Castlerigg Stone Circle

Castlerigg stands on a raised plateau just east of Keswick, one of the earliest stone circles in Britain, put up around 4,500 years ago in the late Neolithic by English Heritage’s estimate; Wikipedia, dating it on typological grounds, places it nearer 3200 BC. English Heritage manages the monument and the National Trust owns the field it stands in, the result of a public subscription organised in 1913 by Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley, one of the Trust’s founders, specifically to keep the site open to everyone rather than see it enclosed.

Thirty-eight stones survive today, ranging from about a metre to just over two metres tall, arranged in a rough circle roughly 30 metres across, with an unusual rectangular setting of ten further stones abutting the eastern side whose purpose has never been agreed. None of this requires much walking to see: roadside parking sits within a couple of minutes of the stones themselves, across level, grassy ground.

What makes the site more than a roadside curiosity is the setting. It sits on a natural amphitheatre of high ground with an open view in every direction, taking in Helvellyn, Skiddaw, Blencathra and Grasmoor depending on where you stand within the ring. The ring stands on level ground a couple of minutes from the road, with fells on every side.

The ground can be muddy and uneven underfoot after rain, which matters for wheelchair and pushchair users even though there are no steps to contend with. The circle suits visitors short on time, and is popular at sunrise and sunset for exactly that combination of easy access and open horizon. Anyone expecting to have the place to themselves in summer should look elsewhere, since it stands a short drive from Keswick and English Heritage, which lists entry as free, says only that parking at the site is limited.