 Goggleby Stone | |
| Location | Shap, Cumbria |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 54°30′47″N2°40′08″W / 54.5131°N 2.6688°W |
| Type | Avenue and stone circle |
| History | |
| Periods | Neolithic |
The Shap Stone Avenue (an unofficial name) is a megalithic complex near Shap in Cumbria, England, comprising stone circles, a two-mile avenue (actually two avenues) of stones, and burial mounds.
Shap Stone Avenue is one of three major complexes of megalithic monuments to be found in east Cumbria. The stone circles, henges, cairns and other standing stones in the area are often grouped at nodes of communication routes – the monuments around Shap form an 'avenue' running to the east of the River Lowther along a main route to the north; the Long Meg and Her Daughters complex runs alongside the River Eden; and Mayburgh Henge and the other henges run alongside the River Eamont near its confluence with the River Lowther.
The OS grid reference of the Shap Avenue site can be given as NY5614 , but the actual boundaries of the complex remain in doubt. Some 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. [1]
However, the avenue may be seen in the context of the valley in which it is placed. Clare [2] pointed out 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. All of these features are similar to ones found at the Long Meg and Mayburgh complexes as well. The Shap complex has stone circles and cairns to the east of it such as the Hardendale Stone Cairn, Castle Howe, Seal Howe and Oddendale. [3]
In addition, the northern focus of some of the stones of Shap Avenue 'north' appears to be a 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. [4]
The actual arrangements of the original stones in the avenue(s) can no longer be determined (at least without excavation). Clare suggests that there were two avenues; one consisting of a single, more widely spaced, row to the west and north west of Skellaw Hill, and one of two rows, as Burl suggests, or a double row, more closely spaced, as Clare suggests, leading from a now lost stone circle at Carl Lofts (near the Greyhound Hotel), to the southern circle at Kemp Howe. The two avenues form an arc to the west of Shap village roughly moving in a north-north-west to south-south-east direction. He points out that the geological composition (pink granite) of the major, pyramidal-shaped stones (Goggleby Stone, Thunder stone) differs from that of the other boulders in the complex. [4]
Traces of eight stones mark the avenue which led in a northwest direction from the Kemp Howe stone circle. [5] 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). [6]
From north to south, the following major features may be seen:
The avenue's first major stone is the massive Thunder Stone (grid reference NY551158 ) which is located 3 km northwest of the Kemp Howe stone circle, and is just to the north-west of Skellaw Hill. [5] 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". [7]
The avenue passes by the Skellaw Hill barrow, also known as the Hill of Skulls or Skellow Hill, (grid reference NY556155 ), [8] a round burial mound. It is located 2.4 km northwest of the Kemp Howe stone circle. [5]
The Asper's Field Stone is a massive boulder on private land, about nine feet high by five feet wide, that has fallen on to its side. It has two cup markings on the top, one with a single ring around it. [9]
The Goggleby Stone (grid reference NY559150 ) 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. [8] The Goggleby Stone is about ten feet high and has a cup mark on its north face, and an artificial shallow depression above it. [6] [10] The Goggleby stone had fallen, but was re-erected by Tom Clare, the County Archaeologist, after having excavated it. [11] [12]
The remains of the stone circle (grid reference NY567132 ) lie on the A6 road opposite the former petrol station close to a railway embankment. The stone circle is badly damaged, the Victorian railway-builders having driven their line right through the circle itself, and only six pink granite stones remain in place. [8] All of the stones are fallen. [6] They once formed a circle with a diameter of about 14 metres. [6]
Clare suggests that the avenues date to the Late Neolithic period (approximately 3,000-2,000 BC), based upon the evidence supplied by the Goggleby Stone excavation mentioned above.
Clare also points out that the Shap complex is important because of the lack of a henge or large stone circle (as at Mayburgh or Long Meg). [4] 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.
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 menhir, standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large upright stone, emplaced in the ground by humans, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. They can be found individually as monoliths, or as part of a group of similar stones. Menhirs' size can vary considerably, but they often taper toward the top.
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 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea.
There are three related types of Neolithic earthwork that are all sometimes loosely called henges. 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:
Avebury is a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles, around the village of Avebury in Wiltshire, in southwest 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 standing stones. Most are found in Northwestern Europe – especially in Britain, Ireland, and Brittany – and typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being built from 3000 BC. The best known examples include those at the henge monument at Avebury, the Rollright Stones, 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.
Bryn Celli Ddu is a prehistoric site on the Welsh island of Anglesey located near Llanddaniel Fab. Its name means 'the mound in the dark grove'. It was archaeologically excavated between 1928 and 1929. Visitors can get inside the mound through a stone passage to the burial chamber, and it is the centrepiece of a major Neolithic Scheduled Monument in the care of Cadw. The presence of a mysterious pillar within the burial chamber, the reproduction of the 'Pattern Stone', carved with sinuous serpentine designs, and the fact that the site was once a henge with a stone circle, and may have been used to plot the date of the summer solstice have all attracted much interest.
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.
Cup and ring marks or cup marks are a form of prehistoric art found in the Atlantic seaboard of Europe (Ireland, Wales, Northern England, Scotland, France, Portugal, and Spain – and in Mediterranean Europe – Italy, Azerbaijan and Greece, as well as in Scandinavia and in Switzerland.
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. The stone circle is the second widest in England, behind Avebury in Wiltshire. It consists of 59 stones set in an east/west oval configuration measuring 380 ft (120 m) on its long axis. There may originally have been as many as 70 stones. Long Meg herself is a 12 ft (3.7 m) high monolith of red sandstone 80 ft (24 m) to the southwest of the circle. The stone is marked with examples of megalithic art including a cup and ring mark, a spiral, and rings of concentric circles. This art mirrors examples from Neolithic Ireland, including the contemporary Newgrange.
Brú na Bóinne, also called the Boyne Valley tombs, is an ancient monument complex and ritual landscape in County Meath, Ireland, located in a bend of the River Boyne. It is one of the world's most important Neolithic landscapes, comprising at least ninety monuments including passage tombs, burial mounds, standing stones and enclosures. The site is dominated by the passage tombs of Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth, built during the 32nd century BC. Together these have the largest assemblage of megalithic art in Europe. The associated archaeological culture is called the "Boyne culture".
Glassonby is a small village and civil parish in the Eden Valley of Cumbria, England, about 3 miles (4.8 km) south south east of Kirkoswald. At the 2001 census the parish had a population of 314, decreasing marginally to 308 at the 2011 Census.
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.
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.
Prehistoric Orkney refers only to the prehistory of the Orkney archipelago of Scotland that begins with human occupation. Although some records referring to Orkney survive that were written during the Roman invasions of Scotland, “prehistory” in northern Scotland is defined as lasting until the start of Scotland's Early Historic Period.
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 3300 to 900 BCE in 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.
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.
