THE WANDLEBURY CROP CIRCLES - 2001 Report

Just west of Wandlebury Ring, within the GogMagog hills of Cambridge, a huge crop formation was discovered on 11th of July 2001. Cambridge does not get many crop circles, so to then get a second one to appear in an opposing field on 25th July was quite a shock for us locals. But this was not the end of the story. Within crop circle number one, two seperate stages were added inside the formation, on two seperate occasions.

Crop circle no.1, stage 1. The diameter was precisely 666ft wide. Not approximately. Precisely. The outer ring was 18ft wide. The centre circle was 45ft wide. Stage two a week later; A 237ft ‘maze’ design was added within the large circle. This labrynth was something else. Not only was it beautifully layed, but the wheat was at the precise height so you could not cheat your way to the middle, and there was only one way to the centre. This was the most interesting and fun crop circle I have ever witnessed. Not only did you have to use your head to get to the centre, it also taught me about patience on that maze that we call the spiritual path. This may sound obvious to some, but taking your time and always taking the longer route whilst in the maze, got you to the centre quicker.

Anyway, a few days later and there is another addition. This time it was a sort of square. From above it looked like a step-pyramid with four radiating fields of energy coming out of it. It is worth noting here that when worked on by dowser Shey Hancock, The square formation had a ‘death energy’ that one could not stay in for too long. I did not stay in it for long because I got repeatedly attacked by a massive bumble bee. The lay of the crop was fascinating though. It was in four equal triangles, but at the centre, the straight lay blended in to a perfect circular nest at the centre. On the outer ring of the huge formation he found that at just over 33 feet intervals, there were radiating energy lines from the centre. It was also found that the energy did not stay just within the circle. Shay found that it spread out into Cambridge and the surrounding countryside.

That was the first formation. But another one over the way named ‘The Angel’ also came in to existence on or around the 25th July. The diameter was also 237ft. Exactly the same size as the maze in the other formation. Coincidence? you decide. The view from the GogMagog Hills was quite breathtaking. In fact, there was one point only on the hills where you could see both formations.

Inside the ‘Angel’ was a strong and dark energy, especially near the scalp of the head of the angel. The wheat was laid as though it was a halo around the angel’s head. There was a spot where we felt uncomfortable, even nauseus, which we later found out through dowsing was a node point of energy. The harmony of the design and the beautiful lay of the wheat, combined with the still standing and very delicate poppy flowers suggested this was also a ‘real’ one.

Shey and myself worked on the formation for some time and Shey soon found a very strong ‘female’ energy current running through. He realised it was the famous ‘Mary’ line, of "The Sun and The Serpent" fame, which runs from St.Michaels Mount in Cornwall, up to the East Anglian Coast near Hopton. It appears that the formation of the circle altered the course of the Mary line slightly. Plus it actually changed direction whilst in the centre of the formation by 45 degrees, then returned to its original course. There was also a vortex point just to the top right of the head of the angel, the same ‘uncomfortable’ spot I mentioned earlier. From this node point 75 different energy signitures went inbetween the 75 flattened ‘rays’ coming out from the centre. All the rays were layed alternately facing inwards and outwards, apart from numbers 12 and 13 (if you travel anti-clockwise from the head) which both go inwards. But even more strange, they both point to the other crop circle over the way. Coincidence again? I think not.

Back to the 666 footer, and from the air you can see it is of a very similar size to Wandlebury Ring, a so called Iron -Age hill fort. There is also an ancient pond in the centre of the wandlebury Ring, which the ‘mary’ line passes straight through, which is a very similar size to the stage one event centre circle of the 666 circle. Yet another coincidence? OK, perhaps the circle makers were trying to make us look at Wandlebury. So here goes.

Although officially an Iron-Age hill-fort, archeologists have found it goes back to at least 400BC. Roman evidence was also discovered there and there is strong speculation that Queen Boudica and the Iceni Tribes were also located there at around 60AD (More on this later). As for the mythology, in the early 1900’s, children were told that the gods themselves were buried there, and even that a golden chariot was buried nearby. Another theory suggests Wandlebury was a far flung out-post of Helen of Troy. Another that it was part of King Arthurs kingdom...a kind of CAMbridge CAMelot. And as for ghost sightings there have been a many. Most notably the legend of Osbert, who had to defeat a ghostly knight within the Wandlebury Ring.

TC Lethbridge, dowser and Cambridge archeologist claimed in the 1950’s to have found an ancient chalk hill figure just outside the ditch of Wandlebury Ring. Tales of a giant having been cut in to the chalk existed for some time and he eventually found a curious picture, showing a three breasted female, astride two horses pulling a chariot, plus a gigantic sword-wielding warrior and a sun-god. All three in distinctly celtic design. Lethbridge says they were from around 200 BC, but the jury’s still out as to whether he designed and dug it himself.

When a friend of Shay Hancock dowsed the area of Wandlebury Ring a few years ago, she became convinced there was some sort of stone circle or stone structure buried deep under the surface. When Shay heard about this he dowsed it himself and got similar results, and realised it could have once been used as a major spiritual centre of south east England. He is sure it could have once have been as significant as even Avebury. It is interesting to note here that the ‘Mary’ line also passes through the Avebury stone circle.

Another factor that indicates the authenticity of Wandlebury as an ancient spiritual centre is another strong ley-line that passes through it. It starts at Wormwood Hill, a small man-made mound east of the main site that is by far one of the most powerful points of the surrounding area. It then goes through the site of the chalk hill-figures (which authenticates them slightly perhaps?), through the northern part of the Wandlebury Ring and up through several of the major sites of Cambridge. On the other side of Cambridge it reaches Girton, an area that has also had its fair share of crop circles in the past. Well, three to be precise. Two well known formations appeared here in 1996. They look like different stages of a seed sprouting. Perhaps this represented the birth of the new breed of crop circles that were starting to be created.

OK, I’m going to go slightly esoteric now which I’ve been avoiding for too long. You may or may not be aware of the work Carol Cochrane has been doing on place names where crop circles appear. It’s called Lexigramming and her results have been breathtaking to say the least. I met Carol and she showed me the technique. Basically, it's like an anagram, but with set rules that help you uncover secret meanings within words, place names, peoples names etc. It first appeared in 'Star-Signs' by top astrologer, Linda Goodman, but the practice has evolved to a new level. Anyway, Carol and myself worked on ‘Girton, Cambridgeshire’, ‘Wandlebury Ring, Cambs’ and ‘GogMagog Hills, Cambridgeshire’.

So what was found in ‘Girton, Cambridgeshire’? Well ,quite a lot actually. It contains both ‘Birth’ and ‘Seed’. Also linking to the ancient past is:‘This is Bodecia’s ancient home’ and ‘The Iceni Tribe’. Plus ‘Go to GogMagogs”. So I did. But there was much more concerning Shey’s idea of stone circles at Wandlebury than the dowsing. Check this out: Within ‘Girton, Cambridgeshire’ was: ‘Near GogMagog’s is ancient stone ring. Near the ditch (Wandlebury has huge ditch around it). Near Iceni Tribe and Bodecia’s home. Near the giants (the hill figures)’. OK this may sound a bit far out, but I had to show you this information.

So towards one end of the line is the site of the Girton crop circles, and at the other end is Wandlebury, and more significantly Wormwood Hill. This mound has been the site of quite a few strange occurances in the past. When dowsing it recently I found a major earth energy node point at the peak of the tumulus. The exact same spot myself and friends have been visiting for years. But there is more to this place than meets the eye. There have been several UFO sightings in this area and one was caught on video by the then head of the Cambridge UFO Society, Chris Massey Lynch in 1991. I’ve seen this video and it is breathtaking to say the least.

In Andrew Collins' classic book "The Circle Makers", he talks of Bill Eden, a UFO investigator who visited Wormwood Hill. “He could clearly see it (the hill) engulfed by swirling bands of lights, unseen by his colleague. Ignoring this, he stepped on to the mound, amid the vibrant coloured light, and instantly sustained a powerful headache, an intense pressure on his chest and head, a bitter metallic taste, nausea and dizziness. With this came the sound of a deep tonal note, that resonated from the ground and rose in pitch the higher he climbed. Even more curioud was the disconcerting sensation that he was about to leave his physical body through the process known as astral projection. He also saw with his psychic eyes priestly figures in saffron-coloured robes, approaching the site in ceremonial fashion”. This also indicates positively to the theory that Wandlebury Camp was used as a major spiritual centre. A theory that is currently being investigated.

So like Silbury Hill, also a man-made mound, Wormwood Hill might also have something to do with the crop circles. Andrew Collins’ Orgone energy theory is one worth investigating, especially as Wormwood Hill is such a powerful spot. I firmly believe that Wandlebury is ‘waking up’ as we speak and it will certainly open up the land to more and more crop circles in this beautiful area. One other thing. On top of the hills is a bench that we used as a meeting place and is by far the best viewing point for the huge formation. When Shey dowsed the Mary line, he found it actually went through this bench, and just to one side of it, it crossed another Ley which went down to the huge formation. These two formations and that bench have acted as a meeting place for like minded people in the Cambridge and Shey has already done one lecture on the Cambridge formations. Myself and Shey have some more lined up for the imminent future (check the website).

So how do we tie all these connections up? Firstly, the theory and feeling that there may be some sort of monolith, stone circle or similar structure is interesting when you check the hidden meanings in the place names. In ‘Girton, Cambridgeshire is:‘The Gogmagogs, near the ditch. Dig the dirt and there it is. The Stone ring’. Also ‘Near the one tree’, Wormwood Hill has one sacred tree at its peak. Is there anything in this? I don’t know. But I feel it needs properly investigating. The few lexigrams I've shown you are just the tip of the iceberg (more at the next lecture).

So, with all this activity going on at this site, we are convinced there is something to be discovered at Wandlebury. Maybe a maze, maybe a stone circle, maybe a golden Chariot. Who knows? Maybe nothing? Maybe it’s all happening in Cambridge because there is now a strong interest in these things. Maybe it’s helping us city dwellers get back to nature, the place we are supposed to be anyway. Perhaps the crop circles do all this to us, maybe that's their purpose. They have certainly woken Cambridge up from its slumber. Plus, as Carol Cochrane pointed out to me, both ‘Wandlebury Ring, Cambs’ and ‘GogMagog Hills, Cambridgeshire’ both contain the lexigrammed words “Sacred marriage”. A marriage of what though? A marriage of male and female earth energies? The marriage of heaven and Earth? Or a sacred marriage of us Humans to our Mother Earth? The one we’ve all be waiting for. I know which I think is true.

Hugh Newman 2001.

THE KINGSHIP STONE OF CHERRY HINTON

Circular henges, ancient megaliths, round barrows, kingship stones and sacred springs...the ancient heritage of Cherry Hinton rediscovered.
At the base of the Gog Magog Hills in Cherry Hinton, a village next to Cambridge is ‘The Giants Grave’, a natural spring (also called Springhead, Springfield and Robin Hood dip), that possibly once had a round barrow next to it (M.Bullivant 2007). Three ring-ditches that are possibly Neolithic, but more likely Bronze Age, were discovered just over the other side of Fulbourn Road in 1983. Neolithic flint artefacts and Early Bronze Age pottery were found and at the centres of the constructions along with evidence of large wooden post-holes. Smaller than nearby Wandlebury maybe, but as significant as we shall soon see.
In the car park of the Robin Hood and Little John pub, lies a mysterious lonely megalith. The dark sarsen stone is about three feet across and has an unusual human-sized ‘footprint’ deeply embedded into it. It is about size 10, as my shoe size nearly fitted. Rather than a natural formation, the stone looks like it has been carved, a widespread tradition that local author Nigel Pennick says, could date back to the Neolithic era (Celtic Sacred Landscapes,1996 p.40).
Other examples include a long barrow on the crest of the hill of Petit-Mont Arzon in Brittany, France that contains a stone with a pair of feet with toes pointing upwards cut into it. Similarly, the incredible megalithic temple of Newgrange in County Meath, Ireland, has a large carved ‘bowl’, in one of the chambers that exhibits two subtle foot holes on its far end, as though it was a birthing crucible. The double footprinted Calderstones (image left), preserved in Liverpool, may come from an unknown Lancashire Long Barrow and the Ladykirk stone, at St. Mary’s Church, Barwick, Orkney is a classic two-footed affair (image below right).

A tradition in Roman times was to carve pairs of footprints in a stone with the inscription pro itu et reditu, meaning ‘for the journey and return’, a protective rite for someone heading out on a long journey. The feet would be placed in the footprints at the very beginning of the journey, and again upon their return. Celtic and Pictish traditions of ancient Britain revere such stones as kingship or installation stones, where tribal chiefs would place their foot or feet in it and, and as with crowning in modern times, then become the tribes or nations leader. Saxo notes, ‘The ancients, when they were to choose a king, stood on stones planted in the ground to proclaim their votes, signifying from the steadfastness of the stones that the deed would be lasting’ (Pennick 1996). Royal footprints can still be seen in other ancient Pictish power places, although only a few remain. For example, in the Isle of Man, a possible relic of the local Manx royalty was discovered at Castleward mound, again a large single footprint embedded in a stone (Michell 1994 p.105).
On Islay (Strathclyde) there was a ‘stone of inauguration’ or ‘stone of the footmarks’ by Loch Finlaggan. It was seven feet square with two footprints. When a chief of Clan Donald was installed as ‘King of the Isles’ he stood barefoot on the imprints, and with his father’s sword in his hand he was anointed king by the Bishop of Argyll and seven priests. During the ceremony an orator recited a catalogue of his ancestors, and he was pronounced ‘MacDonald high prince of the Seed of Conn’. But nothing remains of this king stone, because it was deliberately destroyed in the early seventeenth century (The Secret Country, Janet & Colin Bord 1976 p.67). There was once a stone at Templemore in County Londonderry, latterly called St. Columbkille’s Stone, which had two feet of 10 inches long, carved upon its surface. Traditionally it was an inauguration stone of the Irish Chieftains, and used in a similar way to the Islay stone.

A pair of footprints are carved into a slab in a causeway at the Broch (stone tower) of Clickhimin in Shetland, whilst at Dunadd, erstwhile capital of Dalriada, a stone has a footprint facing a boar. This footprint is reputed to be that of Fergus, eighth century King of the Picts. In the centuries following the Celtic church continued a similar tradition, but now the footprints were those of saints, commemorating certain holy acts they are said to have carried out. However, it is not only footprints carved in stone that would inaugurate a king. Flat slabs of rock have been used for millennia for this purpose, such as the Coronation stone at Kingston-upon-Thames and the Stone of Scone that in 1297 was stolen from the ancient kingship traditions in Scotland where 34 Scottish kings were crowned, and is still used to this day in Westminster Abbey.

Depressions in rocks can have other meanings too. Folk beliefs say that healing waters collect in such stones and were used to treat sickness, wounds and sores, and to prevent cattle and livestock from falling ill. Water that seems to appear in such stone containers is said to possess curative powers. The diamagnetic rock and telluric earth energies combined with the high mineral value of certain rocks could support this hypothesis from a modern scientific viewpoint. Interestingly, whenever I have visited the stone in the Robin Hood car park, it is always full of water, which I always thought was just the rain collecting…but you never know. Natural springs are also said to have healing and curative powers and just across the road we have the spring at Giants Grave. In recent months archaeologists have suggested that Stonehenge was an ancient healing sanctuary and that the crystalline stone rearranged the energies there and helped cure the sick (T.Darvill).

Another ancient looking stone sits embedded in the front driveway of a house next to Gladstone Way in Cherry Hinton, which is just behind the Robin Hood pub. Street names often give away clues to ancient traditions. The depth it goes into the ground is unknown, although to have a megalith, a kingship stone, circular henges, a possible round barrow and a natural spring all within a few hundred yards from one another deserves archaeological attention and another look at the folklore and prehistory of Cherry Hinton. Who were the Celtic tribes of this area and whose bloodline today still represents the long-lost royalty of Cherry Hinton?!