Photo Gallery: Stone Circles

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Throughout England and Scotland (the countries featured at this site), as well as Ireland and Brittany, France, ancient peoples erected stone circles, burial chambers, stone rows, and numerous other monuments. Some stone circles, such as Stonehenge and Avebury, included henges (a Late Neolithic earthen enclosure of bank and ditch), and others (such as Merry Maidens and Boscawen-un) did not. Henges were also erected without an inner stone circle and seem to be older in style than the stone circles (at Stonehenge, the henge was raised centuries before the first stone circle was constructed).

The location of the stone circles and related standing stones on this page is given beneath each picture. When time allows, I will add more images and contextual information for these sites. Nothing, however, compares with visiting these sites for oneself. To immerse oneself in the timeless and immeasurable depths of spirit these sites are imbued with is a great joy. (Of course, just to visit them for their aesthetic and historical/archeological interest is quite rewarding as well. The comprehension of science suffused with the wonder of "New Age" receptivity is ever my goal.)

Merry Maidens SW: 433245, S of B3315 St Buryan, Penwith, Cornwall	Long Meg NY: 571373, N of A686 outside Little Salkeld	Long Meg NY: 571373, N of A686 outside Little Salkeld
Also known as the Dawns Men, this stone circle consists of 19 stones. Nearby, to the north, are two stones called the Pipers and, to the south, a solitary standing stone called the Fiddler. Local tradition has it that the maidens and their accompanists were turned to stone for dancing on a Sunday. Also nearby: Tregiffian entrance grave, kerbed, with a burial chamber, on the edge of the road.	Long Meg and Her Daughters is one of the largest stone circles in Britain. The Daughters form a circle of 51 stones with 27 still upright; there may have been 70 stones originally, and the circle measures 110 by 93 meters. Long Meg is a 3.6 meter tall red sandstone block standing 18 meters SW of the circle and bearing a cup-and-ring mark, spiral and concentric circles. Nearby: Little Meg, circle of 11 stones.
Boscawen-un SW: 412273, S of A30 St Buryan, Penwith, Cornwall	Castlerigg NY: 292236, S of A66 Keswick, Lake District	Castlerigg NY: 292236, S of A66 Keswick, Lake District
Among the best-preserved stone circles in Cornwall, consisting of 19 stones with the prominent central stone shown above. Elliptical ring, with widest diameter being 24.4 meters. Medieval tradition held that this was one of the three greatest Druidic meeting places in Britain, but its likely bronze age origin predates the Druids by more than 1500 years (ca. 2000 BCE).	38 upright stones mark this circle, 33 meters in diameter, in one of the most striking settings of all stone rings. The equinoctial sun rises over Threlkeld Knott to the east.
Avebury SU: 103700, on A4361 Sunrise at Avebury	Avebury SU: 103700, on A4361 Avebury Standing Stone in North Ring	Avebury SU: 103700, on A4361 Avebury Southern Ring and Henge
Beyond question, one of the most remarkable prehistoric sites in Britain, the Avebury complex consists of a great ditch and external bank enclosing 11.5 hectares with a diameter of 427 meters. Only the Durrington Walls (SU: 150437, A345 near Amesbury) is a larger henge monument (520 meters N-S, 450 E-W), but lacking standing stones, stone circles, and other prominent features, Durrington almost vanishes into the surrounding countryside. Not so Avebury, which includes an outer circle of at least 98 great stones and two inner circles near the center of the complex. Nearby: the West Kennet Avenue, a double row of stones; West Kennet Long Barrow; Silbury Hill; numerous other sites.	The great ditch surrounding Avebury is divided into four unequal arcs, each separated by a 15-meter wide chalk entrance causeway. In one of the greatest indignities inflicted upon the ancient monuments of Britain, all but 27 of the great sarcen stones (which average 3.6 meters in height, with some reaching 4.2 meters and weighing over 40 tons) were destroyed in recent centuries for building materials by the local farmers. Pits were dug by the stones, which were heated with fire until they shattered and collapsed into the pits. The resultant stone blocks were used to erect stone walls and local buildings. Today, the locations of the fallen stones are marked by concrete plinths.	The Kennet Avenue curves south from the complex, marching in a double row of standing stones for 2300 meters to The Sanctuary on Overton Hill. The complex dates at least to 2600 BCE, with two likely phases of development, ca. 2600 BCE and 1800 BCE. Avebury was, in all likelihood, as important as Stonehenge to its builders.
Rollright Stones / The King's Men SP: 296308, W of A34 Oxfordshire, England
The King's Men form a circle of about 70 stones, with a diameter of 33 meters. Legend has it that the stones are countless, and that they are the remains of a king's army. The King Stone stands 400 meters E of the circle, is 2.4 meters high and 1.5 meters wide. All the stones are extremely weathered. Folklore tells of a king who met a witch while marching with his men. The witch cried out: "Seven long strides thou shalt take, / And if Long Compton thou can see, / King of England thou shalt be." While his men stood about in a circle, and his knights stood whispering nearby, the king strode forward seven paces to find his view blocked by a rise of the ground. The witch cackled, "As Long Compton thou canst not see, / King of England thou shalt not be, / Rise up stick, and stand still stone, / For King of England thou shalt be none. / Thou and thy men hoar stones shall be, / And I myself an elder tree." Nearby the circle stand the stones known as the Whispering Knights, four uprights creating a chamber about 2 meters square, with the probable cover stone leaning at an angle.

Other images will be posted in the future.

All photographs © Ernest Black (www.standingstone.com) You may copy and distribute these images in electronic form for educational use, provided that no charge is made and the copyright owner is duly acknowleged. Any and all other use without copyright owner's permission is expressly forbidden.

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All material on this and other Standing Stone Designs web pages copywrite © Ernest Black 1997 unless otherwise noted.

This page last updated on 9 June 1997.