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Henges and Stone Circles

These monuments were built in the Later Neolithic and Earlier Bronze Age. Two very different types of site exist, large henge monuments found on the limestone plateau, at Arbor Low and the Bull Ring, and a number of smaller stone circles on the East Moors.

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Arbor Low and the Bull Ring

The interior of the henge at Arbor Low, south of Monyash, with its fallen stones of a large stone circle and central setting. It is sited high on a ridgetop with fine views across the limestone plateau.

Its earthworks comprise a large bank of 79x75m diameter (at the crest), with a deep ditch between it and the central area.

The stones of Arbor Low henge rise above the snow.

There are two opposing entrances leading to the interior. Here there was a circle of large limestone uprights, once about 41-43 in number, but now fallen, some broken up and others removed. About 34-35 stones and parts of stones remain. At the centre there is a ruined rectangular arrangement of stones, known as a cove, with two massive slabs facing the two entrances and smaller stones on the other two sides. In the southern entrance there is a further fallen stone and stump, and both entrances may once have contained two portal stones each.

At the upslope side of the monument a large Bronze Age round barrow has been superimposed on the henge bank to dominate the monument interior.

Arbor Low is part of a complex of monuments. These include the henge, a round barrow on its bank near the southern upslope entrance, another low example nearby beyond the henge to the south-east, and a long barrow with a large superimposed round barrow at Gib Hill in the next field.

Arbor Low from the air with the Gib Hill barrow in the background.

The Bull Ring has a similar-sized bank and ditch, but the last vestiges of what once may have been a stone circle or pairs of portal stones, a single standing stone, was removed in the late 18th century. At that date a field wall ran through the interior and other stones may have been broken up when it was built earlier in the 18th century.

A plan of the Bull Ring henge and adjacent barrow at Dove Holes.

The Bull Ring is now surrounded by sports fields, quarrying, a cemetery and buildings. The henge earthworks here are impressive and there is a large barrow nearby to the south.

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So what were they for?

Henges such as these were built in the Later Neolithic as communal monuments, each with a defined sacred space in which to hold ceremonies.

The banks stopped outsiders viewing the interior from outside the monument, while the two massive cove stones prevented what was taking place at the centre being seen from the entrances.

These henges may well have attracted many people from the region at pre-arranged times of the year, who stayed here for a few days or even weeks. The purpose was probably not only to carry out rituals and ceremonies, but also have meetings and feasts, exchange goods, and talk to old friends and strangers who they had not met before. Such meetings would reinforce the individual’s place in the world, what they believed in and their sense of where they belonged.

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Smaller Stone Circles and Ringcairns

The small stone circles on the East Moors, of which 21 survive with extant standing stones, are closely associated with Prehistoric settlement sites and may well have been built in the Earlier Bronze Age.

Map showing an example of the distribution of prehistoric monuments and cairnfields on the East Moors, at Gibbet Moor, Harland Edge and Beeley Moor.

The largest circle only about 30m across and most are much smaller, with small upright stones, usually set on the inner edge of a low bank. In some cases all the stones have either been robbed or were never present and such sites are known to archaeologists as ringcairns. Now superficially similar but differently interpreted sites include the rims of barrows that have had their centres removed for the building stone they contained.

The small but well preserved Barbrook I stone circle, on moorland close to Bar Brook to the north-east of Baslow.

Nine Stones Close

Here there are four remaining tall stones, out of an original eight or nine, standing to above head height. A person standing in the circle cannot help but see the impressive Robin Hood’s Stride nearby. This has two natural stone pillars piercing the sky that would frame the full moon at midsummer.

Another view of Nine Stones Close. This stone circle is believed to date from Late Neolithic/Early Bronze age.

These small monuments were built to serve the religious and emotional needs of the local farming families. They sometimes contain burials; a funeral and subsequent interment of the dead is likely to leave traces for archaeologists to find. In contrast, ceremonies to do with birth, puberty and marriage, and others to do with the seasons, may well leave no trace in the ground. It is easy to envisage ceremonies and rituals concerned with these wide-ranging and vital aspects of local peoples’ lives taking place at these small stone circles.

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What you can do

Click here or information on visiting archaeological sites in the Peak District

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