The Birkrigg stone circle (also known as the Druid's Temple or Druids' Circle) is a
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...
stone circle on
Birkrigg Common
Birkrigg or Birkrigg Common is an open-area of limestone countryside near the town of Ulverston on the Furness Peninsula in southern Cumbria, England. There is extensive limestone pavement on Birkrigg, which is protected under ''The Wildlife and ...
, two miles south of
Ulverston
Ulverston is a market town and a civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England. In the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 census the parish had a population of 11,524, increasing at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census to ...
in the English county of
Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. C ...
. It dates to between 1700 and 1400 BC.
Description
The circle consists of two rings of stones, the outer measuring 26 m and consisting of 15 stones and the inner being 9 m wide and consisting of 10 stones. None of the stones is more than 0.6m tall.
Limited excavation within the inner circle in 1911 found an upper and lower pavement of cobbles.
Below the lower layer of cobbles five cremations were uncovered, three in pits, one on a layer of cobbles and one covered by an inverted urn.
A second excavation in 1921 produced a few small stone implements which the excavator thought might be a pestle, a palate and a piece of red ochre, and which might therefore have had a ceremonial use.
References
External links
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{{European Standing Stones
Stone circles in Cumbria
Ulverston