Ley-lines from paper maps

Eric J. Sargeant. BSc(Hons), BA (Open), CITP MBCS, FIED

Twice recently I’ve come upon articles denigrating Alfred Watkins’ two works on ley-lines. [Ref. 1
& 2]. Whereas in June we commemorate him with the erection of a new standing stone at the
Blackwardine crossroads which were the site of his revelation. [Ref. 3].

According to Dr. Ronald Hutton: “There are lots of reasons why orthodox scholarship is hostile to
the concept of ‘leys’ ”. Ley-lines are: “one major aspect of the methodology of ‘alternative’ ar-
chaeology which is quite unacceptable to orthodox scholarship”. Nor does he accept that ROMAN
ROADS are pre-Roman. Although dowsing, remarkably is approved of by Dr. Hutton, saying: “But a
book by two eminent academics and a dowser, argues sensibly from case studies for the efficacy of
dowsing in church archaeology”. [Ref. 4]. My copy cost me £4.50p, knocked down from £18.99p!

The second denigrator is Ken Hollamby in [Ref. 5]. The greater part of his article is quotations
from [Ref. 1 & 2]. A footnote queries their punctuation and syntax. Maybe Mr. Hollamby is a pe-
dantic academic as well. He reiterates, “in archaeological circles at least, the theory is not taken se-
riously”. Upon the extracts he makes a couple of cynical comments, saying as he was almost
convinced, but now knows where he was going wrong.

The “lots of reasons” seem to reduce to two.

1/. That non-academic authors, such as the Poet Robert Graves, have mislead the uneducated
public. Dr. Hutton is a double academic; Oxford and Cambridge. [I’ve lectured at two univer-
sities, and so maybe can call myself an academic].
2/. That sites along an alignment may not be of similar dates. Maybe a bronze age mound
aligned with a Norman keep and a 15th century church. However the inspirational influences
at those locations are constant and timeless.

Twice recently I’ve found leys from paper maps. Firstly, Jeff Poole, a colleague at the East Mid-
lands Dowsing Group meetings, [Ref. 6], had asked me to take a look at the village of Orton-on-
the-Hill in Leicestershire, near to Twycross Zoo. I have a map of that area. [Ref. 7].
This map is dominated by four sections of straight roads marked ROMAN ROAD , so that’s
historically alright. The village has 2km of straight road at 124° to the grid. The first part named
‘The Green’, aligns the village church, dedicated to St Edith of Polesworth, SK 30421 03932, and
the crossroads at Main Street and Pipe Lane. It continues as Orton Lane and Sheepy Lane. Extend-
ed in the same direction the line connects the isolated cemetery, SK 32965 02222, off of the Twy-
cross Road and , SK 35093 00805, at Sibson. Going in the other direction there is 1.35km
of trackway starting,SK 29665 04462, obviously inline on the map. The line passes through New-
ton Regis Garden Centre and the windmill symbol at Seckington. Then there is another 500m of
trackway crossing Clifton Lane, SK 23837 03818.
Perpendicular to that line, at 214°, another alignment through the church starts with the pond and
church at Snarestone, SK 34124 09463. This passes through Norton Juxta-Twycross, through Twy-
cross Zoo and the crossroads on Norton Lane. It continues to the crossroads of Watling Street and
Spon Lane at Grendon, SP 27447 99455. Then onward through Speedwell Farm, White’s Farm,
Pump House Farm near a moat, Hurley Hall Farm’s moat, SP 25127 95928, East House Farm to
Gnomon Wood, SP 23673 93772.
A third alignment through the church, at 274°, starts with Market Bosworth church, SK 40746
03258, going through a lake island at Friezeland Farm, SK 38637 03379, then Hoo Hills, SK 37569
03469, Temple Farm, SK 35997 03553, and Cliff House, SK 34375 03657. It continues through
another lake island in R. Anker, SK 25687 04217, onto the remains of a Benedictine Priory, SK
25177 04265.
 St. Edith’s church, Orton-on-the-Hill
Leicestershire
Three alignments go through the church

My second example arose during a metal detecting dig with Derby Artefacts Recovery Club [Ref. 8]. It was
at Stydd Hall Farm, near Yeaveley. In one of the fields, we had been allocated to search, there was a moated
mound, all overgrown with trees and fenced off from the animals. Noting it’s location with my Garmin GPS
unit as SK 18212 39397. Tracing an alignment through that position across two map sheets, [Ref. 9], gives
a line which justifies the dates argument - for modern geographers have again chosen two of the sighting
sites as triangulation points. The line, at 147°, runs down through Alkmonton church, SK 18707 38536,
Dairy House Farm, the long side of Barton Hall, to Hoon Mount ; the trig’ point, SK 23009 31824. In
the other direction we have Snelston church, SK 15536 43334, followed by Dun Low and Cart Low sur-
rounded by numerous , before Soles Hill , the second trig’ point, SK 09794 52505, and then
onto Grindon church, SK 08536 54531.

Moated mound at Stydd Hall Farm

Alignments at 95° & 147°

There are sections of ROMAN ROAD and dotted lines marked ‘Course of’ on the Derby map looking like a E-
W Equinox alignment. But, as with sections don’t quite align one to the next. One section on
the left hand side, above Wootons, SK 06302 38974 - SK 08625 38743 is at 95°. When extended right
across the map it connects a short section at SK 14749 38180, a , SK 18242 37856, and two large plus
‘+’ markers for lost medieval villages, and . The map’s symbol chart says these mark ‘Posi-
tion of antiquity which cannot be drawn to scale’. It continues clean through the centre of Derby and onto a
road junction ‘a crossroads’ to the east of the city. Meeting therewith the A6005 ROMAN ROAD connecting
camp, Sawley camp on R. Trent, and camp on .
References
1/. Early British Trackways; Moats, Mounds, Camps and Sites, Alfred Watkins, 1922, The Watkins
Meter Company, ISBN 1-59605-469-7.
2/. The Old Straight Track, Alfred Watkins, 1925, Abacus, ISBN 0-349-13707-2.

3/. The Watkins Memorial Stone Dedication, The Society of Ley Hunters, June 2015,
http://www.leyhunters.co.uk/page172.html

4/. The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles; Their Nature and Legacy, Ronald Hutton,
1991, Blackwell Publishers Inc, ISBN 0-631-18946-7.
5/. Ley Hunting with Watkins, Ken Hollamby, Sheetlines - The Journal of The Charles Close Soci-
ety, #95, December 2012, http://www.charlesclosesociety.org/files/Issue95page43.pdf.

6/. East Midlands Dowsing Group, http://www.eastmidsdowsers.co.uk/

7/. Ordnance Survey, Explorer Map, #232, Nuneaton & Tamworth, Edition A1, 2006.

8/. Derby Artefacts Recovery Club, http://www.derbymetaldetecting.co.uk/

9/. Ordnance Survey, Landranger Maps, #128, Derby and Burton upon Trent, Second series, 1977,
and #119, Buxton, Matlock and Dove Dale, Second Series, 1977.