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Old 25-02-2016, 05:29 PM
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Default Amble Golf Course & Hillbank

According to my Pevsners, Amble Golf Course contains a "Bronze age burial ground, comprising no less than forty graves. Revealed by accident 1857, badly excavated 1883." Can anyone throw any light on this? Indeed, is there still a golf course at Amble?

Pevsner also writes about a former manor house, name of Hillbank. He goes on: "Of the former manor house no more is visible than one wall with a c15 window (behind the R C Church, High Street)". Considering that Pevsner was writing in 1957 (possibly earlier), is this `wall` still in existence? Or has it given way (literally) to a supermarket or such like?

Incidentally, Pevsner describes Amble as "A small town singularly devoid of architectural interest." But let us draw a veil over this. He says pretty much the same about Rothbury!

Source: Nikolaus Pevsner `The Buildings Of England, Northumberland` 1957, Penguin Books.

PS. Apologies: this was meant for the board `Amble and Hauxley ` below.

Last edited by Vagabond; 25-02-2016 at 08:39 PM.
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Old 26-02-2016, 10:42 AM
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Hi Vagabond, The big bunch of graves was near the building now called The Granary 'The Old Storehouse', in a quarry worked from the cliffs at Wellhaugh point.

The first page of Hodgson's history gives the detail: (I think Pevsner has confused the 1857 and 1883 discoveries as the same location, they are not)

But it was in 1883 that the quarry (which is situated half a mile south of the spot where the cist was found in 1857) yielded prolific results ; they have been described in papers read before the Society of Antiquaries of London by the Rev. William Greenwell :

It consisted of a cairn, made of cobble stones from the neighbouring sea-beach, placed upon a thin layer of vegetable mould with clayey soil beneath, overlying the rock. The cairn had been about 40 feet in diameter and 5 feet high. It was situated on the low bank there bounding the sea-beach, about 70 yards from its edge, and was entirely concealed under a deposit of blown sand, 9 feet thick, and therefore rising 4 feet above the top of the cairn.
Though when discovered it was but a short distance from the sea, it is evident that when first erected it must have been much further distant, so far indeed as to be beyond the limit of sand blown from the beach. That this must have been the case appears to be proved by the fact that, whereas when discovered the cairn was buried like the adjoining ground under many feet of sand, it had been, when first thrown up, placed upon the ordinary surface mould which had no sand upon it, and, therefore, must have been beyond the range to which sand blown from the seashore extended.
It had contained, so far as I could ascertain, about twenty cists of the usual kind and several deposits of burnt bones, an unusually large number of interments in one sepulchral mound. There were also seven vessels of pottery, one of which I found myself.



more detail on that one on the Hodgson's page for Amble

I expect the cairn was similar to the Bondicar one shown in this thread:http://www.coquetandcoast.co.uk/ambl...read.php?t=255


the quarry is shown on this map:






same area on google maps
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Old 26-02-2016, 10:52 AM
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I should say the Bondicar cairn is chopped in half by sea erosion.

Now the Quarry. It was soon after filled with household waste from Amble. The sea used to erode a wall of ash on the eastward edge and produced may old bottles. I found a beautiful amber 'Warner's Safe Cure' there one day, courtesy of a spring tide! (sadly now sold so I can't show you it)
The blue seacton I've shown on the map was also filled with household waste, but more recent, probably from between the wars in my guesstimation. They were doing some earthworks in there at one time and again loads of old bottle produced but with screw caps and the like - which you will know are more recent.
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Old 26-02-2016, 10:58 AM
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The Amble manor house remains are still with us:


http://www.fusilier.co.uk/amble_manor_house.htm
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Old 26-02-2016, 11:01 AM
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Curious Fact.
Back to the Quarry again, that area in WW2 became a coastal defence battery, and had a minefield north and south of it. I do hope they removed them all.
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Old 26-02-2016, 11:17 PM
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On the subject of the 'beaker people' in Northumberland here's some'beakers' from Northumberland in possession of the Duke, could be Amble, not labelled. Forget your Clarice Cliff, this is the stuff to have on the mantelpiece. (just joking) :






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Old 26-02-2016, 11:27 PM
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Totally off topic but here's the Prudhoe hoard of Roman silver coins to keep our forum metal detectorists swinging. In the hope they find something interesting to post about on here
Also in the possession of you know who.

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Old 27-02-2016, 10:04 AM
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Just noticed the one I photographed in Alnwick and the 'Amble Cup' in Hodgson's book are the same one:


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Old 27-02-2016, 10:08 AM
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So there you go. An old Ambler's possession from 2000 years BC. I wonder if he/she was one of mine?
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Old 28-02-2016, 11:23 AM
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On the subject of the Duke's archaeology collection, and my photos of it, I photographed a clock mechanism, not labeled. I assumed it was the 16c German (or Czech) clock found on Amble beach. I've just had a look at the photo of the Amble clock in Wilkinson and Morrison's 'A Story of Amble' and it is a different clock I think. Perhaps there was a great scattering of 16th century German clocks across Northumberland at one time.



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Old 28-02-2016, 03:45 PM
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A clock like the one in the picture - found on the beach at Amble! I`ve found some interesting stuff at Boulmer, eg a brass doorknob, But a clock Wow! I`m coming on over. Ages since I was in Amble. Be a nice drive out!

And the beakers too very interesting!

Re the coin collection: very nice! but what is the object on the bottom left of the picture? Looks like a sword or a dagger blade. Very much resembles a dagger I have, which has been identified as once belonging to a border reiver. I`ll post a picture.

All completely of topic , yeah but most interesting.
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Old 02-03-2016, 03:25 PM
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Quote:
Re the coin collection: very nice! but what is the object on the bottom left of the picture? Looks like a sword or a dagger blade. Very much resembles a dagger I have, which has been identified as once belonging to a border reiver. I`ll post a picture.

I've not got a better photo of the blade unfortunately, but it does look like something more modern than Bronze age - could be something like what you suggest.

There is a good selection of Bronze age weapons in Alnwick, from all over Northumberland. This little lot from the 'western hills' if I recall Ingram Breamish etc:




A Bronze age sword was found in a rock pool at Bondicar recently. Not sure what happened to that.
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Old 02-03-2016, 10:21 PM
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Just looking at that Amble beaker (again)- very light in colour isn't it? The carboniferous fireclays on Amble beach near where that was found are also a very light grey, almost white in colour.
Were the Beaker People using our carboniferous fireclay to make their pots???
The Amble fireclay would be a better colour match than the glaciation clays that's for sure.

I'll photograph the fireclays next time I'm down the beach.
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Old 10-03-2016, 11:40 PM
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As promised my reiver dagger.





Last edited by Vagabond; 10-03-2016 at 11:43 PM.
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Old 13-03-2016, 06:56 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vagabond View Post
As promised my reiver dagger.



What a delightful object. Hopefully not shoved through some poor Northumbrian trying to protect his sheep. I don't have any blades of any great age. I do have some WW1 German bayonets. Horrible things that they are.
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Old 13-03-2016, 07:36 PM
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On the subject of 'Ancient Britons' and Amble, the 1827 Parson and White trade directory for Amble on the communities website states:


AMBLE, a village and township, advantageously seated near the
mouth of the Coquet, 1 mile SE. by S. of Warkworth, on an eminence
which commands an extensive view of the sea coast. The foundations
of buildings, formed of undressed stones, and built in a circular form,
without mortar, after the manner of the ancient Britons, have been
found here
, as also have Roman coins. These remains clearly prove
that this was once a place of considerable importance. A strongly
paved causeway, 24 feet broad, was discovered a few years ago, about
a foot below the present surface, extending in a direct line from Amble
to the old bed of the Coquet. Here was formerly a monastery, subor-
dinate to Tynemouth Priory, but it has long been. in ruins ; though a
man did penance in its chapel for fornication so lately as 1765. Near
the ruins, a large quantity of human bones were found a few years ago,
deposited in a thin layer of red clay. The manor of Amble, with its
valuable coal mines, has, since the Reformation, belonged to different
proprietors.



No idea what that is going on about. Made up story?? And someone think of the poor fornicators, doing penance on High Street.


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Old 13-03-2016, 07:39 PM
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The 24 foot wide causeway is new to me as well.

A strongly paved causeway, 24 feet broad, was discovered a few years ago, about a foot below the present surface, extending in a direct line from Amble
to the old bed of the Coquet.

Anyone heard of that before? A road for the Manor/Monastery to access the river?
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Old 13-03-2016, 08:42 PM
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Gloster Hill area?
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Old 14-03-2016, 12:12 AM
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Quote:
Gloster Hill area?


There are old river banks/beds visible in the field to the immediate north of Gloster Hill but I think they are ancient.

Below is the 'Ambell' c1610 map rotated around to match the modern map with the river loop occupying the Gut area. That is the area where I have always assumed the ships came to from the old descriptions.

Now the paved road goes from Amble - old Amble that is; top of the Wynd - Hallbank well area, to the river.

Sounds like a substantial road for carts, not just for the toll collector - I would not be surprised if it's an old coal road to the river - Amble's Medieval or Tudor coal road anyone? it was under a foot of dirt in the 1820s. Remember they wanted to develop a port in Elizabethan times, so there must have been a healthy coal industry already.

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Old 14-03-2016, 12:23 AM
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This would be my best guess, has to sit in the red area.


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