The purpose of Stanton Drew Stone Circles

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Stanton Drew Stone Circles

The site I am studying is the Stanton Drew stone circles. These are located North East of the village see figures one and two. Stanton Drew is in the South West of Britain around 6 miles south of Bristol. The stones survived from a Neolithic period carbon dated to around 4,000 years ago.

The site consists of three stone circles: The Grand Circle, The North East Circle and The South East Circle which is inaccessible as it is in a private garden. There are other features including The Cove and Hautville's Quoit see figure 2.

The Great circle consists of 28 stones though it looks like there could have been at least 30 originally. These stones don't have a pattern to where they are placed as shown in diagram 3. The Diameter from North to South is around 115m and slightly less from East to west. The average distance between the stones (along a straight line) was 7.4m and the average height of the stones (the four remaining standing) was 2.47m. The Stones themselves seem to be from Dundry, 3 miles north as the same stone is found there, oolite or from local sources and made of Conglomerate. The stones are believed to represent male and female genitilier although as you can see from the photos they can hardly be recognised as 2 different types and it is doubtful the stones themselves were meant to represent this, however the site as a whole may represent fertility due to the nearness of the river and there being a connection with death, due to the bones found in the site there is a strong possibility that birth and life have a connection with the site. An Avenue extends from the Grand Circle heading downwards towards the River Chew, the avenue consists of 8 visible stones four in the north row and four in the south row. Another Avenue extends from the North East circle, which joins the avenue. The avenues may have been placed there to lead towards the River Chew as it was defiantly involved around the Stone circles in some way. However the avenue doesn't lead all the way to the river although the river may have been closer in the past or the rest of the stones leading to the river may have sank into the ground or been washed away.

The North Eastern Circle is around 30 m in diameter and consists of eight stones which are larger and in better condition than the stones from the other two circles and Avenues. The four stones on the southwestern side are still standing the other stones are still there but have toppled over. These stones seem to be around the same distance apart unlike those of the great circle. The average distance apart from the stones is 7.8 m and the average height of the stones which are still standing is 3.12m.This Stone Circle has an avenue heading off from the circles east side which joins with the avenue coming from the Great Circle.

A single stone used to stand north of the site named Hautville's Quoit, it was a larger standing stone made of Sarsen. The stone got broken up and pushed to the edge of the field by a farmer. This could have happened and probably did happen to the stones missing from the great circle and also stones may have had parts broken off them for use in buildings.

There is also a cove south west of the great circle. This Cove consists of 3 stones two of which are still standing. It is similar to the northern inner circle of Avebury. If the third stone had still been standing the cove would have been facing west towards the third stone circle, the South East Circle. This may have been used for something more special as the stones are bigger and as it is on higher ground. The Cove is facing west perhaps as the sun sets in the west this may have been a place where people died and were taken somewhere after as the setting sun may have been seen as death and because the cove is up on the hill.

There is a strong suggestion that there is a Henge running around the site as a geo fizz survey that was carried out by Bristol University revealed an anomaly running around the great circle. This would have put the site on a plateau and made it easier for Neolithic people to see it, as it obviously wanted being seen being such an achievement for the time. However the Henge is no longer there perhaps because of farmers having levelled the land or perhaps the nearby River Chew had washed it away when flooded. Other sites like Stonehenge and Avebury had a Henge running around them and it is likely that this site did also have a Henge.
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There are two alignments. The first being from the cove through the centre of the great circle to the centre of the North East Circle. This alignment is broken up by the church probably due to a fear of the stones and as a measure to disrupt any - as believed at the time- evil around the stones. The other alignment is from The centre of the South East Circle through the centre of The great circle up to Hautville's Quoit. This second alignment could possibly have lined up with the north star in the sky. This tells ...

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