Prehistoric England A-Z (C-M)

A-B - C-M (this page) - N-Z
See also: Ancient Scotland | Wales

Carn Brea    A Neolithic hilltop settlement dating from about 3700BC. The site was used for thousands of years; as excavations turned up Neolithic remains, Bronze Age axes, golden Celtic coins, Roman coins, and later artifacts. Carn Brea, Near Redruth, Cornwall, England, Attraction Type: Prehistoric Location: off B3297 Location map OS SW687 407 Heritage Rating:   ? Nearest attractions and accommodation     Nearest: hotels - cottages - Bed and Breakfasts

Carn Euny Ancient Village    There are a number of so-called 'ancient villages' in the southwest of England. Perhaps the most well known is Chysauster, but just a short distance away from Chysauster is Carn Euny, one of the best preserved village sites in Cornwall. The village was occupied from the Iron Age to the late Roman period, and the remains include stone foundations of domestic buildings and an undergound passage of the type known as a fogou. Brane, Cornwall, England Attraction Type: Prehistoric Location: Located just over a mile south west of Sancreed off the A30, but parking is 1/3 mile away in Brane. This is an open access site. Website: Carn Euny Ancient Village English Heritage OS SW402289 Nearest attractions and accommodation     Nearest: hotels - cottages - Bed and Breakfasts

Castlerigg   Stone circle in a magnificent meadow setting. Not as large, or as well known as Stonehenge, but sit here as the sun goes down and try not to feel awed. Castlerigg was one of the first stone circles built in Britain, dating from about 3000 BC. The circle actually isn't (isn't a circle, that is), with one side flattened and a large gap between two huge stones on the north side, which suggests an entrance of some sort. There is a small rectangle of stones within the circle, an unusual feature in stone circles. There is also a small mound inside the circle, which suggests a burial place. Keswick, Cumbria, England Attraction Type: Prehistoric Location: off A66, just east of Keswick Website: Castlerigg English Heritage Details of Castlerigg - Photos of Castlerigg OS NY291 236 Heritage Highlight: One of the earliest stone circles in Britain Heritage Rating:   ? Nearest attractions and accommodation     Nearest: hotels - cottages - Bed and Breakfasts

Cerne Abbas Giant    A 200 foot high figure of a man bearing a club, incised into the chalk of the hillside. The giant has been variously identified as Roman, Celtic, and Iron Age. His obvious, um, physical endowments have made him the source of fertility practices over the centuries; it is said that if an infertile woman spends the night within the figure, she will then be able to bear a child. Cerne Abbas, Near Dorchester, Dorset, England Attraction Type: Prehistoric Location: viewpoint on A352 Website: Cerne Abbas Giant Details of Cerne Abbas Giant OS ST666 017 Heritage Rating:   ? Nearest attractions and accommodation     Nearest: hotels - cottages - Bed and Breakfasts

Chanctonbury Ring    An Iron Age hillfort that was later used as a Roman religious site. Chanctonbury sits atop a hill in the chalk downland of West Sussex. The earliest known use of the site occurred in the Bronze Age, about 1500 BCE, with the burial of a young woman, who was interred with a bronze dagger beside her. Findon, West Sussex, England Attraction Type: Prehistoric Location: Parking area on Chanctonbury Ring Road, turning right off the A283. Also reachable by footpath from the Cissbury Ring parking area. OS TQ139120 Nearest attractions and accommodation     Nearest: hotels - cottages - Bed and Breakfasts

Chisbury Camp    An Iron Age hillfort which was later occupied during the Roman period. The hillfort is 14 acres in size, with two, or, in some places, three sets of banks and ditch defenses. Iron Age beads were found in the centre of the site, near later Roman pottery. Chisbury, Wiltshire, England Attraction Type: Prehistoric Location: Just east of Chisbury village off a minor road, near Manor Farm OS SU278659 Heritage Rating:   ? Nearest attractions and accommodation     Nearest: hotels - cottages - Bed and Breakfasts

Chysauster Ancient Village    Chysauster was an Iron Age village inhabited from about 100 BC to sometime in the 3rd century AD. It was probably built by members of the Dumnonii tribe of Cornish Britons. The village is composed of eight courtyard houses, laid out in two rows of four. Outside the main grouping of houses is another stone house, and there are the remains of several outlying buildings in the surrounding fields. Gulval, Cornwall, England, TR20 8XA Attraction Type: Prehistoric Location: 2½ m NW Gulval, off B3311 Website: Chysauster Ancient Village Phone: 07831 757 934 English Heritage Location map Details of Chysauster Ancient Village OS SW473 350 Heritage Rating:   ? Nearest attractions and accommodation     Nearest: hotels - cottages - Bed and Breakfasts

Cissbury Ring    A very large Iron Age hillfort set on a chalk promontory of the South Downs, Cissbury Ring was built around 300 BCE as a series of earthwork banks and ditches surrounding a level area of about 65 acres in size. It is the second-largest hillfort in England, second only in size to Maiden Castle in Dorset. Findon, West Sussex, England Attraction Type: Prehistoric Location: Parking area at Storrington Rise, Findon Valley on the A24. Website: Cissbury Ring Phone: 01903 740233 National Trust OS TQ140081 Nearest attractions and accommodation     Nearest: hotels - cottages - Bed and Breakfasts

Coldrum Longbarrow    An almost intact Neolithic long barrow in the Medway Valley of Kent. The barrow is probably the best preserved in Kent; it measures an impressive 30 metres long by 18 metres wide (about 95 feet by 55 feet), and is surrounded by 15 sarsen stones arranged in a circle. When the site was excavated in the early 20th century the bones of 22 people were found. These remains can now be seen at the Maidstone Museum. Trottiscliffe, Kent, England Attraction Type: Prehistoric Location: Off a minor road north of the M20 about 7 miles west of Maidstone. Park at Trottiscliffe, where signposted footpaths lead to the barrow. Website: Coldrum Longbarrow National Trust OS TQ653606 Nearest attractions and accommodation     Nearest: hotels - cottages - Bed and Breakfasts

Devil's Humps Barrows    A series of bell and bowl barrows also known as The King's Graves, set atop Bow Hill, in Kingley Vale. The site has also been classed as a barrow cemetery. It takes a good climb to reach the barrows from the car parking area at West Stoke. Chichester, West Sussex, England Attraction Type: Prehistoric Location: About 4 miles north of Chichester, off the B2141 OS SU820111 Nearest attractions and accommodation     Nearest: hotels - cottages - Bed and Breakfasts

Dyrham Camp Hillfort   Otherwise known as Hinton Hillfort this Iron Age fortification is the traditional site of the Battle of Dyrham in 577AD. In this battle, according to the Anglo Saxon Chronicle, the Saxons led by "Cuthwine and Ceawlin fought against the Britons and slew three kings, Coinmail, Condidan and Farimail at the place which is called Dyrham; and they captured three cities, Gloucester, Cirencester and Bath". Though the site of the battle is not known, what is very clear is the spectacular location of the hillfort, with wonderful views towards Wales. The best place to view the hillfort is from the National Trust property of Dyrham Park. Beside the hillfort are remnants of medieval strip lychets, also best seen from Dyrham Park. Hinton, Cotswolds, Gloucestershire, England Attraction Type: Prehistoric Location: Just off the A46 OS ST738767 Heritage Rating:   ? Nearest attractions and accommodation     Nearest: hotels - cottages - Bed and Breakfasts

Flowerdown Barrows    A trio of Bronze Age burial mounds and a sarsen stone. The mounds were originally part of a larger cemetery of barrows, of which little trace remains. B3049, Littletown, Hampshire, England Attraction Type: Prehistoric Location: Open access site. Located at the crossroads in the centre of Littletow vilage, just off the B3049. Website: Flowerdown Barrows English Heritage OS SU459320 Heritage Highlight: The disc barrow is the largest in Hampshire Heritage Rating:   ? Nearest attractions and accommodation     Nearest: hotels - cottages - Bed and Breakfasts

Gamelands Stone Circle   A recumbent stone circle lying at the foot of Knott Scar, one mile east of the village of Orton, in the west of Cumbria's Eden Valley. The stones form a flattened circle, or oval, about 45 x 38 metres in circumference. There were originally 40 stones, but of these only 33 remain. Knott Lane, Orton, Cumbria, England Attraction Type: Prehistoric Location: On Knott Lane, a farm track off the minor road between Orton and Raisbeck OS NY640081 Heritage Highlight: One of the largest stone circles in Cumbria Heritage Rating:   ? Nearest attractions and accommodation     Nearest: hotels - cottages - Bed and Breakfasts

Grimes Graves    Grimes Graves is one of the most fascinating Neolithic sites in Britain. Despite its name, it is not a grave, or burial place, but a flint mine worked between about 2200 and 2500 BC. Located in open heath country near Thetford Forest, Grimes Graves consists of over 350 hollows in the ground marking the location of the former mine shafts. Some of the shafts are sunk as deep as 30 feet below the surface - a remarkable accomplishment when you consider that the Neolithic miners used antlers for picks and animal shoulder-blades for shovels. On one of the antler picks found at Grimes Graves archaeologists found a miner's fingerprint - still intact after 4000 years! The mines here produced weapons and tools distributed as far away as Scotland. Thetford, Norfolk, England Attraction Type: Prehistoric Location: 7 miles NW of Thetford, off A134 Website: Grimes Graves Phone: 01842 810 656 English Heritage OS TL804 901 Heritage Rating:   ? Nearest attractions and accommodation     Nearest: hotels - cottages - Bed and Breakfasts

Grimspound    An impressive Bronze Age settlement of on Dartmoor. Grimspound featured in the Sherlock Holmes story, 'The Hound of the Baskervilles'. Challacombe, Moretonhampstead, Dartmoor, Devon, England Attraction Type: Prehistoric Location: 6 miles SW of Moretonhampstead off the B3212 Website: Grimspound English Heritage Details of Grimspound OS SX701 809 Heritage Rating:   ? Nearest attractions and accommodation     Nearest: hotels - cottages - Bed and Breakfasts

Halliggye Fogou    An underground chamber believed to date from the 4th or 5th century BCE. The chamber was in use until sometime in the 2nd century AD. The fogou is located within an enclosing earthwork, possibly an Iron Age settlement. Mawgan, Cornwall, England Attraction Type: Prehistoric Location: On the Trelowarren Estate, 5 miles south east of Helston, located off the B3293. Free entry (charge to visit the rest of the Trelowarren estate). Website: Halliggye Fogou English Heritage OS SW712239 Heritage Rating:   ? Nearest attractions and accommodation     Nearest: hotels - cottages - Bed and Breakfasts

Hatfield Earthworks    A Neolithic henge and mound, located beside the River Avon. The henge is bounded by a bank and internal ditch, and encloses an area of about 35 acres. The earthworks are incomplete, especially on the southwest facing river side of the site, and there are two causewayed entrances. Marden, Wiltshire, England Attraction Type: Prehistoric Location: Off the minor road towards Woodborough, north east of Marden village. Open acess site Website: Hatfield Earthworks English Heritage OS SU090584 Heritage Rating:   ? Nearest attractions and accommodation     Nearest: hotels - cottages - Bed and Breakfasts

Hob Hurst's House    Hob Hurst's House is a prehistoric burial chamber, unusual in that it is rectangular in shape, roughly 8 x 7.5 m and 1 m high. Baslow, Derbyshire, England Attraction Type: Prehistoric Location: Accessible via an unclassified road from the B5057, 5 miles Baslow, 9 miles W of Chesterfield Website: Hob Hurst's House Phone: 01629 816 200 English Heritage Details of Hob Hurst's House OS SK287 692 Heritage Rating:   ? Nearest attractions and accommodation     Nearest: hotels - cottages - Bed and Breakfasts

King Arthur's Round Table    A much altered henge complex, only a few hundred yards from the larger and more intact Mayburgh Henge. Penrith, Cumbria, England Attraction Type: Prehistoric Location: 1 mile s of Penrith on the west side of the A66 English Heritage Details of King Arthur's Round Table OS NY523283 Heritage Rating:   ? Nearest attractions and accommodation     Nearest: hotels - cottages - Bed and Breakfasts

King Doniert's Stone   King Doniert's Stone consists of the remains of two richly carved 9th century Celtic crosses. The crosses commemorate the Celtic king Dumgarth, who ruled the kingdon of Dumnonia until he died by drowning about 875 AD. St Cleer, Cornwall, England Attraction Type: Prehistoric Location: Off the B3254 just north east of St Cleer village. Free parking in a layby. This is an open access site. Website: King Doniert's Stone English Heritage - Photos of King Doniert's Stone OS SX236687 Heritage Rating:   ? Nearest attractions and accommodation     Nearest: hotels - cottages - Bed and Breakfasts

Kingston Russell Stone Circle    A stone circle dating to the late Neolithic or early Bronze Age. The circle is composed of 18 stones, all fallen. The location is wonderful; the stone circle is set on a chalk hill top overlooking the sea and nearby Abbotsbury village. Abbotsbury, Dorset, England Attraction Type: Prehistoric Location: 2 miles north of Abbotsbury. The circle is located on the MacMillan Way footpath. Not signposted. Use OS Landranger map LR194 (Dorchester/Weymouth) Website: Kingston Russell Stone Circle English Heritage OS SY577878 Heritage Rating:   ? Nearest attractions and accommodation     Nearest: hotels - cottages - Bed and Breakfasts

Kit's Coty House    The remains of a dolmen burial chamber, consisting of three upright stones and a capstone. The capstone is huge, about 4 metres by 2.7 metres in width. Nearby is Little Kit's Coty, also known as the Countless Stones. Aylesford, Kent, England Attraction Type: Prehistoric Location: Off the A229 2 miles north of Maidstone. Open access. Website: Kit's Coty House OS TQ745608 Heritage Highlight: 3 Nearest attractions and accommodation     Nearest: hotels - cottages - Bed and Breakfasts

Knowlton Church and Earthworks    A fascinating historic site consisting of a ruined medieval church standing within the remains of a Neolithic henge earthwork. The juxtaposition of the Norman church and the prehistoric henge monument represents a quite striking combination of Christian and pre-Christian history. Lumber Lane, Knowlton, England Attraction Type: Church Location: Located off Lumber Lane, Knowlton. Website: Knowlton Church and Earthworks English Heritage OS SU023102 Heritage Rating:   ? Nearest attractions and accommodation     Nearest: hotels - cottages - Bed and Breakfasts

Lanyon Quoit    The quoit consists of one large stone supported upon three standing stones. It is likely the remains of a long barrow, or chambered tomb. Madron, Cornwall, England Attraction Type: Prehistoric Location: Off a minor road 2 miles NW of Madron Details of Lanyon Quoit OS SW430 337 Heritage Rating:   ? Nearest attractions and accommodation     Nearest: hotels - cottages - Bed and Breakfasts

Lexden Earthworks and Bluebottle Grove    A network of Iron Age earthwork banks and ditches built to protect Camulodunum the pre-Roman town of Colchester. Nearby are a series of pre-Roman burial sites. Among these is the Lexden Tumulus, traditionally thought to be the grave of the British chief Cunobelinus. Lexden Straight Road, Colchester, Essex, England Attraction Type: Prehistoric Location: Lexden Earthworks are off Lexden Straight Road. Bluebottle Grove is signposted off Beech Hill. The sites are within easy walking distance of each other. Open access. Website: Lexden Earthworks and Bluebottle Grove English Heritage OS TL974246 Heritage Rating:   ? Nearest attractions and accommodation     Nearest: hotels - cottages - Bed and Breakfasts

Little Kit's Coty    A prehistoric burial site, now little more than confused jumble of sarsen stones.Little Kit's Cotyy stands about 450 metres south of the Kit's Coty House dolmen. This site is also known as Countless Stones. Aylesford, Kent, England Attraction Type: Prehistoric Location: Off the A229, 2 miles north of Maidstone Website: Little Kit's Coty English Heritage OS TQ744604 Heritage Rating:   ? Nearest attractions and accommodation     Nearest: hotels - cottages - Bed and Breakfasts

Little Meg Cairn   Remains of a keb cairn, sometimes (wrongly) called a stone circle. the cairn consists of 11 stones, most fallen, around a central raised area. An excavation in 1866 revealed a burial cist with an urn containing cremated remains. The stones of the cist had cup and ring marks - one of these stones is now in Penrith Museum. The original cairn would have been covered with turf and ranged about 9.5 metres by 8 metres. Little Salkeld, Cumbria, England Attraction Type: Prehistoric Location: Park at Long Meg stone circle (signposted from Little Salkeld). - Photos of Little Meg Cairn OS NY576374 Heritage Rating:   ? Nearest attractions and accommodation     Nearest: hotels - cottages - Bed and Breakfasts

Long Meg and Her Daughters   Bronze Age stone circle in a lovely setting. Little Salkeld, Near Penrith, Cumbria, England Attraction Type: Prehistoric Location: just NE of Little Salkeld, 2 miles N of Langwathby, off the A686 Details of Long Meg and Her Daughters - Photos of Long Meg and Her Daughters OS NY571371 Heritage Rating:   ? Nearest attractions and accommodation     Nearest: hotels - cottages - Bed and Breakfasts

Maiden Castle    The largest and most famous pre-Roman fortress in Britain. The site is nearly 100 acres in size, with banks as high as 80 feet enclosing a hill-top site of some 45 acres. It was inhabited as early as the Bronze Age, but most of the visible ramparts were erected in the 1st century BC. In 43 AD the Romans besieged the "castle". The defenders huge store of some 40,000 sling stones proved useless against the Roman's leather shields, and the site fell to the invaders. A mass grave of defenders who died in the assault was found in 1937 near the eastern entrance. A site worth seeing. Dorchester, Dorset, England Attraction Type: Prehistoric Location: 1 mile SW of Dorchester, off A354 Website: Maiden Castle English Heritage Details of Maiden Castle OS SY670 885 Heritage Highlight: Roman foundations lie within the hilltop site Heritage Rating:   ? Nearest attractions and accommodation     Nearest: hotels - cottages - Bed and Breakfasts

Mayburgh Henge    A large Neolithic Henge with a solitary standing stone in the middle. Penrith, Lake District, Cumbria, England Attraction Type: Prehistoric Location: 1 mile s of Penrith off the A66, then signposted from B5320 English Heritage Details of Mayburgh Henge OS NY519285 Heritage Rating:   ? Nearest attractions and accommodation     Nearest: hotels - cottages - Bed and Breakfasts

Men an Tol   An intriguing monument consisting of two upright stones standing on either side of a round stone with a hole through the middle. Madron, Cornwall, England Attraction Type: Prehistoric Location: Off the minor road between Madron and Morvah Details of Men an Tol - Photos of Men an Tol OS SW426 349 Heritage Rating:   ? Nearest attractions and accommodation     Nearest: hotels - cottages - Bed and Breakfasts

Merrivale Prehistoric Site   A superb prehistoric site on western Dartmoor. Merrivale is not one monument, but a multitude of monuments sharing the same wonderfully scenic location. Here you will find the remains of a Bronze Age settlement, two stone rows, solitary standing stones, burial cairns, and a stone circle. B3357, Merrivale, Devon, England Attraction Type: Prehistoric Location: Located just off the B3357 and just east of Merrivale village. The most striking monuments are to the south of the road. Parking in a layby. This is an open access site. Website: Merrivale Prehistoric Site English Heritage - Photos of Merrivale Prehistoric Site OS SX556746 Heritage Rating:   ? Nearest attractions and accommodation     Nearest: hotels - cottages - Bed and Breakfasts

Merry Maidens    A circle of 19 small stones in a field near Lamorna, on the Lands End to Newlyn road. This is probably the best preserved of all the stone circles in Cornwall, and it is, unusually, believed to be complete and unaltered. Lamorna, Cornwall, England Attraction Type: Prehistoric Location: On the B3315, 3/4 mile west of Lamorna Details of Merry Maidens OS SW433 245 Heritage Rating:   ? Nearest attractions and accommodation     Nearest: hotels - cottages - Bed and Breakfasts

Mitchell's Fold Stone Circle   A stone circle set on a plateau on the Shropshire border with Wales, between Corndon Hill and Stapeley Hill, offering fantastic panoramic views over the Black Mountains of Wales to the west. An outlying stone stands to the south of the circle. Priest Weston, Shropshire, England Attraction Type: Prehistoric Location: Signposted off the minor road through Priest Weston. Steep walk to the top of the hill. - Photos of Mitchell's Fold Stone Circle OS SO304983 Heritage Rating:   ? Nearest attractions and accommodation     Nearest: hotels - cottages - Bed and Breakfasts

MORE Prehistoric England
Browse alphabetically or by page
A-B - C-M (this page) - N-Z

Page 1 | 2 | 3

Ancient Britain

Ancient Britain A-Z England - Scotland - Wales FEATURES Ancient Wessex - Avebury - Castlerigg - Grimes Graves - Hadrian's Wall - Long Meg - Rollright Stones - Silbury Hill - Stonehenge ARTICLES A-Z Gazetteer - Prehistoric life - Understanding ancient sites ATTRACTIONS A-Z Abbeys and Monasteries - Ancient Britain - Castles - Cathedrals - Historic Houses - Gardens - Museums - Roman Remains

Text © David Ross and Britain Express