2020, 10:45:13 am
They had a section on the local news about this last night, the footage in West Woods showed stones that only looked to be waist-chest height, but I was thinking it might be worth an explore.

Nutty

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#3 Re: Sarcens...
July 30, 2020, 11:03:43 am
Sarsen Stones are marked on the 1901 OS six-inch map in Stony Copse in West Woods, so that might be the place to start exploration: https://maps.nls.uk/view/101463149

Duma

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#4 Re: Sarcens...
July 30, 2020, 11:58:51 am
ooo interesting! there's some marked in a field down by Broom copse too, but no sign of them now from street view sadly.

Johnny Brown

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#5 Re: Sarcens...
July 30, 2020, 11:59:49 am
Obvs you can't get very close at Stonehenge, but Avebury allows you to fondle up close. From what I can tell (geology degree from nineties) the sarsen rock is very similar or identical to Fontainebleau gres, i.e. calcified sandstone.

Not been been here or to the Mother's Jam, which is the source traditionally quoted, but formation appears to be similar too in fairly thin beds with uncalcified easily eroded sediment either side. However crucially and unlike Font the max thickness of the beds appears to be less than 2m, more typically 1m, with the max stone size determined by the beds. So for bouldering highly unlikely to provide anything worthwhile in natural state, but a number of choice pillars erected in some sort of group would likely provide the best problems in the south of England.

Duma

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#6 Re: Sarcens...
July 30, 2020, 12:06:26 pm
Yeah thats the thing with Avebury, most of those stones are <1m thick. I work only 15mins from Avebury so pootle down on the moto quite regularly and the rock quality is lovely.

SA Chris

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#7 Re: Sarcens...
July 30, 2020, 12:43:18 pm
I thought this might be about vinegar..

Nutty

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#8 Re: Sarcens...
July 30, 2020, 01:28:38 pm
ooo interesting! there's some marked in a field down by Broom copse too, but no sign of them now from street view sadly.
Yes, some more marked west of Wools Grove, and a line of stones across Boreham Down. Presumably all smashed up by the farmers in the last 100 years.

Duma

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#9 Re: Sarcens...
July 30, 2020, 02:09:11 pm
https://goo.gl/maps/TSdJss83wsHUGzSYA

few bits in the field here - better for sitting than climbing though...

Ballsofcottonwool

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#10 Re: Sarcens...
July 30, 2020, 02:12:20 pm
I went looking when I lived in Swindon, I think all the decent sized boulders were removed by the builders of Avebury and Stonehenge.

This was the biggest I found on Fyfield Down

https://www.ukclimbing.com/photos/dbpage.php?id=6717

 

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