Castlerigg Stone Circle

There are over 300 stone circles in Britain, but Castlerigg is reckoned one of the most impressive and beautiful, standing on the raised plateau of a natural amphitheatre created by the surrounding mountains of the Lake District.

The monument consists of a slightly irregular circle of stones about 100' in diameter which are thought to have been erected in the Neolithic Age around 3,200BC, although none of the Cumbrian stone circles have been scientifically dated. The tallest stone stands over 7' high, while a 10' wide gap to the north is believed to have been an entrance due to the 2 larger stones that flank it. Larger gaps exist to the northeast and west, but antiquarian prints suggest that the stones that were here have fallen and been removed since 1783. Within the circle stood a further 10 smaller stones in a roughly rectangular formation slightly south of east. This is an unusual feature, only repeated at the smaller and much less impressive Askham Fell Cockpit Stone Circle some 14 miles to the east.

Depending on whether you count some smaller ‘packing' stones as part of the monument the stones total between 38 and 42 in number, although the government figure is 40 with 2 missing. An extra boulder lies 300' southwest of the circle, raised by a farmer in the early 1900s. Possibly this replaces an outlier mentioned in a report of 1793. Such outliers seem a normal part of all the circles, although their purpose is obscure.

The purpose of Castlerigg is likewise obscure, but later Bronze Age circles of around 2,000BC to 800BC, are smaller and more circular and contain central pits or cairns as well as cremations. These are apparently lacking at the older Castlerigg and its nearby equally ancient monuments like Swinside and Long Meg and her Daughters.

Why not join me here and at other Northern English sites this year? Please see the information on this and similar tours at Scholarly Sojourns.

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