Prehistoric Cumbria Images
The Cockpit on Moor Divock in the Lake District, Cumbria.
A Bronze Age stone circle comprising two concentric rings of stones.
White Raise Cairn on Moor Divock, Askham Fell in Cumbria.
This round cairn is a partly mutilated Bronze Age burial site, once covered by a heap of stones. On top of the cairn is an open rectangular cist (stone grave) with the displaced stone capping slab nearby. When opened, this grave was found to contain a crouched adult skeleton. The cairn is situated upon an alignment of several funerary monuments stretching for over 1.5km along the natural communication route over the fell.
White Raise Cairn on Moor Divock, Askham Fell in Cumbria.
This round cairn is a partly mutilated Bronze Age burial site, once covered by a heap of stones. On top of the cairn is an open rectangular cist (stone grave) with the displaced stone capping slab nearby. When opened, this grave was found to contain a crouched adult skeleton. The cairn is situated upon an alignment of several funerary monuments stretching for over 1.5km along the natural communication route over the fell.
Marked as 'Cairn Circle' on the OS maps, this 10m round cairn on Moor Divock, Askham Fell in Cumbria is a Bronze Age burial mound.
Forming a 6m circle round the top of this cairn are 10 large boulders with smaller stones in between. Investigation into the centre of the ring cairn found an adult cremation and two sherds of pottery covered by a layer of sand. Above the sand was a food vessel (a Yorkshire Vase) which is now in the British Museum.
The cairn is situated upon an alignment of several funerary monuments stretching for over 1.5km along the natural communication route over the fell.
The Cop Stone, Moor Divock on Askham Fell in Cumbria.
The Cop Stone is believed to have once been part of a Bronze Age ring cairn.
Casterton Stone Circle, Casterton in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, Cumbria.
Diameter 17.7m. Originally a circle of twenty stones set into an embankment and believed to be an Early Bronze Age kerbed platform burial cairn. Today only fourteen are clearly visible.
On private farmland. No public access.
Castlehowe Stone Circle, Hardendale near Shap in Cumbria..
This small 7m Bronze Age stone circle has 10 boulders of pink Shap granite and one hewn blue granite.
Castlehowe Stone Circle in Hardendale near Shap in Cumbria.
This small 7m stone circle has 10 boulders of Shap granite.
NB. This photo was taken with a zoom lens from the road. Please do not add to the damage to the wall and fence to gain access to the field.
A view of Little Man in the Skiddaw range from Castlerigg Stone Circle, Keswick, the Lake District, Cumbria.
Thirty eight stones remain in the 30.5m outer ring of this impressive Neolithic Stone Circle and another ten form an unusual rectangular inner enclosure. Built around 3000 BC, Castlerigg is one of the oldest circles in Britain.
Castlerigg Stone Circle, Keswick, the Lake District, Cumbria.
Thirty eight stones remain in the 30.5m outer ring of this impressive Neolithic Stone Circle and another ten form an unusual rectangular inner enclosure. Built around 3000 BC, Castlerigg is one of the oldest circles in Britain.
Iron Age Settlement, Cautley, Sedbergh, Cumbria.
Two thousand years ago, a simple farming community grew crops and grazed livestock on the valley floor beneath Cautley Spout. Their homes and small yards would have been enclosed within a perimeter wall. There is a good 3m wide stone-edged track that these ancient farmers built leading from the settlement to the falls. The ruins of a sheepfold built by medieval farmers can also be seen over parts of the settlement.
Iron Age Settlement, Cautley, Sedbergh, Cumbria.
Two thousand years ago, a simple farming community grew crops and grazed livestock on the valley floor beneath Cautley Spout. Their homes and small yards would have been enclosed within a perimeter wall. There is a good 3m wide stone-edged track that these ancient farmers built leading from the settlement to the falls. The ruins of a sheepfold built by medieval farmers can also be seen over parts of the settlement.
Cautley Barrow, Cautley, Sedbergh, Cumbria.
A Bronze Age (circa 2499-500 BC) burial cairn of loose stone. By the end of the Bronze Age, bodies would have been cremated and later, during the Iron Age they were often just dumped in rivers or lakes.
Looking down into Mayburgh Henge, Eamont Bridge, Penrith, Cumbria.
Mayburgh Henge dates back to the Neolithic Period from 5000 to 2500 BC). A single bank comprising stones from the River Eamont surrounds a large round interior, in the centre of which stands the single surviving monolith. Old drawings suggest there were once two groups of four stones. This may have been a meeting place and trade centre for stone axes from the Langdale Neolithic axe factory.
The entrance to Mayburgh Henge, Eamont Bridge, Penrith, Cumbria.
Mayburgh Henge dates back to the Neolithic Period from 5000 to 2500 BC). A single bank comprising stones from the River Eamont surrounds a large round interior, in the centre of which stands the single surviving monolith. Old drawings suggest there were once two groups of four stones. This may have been a meeting place and trade centre for stone axes from the Langdale Neolithic axe factory.
The monolith, Mayburgh Henge, Eamont Bridge, Penrith, Cumbria.
Mayburgh Henge dates back to the Neolithic Period from 5000 to 2500 BC). A single bank comprising stones from the River Eamont surrounds a large round interior, in the centre of which stands the single surviving monolith. Old drawings suggest there were once two groups of four stones. This may have been a meeting place and trade centre for stone axes from the Langdale Neolithic axe factory.
King Arthur's Round Table, Eamont Bridge, Penrith in the Eden Valley, Cumbria.
This King Arthur's Round Table has nothing to do with King Arthur, but is a Neolithic circular henge bounded by a 9m ditch and outer bank. Excavations in the 1930s revealed a cremation trench in the centre. Further excavation work is currently taking place in 2023.
Iron Hill North bowl barrow near Shap in Cumbria.
Earthwork remains of a Bronze Age bowl barrow (burial mound / cairn). Excavation of the cairn uncovered a cist (coffin / burial chamber) with a human male burial and deer remains. A bronze halberd (combined spear and axe) was found in the area.
The barrow has been cut in half by the building of the wall.
Iron Hill South lies close by.
Iron Hill North bowl barrow near in Hardendale Shap in Cumbria.
Earthwork remains of a Bronze Age bowl barrow (burial mound / cairn). Excavation of the cairn uncovered a cist (coffin / burial chamber) with a human male burial and deer remains. A bronze halberd (combined spear and axe) was found in the area.
The barrow has been cut in half by the building of the wall.
Iron Hill South lies close by.
Iron Hill South Cairn Circle at Harderndale near Shap in Cumbria.
A partial ring of seven pink granite boulders surrounding a low mound. Four boulders scattered on top of the mound are thought to be part of a cist. Investigation at this site located the bones of a man, a deer antler and animal bones.
Iron Hill South Cairn Circle in Hardendale near Shap in Cumbria.
A partial ring of seven pink granite boulders surrounding a low mound. Four boulders scattered on top of the mound are thought to be part of a cist. Investigation at this site located the bones of a man, a deer antler and animal bones.
Giant's Grave Standing Stones, Kirksanton in West Cumbria.
Two Bronze Age standing stones with cup and ring markings. The stones were recorded as standing on a barrow in the 18th century, so it is believed they may have been part of a stone circle. Black Combe rises in the distance
Castle Howe near Fell Foot Farm at the head of Little Langdale in the Lake District, Cumbria.
This craggy outcrop at the foot of Wrynose Pass is the site of an Iron Age Hillfort. It overlooks the Roman road from Ambleside to Ravenglass and The Ting Mound, a Viking / Medieval meeting place at Fell Foot. This close proximity to a medieval moot suggests this area has a long tradition as an assembly point and the hillfort may have been re-used or re-built in post-Roman times.
Long Meg and her Daughters, Little Salkeld, Cumbria.
Late Stone Age to Early Bronze Age (3000-2000BC): With a longest dimension of 109 metres, Long Meg and her Daughters is the third largest stone circle in the UK. The sandstone Meg and her granite daughters (about 60 of them) were thought to be witches turned to stone for dancing on the Sabbath. The stones are said to be uncountable and that if you come up with the same number twice, the witches come back to life!
Long Meg and her Daughters, Little Salkeld, Cumbria.
Late Stone Age to Early Bronze Age (3000-2000BC): With a longest dimension of 109 metres, Long Meg and her Daughters is the third largest stone circle in the UK. The sandstone Meg and her granite daughters (about 60 of them) were thought to be witches turned to stone for dancing on the Sabbath. The stones are said to be uncountable and that if you come up with the same number twice, the witches come back to life!
Long Meg from Long Meg and her Daughters Stone Circle, Little Salkeld, Cumbria.
Long Meg is a 3.4 metre tall block of red sandstone carved with spirals and cup and ring symbols. Meg is aligned with the mid-winter sunset from the middle of the stone circle.
Cup and ring markings on Long Meg from Long Meg and her Daughters Stone Circle, Little Salkeld, Cumbria.
Long Meg is a 3.4 metre tall block of red sandstone carved with spirals and cup and ring symbols. Meg is aligned with the mid-winter sunset from the middle of the stone circle.
The Goggleby Stone, Shap, in Cumbria.
The Googleby Stone is a huge Shap granite boulder. This stone, together with the other visible boulder in the adjacent field, Asper's Field Stone, are believed to have been part of a prehistoric processional stone avenue linking Kemp Howe Stone Circle with Skellaw Hill burial tumulus.
Kemp Howe lies close to Shapfell Lime Works.
Asper's Field Stone at Shap in Cumbria.
This stone and the Googleby Stone in the next field are believed to have been part of a prehistoric processional stone avenue linking Kemp Howe Stone Circle with Skellaw Hill burial tumulus.
A murmuration of starlings can be seen in the late afternoon skies above the trees.
Kemp Howe Stone Circle, Shap in Cumbria.
Sadly only a few stones remain of this pink Shap granite stone circle whiich was destroyed for the building of the West Coast Main Line Railway. Shap Limeworks lies in the distance.
Skellaw Hill - Hill of Skulls: Shap, Cumbria.
Skellaw Hill is a Bronze Age burial tumulus. In the wall just below the hill is a large boulder which is perfectly aligned with the stone in Apser's Field and the Goggleby Stone, suggesting that a processional Stone Avenue from the Kemp Howe Stone Circle may have led here.
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Sunbrick Stone Circle, Birkrigg Common, Bardsea, Cumbria..
Also known as Birkrigg Stone Circle and the Druid’s Temple, this is a lovely little Bronze Age circle sitting on Birkrigg Common, close to the village of Sunbrick. This is the only concentric circle (two rings of stones) in Cumbria. The inner ring of 10 stones has a diameter of 9m and the outer ring (now not so noticeable) had 15 stones and a diameter of 26m. Excavations of the inner ring in 1921 revealed a paved area and the remains of five cremations, one in an inverted collared urn (now in Tullie House Museum, Carlisle). It is thought that one of the stones may have been carved to resemble the head of a sperm whale.
Bardsea village from Sunbrick Stone Circle on Birkrigg Common, Cumbria.
Also known as Birkrigg Stone Circle and the Druid’s Temple, this is a lovely little Bronze Age circle sitting on Birkrigg Common, close to the village of Sunbrick. This is the only concentric circle (two rings of stones) in Cumbria. The inner ring of 10 stones has a diameter of 9m and the outer ring (now not so noticeable) had 15 stones and a diameter of 26m. Excavations of the inner ring in 1921 revealed a paved area and the remains of five cremations, one in an inverted collared urn (now in Tullie House Museum, Carlisle). It is thought that one of the stones may have been carved to resemble the head of a sperm whale.
Swinside Stone Circle and Lath Rigg near Broughton in Furness in Cumbria.
Swinside of the finest stone circles in Britain. Situated on Swinside Fell, this Bronze Age circle consists of 55 stones up to 3 metres high, and has a diameter of 27.5 metres. Its entrance appears to line up with the winter sunset. The circle's other name, Sunken Kirk, came from a legend that the devil kept pulling down a church that people were trying to build.
Swinside Stone Circle and Lath Rigg near Broughton in Furness in Cumbria.
Swinside of the finest stone circles in Britain. Situated on Swinside Fell, this Bronze Age circle consists of 55 stones up to 3 metres high, and has a diameter of 27.5 metres. Its entrance appears to line up with the winter sunset. The circle's other name, Sunken Kirk, came from a legend that the devil kept pulling down a church that people were trying to build.