I
love these prehistoric sites. There's just something so mysterious
and intriguing about them. Please don't visit Britain without seeing
at least one, and see if you can stay til sunset! You won't forget
the experience. What's the difference between a causewayed camp
and a hill fort, anyway? When were those blasted stone circles built,
and why? For some answers to these pressing questions, visit the
prehistoric monuments
page in our History section.
An Iron Age Hillfort to the northwest of Abbotsbury village. The fort encloses an area of 4 acres, and within the double ramparts, the outlines of huts can still be seen. The location is superb, with views across Lyme Bay.
Abbotsbury,
Dorset,
England
Henge monument with the addition of a later stone circle. A Bronze Age round barrow was later grafted onto the rear of the site.
Arbor Low has been called the finest henge monument in the north of England. The site is composed of a henge with the addition of a later stone circle. The outer bank of the henge is roughly circular, measuring about 259 x 246 feet in diameter. Within the bank is a ditch about 6 feet deep and 30 feet wide. The weathered limestone stones are not standing, but lie in a rough circle pointing outwards. There is no firm evidence to suggest whether the stones were originally standing or not; speculation exists that they were knocked down by zealous Christians, but they may also have been laid down by the builders of the circle.
Upper Oldhams Farm,
Monyash Bakewell,
Derbyshire,
England
Arthur's Stone is a Neolithic burial chamber on a low hillside overlooking the River Dore and Herefordshire's Golden Valley. The chamber is built of large slabs of stone which would originally have been covered with turf. Inside the turf mound the stones were arranged to create a cromlech with an entrance passage. There are nine stones shaping the chamber with five of the stones supporting a huge capstone.
Dorstone,
Herefordshire,
England
Traditionally known simply as 'The Sanctuary', this is a complex late Neolithic site, with the major phase of construction in about 2500 BCE. The Sanctuary is comprised of a concentric arrangement of wooden and stone posts. The location of the post holes is marked by concrete marker stones, which, while missing a lot of the atmosphere of well-preserved stone circles, does help you to easily view the layout of the site.
Overton Hill,
A4 East Kennett,
Wiltshire,
England
Avebury is unique in that the village of Avebury lies partly within the henge, or outer circle of stones, and a road splits the circle. The main Avebury stone circle is roughly a quarter mile across, enclosing an area of about 28 acres, and it contains two smaller circles within it.
There is an avenue of stones leading away from the circle towards Overton Hill a mile and a half away, and it has been speculated by some archaeologists that the avenue was constructed to form the body of a snake, with the circle as the snake's head. The avenue stones alternate from tall and thin to broad and trapezoidal, leading to more speculation that they represent males and females respectively.
There is a very steep ditch and bank surrounding the stone circle. Excavation shows that the ditch was originally about 30 feet deep, with the bank an equal height. Do your math - that makes for a 60 foot tall barrier!
Avebury probably served as a religious and ceremonial centre, though what those beliefs or ceremonies were we do not know. We also don't know quite when the site was built, though the current best guess (subject to change at a moment's notice, it seems) is that it was begun in about 3000 BC. Nearby are West Kennet Long Barrow and Silbury Hill. Well worth visiting.
Marlborough,
Wiltshire,
England,
SN8 1RF
Contained within the considerable estates of Kingston Lacy House is this Iron Age hillfort, surrounded by three concentric ditches and ramparts. It has been conjectured that Badbury is the site of Mons Badonicus (Mount Badon) - the great battle at which King Arthur defeated the advancing Germanic tribes of Angles, Saxons, and Jutes in the late 5th or early 6th century.
Kingston Lacy,
Shapwick,
Dorset,
England
A prehistoric burial site in a marvellous clifftop location, Ballowall was used throughout the Neolithic and Middle Bronze Age. The cairn, which is 67 feet in diamter, was concealed for many years beneath the spoilage of tin mining, but when finally excavated in 1878 revealed that the site was based around a round chambered cairn, entered by a covered galllery about 11 feet long.
St Just,
Cornwall,
England
A chambered tomb dating from about 1400BC. Thirty eight skeletons were discovered in the tomb, and these and other artifacts can be seen in the folk museum in Winchcombe.
Winchcombe,
Cotswolds,
Gloucestershire,
England
A Neolithic long barrow named after a legendary local giant named Bevis, or Beavis. The old tales tell that Bevis ate an ox washed down with two hogshead of beer every week. This same Bevis was said to have cast his sword off the parapets of Arundel Castle.
Compton,
West Sussex,
England
An Iron Age hill fort which was the scene of British resistance against Roman invaders in 54AD. The Romans subsequently used the hill fort as a military encampment site. Finds unearthed during excavations at Bigbury can be seen at both Canterbury and Maidstone museums.
Bigbury Camp,
Kent,
England
An Iron Age hill fort set in lovely woodlands. Blackbury Camp (sometimes called Blackbury Castle) stands on a spur of land looking down on tributaries of the River Coly.
Southleigh,
Devon,
England
A small stone circle of 11 stones, set in a lovely moorland location south of Ennerdale Bridge. Not the largest, nor the most imposing, but a very attractive stone circle in a lovely setting.
Ennerdale Bridge,
Lake District,
Cumbria,
England
An Iron Age hillfort, located on a hill above the village of South Creake. It is unusual to find Iron Age forts in Norfolk, and Bloodgate hill is one of the best. The origin of the name 'Bloodgate' is unknown, and it is unlikely to denote anything remotely bloody! The fort is almost completely circular, with a smaller ring within the perimeter, from which Iron Age pottery has been recovered.
South Creake,
Norfolk,
England,
NR21 9LZ
Bratton Camp is an Iron Age hillfort on Bratton Down, with two ditches and banks enclosing an arrea of 25 acres. At the centre of the site is a Neolithic long barrow, which predates the hillfort by up to 2000 years.
B3098,
Bratton,
Wiltshire,
England
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Home
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I
love these prehistoric sites. There's just something so mysterious
and intriguing about them. Please don't visit Britain without seeing
at least one, and see if you can stay til sunset! You won't forget
the experience. What's the difference between a causewayed camp
and a hill fort, anyway? When were those blasted stone circles built,
and why? For some answers to these pressing questions, visit the
