Stanton Drew Circles (and Cove)

Most evenings this week, my running route has taken me alongside the field containing the Stanton Drew Circles. Here's what the English Heritage website has to say about them:

Although this is the third largest complex of prehistoric standing stones in England, the three circles and three-stone ‘cove’ of Stanton Drew in Somerset are surprisingly little known.


The Great Circle, 113 metres in diameter, is one of the largest stone circles in the country and has 26 surviving upright stones. Yet recent surveys have revealed that the circles and cove were just part of a much more elaborate and important ritual site than had previously been imagined.


Fortunately, I didn't find out about them until Wednesday, so the temptation to get up to see dawn there on the summer solstice was avoided. And this morning I didn't set off until half-eight for the two mile walk across the fields to the circles.

As I walked alongside the field to the entrance, I noticed that the farmer had a load of cows with calves in the field containing the stones, which seems insanely negligent to me, but cattle were all bunched up around the gate at the top of what is a very large field, so I figured I'd be OK. (Spoiler: I was.)

To be honest, the large ring is so big that you can't really appreciate it from the ground, so I went and sat by the smaller rings, the larger of which is today's photo.

I sat on one of the stones eating some Brazil nuts, and waited for a mystical experience, but when one didn't materialise, I strolled back to the road and set off for home.

My route took me past the pub in whose garden you can find the Cove, which is in my Extra, today. English Heritage tells us "Ritual ceremonies probably took place here." OK, then.