Herbert Hudson, “Ancient sun alignments: The meaning of artificial mounds and mark stones.”

Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and Natural History, 21, 120–138 (1933)

This paper is here republished complete. The 1982 edition of British Geomantic Pioneers omitted Bennett’s commentary and the unorthodox interpretations of place names.

ANCIENT SUN ALIGNMENTS.

All over the British Isles are to be found earthworks and mark-stones bearing names relating to the sun. Here and there similar place-names survive, but the objects to which they referred have been obliterated by time. Through a realisation of the significance of these ancient place-names the writer became convinced that the remaining objects and the places whose designations indicate the former presence of such “pointers” were sighting-points of astronomic alignments made by primitive men. His investigations have revealed a great number of these alignments set out on the rising and setting sun at Midsummer and in May. It is his belief that if the methods he has adopted in East Anglia and elsewhere be widely applied, a definite reason for many of the mark-stones and tumuli hitherto unexplained will be forthcoming. And he claims that these islands are covered with a network of solar alignments set out on an organised system by the early astronomers either in the Celtic period or before.

The grounds for his contentions and the evidence upon which he bases his theories are set forth below.

THE LANGUAGE OF THE ASTROLOGERS.

Mons. Danet, whose complete Dictionary of Antiquities was compiled by command of Louis XIV., makes it clear that there was a considerable method in the {121} apparent madness of the “Ancients” who told fanciful tales about the innumerable gods and goddesses. “The Ancients,” he says, “conformed themselves to the superstitious error of the common people, to keep them the better in awe; and when they made Beasts and Trees—and incidentally sun, moon, and stars—gods, they did not themselves believe they were really gods, but to denote some peculiar qualification in the. object they deified.”

Astrology, the infant stage of that science out of which grew Astronomy, was three-fold. It was chiefly occupied in determining the positions and motions of the heavenly bodies, their supposed influence on human affairs. Its exponents employed it to form a moral code for the government of the uneducated and for utilitarian purposes; to fix the seasons, to remind agriculturists when to sow and to reap, and to measure their hours of labour.

In “Our British Ancestors” (1865) Canon Samuel Lysons stresses the remarkable coincidence that the names by which many of our British tumuli are still called are little, if at all, corrupted by the lapse of time, from the titles of the divinities worshipped in ancient Babylonia, Assyria, Canaan, and Chaldæa.

Comparing this statement with M. Danet’s illuminating passage, one finds it difficult to understand why Antiquarians have never devoted serious attention to the re-discovery of ancient observatories and astronomic alignments. I am inclined to think that the chief reason lies in the fact that astronomy is a closed science to the average antiquarian, and that the average modern astronomer is not particularly interested in antiquities.

A comprehension of the language of astrology demands something more than a mere translation of the meanings of words; it requires practice in the association of ideas, and a knowledge of symbolism. For example, when one finds that Jupiter Ammon of the Greeks is represented sometimes with an eagle and sometimes with a ram’s horn, and that he represented the sun in a certain phase, and that Vishnu of the Hindoos is also depicted {122} with an eagle and a fossil ammonite; when one finds in situ jurassic blocks containing ammonites on mounds bearing the place-name of Belus (the Babylonian Sun-god), one is forced to the conclusion that the same primary astrologic influence obtained in all parts of the world.

So many races and tongues have passed through Britain since these mark-stones were erected, that it takes an interpreter of all languages to read them, but whatever be the tongue in which their name is recorded to-day, the meaning for which they stand remains unaltered; wherever the meaning is obscure, the cause of the obscurity lies in the misunderstanding by a conquering race of the dialect of the conquered race, the inability of a race to pronounce a sibilant or a guttural.

METHODS OF THE EARLY ASTRONOMERS

In ancient times people were nomadic before they were agricultural. In hot countries it is more convenient to move herds at night; this may account for the fact that one of the most ancient gods in mythology is Sin, the Moon god.

As agriculture developed, more attention was paid to the influence of the sun upon vegetation; hence arose the sun worshippers and sun observers.

Since the Mark Stones, Mounds, and Tumuli in Britain relating to sun and moon worship bear Celto-British names of deities worshipped in Babylon, Persia, Chaldæa, Syria, Egypt, Greece, and Scandinavia, it is presumed that the Eastern astronomic influence of these races was brought to Britain by the Celts some time after 2000 B.C. But it is an open question whether another astronomic cult may not have appeared in these islands even earlier.

To locate an ancient observatory one must know how the primitive astronomers marked out their alignments. Most people know how to set up a sun-dial to mark the hours; the early astronomers made sun dials to mark Summer and Winter on the same principle. In hilly {123} country such as Wales and Cornwall they chose a hill top commanding extensive views and set up a long stone; they then made a circle of stones around it at a distance of about 10 yards. On Midsummer Day the sun rises at its extreme North-eastern limit. They therefore placed a stone on the circumference of the circle to mark the exact point where the sun first appeared on the horizon. They placed a similar mark stone at the point where the sun set in the West (another on the meridian where it stood highest in the sky at noon), and two other stones where the sun rose and set on the shortest day of the year. In some cases we find that they did the same in regard to the sunrise and sunset on May 1st (Beltane).

As a necessary consequence of the angle the earth’s pole makes with the plane of her orbit, the sun rises in Midwinter immediately opposite the point where it sets at Midsummer. It is evident that the early astronomers made use of this alignment running N.W. and S.E. as a datum line for long measurements. They also used the alignment of the rising sun at Midsummer to give them cross bearings.

When we look for ancient long distance alignments we have to take several things into consideration.

If an observer in the West of England sets out an alignment on the rising sun, the extension of that line will not serve as a bearing on the rising sun on the East Coast. It will be found that the ancient solar observation static as were placed to serve a limited area only.

The bearing at which the sun first appears on the horizon depends upon the latitude at which the observer stands. At Stonehenge, lat. 51 degrees, it rises approximately 49 degrees E. of N.; at Edinburgh, lat. 56 degrees, it rises at a bearing of 43 degrees E. of N.

The angle of the sunrise measured Eastward of the North point is exactly the same as the angle of the sunset bearing measured Westward of the North point.

{124} Alignments set out on the sun several thousand years ago vary very little from alignments set out on the sun to-day. Thus, when an alignment is found passing through mark stones, tumuli, and mounds, and even places which have no such marks, but bear names indicating the rising or the setting sun, approximating to the bearings at which we know the sun to rise and set, there is very good reason to believe that such alignments were set out by ancient astronomers, provided that the angle the sunrise alignment makes with the sunset alignment is adaptable to the particular latitude under consideration.

One other factor must be taken into account. If an observer takes the bearing of sunrise over a point on the horizon on a level with the eye, the bearing will read several degrees further North than it would if his intermediate sighting-point were considerably higher than the level at which he stands. In this way the contour of the “sky-line” may slightly affect the direction of the alignment.

The close agreement between ancient alignments and present-day alignments on the sun is brought out in the following Table:

Table showing some ancient alignments that have been found, and the corresponding bearings of Midsummer Sunrise at the present day.

The bearings are taken from the North point (and not from the parallels of Longitude; they are given in round figures.

EXAMPLES OF LONG DISTANCE ALIGNMENTS.

NORFOLK AND SUFFOLK.

Map Perhaps the finest example in Great Britain of a Beltane Fire line is the sunset alignment from Thetford Castle Mound, an earthwork, dome shaped, very steep, about 100 feet high. It is forty miles long and passes through no fewer than four places named Bell. (Bel was the Celto-British name for Belus, the Babylonian Sun-god). From Thetford Mound this alignment runs through two tumuli 4 mile apart, Old Bell Farm, Bell Cross, another Bell Cross, Tibbenham Church mound, the Bell Inn at Kesgrave, through Pole Hill tumulus (Pol seu Baldaeg, the Norse god of light) to the site of Walton Castle (Walton, place of the Moon god).

A parallel sunset alignment runs from Tattingstone Wonder (where a very ancient urn was found) to Wattisham Stone (in situ).

I cannot find definite sunrise lines through the mound itself, but there are several parallel to the sunrise line. One starts from Bell Hill tumulus near Belton and passes through Stockton Stone (in situ), the Lay (alignment) Pond, Harleston (from Ar, Aur, the rising sun), where there is a stone in situ, Woolpit (Heol, the sun), through Cross Green to Clare Castle mound, similar to Thetford mound. Another runs from Pole Hill tumulus through Tattingstone Wonder to Ingatestone in Essex (two stones in situ). There are many others in the county parallel to these alignments. Some of the mounds indicating the alignments are very interesting, particularly that at Aspall Hall, which is 75 yards round the base and 12-ft. high, with a flat top on which has been built an Eighteenth Century pigeon-cote ; it is precisely the same shape as one at Theberton, except that the latter retains its original dome shaped top, and is in consequence, twice as high.

CORNWALL.

* For the significance of this and many of the place names following it see the appended Vocabulary.

Another runs from the St. Leven cleft stone through Kerris Stone and Hayle to Ash Hill.

Another runs from Helston, through a barrow near Edgecombe, to a barrow near Malpas.

Another runs from a barrow on Brown Willy, through 2 miles of ancient straight track-way, and several other barrows to King Arthur’s Castle at Tintagil.

Another runs from Brocka Barrow through King Arthur’s Hall, across Devil’s Jumps, through Helstone, to barrow on edge of cliff.

Another runs from Helston to Stone Cross at Hayle. Another runs from Par through Bugle to Nine Maidens.

May Day, or more probably May 8th, Sunrise alignments are given in two places:—

Castle An-dinas to Castle An-dinas, thirty-three miles apart (dinas, directing on An, the rising sun).

Another line runs from Helston to Helions. At Helston the well known Furry Dance is held annually on May 8th. Fraser compares it with the annual ceremony in India when the Saligram which is a black fossil ammonite, the emblem of Vishnu, who corresponds with Jupiter Ammon, is married to the Tulsi, or basil plant ; signifying the influence of the sun on vegetation in the Spring. The word Furry probably relates to the Fir pole which used to be stood on end and set alight at the Beltane Fires. I have found Jurassic blocks containing ammonites standing in situ in Suffolk at places bearing names indicating the sun.

THE ISLE OF WIGHT.

The key to the alignments in this county will be found in the ancient trackway a mile and a half long at Gar-stones near Gatcombe. A parallel to this runs from Wroxall through Gods Hill Church, which stands on a magnificent artificial mound, through Bull’s Wood, to Bull Hill Tumulus near Boldre in Hants, and thence over Set-ley Common, through Brockenhurst to Gran’s Barrow.

The sunrise alignment is given by two tumuli three and a half miles apart in line with, and N.E. from Bull’s Hill Tumulus.

A sunrise line parallel to this runs from God’s Hill Mound through Brading Tumulus to St. Helens (derivative of Helion, the sun).

DORSET.

A sunrise line from Romsey runs through Stagbury Hill Tumulus, through Ashey, Ferndown Cross roads, to a tumulus at Hampreston (all these names indicate the sun).

HAMPSHIRE.

A parallel sunrise line from Guildford (golden of the sun) passes through Old Winchester Hill to Sarisbury.

The sunset line runs from Brockhurst near Portsmouth through Sarisbury to Toot Hill Tumulus.

WILTS.

Silbury Hill is the largest artificial mound in England. It is 130-ft. high, and has a circumference of 544 yards. The sunrise line passes from Ogborne St. George through a tumulus, then through Kistvean Tumulus, to Silbury Hill.

The sunset line starts at Old Hal Barrow and runs thence through Giant’s Grave, Long Barrow, Silbury Hill, to Bradenstoke.

Avebury Ring. A sunrise alignment parallel to the diameter of the Ring, passes from Four Mile Clump, through half a mile of ancient track, and the Long Stone, to a tumulus on Roundway Hill. The sunset line runs from Godsbury Hill Tumulus, through Giant’s Grave, Overton Hill Tumulus, three more tumuli, through the Ring to Windmill Tumulus.

Stonehenge. The ancient Latin name was Mons Ambrosia, “The hill of eternity.” The Ancients distinguished stones erected with a religious purpose by the name of Amber; which signified Solar, Divine; Stonehenge was therefore clearly a place of Sun worship and observation.

The sunrise line from Sidbury Camp passes down the Avenue through the Circle to a tumulus a quarter of a mile off, to Stapleford. A parallel sunrise line from Andover passes through Bury Hill Camp, Jack’s Bush, Britford, to Odstock.

The sunset line through the Circle is given by a tumulus three and a half miles S.E. of the Circle.

KENT.

Four places named Mockbeggar give the key to a problem that has long baffled antiquarians: the origin of the Danejohn, the huge artificial mound in the heart of Canterbury. According to Lysons this place-name is probably the same as Dan jaan (woodland place), indicative, perhaps, of the time when Kent was clothed in forest, and a mound had to be erected to raise an observer above the tree-tops. The Northern Mock-beggars are 18½ miles apart, and a parallel sunrise alignment runs from Salm Stone through the Danejohn to Shalmsford. Another sunrise alignment parallel to this runs from Goodnestone through Beddlestone to Great Job’s Cross. A third parallel line runs from Shingleton tumulus through one of the other Mockbeggars to Stone Cross.

A parallel sunset alignment passes from Fox Cross through the Danejohn to Dover Citadel Hill.

{130} If the system be applied to all the larger mounds in Britain it will be seen that they are all principal observation stations in regard to the sun.

The author’s investigations have been confined to East Anglia and the counties mentioned above. But a cursory glance at the gazetteer of Great Britain convinces him that if the methods he has outlined be adopted in regard to other counties the whole country will be found to be covered with a network of solar alignments.

A word of warning may usefully be uttered for the benefit of those who rely too implicitly on documentary evidence for the interpretation of place names. Almost the earliest documentary evidence available is the Domesday Book in which it is held by some the names are spelt phonetically. It is known that from mediæval times down to the eighteenth century considerable freedom was exercised in spelling, hence the countless variation. There is much to be said for the suggestion that the phonetic pronounciation of a place name by the natives is the most likely to be correct.

During the past few years a number of writers have given us text books on place names, notably Professor W. W. Skeat. Had the writer relied on Skeat, he might never have found any astronomical alignment in Suffolk; for the only place name ending in “ston” accepted by Skeat as indicating the place of a stone is Chediston, and this is incorrectly explained, since Chediston indicates an alignment on the new moon, and is not, as Skeat supposes, “Cedd’s Stone.”

When at a loss, Skeat presumes that the place under consideration derived its name from that of an owner ; one example will suffice. Tattingstone, he says, is from the Anglo-Saxon Tatin-tun: “the farm of the sons of Tata.” He makes no attempt to disclose anything about the earlier word Tit (Mud—mire-clay) from which Tata, if there ever was such a man, may have received his name.

COMMENTARY.

The most obvious method of testing an alignment is to do so by sighting from point to point along a row of posts, mounds, mark-stones, or other objects set high enough to show above the general level of the surrounding country. It may be taken for granted that primitive man, if he set to work to establish such alignments, would proceed in some such way, and in earlier times the identification of the tracks so marked out would have been an easier matter.

But time is a great leveller, and although in some exceptional instances many of the features, natural or artificial, that were relied on to mark the line, are still clearly traceable, elsewhere they have become seriously defaced or quite obliterated.

And so it happens that in most cases, even when a number of recognisable pointers have been found, there are still gaps of considerable length in which there is apparently nothing tangible to guide the investigator. It is here that Mr. Hudson seeks to make good the deficiency, and generally to extend the scope of the enquiry, by turning to account a knowledge of the true significance of ancient place-names and of words that have long since passed out of common use.

He claims to have found that here and there, where the once palpable signs are no longer distinguishable, there is a clue to their former positions in the names of places and objects which lie along the supposed track.

He has shown that this new way of approaching the problem has already yielded most encouraging results and may be expected to lead to still further discoveries.

The particulars given in his paper of those he has so far made seem to point to the existence in prehistoric times of a veritable network of alignments, apparently set up by the aid of solar observations and covering very large areas in East Anglia and other parts of this country.

{132} There are of course differences of opinion as to the degree of astronomical knowledge that might reasonably be attributed to the inhabitants of Britain in prehistoric times and as to the weight that should be attached to such evidence as exists for deliberate orientation of their earthworks and monuments; and again as to the purpose such orientation can be supposed to have served.

But in any consideration of these questions, it is important to remember that a minimum of either knowledge or skill would be needed to observe the extreme positions on the horizon at which the sun rose and set during the course of the year, or to record them by some primitive system of mark posts or stones.

Clear evidences of this practice have emerged not only from a study of the ancient stone monuments still existing in these islands, but also from that of corresponding works of antiquity in all parts of the habitable globe.

Many capable investigators have devoted themselves to the subject and their testimony cannot lightly be dismissed. It is a subject, too, that naturally attracts the attention of astronomers, so that it is not surprising that a number of them who have been eminent in that branch of science should have taken part in the discussions about it.

Among those who have been thus led to approach the matter from the astronomical standpoint, perhaps the best known was Sir Norman Lockyer. His two books, “The Dawn of Astronomy” and “Stonehenge and other British Stone Monuments Astronomically Considered,” should certainly be consulted by all archæologists who are interested in the evidence for primitive man’s knowledge of astronomy, or in the kind of inquiry with which Mr. Hudson’s Paper is concerned. Those two chapters in the latter work (Stonehenge) which are headed “Astronomical hints for Archæologists” are most helpful, as they set out clearly the precautions to be observed in attempting to trace alignments whether by actual survey in the field or from the study of maps, and Lockyer offers sound practical suggestions for {133} guidance in considering the astronomical significance of them. The tables and diagrams which accompany the text are still more useful, if not indispensable to any proper study of orientation problems. The discussions that have arisen from time to time over what may be called the speculative aspect of Lockyer’s work, should not be allowed to obscure the real value of his contribution to the practical side of the question.

It is clear, therefore, that no opposition, in principle at least, is likely to be raised by astronomers to views such as Mr. Hudson has put forward, especially if those views are found to be supported by more extended enquiry and it can be shown that they do not conflict with any clearly established archæological facts.

The alignments tentatively suggested in the paper open up most interesting speculations; but they will of course need to be verified by accurate survey of the sites concerned and by precise determinations of the true bearings where this has not already been done.

Some degree of caution is necessary, too, in setting out alignments on a map, which at best represents a compromise, seeing that it is an attempt to reproduce on a flat sheet some portion of a spherical surface. The larger the scale of the map, the easier it will be to obtain accurate alignments.

In determining the bearings, or azimuths as they are called, the important thing is to obtain, if possible, some fiducial line upon the map from which the angles may be measured accurately. The marginal lines of the map itself cannot be relied on for orientation purposes; but in cases where the longitudes are given at the top and bottom edges of the map, the direction of the North and South line can be obtained by joining marks of corresponding Longitude. It should be remembered, however, that these meridians of longitude, being parts of great circles passing through both poles of the same sphere, cannot be parallel to each other, and therefore lines drawn through two or more of them transversely cannot make similar angles with each meridian.

{134} Subject to reasonable precautions in these matters there is no reason why satisfactory conclusions should not be arrived at by studying alignments on maps, but they should be verified by field observations whenever this is practicable.

Perhaps something should be said as to the degree of dependence that may reasonably be placed on the actual figures given by Mr. Hudson for the azimuths of the various alignments he has described.

In the first place it is all to the good that, as he tells us his values were arrived at before he had become aware of their significance, for this would preclude the element of unconscious bias which is often so troublesome a factor in experimental work.

It is of course desirable, as already pointed out, to verify the bearings by theodolite observations in the field, assisted by some object of reference, the bearing of which is accurately known. This is particularly the case when it is desired to use the results as a basis for calculations, such, for example, as those undertaken for the purpose of arriving at a probable date of Stonehenge. But that is not to imply that it would be necessarily sound criticism of Mr. Hudson’s figures to object that they differ by a degree or two, here and there, from the theoretical angles. He is clearly not dealing with a case such as that to which reference has just been made, and he has himself called attention to the effect that any elevation or depression of the horizon line has upon the apparent bearing of a celestial object when it is rising and setting, and the dependence of the bearing also on the precise latitude of the observer; all this apart from the effect in the change in position of the object in the heavens during the last three thousand years or more.

The problems of orientation are not so simple as they appear at first sight, but the factors which enter them are known and due allowance can be made for them.

Granted, therefore, that the determinations made provisionally by Mr. Hudson are confirmed by closer {135} investigation, and that the general trend of his alignments can be shown to be within a degree or two of actual sunrise or sunset bearings, they may reasonably be accepted as very strong presumptive evidence in favour of his theories regarding them.

It is to be hoped that the lead he has given in this work will be followed up actively.

The use of aircraft as an auxiliary naturally suggests itself, for by this means very extended surveys could be made with ease and rapidity, and could not fail usefully to supplement the information gained in other ways.

CONCLUSION.

It has been the author’s object to submit evidence that the ancient astronomers in Britain set out Solar Alignments all over the country on a carefully thought out system; primarily, it is suggested, for utilitarian purposes, to serve the inhabitants as our printed calendars serve us to-day, and to fix prominent datum stations in alignment with one another at very great distances in order to provide reference marks for orientation and land measurement.

The interesting thing about the matter discussed in this essay is this. The method which the ancient astronomers devised for recording their observations is so inviolate it has outlasted the ages, and so simple that the author, who, never having studied the science, did not know at what bearings the sun rose and set, was able to find out those bearings merely by a study of place names.

The fascination of a quest would seem to be an imperishable attribute of humanity, and in concluding the writer has the satisfaction of knowing that the reader will not experience that flat feeling which the searcher experiences when there remains nothing further to be discovered.

{136}
Place Names indicative of the Sun derived from various languages, taken from Lysons and other sources.

Al: the rising sun, as in Alcester.
Ammon: the fostering sun, Amersham, Mamhead.
An: the rising sun, Ancott, An-dings.
Ar: the rising sun, Ardley, Hardley, Harwood.
Ash: the light of day-break, Ashfield, Ash Hill.
Avebury: originally Abury, from Abirim under which name the Phoenician Cananites worshipped the material Heavens.
Bal: the Phoenician Sun God, Balmoral.
Ball: Golden Ball, probably sites of ball-topped dial posts.
Bar: setting sun, Barmouth.
Bau: setting sun, Bawdsey.
Bay: setting sun, Bayton.
Beddle Stone: Tin-stone, on track of tin route through Kent.
Becker: rising sun as in Beeching Stoke.
Bel: Celto-British Sun God, Belton, Belstone, Bell Cross.
Bos, Bosh: retiring sun, Boscastle, Bosham.
Bull: very common, Assyrian Sun God.
Bugle: a little Bull, Golden Calf.
Brock: to worship a Divinity, or the sun, Brockenhurst.
Car: rising sun, Carhampton, Canyon, Carlisle.
Coc: solar light, Cockleton, Cockermouth.
Coel: Fire, the sun, Colchester, King Coel’s Kitchen.
Cor: circular, of the sun, Corinium, or Cirencester.
Cran: shooting forth of rays, Cranley, Cranford.
Crap Stone: a lode stone (archaic).
Castle, Camp: often indicate unfortified mounds.
Devil’s Jumps, indicate a sun path.
Dial Farm: very common, indicating places of sun dials.
Folly: very common all over England; obviously SOL LAY or alignment; the NineteenthCentury cartographers having mistaken the Eighteenth Century S for an F.
Gar: the sun, Garstones.
Gate, Gap, Gay, Yat: Way or Alignment, Gatcomb, Symond’s Yat.
{137}
Gallus was the unwatchful sentry of Mars; hence Sunrise as in Gallows Hill (very common).
Glas, Glis, Glos: glistening of the sun, Glastonbury, Gloster.
Gran: the same as Cran, Granchester, Granby, Gran Barrow.
Hal: the Phoenician Sun God, Old Hal Barrow, Haldon.
Heligans, Helions: derived from the Greek for the sun Helston, Hayle, etc.
Har: rising sun, Harlow, Harstone, Horley.
Hares: the sun, or Mars, Harescomb, Harston.
Il: Babylonian for the sun, Ilford.
Jacchus: the same as Bacchus, the sun, Jockey’s Geen, Jocky’s Bush, Checquer’s Wood.
Kerb stone: a stone with an inner, symbolic meaning (archaic) .
Kettle Stone: a Magi’s or Magician’s stone, since the kettle or cauldron was merely a symbol of the Druid’s mysteries.
Luk: the sun, as God of Fortune, Luxborough, Luger-shall, Ludgvan (Cornwall).
Maid stones: from Mad, Mod, Med, Mid, indicating Divine Power in all phases of religion, hence “the seats of the Mighty.”
Magi Stone (Cornwall): compare Sitomagum Thetfordia (ancient name for Thetford, the place of the Magi.
Matta: a Sun God, Matlock, Mottistone, Matterhorn.
Meni: setting sun, Mendip.
Mockbeggar: (compare Mock turtle) evidently imitation hence artificial beacons of wood instead of stone or earth.
Ner, Nar: light of the sun, Narborough.
Odstock, Odin’s Stone, old name for Wooton, I. of W.
Orb, Horb, Arb, Erb, Ereb: decline of day, Orby.
Orc: setting sun, Orkney, York.
Phrah: the sun as in Par, Farncott, Framsden.
Ra: Egyptian for the sun, Rochester, Wraysbury.
Rad, Red, Rid, Rod, Rud, Reed, Ryd: setting sun, Roding, Ryde.
{138}
Sar, Shar, Ser, Sher, Shor, Sur, Shur: rising sun as in Sarisbury, Sheringham, Shorwell, Surrey.
Salm: the Thunder God, Salm-Stone (Kent).
Shalm: Fire worship, Shalmsford (Kent).
Sid, Shed, Sideh: to shed abundantly, Sidbury, Sid-mouth.
Syd, Shad, Shoa: productiveness of the sun or Ceres: as in Sydenham, Shadwell, Shottisham, Syderstone; but it should be remembered that Sideritis is Latin for Lode-stone.
Shet, Shut: setting sun, Shetland.
Staple stone: staple is archaic for Post.
Silbury Hill is derived from Silbon, who was the same as Apollo, the sun.
Sol, Sal, Sel, Sil: the Sun, Salisbury, Silbury, etc.
Tophet, Toe, Tot: identical with Belus, the Sun God, as in Tofts, Totland.
Toth, Tet, Toot: was Mercury, Toot Hill, Tot Hill.
Thor: identical with Baal, Thorley, Thorney, Thorness.
Wim: daytime, Wimborne.
Win: the eye of day, Winchester, Winston, Windmill, Tumulus.
Wrox: the same as Orchs, Wroxall, I. of W.
Yel: the sun, Yelverton.
Yox: the same as Orch, westerning sun, Yoxford. Woolston, Woolpit, from Houl the Sun.
King Arthur was no other than the Sun; Arth was the Earth, and since the Sun was at one time the principal God or King of the Earth, all places such a King Arthur’s Castle, Court, Hill, etc., indicate sun alignment stations.

The sun is also indicated in the following names: St. George’s Hill, St. Catherine’s Hill, God’s Hill.

Added in the 1982 edition

The work of Hudson: 1932–1947

H. Hudson’s name appears in Portfolio 15 of the Straight Track Club Portfolios compiled by Clive Harper (Hereford Philosophical and Antiquarian Society, 1980).

Notes in Portfolio 16 (1) John Simpson (With a copy of “A Short Guide for Finding Ancient Sun Alignments” H. Hudson).

July 1934, cover only of this paper from the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and Natural History Proceedings of 1932 – Ancient Sun Alignments (Portfolio 18).

Portfolio 19 (October 1934): Curious Village Ceremony, published replies to a note in The Observer 12 November 1933 – H. Hudson 10/12/33. Also register of alignments; H. Hudson, and comments on Hudson’s suggestion of an alignments register – the first attempt at the ‘Leys gazetteer’ that still eludes geomantic research.

Portfolio 20 (April 1934): Sun alignments, Avebury; and Sun alignments, Mexico, by H. Hudson.

Special portfolio August 1935, in replies to Major F.C. Tyler’s comments on “Stock taking”.

Portfolio 23 (September 1935) Cornwall; Liskeard – The Hurlers Three Stone Circles, by H. Hudson.

Portfolio 25 (October 1936): Ancient Calendar Correcting Instruments: H. Hudson (cutting from the East Anglian Times 25/8/36).

	Latitude.	Alignments found.		Present day
		Sunrise.	Sunset.	Sunrise.
Norfolk. Thetford	52°-25′	52°	317°	48°
Cornwall	50°	48°	312°	50°
I. of Wight	50°-40′	52°	311°	50°
Dorset. Wimborne	51°	53°	311°	50°
Hants. Southampton	50°-50′	50°	308°	50°
Wilts. Stonehenge	51°	49°	311°	50°
Silbury Hill	51°	60°*	318°*	50°
Avebury Ring	51°	60°*	318°*	50°
Kent. Canterbury	51°	56°*	321°*	50°