Menu
 
Portfolio
 
Terms of Use
 

The stone circle at Castlerigg is situated near Keswick 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 lasted from 3,300 to 900 BC, during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Ages.

The stones are glacial erratic boulders composed of volcanic rock from the Borrowdale Volcanic Group. Both andesitic lavas and tuffs (volcanic ashes) are represented. Castle Rigg sits on a deposit of glacial till, and it is likely that the boulders were originally part of this deposit. The stones are set in a flattened circle, measuring 32.6 m at its widest and 29.5 m at its narrowest. The heaviest stone has been estimated to weigh around 16 tons and the tallest stone measures approximately 2.3m high. There is a 3.3m wide gap in its northern edge, which may have been an entrance. Within the circle, abutting its eastern quadrant is a roughly rectangular setting of a further 10 stones. The circle was probably constructed around 3200 BC (Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age), making it one of the earliest stone circles in Britain and possibly in Europe. It is important to archaeoastronomers who have noted that the sunrise during the Autumn equinox appears over the top of Threlkeld Knott, a hill 3.5 km to the east. Some stones in the circle have been aligned with the midwinter sunrise and various lunar positions.

 

More posts..

Mold Castle

Mold Castle, on Bailey Hill in the town of Mold, Flintshire, Northeast Wales.   Mold Castle was built upon an existing earthwork. A motte and bailey fortress was erected c. 1072 – possibly by Robert de Montalt, a descendant of Eustace De Monte Alto, a

Read More
Ipswich Hoards

There are two notable Ipswich Hoards. The first was a hoard of Anglo-Saxon coins discovered in 1863. The second was a hoard of six Iron Age gold torcs that was discovered in 1968 and 1969. The latter hoard has been described as second only to

Read More
Bodiam Castle

Bodiam Castle is a 14th-century moated castle near Robertsbridge in East Sussex, England. It was built in 1385 by Sir Edward Dalyngrigge, a former knight of Edward III, with the permission of Richard II, ostensibly to defend the area against French invasion during the Hundred

Read More
Monmouth Castle

Monmouth Castle is a castle in the town of Monmouth, the county town of Monmouthshire, southeast Wales. It is a Grade I listed building and scheduled monument. Monmouth Castle is located close to the center of Monmouth on a hill above the River Monnow, behind

Read More
Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin
Share on pinterest
error: