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Stanton Drew
Southern England
There
are two main circles at Stanton Drew.
There is the Great Circle and the Northeast Circle.
The Great Circle is the second largest circle in Britain after Avebury.
It's a really complex pattern of circles, starting with a gateway and
leading down to the River Chew. It was obviously the most significant ceremonial
site in England, possibly for the whole
of the UK, plus Eire and France. The Gateway stones actually stand at the Cove,
away from the main circles. Similar
to the circle at Avebury, there are random stones that are believed to have been
"Avenues" leading away from the circle.
The circles stand in a field in which cattle are kept.
There is also a third circle that consists of eleven stones, but the site
is on private land.
Although the circles at Stanton Drew are impressive, they cover such a
large area that it is difficult to appreciate their full grandeur.
The name for the site Stanton is believed to be an Anglo Saxon derivative
of "Stan Tun" meaning "Stone Farm".
The addition of the name Drew is believed to be derived from the
landowners at the time, the Drew family.
One
of the legends that surround these stones is one that is common to a lot of
stone circles of Britain in that the pillars are revellers that have been turned
to stone. Also it is supposedly
impossible to count the stones.
Although
this site has never been excavated, the English Heritage carried out a
geophysical survey, and the sensitive magnetic instruments that they used found
concentric post hole rings inside the main circle.
The holes are an indication that there was a building or timber henge
here at one time.
Stanton
Drew Cove
The
Cove stands in the same village, but some distance away from the circles.
The Cove and the Gateway Stones are in the Beer Garden of the Druids
Arms, so you
Directions
Stanton Drew is off the A4 (Bath Road) between Bristol and Bath, on a little side road. The turning's easy to miss, as it's on a bend, so be careful.
Or alternatively,
Stanton Drew is even easier to get to from Glastonbury, as it's off the A37.
It's on the B3130, but the site isn't even marked on most maps! The turn off is
just above Pensford.
Thanks to Arum Lily
for letting me know about this wonderful site!
Photos
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