Swinside, which is also known as Sunkenkirk and Swineshead, is a stone circle

Stone circle

A stone circle is a monument of standing stones arranged in a circle. Such monuments have been constructed across the world throughout history for many different reasons....

 lying beside Swinside Fell, part of Black Combe

Black Combe

Black Combe is a fell in the south-west corner of the Lake District National Park, just four miles from the Irish Sea. It lies near the west coast of Cumbria in the borough of Copeland and more specifically, an area known as South Copeland...

 in southern Cumbria

Cumbria

Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...

, North West England

North West England

North West England, informally known as The North West, is one of the nine official regions of England.North West England had a 2006 estimated population of 6,853,201 the third most populated region after London and the South East...

. One of around 1,300 recorded stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany

Stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany

The stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany were constructed as a part of a megalithic tradition that lasted from 3,300 to 900 BCE, during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age...

, it was constructed as a part of a megalith

Megalith

A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. Megalithic describes structures made of such large stones, utilizing an interlocking system without the use of mortar or cement.The word 'megalith' comes from the Ancient...

ic tradition that lasted from 3,300 to 900 BCE, during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Ages.

In this period, the Lake District

Lake District

The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous not only for its lakes and its mountains but also for its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth...

 - a mountainous area in which Swinside is located - saw particualrly high levels of stone circle construction, with other notable examples including the Castlerigg stone circle

Castlerigg stone circle

The stone circle at Castlerigg is situated near Keswick in Cumbria, North West England...

 and Long Meg and Her Daughters

Long Meg and Her Daughters

Long Meg and Her Daughters, also known as Maughanby Circle, is a Bronze Age stone circle near Penrith in Cumbria, North West England. One of around 1,300 stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany, it was constructed as a part of a megalithic tradition that lasted from 3,300 to 900 BCE, during...

. The original purposes of these circles is still debated, although most archaeologists concur that they were built for ritual or ceremonial reasons.

Constructed from local slate, the ring has a diameter of about 93ft 8ins (26.8m), and currently contains 55 stones, although when originally constructed there probably would have been around 60. An entrance-exit was included on the monument's south-eastern side, which was defined by the inclusion of two outer portal stones.

In the Early Modern period, local folklore

Folklore

Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...

 about the stones held that they had once been used in the construction of a church, but that the Devil

Devil

The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...

 continually thwarted these plans, creating the stone circle in the process. Archaeological investigation into the monument began in the early 20th century, with an excavation taking place in 1901.
Various archaeologists have commented positively on the beauty and romance of Swinside and its natural environment. Noted megalithic specialist Aubrey Burl

Aubrey Burl

Harry Aubrey Woodruff Burl MA, DLitt, PhD, FSA, HonFSA Scot is a British archaeologist most well known for his studies into megalithic monuments and the nature of prehistoric rituals associated with them. Prior to retirement he was Principal Lecturer in Archaeology, Hull College, East Riding of...

 for instance called it "the loveliest of all the circles" in north-western Europe. In his study of the stone circles of Cumbria, archaeologist John Waterhouse commented that Swinside "can be compared only to Castlerigg and Long Meg and her Daughters in its visual impact; but its charm - for great charm it undoubtedly has - is greater even than theirs."

Location

The stone circle at Swinside is located in the south-west corner of the Lake District

Lake District

The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous not only for its lakes and its mountains but also for its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth...

, 5 miles north of the town of Millom

Millom

Millom is a town and civil parish on the estuary of the River Duddon in the southwest of Cumbria, England. The name is Cumbrian dialect for "At the mills". The town is accessible both by rail and an A class road...

 (map reference ) . There is no visitor's centre or car park at the site, which can only be reached by travelling on foot. In order to reach the site, the visitor must get to Crag Hall, where there is limited places for parking, and then walk along a rough track for 2¼ km (1¼ miles) uphill towards Swinside Farm, where the megalithic ring lies just to the right of the path.

Background

During the Late Neolithic, British society underwent a series of major changes. Between 3500 and 3300 BCE, prehistoric Britons ceased their continual expansion and cultivation of wilderness and instead focused on settling and farming the most agriculturally productive areas of the island: Orkney, eastern Scotland, Anglesey, the upper Thames, Wessex, Essex, Yorkshire and the river valleys of the Wash.

This period was also signalled by what archaeologists have interpreted as a change in religious beliefs across Britain. Communities stopped building the large chambered tombs for the dead, and instead, they began the construction of large wooden and stone circles. The prominent megalithic-specialist and archaeologist Aubrey Burl

Aubrey Burl

Harry Aubrey Woodruff Burl MA, DLitt, PhD, FSA, HonFSA Scot is a British archaeologist most well known for his studies into megalithic monuments and the nature of prehistoric rituals associated with them. Prior to retirement he was Principal Lecturer in Archaeology, Hull College, East Riding of...

 (2000) argued that the change from building tombs to building open air rings signalled a change in religious belief for the peoples of north-western Europe. As he noted; "There was a change from the cramped, gloomy chamber or a tomb to the unroofed, wide ring, a change from darkness to light, from the dead to the living, from the grave to the sky."

Construction

The stones used in the construction of Swinside were porphyritic slate collected from the adjacent fells, and they are known locally as 'grey cobbles'. The ring has a diameter of about 93ft 8ins (26.8m), and currently contains 55 stones, although when originally constructed there probably would have been around 60.

Swinside's builders included a "well defined" entrance, 2.1m (7ft) wide, at the south-eastern side, which was signalled by the placing of two large portal stones outside the circumference of the circle. Such portal openings can also be found at other stone circles in the Lake District, such as Long Meg and Her Daughters.

Folklore

Local folklore holds that at night, the Devil would pull down the stones of a church that was being constructed in the daytime, in the process creating the stone circle; it is for this reason that the site has also been called Sunkenkirk.

In the 1930s, it was recorded that there was a local belief that it was impossible to count all of the stones.

Antiquarian and archaeological investigation

The first archaeological excavation at Swinside was carried out from midday on Tuesday 26 March, 1901 through to the evening of the following day. During this excavation, two crosstrenches were dug, each 18 inches (45cm) wide, covering just over one-thirteenth of the interior of the site. The excavators reported finding a lump of charcoal and a piece of decayed bone.

External links

• Swinside stone circle at Megalithia.com.
• Images of and notes about Sunkenkirk at The Modern Antiquarian.