THE BRIDESTONES

Country: England County: Cheshire

Type: Chambered Tomb

Nearest Town: Congleton Nearest Village: Timbersbrook

Map Ref: SJ906622 Landranger Map Number: 118

Latitude: 53.156845N Longitude: 2.142029W

Condition: 3 (5 is best) Ambience: 3 Access: 5 (5 is best)

Often described as an 'outlier of the Neolithic monuments of the White Peak', The Bridestones, lying along the line of the Cheshire/Staffordshire border is undoubtedly Cheshire's most impressive and well-known ancient monument. The remains of this once-great chambered tomb lie between the hillside of Bosley Cloud and Wolfe Lowe close to the east Cheshire town of Congleton. Located at 250m (820ft) above sea level, the monument lies on the western crest of a pass running in a north-south line at the foot of the Pennines and has spectacular views across the Cheshire Plain.

The few remaining stones of this once great monument still stand along the line of the Cheshire / Staffordshire border between the hillside of Bosley Cloud and Wolfe Lowe at Dial lane between the A527 and A523.

The site is very different to its original structure; many tons of stone were taken from the cairn by the builders of the nearby turnpike road in 1764. Other stones were used to build the adjacent house and farm, and more were recycled into an ornamental garden in Tunstall Park.

However, before this large scale ransacking occurred, it appears that the Bridestones was an incredible monument, perhaps unique in England.

Evidence from a variety of sources indicates that it was a chambered tomb of massive proportions with a paved crescent forecourt and a port-holed stone dividing the main chamber. The complex was supposedly 110 metres in length with the horned cairn being 11 metres wide. A report from the 18th Century notes that in addition to the main chamber which still stands today, a further two subsidiary ones were located at a distance of 55 yards. No traces of these have ever been found, but there is much debate as to whether they are located east of the surviving chamber, or west. The latter seems more likely as they were probably covered by the same cairn as the main chamber.

Chambered tombs with crescent forecourts are normally found in the Clyde region of Scotland (Clyde Cairns) such as at Cairnholy and Carn Ban as well as in Ireland (Court Cairns). No other examples are known from the English mainland, the closest being Casthal yn Ard on the Isle of Man. In addition to the paved forecourt, the Bridestones also has another interesting feature in the port-holed stone, a characteristic usually associated with chambered tombs from the Cotswold Severn Region. In the case of the Bridestones it divided the two compartments of the main chamber – at 191/2 inches; the hole would have been large enough for a person to crawl through. A stone of identical proportions known as The Devil's Ring & Finger lies in Staffordshire.

So the question is why was such an unusual monument built here? Cheshire is not a county known for its Neolithic architecture. In fact apart from a few long barrows, the Bridestones are the only authentic Neolithic monument.

The site has suffered much in the last two centuries. As well as the thousands of tons of stone that have been taken from the cairn, a number of the standing stones from the ‘circle’ forming the forecourt have also been removed.

During the 19th Century a picnicker’s bonfire led to the side slabs of the main chamber and the port-holed stone being seriously cracked. In fact the top half of the port-holed stone has long since disappeared. To add insult to injury a local newspaper article records that ‘many years ago, an engineer engaged in the cutting of the Manchester Ship Canal, visiting the spot actually used one of the biggest monoliths for the purpose of carrying out a demonstration with a detonator, as a result of which the great stone was broken off close to the ground’. Luckily the damage was not beyond repair as this portal stone was cemented back together during excavations in the 1930s.

In recent years there has been a long running debate as to which way the cairn at The Bridestones extended. A myth, that it ran east of the chamber into the grounds of the neighbouring Bridestones House rather than west down the slope, was started by Mr Bertram B. Simms in an article in the Congleton Chronicle in 1936. Simms took the early references and re-interpreted the monument:

'The Bridestones chamber was originally capped with a huge slab. The one monolith is all that remains of a pear shaped arrangement of similar pillars, some 12ft. high, which, interspaced with stones as walls and capped with slabs formed another chamber, hall or chapel, approximately 30ft x 45ft, where fire ritual ceremonies were performed to sever the spirit of the dead chief from earthly things.'

The stones that have survived are now fenced off in the corner of a field, surrounded by yews, rhododendrons and conifers and overgrown with bracken in the summer. The site is in desperate need of attention and recognition, and from a personal and UPIA point of view, the quarry to the rear of the site employs several large, noisy and angry Rottweillers devaluing the privacy and peacefulness of the site. Many visitors also leave behind rubbish and dog dirt.

These qualms aside, the Bridestones site occupies a magnificent spot; its beauty and occasional tranquillity provide many visitors an escape from modern day hustle and bustle. The UPIA will be penning a letter to the National Monuments Authority, expressing our concerns of the sites state, and hopefully its future protection. Bizarrely this is a site that many local persons know of but do not know of is enticing history or exact whereabouts, and have never actually visited.

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY:

A ghostly sighting at the Bridestones. A dark shadowy figure has been witnessed within the paddock containing the monument.

A recent report in the Congleton chronicle from a local lady reported witnessing, with her partner, a druidic figure dressed in white on the road near to the site.

Doug Pickford, of the Staffordshire Green Dragon UFO Group, reports that on 16th June 1991 "Bill", a business acquaintance, was returning home from Chester to Leek and stopped near Rushton, north of Rudyard Lake to relieve himself. He had drunk several cups of coffee in Chester, which at one thirty a.m. were producing the expected diuretic effect. He noticed that he was close by the Bridestones, a neolithic chamber with standing stones he could see clearly in the midsummer night. Above the stones he was astonished to see light like a giant golden torch which illuminated the whole area, shooting out a shower of bright sparks. Uninterested in either archaeology or the paranormal, Bill ran back to his car and tried to start it, but in vain. Then he saw that the light from the stones, in the form of a golden ball, was moving directly towards him. Paralysed either by fright or some unknown force, Bill found the intense light was hurting his eyes and at this point became unconscious.

When he finally came round he found himself lying outstretched on the ground beneath a group of trees he later found to be some 600 feet from the road where his car still stood. The ball of light had vanished, but he found he was stripped to the waist and minus his shoes. As he got to his feet, he brushed down his trousers and found them emitting a shower of sparks as though charged with static electricity. He staggered to his car and found it unlocked, the key still in the ignition, and in a bundle beside it were his shirt and shoes! As he dressed, he noticed that they were quite warm.

He got into the car and it started up at once. As he drove off at some speed he noticed the time on the dashboard clock - 3.05 a.m. One and half hours had unaccountably disappeared. On arrival home he told his wife he had been in a motor accident and it was some days before he told her the truth. He told no one else, until finally he decided to consult Doug Pickford, a long standing acquaintance whose discretion he knew he could trust.

REPORT ON THE UPIA’S CURRENT INVOLVEMENT IN THE BRIDESTONES, CONGLETON, CHESHIRE:

Due to the interest, history and alleged reports of paranormal phenomena at the Bridestones site in Cheshire, several UPIA members showed a keen interest in further looking at the location. At a recent meeting we discussed the issue, and decided on a date to visit and conduct on site research.

The site is of huge importance historically and archaeologically, but several witnesses have told of their experiences, especially those claiming to have witnessed ghost like apparitions.

The reports have led to our looking at primary areas. Visual activity seems to be the most reported incidents, no audio events have been reported, therefore the UPIA deemed that the site be monitored via visual methods, with only camcorder audio footage needed to cover the audio range.

Several other examinations have proved inconclusive, EMF monitoring have only given signs of natural earth energies, at the site and the surrounding locality. Temperature varies with weather conditions, as do humidity and air pressure. The location has also been examined for negative ion content; this again has given no evidence of any other result than is the normal.

Currently 3 visits have been made by the UPIA, using different investigators at different times of the day, more are scheduled for the coming months, to blanket monitor the site at different times of the year and in different conditions.

Our first visit took place on Saturday 25th February, in the late evening time, Conditions were not the best, but due to the remnants of the snow, and the cold night air, gave us the opportunity to look for natural occurring phenomena, i.e. vented steam, marsh gases and exhaust fumes, from passing cars.

This proved very interesting, especially the wispy smoke left by passing cars, visual footage was taken both still and via camcorder, this however showed nothing in the way of paranormal phenomena.

Sunday 12th March, A morning visit was paid to the site deemed important due again to time and conditions, all recordings were again taken, and tallied with original results. A visual log was also taken of the roadways around the site, for drains and areas where at different times; things may be witnessed and misinterpreted by the witness. No Photographs or video gave results again.

Monday 20th March, a visit was paid near sunset, only camcorder footage was taken at this short one hour site visit, when replayed, neither audio nor visual phenomena were found.

Incidentally, two members of the UPIA have reported personal phenomena at the visits to the site, these reports have suggested feeling weak and sick at the site, although included in UPIA reports, these occurrences are personal, and may be due to physiological or psychological matters, the persons involved in these events agree to the nature of this explanation, and as they can not be monitored bust be discounted.

THIS ARTICLE IS CONTINUED IN THE BRIDESTONES 2 SECTION: