Site Event/Activity record EEM14726 - 2017: Geo (MS; RS) - Withypool Stone Circle

A 2017 survey of Withypool Stone Circle comprised magnetometer and earth resistance surveys. A planned ground penetrating radar (GPR) survey across the barrow and cairn was abandoned after inspecting the ground conditions. The barrow had a disturbed and stony summit and boggy ground to the north which precluded a good ground contact for the radar equipment. Similar conditions were found on the cairn. The bowl barrow situated in the northeast of the geophysical survey area (HER MSO8683) appears to include an external encompassing ditch and a barrow with a relatively stony composition. Evidence of disturbance at the barrow summit and the likely presence of robber and/or excavation trenches was also noted. The magnetometer data contained evidence for a number of cairns, only one of which was previously recorded (HER MSO8756), and which may include burnt material. Two magnetic anomaly groups with characteristics often associated with intense, in-situ heating were recorded adjacent to the bowl barrow. One, and possibly two similar groups were recorded within the Withypool stone circle (HER MSO8682). A number of potential pits or large postholes around the stone circle may be natural or archaeological in origin. One group appeared to form a linear pattern of potential pits. Other features were noted that may be associated with military training activities dating to World War Two.