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Quantock Land & Lore @quantocklandlore.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

Tried to church crawl St Peter & St Paul in Over Stowey recently but it was locked. The graveyard over the the road was interesting too.

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Quantock Land & Lore @quantocklandlore.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

1/4 Did a lot of valuable exploring this weekend. First up was this wonderful #churchcrawling experience at St Mary’s Church, Stogumber

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Quantock Land & Lore @quantocklandlore.bsky.social · 19/01/2025

Riding up top takes me to the best Quantock views, first across from Higher Hare Knap across to Dowsborough Hill Fort, which I was in the shadows of an hour prior and after interacting with the locals, views from the Cairn across to the Holford Memorial Trees & to each side many northern Combes

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Quantock Land & Lore @quantocklandlore.bsky.social · 19/01/2025

Retracing my steps back up to the Quantock Greenway leads to Five Lord’s Bench

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Quantock Land & Lore @quantocklandlore.bsky.social · 19/01/2025

Below that point, following the boundary bank through a maze of trees, blown down in a storm long ago, lies a peaty pool described as haunted & mysterious associated with the smith god #wayland #folklore

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Quantock Land & Lore @quantocklandlore.bsky.social · 19/01/2025

These boundary banks are a named meeting point of three parish boundaries.

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Quantock Land & Lore @quantocklandlore.bsky.social · 19/01/2025

Next stop after climbing Holford Edge was Knackers Hole. A spring that starts as a soggy area in high ground below Dowsborough Hillfort which loses and issues building to a stream that is culverted under the A39 near No Man’s Land.

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Quantock Land & Lore @quantocklandlore.bsky.social · 19/01/2025

Beating The Bounds One train of investigation is tracing what is at named Parish boundary points. I visited a hit list of these today, along with checking in on some other spots to see if seasonal changes reveal more. First stop the refurb of Hayman’s Pond which fed the Tannery in Holford combe.

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Quantock Land & Lore @quantocklandlore.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

Halsgrove’s Community Histories series are a wonderful collection of local history combined with old photos. Sadly the Nether Stowey book marked as forthcoming never happened. Local Cllr Ken Lee who was working on it in 2001 passed in 2021.

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Quantock Land & Lore @quantocklandlore.bsky.social · 03/01/2025

Hard to find, but well worth the hunt. Peter Haggett - The Quantocks: Biography of an English Region (2012)

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Quantock Land & Lore @quantocklandlore.bsky.social · 03/01/2025

“I hope a modicum of Quantock legends will long survive unscathed to continue to add their colour to it’s landscape." Peter Haggett - The Quantocks: Biography of an English Region (2012) #FolkloreFriday #FolkyFriday

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Quantock Land & Lore @quantocklandlore.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

Half the bench ends on each side are carved

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Quantock Land & Lore @quantocklandlore.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

The Church of The Virgin Mary aka St. Mary The Virgin in Holford. Finally got around to #churchcrawling this lovely gem.

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Quantock Land & Lore @quantocklandlore.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

Scrutiny like this affects the legacy of friends & associates like Katharine Briggs, former President of the Folklore Society. Modern author Jeremy Harte is among those who have written detailed articles on RLT's methods. I will frame my discussion in a wholly Quantock context. #FolkyFriday

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Quantock Land & Lore @quantocklandlore.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

The most famous Quantock "Folklorist" is the enigmatic & problematic figure Ruth Lyndall Tongue (1898-1981) Like other later writers, I can tell I'm working closely with the same original sources & can connect them to dissect her fabrications & embellishments. #FolkloreFriday

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Quantock Land & Lore @quantocklandlore.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

Grew up in North Taunton & visit family there weekly so it never seems to be a priority. Saving myself up for a big visit to the archive in Norton too. St. Decumans & Holford are on my list. Did Crowcombe and Stogursey recently. Found this via google images, can't remember if I'd already seen it.

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Quantock Land & Lore @quantocklandlore.bsky.social · 11/12/2024

Some Quantock #LIDAR items for #HillfortsWednesday Dowsborough (Danesborough) Hill Fort, Ruborough Camp, Plainsfield (Cockercombe) Camp, (Nether) Stowey Castle, Cannington Camp (Cynwit Castle), Norton (Fitzwarren) Camp Hill Fort, The Trendle Ring. (Inspired from a post by @mikegill.bsky.social)

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Quantock Land & Lore @quantocklandlore.bsky.social · 07/12/2024

A find today means I can drop a new quadriptych of Quantock related books. Usually these are found for sale, or view, when church crawling. Often there are nuggets of folklore & stories related to artefacts, like carved bench ends or the Icthyosaur in the floor of Stogursey’s North Transept.

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Quantock Land & Lore @quantocklandlore.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

Modern mapping keeps GPS traces I've made over the past 10 years relevant & enables me to look at past explorations in a new light. Curiously, Longstone Hill is named after a diminutive stone on it's northern side often hidden by gorse taller than itself. With GPS anyone can find The Long Stone!

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Quantock Land & Lore @quantocklandlore.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

Office day in Taunton today & grabbed a moment to Christmas shop resulting in an accidental local history book binge at the ever fantastic #independentbookshop Brendon Books in Bath Place. #bibliophile

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Quantock Land & Lore @quantocklandlore.bsky.social · 01/12/2024

One of the lesser known standing stones on The Quantocks. The long stone, on longstone hill. Hard to find even when you’ve been there a few times. Me checking it hadn’t been moved in 2020. See reply image for scale. #StandingStoneSunday

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Quantock Land & Lore @quantocklandlore.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

This reference to an old map in Quantock Country (1952) initially drove me nuts. It's long gone from public display. I later found it in the Somerset Heritage Centre Archives under somerset-cat.swheritage.org.uk/records/DD/S... I've decoded more places of interest, the geography isn't far off..

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Quantock Land & Lore @quantocklandlore.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

Hello, welcome! What if you studied every book, journal paper & map about the Quantock Hills and chased the unresolved questions they leave? What lies almost forgotten beyond the well known, oft-repeated folklore? The curated collection on the bookshelf here is just the tip of the iceberg.

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