Small stone circle on Swarth Fell

Reasons for Designation

Stone circles are prehistoric monuments comprising one or more circles of upright or recumbent stones. The circle of stones may be surrounded by earthwork features such as enclosing banks and ditches. Single upright stones may be found within the circle or outside it and avenues of stones radiating out from the circle occur at some sites. Burial cairns may also be found close to and on occasion within the circle. Stone circles are found throughout England although they are concentrated in western areas, with particular clusters in upland areas such as Bodmin and Dartmoor in the south-west and the Lake District and the rest of Cumbria in the north-west. This distribution may be more a reflection of present survival rather than an original pattern. Where excavated they have been found to date from the Late Neolithic to the Middle Bronze Age (c.2400-1000 BC). It is clear that they were carefully designed and laid out, frequently exhibiting very regularly spaced stones, the heights of which also appear to have been of some importance. We do not fully understand the uses for which these monuments were originally constructed but it is clear that they had considerable ritual importance for the societies that used them. In many instances excavation has indicated that they provided a focus for burials and the rituals that accompanied interment of the dead. Some circles appear to have had a calendrical function, helping mark the passage of time and seasons, this being indicated by the careful alignment of stones to mark important solar or lunar events such as sunrise or sunset at midsummer or midwinter. At other sites the spacing of individual circles throughout the landscape has led to a suggestion that each one provided some form of tribal gathering point for a specific social group. A small stone circle comprises a regular or irregular ring of between 7 and 16 stones with a diameter of between 4 and 20 metres. They are widespread throughout England although clusters are found on Dartmoor, the North Yorkshire Moors, in the Peak District and in the uplands of Cumbria and Northumberland. Of the 250 or so stone circles identified in England, over 100 are examples of small stone circles. As a rare monument type which provides an important insight into prehistoric ritual activity, all surviving examples are worthy of preservation.

Despite the loss of some stones on the monument's western side the small stone circle on Swarth Fell survives reasonably well. It is the highest small stone circle in the country and possessess an exceptionally large number of component stones, making it an unusual example of this class of monument.

Details

The monument is a small stone circle on Swarth Fell. It is situated in an isolated location in a natural hollow close to the head of Swarth Beck and includes a slightly oval arrangement of approximately 81 fallen stones with an external diameter of 20m by 17m. The stones are closely spaced except on the western side where large gaps suggest many others may have been removed.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

22546

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Wainwright, A, A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, (1957), 7

Other
Title: Penrith, Keswick and Ambleside area 1:50000 Source Date: 1988 Author: Publisher: Surveyor: Landranger 90
Title: Lake District 1": 1 mile Source Date: 1981 Author: Publisher: Surveyor: Tourist Map
Title: The English Lakes North Eastern Area 1:25,000 Source Date: 1989 Author: Publisher: Surveyor: Outdoor Leisure 5
SMR No. 1596, Cumbria SMR, Swarthbeck Gill, (1985)
RCHME, Westmorland, (1936)
Bowman, A., MPP Single Monument Class Description - Small Stone Circles, (1990)

End of official list entry

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