West Kennet Long Barrow © Patrick Taylor
The West Kennet long barrow was placed on the 1882 Schedule of Ancient Monuments. It now lies within the Avebury World Heritage Site. The scientific excavation took place in 1955–56.
Radiocarbon dates suggest that the monument was constructed in the period 3,700–3,600 BC, more than a millennium earlier than was thought in the 1960s.
Tintern Abbey © David Gill
Tintern Abbey was transferred to the Office of Works in 1914. The guidebook was prepared by the architect Sir Harold Brakspear (1934). Brakspear had helped to plan the ruins after they were purchased by the Crown in 1901, and before they were conserved.
1956 (repr. 1968)
A replacement ‘blue guide’ was prepared by O.E. Craster in 1956. This took the standard pattern of history followed by description. A plan of the abbey was placed in the centre pages.
1956 (9th impress. 1977)
Craster’s guide continued to be published into the 1970s. This included some elements in Welsh: Abaty Tyndyrn (on the title page, but not on the cover), and a short summary of just over one page at the beginning.
The centre page plan was placed on a fold-out plan inside the back cover. The glossary was expanded to include: ashlar, barrel vault, conversi, garth, jamb, lay brother, lintel, mullion, novice, papal bull, plinth, pulpitum, quire, refectory, screen, vestment and vestry. It also dropped: aisle, bay, boss, capital, crossing, floriated, sexfoil.
1960; 1964, 2nd ed.; 1967, 3rd impress.
Craster also prepared the illustrated souvenir guide (1960; 2nd ed. 1964). It included historical background; a tour of the abbey; the first tourists. The tour is numbered on the plan.
1985
The tour in the souvenir guide in effect turns into the card guide that continued to be published under Cadw.
1986; 2nd ed. 1990; 3rd ed. 1995; 4th ed. 2002
The Cadw guidebook was prepared by David M. Robinson. This includes a history of the abbey, a section on building the abbey, and a tour of the abbey. A foldout plan (in colour) is printed inside the back (card) cover.
1950 (repr. 1968)
Old Soar Manor in Kent was acquired by the National Trust (1947) and subsequently placed in State Guardianship (1948). Margaret Wood prepared the paper guidebook in 1950 and it continued in print until the 1970s. The guide has a short history and a longer description. A floor plan of the house in c. 1290 is included.
Note the entry: ‘A National Trust property in the guardianship of the Ministry of Public Buildings and Works’.
Second edition 1948, 7th impression 1967
2nd ed. 1948 (8th impress. 1972)
The first edition of the guide to Stirling Castle was published in 1936: the description by J.S. Richardson, and the history by Margaret E. Root. A second edition appeared in 1948, and it continued as a ‘blue guide’ into the 1970s (note the move from guide-book to guide).
A fold-out plan was placed inside the back cover.
The cover of the Richardson and Root guide is ‘a drawing of a portrait medallion representing James V, one of a set of wood panels originally in the ceiling of the King’s Presence Chamber’. The heads were the subject of a monograph published by the Royal Commission in 1960. A booklet was issued by the Royal Commission in 1975, with the text by John G. Dunbar.
1975
The Historic Scotland guide by Richard Fawcett was published in 1999. This consisted of a guide tour followed by the story (not history) of the castle.
1999 (repr. 2002)
Chysauster © David Gill
Two late Iron Age village communities in Penwith are in the care of English Heritage. Chysauster was paced in State Guardianship in 1931, and Carn Euny was purchased in 1957.
1960 (1968)
The first paper guidebook was Chysauster was prepared by P.K. Baillie Reynolds in 1960. There is a short history (including recent investigations) followed by a house by house description. There is a plan on the centre pages.
1971
The DOE produced a short card guide to the site in 1971. This provides a tour of the houses: “Ask the custodian to point out the path uphill to House 6 …”.
1987
Patricia M.L. Christie, who excavated at Carn Euny, produced the English Heritage guide to Chysauster (1987). This has an introductory section on the site, history, the field system, dating, and environment and economy. Most of the guide consists of a description and a tour of the houses. Christie also prepared a separate guide to Carn Euny (1983).
1993
1997, 2nd ed. (repr. 2000)
Christie’s two separate guides were combined in 1993, with a second edition, using colour images, in 1997; it continued to be printed in 2000.
2017
English Heritage has now produced a combined guide by Susan Greaney (2017). This contains two separate tours of the villages, followed by a combined history. There are seven special features including the use of the sites by Methodist preachers, Plans of both sites appear inside the foldout back cover.
© Patrick Taylor
This monolith stands at about the highest point to the south-west of Wadebridge in Cornwall. It was re-erected in 1956 and placed in State Guardianship in 1965 when it was provided with an MPBW sign (now replaced). Note that the original name was longstone rather than monolith.
Note that the stone is now dated from the Late Neolithic to the mid-Bronze Age, i.e. c. 2500–1500 BC; this contrasts with the view in the 1960s as used on the sign, 1800–600 BC.
St Breock Down Monolith © David Gill
The site is now managed by the Cornwall Heritage Trust.
St Breock Down Monolith © David Gill
Revised 1969
The series of stone circles at Stanton Drew in Bath and Avon (formerly Somerset) were placed under the protection of the Ancient Monuments Protection Act (1882). For an overview of the site see English Heritage.
The guide was prepared by L.V. Grinsell (who also wrote the guide for Hetty Pegler’s Tump). It consists of 7 pages (the back page is blank) and contains a plan of the three circles in the centre pages. There is a short history of the site (noting the date to between 2000 and 1400 BC) and then descriptions of the Great Circle and Avenue, the North-eastern Circle, the South-western Circle, the Cove, and Hautville’s Quoit. In addition there is a section on Stanton Drew in Folk Tradition, and a review of the literature from John Aubrey (1664) and William Stukeley (1776).
