Swinside Stone Circle (Sunkenkirk)
Sunkenkirk · Swinside Fell circle
Late Neolithic·Late Neolithic Cumbria (Langdale axe trade area)·🇬🇧 Cumbria, England, United Kingdom
About
About Swinside Stone Circle (Sunkenkirk)
Most complete stone circle in North-West England on hill above Duddon estuary near Millom, Cumbria: 55 porphyritic slate stones in near-perfect 28.6 m diameter ring with 30 m entrance causeway on southeast aligned to Midwinter sunrise, earliest stones to 2.6 m. Burl called it 'finest of all stone circles in north-west England'. Built c.3000 BCE Late Neolithic, on private fell but visible from footpath. Enclosed but not embanked, suggesting open ceremonial rather than defensive.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Causeway exact astronomical target debated
Theories
- 01Regional assembly centre linked to Langdale axe production wealth
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 3000–2500 BCE
- Period
- Late Neolithic
- Culture
- Late Neolithic Cumbria (Langdale axe trade area)
- Purpose
- Ceremonial stone circle with solstitial causeway
- Abandoned
- Bronze Age
- Rediscovered
- Antiquarian 18th century; surveyed by Dymond
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c. 3000–2500 BCE
Initial construction
c. 1337 CE
Abandonment
On the ground
Structures & features
54.2806° N · 3.2676° W · 150 m · 2 mapped features
SE entrance causeway
entrance30 m wide causeway entrance aligned to midwinter sunrise
54.2805° N · 3.2673° WTallest southern stone
standing stone2.6 m porphyritic portal stone at SE entrance
54.2806° N · 3.2676° W
Gallery