Stanley Gregory Beckensall MBE is an international rock art expert. He was the first male graduate of Keele University [Source? Contradicts linked page. ]. He was a Station Education Officer in the Royal Air Force, on National Service. He became head of English at Ifield Grammar School, Crawley New Town, Sussex. He was head of English in a large comprehensive school in Malta for two years. Afterwards, he moved to Northumberland to train teachers at Alnwick College of Education. He was later head teacher of two Northumberland schools, and was chairman of the Northumberland Teachers of Drama Association. He had written and produced many plays for young people and adults, two of which were broadcast on BBC Radio Newcastle, though he remains most famous for his writings on Prehistoric Rock Art. He has appeared on British television and in other British media many times. But his passion in life has remained prehistoric rock art.
In May 2004, Stan Beckensall was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne for his contribution to the study of British rock art. [1] In 2005 on the UNESCO colloquium on world rock art, he represented Great Britain. In 2006, his website was awarded the Channel Four television ICT British Archaeological Award. [2]
He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2019 New Year Honours for services to Prehistoric Rock Art and History in Britain.
Unquiet grave. A novel (2008) Powdene, Newcastle*
Northumberland's Hidden History (2009), Amberley
Prehistoric Rock Art in Britain (2009), Amberley
Northumberland Viewpoints (2010), Amberley
Empire Halts Here: Viewing the heart of Hadrian's Wall (2010), Amberley
Coastal castles of Northumberland (2011), Amberley
Hills and Valleys of Northumberland (2012), Amberley
Hexham Through Time (2012), Amberley
Northumberland Churches (2013), Amberley
Northumberland Prehistoric Rock Art 3rd printing (2014), The History Press
Forthcoming in 2014: Northumberland: a Celebration, Fonthill Media, Stroud
Pilgrimage: a tour of Northumberland in pictures and poems, Fonthill
(*) Non fiction writings; plays.
Northumberland is a county in North East England, one of the two counties in England that border on Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall, Hexham Abbey and the tidal island Lindisfarne with the accompanying Lindisfarne Castle.
Creswell Crags is an enclosed limestone gorge on the border between Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, England, near the villages of Creswell and Whitwell. The cliffs in the ravine contain several caves that were occupied during the last ice age, between around 43,000 and 10,000 years ago. Its caves contain the northernmost cave art in Europe. The evidence of occupation found in the rich series of sediments that accumulated over many thousands of years is regarded as internationally unique in demonstrating how prehistoric people managed to live at the extreme northernmost limits of their territory during the Late Pleistocene period.
A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions of the technique to refer to such images. Petroglyphs, estimated to be 20,000 years old and classified as protected monuments and have been added to the tentative list of UNESCO’s world heritage sites. Petroglyphs are found worldwide, and are often associated with prehistoric peoples. The word comes from the Greek prefix petro-, from πέτρα petra meaning "stone", and γλύφω glýphō meaning "carve", and was originally coined in French as pétroglyphe.
Hexham is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the south bank of the River Tyne, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at Warden nearby, and close to Hadrian's Wall. Hexham was the administrative centre for the Tynedale district from 1974 to 2009. In 2011, it had a population of 13,097.
Rothbury is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the River Coquet. It is 14 miles (22.5 km) northwest of Morpeth and 26 miles (42 km) of Newcastle upon Tyne. At the 2011 Census, it had a population of 2,107.
Cup and ring marks or cup marks are a form of prehistoric art found in the Atlantic seaboard of Europe (Ireland, Wales, Northern England, Scotland, France, Portugal, and Spain – and in Mediterranean Europe – Italy, Azerbaijan and Greece, as well as in Scandinavia and in Switzerland.
In archaeology, rock art is human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type also may be called cave art or parietal art. A global phenomenon, rock art is found in many culturally diverse regions of the world. It has been produced in many contexts throughout human history. In terms of technique, the four main groups are:
Long Meg and Her Daughters is a Neolithic stone circle situated north-east of Penrith near Little Salkeld in Cumbria, North West England. One of around 1,300 stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany, it was constructed as a part of a megalithic tradition that emerged during Neolithic, and continued into the Early Bronze Age. The stone circle is the third widest in England, behind Avebury in Wiltshire, and only slightly smaller than Stanton Drew in Somerset.
Northumberland, England's northernmost county, is a land where Roman occupiers once guarded a walled frontier, Anglian invaders fought with Celtic natives, and Norman lords built castles to suppress rebellion and defend a contested border with Scotland. The present-day county is a vestige of an independent kingdom that once stretched from Edinburgh to the Humber, hence its name, meaning literally 'north of the Humber'. Reflecting its tumultuous past, Northumberland has more castles than any other county in England, and the greatest number of recognised battle sites. Once an economically important region that supplied much of the coal that powered the industrial revolution, Northumberland is now a primarily rural county with a small and gradually shrinking population.
Francis Manning Marlborough Pryor is an English archaeologist specialising in the study of the Bronze and Iron Ages in Britain. He is best known for his discovery and excavation of Flag Fen, a Bronze Age archaeological site near Peterborough, as well as for his frequent appearances on the Channel 4 television series Time Team.
Hunterheugh Crags are part of the Fellsandstone escarpment, 5 miles (8 km) north west of Alnwick, Northumberland, England and 9 miles (14 km) from the coast. The site is moorland forming part of the Bewick and Beanley Moors SSSI, although before the Bronze Age it is likely to have been thickly forested with broadleaf deciduous trees. This site is most famous for the cup and ring mark art present on the outcrop.
The Edakkal caves are two natural caves at a remote location at Edakkal, 25 km (15.5 mi) from Kalpetta in the Wayanad district of Kerala in India's Western Ghats. They lie 1,200 m (3,900 ft) above sea level on Ambukutty Mala, near an ancient trade route connecting the high mountains of Mysore to the ports of the Malabar coast. Inside the caves are pictorial writings believed to date to at least 6,000 BCE, from the Neolithic man, indicating the presence of a prehistoric settlement in this region. The Stone Age carvings of Edakkal are rare and are the only known examples from South India besides those of Shenthurini, Kollam also in Kerala.
The Northumberland Football Association is a governing body in the historic county of Northumberland, England. The association was formed in 1883. It is responsible for the governance and development of football at all levels in the county.
The Prehistoric Rock-Art Site of the Côa Valley is an open-air Paleolithic archaeological site located in northeastern Portugal, near the border with Spain.
Phil Carradice, is a Welsh writer and broadcaster.
The Ewaninga Conservation Reserve is a protected area in the Northern Territory of Australia consisting of an area of low sand dunes, rocky outcrops and a claypan about 35 kilometres (22 mi) south of Alice Springs. It is significant because of a large number of Aboriginal rock carvings.
Andrew Thomas Festing MBE PPRP is a British portrait painter, and fellow and former president of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters.
Rock art has been produced in Europe since the Upper Palaeolithic period through to recent centuries. It is found in all of the major regions of the continent. One of the most famous examples of parietal art is the Grotte Chauvet in France. The cultural purpose of these remnants of the Paleolithic and other periods of prehistoric art is not known. However, some theories suggest that, because these paintings were created in parts of the caves that were not easily accessed, it is unlikely that they were intended simply as decoration.
In the Neolithic and Bronze Age British Isles, rock art was produced across various parts of the islands. Petroglyphic in nature, the majority of such carvings are abstract in design, usually cup and ring marks, although examples of spirals or figurative depictions of weaponry are also known. Only one form of rock art in Europe, this late prehistoric tradition had connections with others along Atlantic Europe, particularly in Galicia.
The Queen's Hall, formerly Hexham Town Hall, is a municipal structure in Beaumont Street, Hexham, Northumberland, England. The structure, which was the headquarters of Hexham Urban District Council and is now an arts centre, is a Grade II listed building.