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Prehistoric Sites in England
Located on Stanton Moor, this is an embanked stone circle 10 metres in diameter. None of the stones stand taller than 1 metre. There are entrances to the circle at the NE and SW. Originally there was a cairn at its centre, and in more recent times a wall was built around the circle; this was removed at some time during the 1980s.
Located beside the ancient Ridgeway Path. The cairn is trapezoid in shape, measuring 55 metres long and 14.5 metres at its widest. It is orientated SSE - NNW. There are four (originally six) large sarsen stones forming a facade at the SSE end, standing 3 metres tall. Behind the facade a passageway 6 metres long leads to a cruciform-shaped series of chambers.
Excavation in 1919, and again in 1962-3, revealed the bones of 8 people. The original monument was simply a wooden mortuary structure surrounded by an oval cairn.
Carved into a flat outcrop of sandstone on open moorland are six groups of concentric circles. One pair of circles has a long, wavy groove connecting them. The largest circle measures 60 cm across. The meaning of these carvings, believed to date from the Bronze Age, has not been determined.
The chamber is one of two, positioned back to back and contained within a circular, denuded cairn. The chamber pictured is the better preserved Eastern chamber, which has two portal stones at its entrance. The skeletal remains of 17 people were found in the chambers during excavation in 1846, together with Neolithic style pottery, arrowheads and a flint knife.
Also known as The Giant's Quoit, the capstone of this tomb is 5.6 metres long. The tomb collapsed during a storm in 1815 and 9 years later it was re-erected. The uprights are 2.5 metres tall, however the original height would have been greater had it not been for the fact that one of the stones broke during the course of the reconstruction. The layout of the chamber therefore cannot be relied upon. The surrounding cairn is heavily denuded and measures 27 metres long by 12 metres wide.
A disused tin mine can be seen in the distance.
It was at this location, in the 1820s, that the study of prehistoric rock carvings began in Britain.
Close to a field boundary on a tall, squarish block of rock are a large series of circular hollows (“cups”), surrounding rings and connecting grooves. Several rocks in the area display such markings; two other circles appear on another rock nearby.
An impressive linear cemetery of well preserved Bronze Age round barrows of various types. The site probably originally comprised around 35 barrows. Bell, bowl, disc and saucer barrows are all represented, and also two twin barrows.
The two main rows of tumuli are orientated approximately 111.5 / 291.5 and 125.5 / 305.5 degrees.
The picture was taken from the top of one of the mounds.
Enclosed by an ugly iron railing are the remains of a burial chamber. There are four upright stones, between 1.5 and 2.5 metres tall, and a fallen capstone. The chamber is orientated 140.5 / 320.5 degrees.
A reference from 1746 states that the stones were then surrounded by a round barrow, of which there is no trace today.
360 metres WSW of the Knights is the well known Rollright Stones circle, which is 32 metres in diameter.
Situated high up in open moorland, this impressive structure has a massive capstone 5.5 metres long. Two giant portal slabs restrict the entrance to an antechamber whilst access to the main chamber is only possible through a narrow gap at the SW angle. The rear supporting upright has fallen inwards causing the capstone to slide backwards and sideways.
Excavation revealed cremated bones, flint and Neolithic style pottery.
Also called Keswick Carles circle, it is 30 metres in diameter and flattened on its NE side. There are 38 stones in the circle, 8 of them standing over the impressive height of 1.8 metres. Inside the circle, at the eastern side, is a rectangular setting of 10 stones of unknown purpose. An outlier stands 90 metres to the SW. A gap at the Northern side is flanked by two large stones and may represent an entrance. Charcoal was found in the rectangle in 1882 and an unpolished axe was found in 1875. The circle is thought to date from the period 3370 to 2670 BC.
A group of small stone circles, avenues, ring cairns and barrows are spread across 1.6 km of exposed moorland South-west of Askham village. The site pictured is a cairn circle which was found to contain a cremation inside an inverted Bronze Age urn. The structure and layout of the sites on the moor suggests that the complex dates from the final phase of stone circle building in Britain.
Westbury White Horse, Chalk Carving, Wiltshire
One of seven horses cut into the chalk downlands of Wiltshire, the exact date on which this horse was first scoured is not known. It is certainly the oldest white horse in the county, its original form having looked very different - if early sketches are to be believed. One theory is that it relates to the Battle of Ethandun in 878 AD which took place in the vicinity. Another source considers it to be of Iron Age date, the appearance of the original carving bearing a resemblance to horses found on Iron Age coins. The original horse was destroyed for several years before being re-cut in 1778. Further renovations have taken place since then, including the addition of drainage gratings and concrete re-enforcements.
Idol Stone, Rock Carving, West Yorkshire
Across about 8 km of the Northern and Western edge of Ilkley Moor are around 286 rocks which contain carvings believed to date from the Bronze Age. On Green Crag Slack, at the North-eastern corner of Rombalds Moor, is a small, smooth grit rock called the 'Idol Stone'. There are 25 cups, eight of them grouped together and seven of them surrounded by a groove. A single groove runs around the perimeter of the rock. The carvings are remarkably organised when compared to other carved stones on the moor.
This impressive Iron Age hill-fort is encircled by 2 banks and ditches, which still survive up to 15 metres high in some parts. The ramparts enclose an area of 24 acres. There are three entrances to the fort. It developed in three stages, the first dating from around the 3rd century BC and the last from between 50 BC and the Roman invasion of Britain. A Neolithic long barrow is also enclosed within the ramparts, and a causewayed camp of similar date lies to the South-east of the fort.
The stones in the picture are not those of the chamber, but of the false portal or ‘blind entrance’ at the Eastern end of a so-called laterally chambered tomb. The four burial chambers are below ground level on the Southern side of the mound. Excavation revealed the skeletal remains of 26 individuals, including 10 children. The long mound is 66 metres long but is only slightly visible.
Roughtin Linn, Rock Carvings, Northumberland
Situated in a clearing amid gorse and silver birch trees, this sloping rock measures some 18 metres long and 12 metres wide, making it the largest carved rock in Britain. It has over 60 carvings, including large deep cups, rings, grooves and flower-like figures.
A quarter mile North-west of Cerne Abbas village, on the Western slope of Trundle Hill is one of the most celebrated chalk carvings in Britain. The ‘rude man’ of Cerne is 55 metres high and 51 metres wide. The date of its first cutting is not known. One idea is that it was a joke on the part of the monks from the nearby Abbey. In 1764 the suggestion was made that it might be a Romano-British representation of Hercules, cut during the reign of the Emperor Commodus (180 to 193 AD). Similar images of Hercules appear on pottery and altars of the period.
This early 14th century castle stands upon a crag amongst dense woodland. The castle was enlarged by Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset in the 16th century.
It is reputedly haunted by the ghost of Lady Eleanor Pomeroy who lived here in the Middle Ages, and who died of starvation after having been locked in a dungeon by her jealous sister. Her ghost is said to lure strangers to perilously high vantage points in the castle, where they are likely to fall to their deaths.
Standing on open moorland, this is one of several examples of Portal Dolmen in Cornwall. The square-shaped chamber measures 1.8 metres long by 1.7 metres wide. It is effectively sealed off, with only a narrow gap at the South-east angle providing difficult access.
The peculiarly poised capstone - 2.4 metres square - gives the chamber a mushroom-like appearance.
Swastika Stone, Rock Carving, West Yorkshire
Located on Woodhouse Crag, on the Northern edge of Ilkley Moor. The stone has a double outline of a swastika, with 10 cups fitting within the 5 curved arms. The design is similar to art of the Celtic Iron Age period, so the carving is likely to be later than the majority of other carvings on the moor. The figure in the foreground is a 20th century replica; the original carving can be seen at the centre-left of the picture.
Garleigh Moor, Rock Carvings, Northumberland
On open moorland close to Lordenshaw hill fort are two rocks inscribed with cups, rings and grooves. An extra cup and ring has apparently been added to one of the rocks by a vandal!
A recently excavated and partially restored tomb of the ‘passage grave’ type. Part of an excavation trench is still visible on the monument’s eastern side. The chamber and passage face 126 degrees. The tomb stands in a field of rough pasture.
“There are monsters, open to the sky, heavy on their hillsides like slumberous whales, but twice the size, basking in a sea of grass.” Although this one is not quite a ‘monster’, archaeologist Aubrey Burl’s description of the giant long barrows of Southern England aptly describes the appearance of these numerous Neolithic monuments. This particular example, also called Ansty Long Barrow, is 41 metres long, 23 metres wide and stands 2 metres high at its Eastern end. The barrow is orientated ENE-WSW and has not been excavated.
The cairn has been re-constructed and has a fine spiral and vertical groove carved into a block of stone at its perimeter.
In a field beside the village of Minchinhampton is a weathered block of stone with two large holes in it. It is 2.5 metres high and is orientated ca. 131 / 311 degrees. Together with a smaller stone 10 metres away which forms a stile in the wall, they are thought to be the remnants of a Portal Dolmen.
It is said that superstitious mothers once passed their babies through the stone holes in the hope of preventing rickets.
This well preserved barrow is 40 metres long and covered with beech trees. At the Northern end is an upright slab of oolite, 1.8 metres tall, called ‘The Tinglestone’, orientated ca. 15 / 195 degrees.
One of three circles on Big Moor, southwest of Sheffield. This is the southernmost of the three and it is classed as an ‘embanked circle’, containing 13 stones. It measures 14.6 metres by 12 metres and is flattened on its southwestern side. Professor Alexander Thom labelled it a ‘Type B Flattened Circle’ under his stone circle shape classification scheme, and suggested that a low-standing outlying stone to the WNW may have been aligned on the rising of Spica around 2000BC. There were no finds during a scant excavation in the 1930s. Barbrook II circle lies 275 metres to the North.
Located in a field south of the main A420 road between Bristol and Chippenham, this much mutilated long barrow of the Severn-Cotswold group measures about 56 metres long by 27 metres wide and is orientated East-West. There were originally at least three chambers within the mound; the one pictured is the southern chamber, which has been partly restored. The roof was originally corbelled and cairn material was found blocking the entrance passage. Eleven burials were found in this chamber. The barrow was excavated in 1909, at which time the false portal at the East was removed, and also in ...
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