Stanton Drew stone circle, Somerset
Even Somerset locals are barely aware of the stone circle of Stanton Drew - and yet this is the third largest complex of prehistoric standing stones in England.
The stone circle at Stanton Drew is in north Somerset, between south Bristol and the northern slopes of the Mendip hills.
There are three stone circles at Stanton Drew. The Great Circle, 113 metres in diameter, has 26 surviving upright stones.
The other two circles, to the south-west and north-east, are smaller. Both the Great Circle and the north-east circle were approached from the north-east by short ‘avenues’ of standing stones, most of which have fallen.
In the beer garden of the Druid Arms pub is a group of three large stones called The Cove, and to the north, across the River Chew, is the site of a standing stone known as Hautville’s Quoit. Their closeness to each other, and the alignments between some of them, indicate that together these stones formed a single complex.
Stone circles like these are known to date to the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age (around 3000–2000 BC). Such circles are believed to have played an important part in social and religious life, and there is evidence that some were aligned with major events of the solar and lunar calendar.
In 1997 English Heritage initiated a geophysical survey of the large field that contains the Great Circle and north-east circle. It showed that the remains at Stanton Drew are the ruins of a much more elaborate and important site than had previously been imagined.
Lying under the Great Circle are the remains of a complex pattern of buried pits, arranged in nine concentric rings within the stone circle, and further pits at the centre.
The Great Circle is itself contained within a very large enclosure ditch, about 135m (440 ft) in diameter.
As is common with such sites, there are several local legends to account for the presence of the stones.
The best known tells how a wedding party was turned to stone: the party was held throughout Saturday, but at midnight the fiddle player packed up and left, refusing to indulge in merriment on the Sabbath. Instead, a man clothed in black (the Devil in disguise) came and started to play his violin for the merrymakers.
When dawn broke, everybody had been turned to stone by the Devil: so the stone circles are the guests and The Cove is the bride and the groom with the drunken churchman at their feet.
Visitors to the stones can park at Stanton Drew Village Hall. There is also limited free parking at the entrance to the stones field. Further free parking for the cove can be found adjacent to The Druids Arms.
The landowner charges a small fee to enter the stones field (currently £1) and access is at his discretion. The stones can be usually be visited at any reasonable time in daylight hours.
Image from Wikimedia
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