Oddendale is a hamlet in Cumbria, England, near the large village of Shap. For transport there is the M6 motorway and the A6 road.
| Oddendale | |
|---|---|
 Oddendale hamlet | |
| OS grid reference | NY593133 |
| Civil parish | |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | PENRITH |
| Postcode district | CA10 |
| Dialling code | 01931 |
| Police | Cumbria |
| Fire | Cumbria |
| Ambulance | North West |
| UK Parliament | |
History
editOddendale stone circle
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Oddendale has a stone circle nearby, (grid reference NY59201290), part of the complex of cairns, stone circles and standing stones that includes the 'Shap Stone Avenue' of monuments.[1] The site has benefitted from an extensive and relatively recent (1997) excavation[2] that revealed various stages in the monument's history: firstly, two concentric circles of oak wooden posts (dating to the Neolithic, c. 2,872–2,350 BC); followed by their removal and replacement with stone cappings of pink granite; followed by an Early Bronze Age ring cairn built over the inner circle surfaced with blue/gray stones and yellow/white pieces of flat limestone, with cremated bone, pottery and other 'token' grave goods; and then a fourth stage which saw the addition of a pink granite platform on to the side of the cairn, which itself had a kerb of red stones around it.[3]
The colouring of the stones may have had ritualistic significance. The replacement of the wooden circles by stone ones is a feature shared with some other monuments and may represent the replacement of concern for the living (and the Sun) by devotion to the dead (and the Moon or Sunset).[4]
A second circle and ring cairn was excavated not far away at grid reference NY59031352.[5]
See also
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References
edit- ^ Clare, Tom (2007). Prehistoric monuments of the Lake District. Stroud: Tempus. pp. 159, pp.93–96. ISBN 9780752441054.
- ^ Turnbull, P; Walsh, D (1997). "A prehistoric ritual sequence at Oddendale, near Shap". Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society. 2. 97: 11–44. doi:10.5284/1061426.
- ^ Barrowclough, David (2010). Prehistoric Cumbria. Stroud: The History Press. pp. 251, p. 114–119. ISBN 9780752450872.
- ^ Barrowclough, 2010, p.117, 119
- ^ Clare, 2007, p.95
External links
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- The Megalithic Portal: Oddendale
- The Modern Antiquarian: Oddendale
- http://www.british-towns.net/cy/level_4_display.asp?GetL3=16604
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