Rough Stone Monuments and Their BuildersPeet, T. Eric (Thomas Eric)
History
Rough Stone Monuments and Their Builders
Peet, T. Eric (Thomas Eric)
Megalithic monuments; Prehistoric peoples
There are many other circles in England, but we have only space to
mention briefly some of the more important. At Rollright, in
Oxfordshire, there is a circle 100 feet in diameter with a tall menhir
50 yards to the north-east. Derbyshire possesses a famous monument, that
of Arbor Low, where a circle is surrounded by a rampart and ditch, while
that of Stanton Drew in Somerset consists of a great circle A and two
smaller circles B and C. The line joining the centres of B and A passes
through a menhir called Hauptville's Quoit away to the north-east, while
that which joins the centres of C and A cuts a group of three menhirs
called The Cove, lying to the south-west.
In Cumberland there are several circles. One of these, 330 feet in
diameter with an outstanding menhir, is known as "Long Meg and her
Daughters." Another, the Mayborough Circle, is of much the same size,
but consists of a tall monolith in the centre of a rampart formed
entirely of rather small water-worn stones. A similar circle not far
from this is known as King Arthur's Round Table; here, however, there is
no monolith. Near Keswick there is a finely preserved circle, and at
Shap there seems to have existed a large circle with an avenue of stones
running for over a mile to the north.
Cornwall possesses a number of fine monuments. The most celebrated is
the Dance Maen Circle, which is 76 feet in diameter and has two
monoliths to the north-east, out of sight of the circle, but stated to
be in a straight line with its centre. Local tradition calls the circle
"The Merry Maidens," and has it that the stones are girls turned into
stones for dancing on Sunday: the two monoliths are called the Pipers.
The three circles known as the Hurlers lie close together with their
centres nearly in a straight line in the direction N.N.E. by S.S.W. At
Boscawen-un, near Penzance, is a circle called the Nine Maidens, and two
circles near Tregeseal have the same name. Another well-known circle in
Cornwall is called the Stripple Stones: the circle stands on a platform
of earth surrounded by a ditch, outside which is a rampart. In the
centre is a menhir 12 feet in height.
At Merivale, in Somersetshire, there are the remains of a small circle,
to the north of which lie two almost parallel double lines of menhirs,
running about E.N.E. by W.S.W., the more southerly of the two lines
overlapping the other at both extremities.
With what purpose were these great circles erected? We have already
mentioned the curious belief of Geoffrey of Monmouth with regard to
Stonehenge, and we may pass on to more modern theories. James I was
once taken to see Stonehenge when on a visit to the Earl of Pembroke at
Wilton. He was so interested that he ordered his architect Inigo Jones
to enquire into its date and purpose. The architect's conclusion was
that it was a Roman temple "dedicated to the god Caelus and built after
the Tuscan order."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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