Shap Avenue is the name given to a, now mostly destroyed, megalithic complex near the village of Shap in Cumbria, England, comprising at least two stone circles, a two-mile avenue of megalithic standing stones, and several adjacent burial mounds. [1][2] Before its destruction, it was one of the largest megalithic monuments in Europe.[1] As it survives today, the site comprises a rough and highly damaged avenue of stones arranged over a mile, aligned northwest. At its southern end is the avenue's terminal, a stone circle named 'Kemp Howe', which has been mostly buried by a rail embankment.
The place name ‘Shap’ alludes to the Avenue, as it derives from the word ‘Hep’, meaning a pile of stones; this would later be written as ‘Hyep’, and bastardised to ‘Shap’.[2][3] Up until the 18th century, Shap Avenue was comparable to Avebury in Wiltshire, making it a popular tourist destination for antiquarians. William Stukeley, famous for his work at Avebury, visited the site before its destruction, sometime before 1725. He said of Shap Avenue:
“Though it's ourney be northward ... it makes a very large curve, or an arc of a circle, as those at Avebury, and passes over a brook too. A spring likewise arises in it, near the Greyhound inn.”[3]
Stukeley had earlier received a plan of the monument from a local antiquarian (now missing). Of this, he notes:
"Ihave gott a vast drawing and measurement from Mr. Routh, of Carlisle, of the stones at Shap, in Westmoreland, which I desired from him. They give me so much satisfaction that verily I shall call on you next year to take another religions pilgrimage' with me thither. I find it to be, what I always supposed, another huge serpentine temple, like that of ABVRY. The measure of what are left extends a mile and a half, but without doubt a great deal of it has been demolished by the town, and by everything else thereabouts..."[4]
Location
Shap Stone Avenue sits near the centre of the Eden Valley, Cumbria. It is broadly grouped into a category of monuments dubbed by Aubrey Burl, as 'Cumbrian Circles': large, uncluttered enclosures of stone, large enough to congregate inside. Such enclosures are in areas surrounding the English Lake District, and have been dated amongst the oldest in the British Isles (as dated by the Lochmaben Stone).[5]
It is one of three major complexes of megalithic monuments to be found in the Eden Valley. The stone circles, henges, cairns and other standing stones were likely grouped at key nodes along a possible major route north up to Scotland (today marked by the M6 motorway). The monuments around Shap form a northwest alignment with several monuments in the Eden Valley, all to the east of the River Lowther along this main route to the north. Firstly, Mayburgh Henge and the other henges within the Penrith henge complex, sit alongside the River Eamont, near its confluence with the River Lowther, 11km north of Shap. Secondly, the Long Meg and Her Daughters complex runs alongside the River Eden, approximately 20km north of Shap.
Archaeologist Tom Clare[6] noted that the view to the east is restricted, that there may have been a tarn close to the site, and that the southern terminus of the lines of stones may have ended at a stream. There may also have been a spring within the complex (alluded to in the repeated place name 'Keld' in the area, Norse for 'spring'). All of these features are similar to ones found at the Long Meg and Penrith as well. Additionally, the landscape surrounding Shap is rich in Neolithic and Early Bronze Age archaeology. Of note, are the many burial cairns and ring cairns in the area. Notably, Moor Divock sits to the northwest, Gunnerkeld Stone Circle to the north, and Great Asby Scar to the south. There is also a multitude of stone circles and burial cairns to the east, such as the Hardendale Stone Cairn, Castle Howe, Seal Howe, and Oddendale.[7]
The avenue
The original avenue was said to comprise a large avenue of stones incorporating a massive stone circle at its centre known as 'Carl Lofts'. This was reported to be centred around the Greyhound Inn, near the southern end of Shap. At its ends were megalithic terminals (not unlike the Sanctuary at Avebury, which terminated West Kennet Avenue). A significant burial cairn, known as 'Skellaw Hill', is found at the avenue's northern end, though most stones have now been lost. Landscape archaeology can confirm the avenue, Skellaw Hill, and the terminals, but not Carl Lofts, which may have been misreported. [1]
The OS grid reference of the Shap Avenue site can be given as NY5614, but the actual boundaries of the complex remain in doubt. Most stones have been lost, some natural erratics may have been added to the monument in historical times, and the various early accounts of the setting by William Stukeley, Thomas Pennant, Lady Lonsdale, and George Hall are not easy to reconcile.[8] In many cases, it is not clear whether antiquarians visited the site prior to describing it. Instead, many appear to have parrotted the very earliest account of the avenue, in William Camden's Britannia, where the site took on the name 'Loder Stones', after the Lowther Family:
"Here the river Eimet, flowing out of a great Lake and for a good space dividing this shire from Cumberland, receiveth the river Loder into it, nere unto the spring head whereof, hard by Shape, in times past Hepe, a little monastery built by Thomas the sonne of Gospatrick, sonne of Orms, there is a well or fountaine which after the manner of Euripus ebbeth and floweth many times in a day; also there be huge stones in forme of Pyramides, some 9 foote high and foureteene foot thicke, ranged directly as it were in a rowe for a mile in length, with equall distance almost betweene, which may seeme to have bin pitched and erected for to continue the memoriall of some act there atchieved, but what the same was, by injurie of time it is quite forgotten."
However, a 1775 painting by Lady Mary Lowther is the best pictorial evidence archaeologists have of the site. The painting, currently in possession of Askham Hall (as of 2024), shows Kemp Howe, with a tightly arranged avenue of stones trailing off it towards the northwest. It appears to show the avenue crossing a stream, before disappearing into the distance towards the Greyhound Inn (still surviving today as a Grade II listed building).
Without Stukeley's plan of the site reemerging, the arrangement of the original stones north of the Greyhound Inn can no longer be determined (at least without excavation). Archaeologist Tom Clare suggested that there were two avenues. One consisting of a single, more widely spaced, row to the west and north west of Skellaw Hill, and an avenue leading from Kemp Howe to a now lost stone circle at Carl Lofts (reportedly situated near the Greyhound Hotel). Clare pointed out that the geological composition (pink granite) of the major, pyramidal-shaped stones (Goggleby Stone, Thunderstone) differs from that of the other boulders in the complex.[9]
An engraving of Lady Lowther's 1775 watercolour of Kemp Howe, before the avenue was removed, and a railbank was built on top of it.
In addition, the northern focus of some of the stones of Shap Avenue 'north' appears to be the burial mound at Skellaw Hill; the southern focus of some of the stones of Shap Avenue 'south' also seems to be a burial mound or mounds.[9]
Traces of eight stones mark the avenue which led in a northwest direction from the Kemp Howe stone circle.[10] Four of the avenue stones can still be seen in fields to the west of Shap: NY562147, NY555153, NY559150 (the Goggleby Stone), and NY558152 (Asper's Field).[11]
Heading north to south, the following major features may be seen:
The Thunder Stone
The avenue's first major stone is the massive Thunder Stone (grid referenceNY551158) which is located 3 km northwest of the Kemp Howe stone circle, and is just to the north-west of Skellaw Hill.[10] This stone was not set into the ground, but lies on the surface left by the retreating ice, so "may not thus be a part of the constructed avenue".[12]
Skellaw Hill barrow
The avenue passes by the Skellaw Hill barrow, an Early Bronze Age burial cairn (estimated to date to approximately 2500 - 1800 BC) also known as the Hill of Skulls or Skellow Hill, (grid referenceNY556155),[13] a round burial mound. It is located 2.4 km northwest of the Kemp Howe stone circle.[10][1]
Asper's Field Stone
The Asper's Field Stone is a massive boulder on private land, about nine feet high by five feet wide, that has fallen on its side. It has two cup markings on the top, one with a single ring around it.[14] It, like the Goggleby Stone, is set in concrete at its base.
Goggleby Stone
The Goggleby Stone, the tallest surviving stone of the lost avenue. It was reerected by Tom Clare and his team in the 1970s, and its base encased in cement.
The Goggleby Stone (grid referenceNY559150) is the next one to be seen, just south of Asper's Field. It is located in a field down a back road between Keld and Shap.[13] The Goggleby Stone is about ten feet high and has a cup mark on its north face, and an artificial shallow depression above it.[11][15] The Goggleby stone had fallen, but was re-erected by Tom Clare, the County Archaeologist, after having excavated it.[16][17]
Carl Lofts Stone Circle
This supposed stone circle, never described by any first-hand sources, was mentioned by several antiquarians as having the form of Avebury, and likely features on the Routh map mentioned by William Stukeley: "huge serpentine temple, like that of ABVRY." [citation needed]
Local tradition, as reported by the incumbent antiquarian vicar (c1859), described a stone circle, 122 metres in diameter, with a stone in the centre that was large enough to be cut up and made into seven gateposts (which was possibly its fate). The circle was somewhere near to and north of the Greyhound Inn. [18]
Kemp Howe Stone Circle
The remains of a quasi stone circle (grid referenceNY567132) lie on the A6 road opposite the former petrol station close to a railway embankment. The circle, really the bulbous terminal to the avenue, is badly damaged, the Victorian railway-builders having driven their line right through the circle itself, and only six large pink granite stones remain in place.[13] All of the stones are fallen.[11] They once formed a circle with a diameter of about 14 metres.[11]
Dating and purpose
Tom Clare suggests that the avenues date to the Late Neolithic period (approximately 3,200 - 2,500 BC), based upon evidence supplied by the Goggleby Stone, and comparisons to West Kennet Avenue. Clare also points out that the Shap complex is important because of the lack of a henge (as at Mayburgh or Long Meg - though archaeology has yet to confirm this).[9] The layout, with its similarities to the other two complexes, plus the choice of pink granite for the large stones, suggests a similar ritualistic rationale behind the monument, perhaps extending over several generations.
Adam Morgan Ibbotson believed the site to have been similar to the megalithic stone circles of the region, notably Castlerigg, Swinside, and Long Meg. However, while he believed these stone circles mimicked, and served as stone built varieties of henge monuments, Shap Avenue may have been a stone built cursus. Cumbrian Neolithic archaeology is unique in this regard, as many monuments found elsewhere are stone-built in Cumbria. In the region, long cairns take the place of long barrows, causewayed enclosures are stone built, and stone circles largely replace earthen built henges. [1]
The Ring of Brodgar is a Neolithic henge and stone circle about 6 miles north-east of Stromness on Mainland, the largest island in Orkney, Scotland. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the Heart of Neolithic Orkney.
A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 structures or arrangements in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea.
A henge loosely describes one of three related types of Neolithic earthwork. The essential characteristic of all three is that they feature a ring-shaped bank and ditch, with the ditch inside the bank. Because the internal ditches would have served defensive purposes poorly, henges are not considered to have been defensive constructions. The three henge types are as follows, with the figure in brackets being the approximate diameter of the central flat area:
Henge. The word henge refers to a particular type of earthwork of the Neolithic period, typically consisting of a roughly circular or oval-shaped bank with an internal ditch surrounding a central flat area of more than 20 m (66 ft) in diameter. There is typically little if any evidence of occupation in a henge, although they may contain ritual structures such as stone circles, timber circles and coves. Henge monument is sometimes used as a synonym for henge. Henges sometimes, but by no means always, featured stone or timber circles, and circle henge is sometimes used to describe these structures. The three largest stone circles in Britain are each within a henge. Examples of henges without significant internal monuments are the three henges of Thornborough Henges. Although having given its name to the word henge, Stonehenge is atypical in that the ditch is outside the main earthwork bank.
Hengiform monument. Like an ordinary henge, except the central flat area is between 5 and 20 m (16–66 ft) in diameter, they comprise a modest earthwork with a fairly wide outer bank. The terms mini-henge or Dorchester henge are sometimes used as synonyms for hengiform monument. An example is the Neolithic site at Wormy Hillock Henge.
Henge enclosure. A Neolithic ring earthwork with the ditch inside the bank, with the central flat area having abundant evidence of occupation and usually being more than 300 m (980 ft) in diameter. Some true henges are as large as this, but lack evidence of domestic occupation. Super-henge or superhenge is sometimes used as a synonym for a henge enclosure. However, sometimes the term is used to indicate size alone rather than use, e.g. "Marden henge ... is the least understood of the four British 'superhenges' ".
Avebury is a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles, around the village of Avebury in Wiltshire, in south-west England. One of the best-known prehistoric sites in Britain, it contains the largest megalithic stone circle in the world. It is both a tourist attraction and a place of religious importance to contemporary pagans.
A stone circle is a ring of megalithic standing stones. Most are found in Northwestern Europe – especially in Great Britain, Ireland, and Brittany – and typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being built between 3300 to 2500 BC. The best known examples include those at the henge monument at Avebury, the Rollright Stones, Castlerigg, and elements within the ring of standing stones at Stonehenge. Scattered examples exist from other parts of Europe. Later, during the Iron Age, stone circles were built in southern Scandinavia.
The Sanctuary was a stone and timber circle near the village of Avebury in the south-western English county of Wiltshire. Excavation has revealed the location of the 58 stone sockets and 62 post-holes. The ring was part of a tradition of stone circle construction that spread throughout much of Britain, Ireland, and Brittany during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, over a period between 3300 and 900 BCE. The purpose of such monuments is unknown, although archaeologists speculate that the stones represented supernatural entities for the circle's builders.
The Beckhampton Avenue was a curving prehistoric avenue of stones that ran broadly south west from Avebury towards The Longstones at Beckhampton in the English county of Wiltshire. It probably dates to the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age.
The Stanton Drew stone circles are just outside the village of Stanton Drew in the English county of Somerset. The largest stone circle is the Great Circle, 113 metres (371 ft) in diameter and the second largest stone circle in Britain ; it is considered to be one of the largest Neolithic monuments to have been built. The date of construction is not known, but is thought to be between 3000 and 2000 BCE, which places it in the Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age. It was made a scheduled monument in 1982.
Long Meg and Her Daughters is a Neolithic stone circle situated north-east of Penrith near Little Salkeld in Cumbria, North West England. One of around 1,300 stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany, it was constructed as a part of a megalithic tradition that emerged during Neolithic, and continued into the Early Bronze Age.
CastleriggStone Circle is situated on a prominent hill to the east of Keswick, in the Lake District National Park, North West England. It is one of around 1,300 stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany, constructed as a part of a megalithic tradition that lasted from approximately 3,200 BC to 2500 BC, during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Ages.
Little Meg is a small circle of large kerb stones which probably surrounded a Bronze Age kerb cairn. It is close to the village of Langwathby to the north-east of Penrith in the English county of Cumbria and is 650 metres north-east of the more famous stone circle of Long Meg and Her Daughters. It forms part of a complex of stone circles and cairns around the Long Meg site that includes the circle at Glassonby, Old Parks, and other sites since lost.
Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (WHS) in Wiltshire, England. The WHS covers two large areas of land separated by about 24 kilometres (15 mi), rather than a specific monument or building. The sites were inscribed as co-listings in 1986. Some large and well known monuments within the WHS are listed below, but the area also has an exceptionally high density of small-scale archaeological sites, particularly from the prehistoric period. More than 700 individual archaeological features have been identified. There are 160 separate scheduled monuments, covering 415 items or features.
Mayburgh Henge is a large prehistoric monument in the county of Cumbria in northern England. The henge is in the care of English Heritage and is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. It is 400 metres from King Arthur's Round Table Henge.
Oddendale is a hamlet in Cumbria, England, near the large village of Shap. For transport there is the M6 motorway and the A6 road.
The stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany are a megalithic tradition of monuments consisting of standing stones arranged in rings. These were constructed from 3200 to 2000 BCE in Great Britain, Ireland and Brittany. It has been estimated that around 4,000 of these monuments were originally constructed in this part of north-western Europe during this period. Around 1,300 of them are recorded, the others having been destroyed.
Nine Stones Close, also known as the Grey Ladies, is a stone circle on Harthill Moor in Derbyshire in the English East Midlands. It is part of a tradition of stone circle construction that spread throughout much of Britain, Ireland and Brittany during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Ages, over a period between 3300 and 900 BCE. The purpose of the monument is unknown.
Prehistoric Cumbria describes the English county of Cumbria prior to the Romans Period. This includes the Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age, and Iron Age. As of 2010, 443 stone tools, 187 metal objects and 134 ceramic pots, have been unearthed in Cumbria. Likewise, various monuments, such as henges and stone circles, are widespread in the region. The survival of these monuments and objects has been influenced by processes such as the rise in sea levels on the west coast, erosion, deposition practices, industrial and agricultural development, and the changing interests and capabilities of antiquarians and archaeologists.
Falkner's Circle was a stone circle near the village of Avebury in the south-western English county of Wiltshire. Built from twelve sarsen megaliths, it measured about 37 metres (121 ft) in diameter, although only one of these stones remains standing.
Clatford Stone Circle, also known as The Broadstones, was a stone circle located in the village of Clatford in the south-western English county of Wiltshire.
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