Swinside Circle

Swinside Stone Circle

A section of the circle and environs

Me, at the entry way

Right there, on the south 40

More beatiful countryside; an estuary of the Irish Sea is

perhaps a mile away

Our last day in the Lake District was Monday, the 5th, and we drove south from Coniston to beyond Broughton-on-Furness to the Swinside stone circle. Everyone knows of Stonehenge and Avebury, but it has been extraordinary to us how many other fine monuments there are throughout these islands. And we have barely scratched the surface. Swinside is a little harder to get to. You can drive right up to most of these sites, park in the carpark, maybe read a kiosk or even go to the visitor center. Swinside, a marveously preserved and large site, 55 of the 60 medium-sized stones still standing, is out there on somebody's sheep/cattle ranch, right on the the south forty, so to speak. A mile-and-a half walk along the farm track takes you to it. (Decent blackberries). No sign, no carpark, no visitor center. And it is all the more interesting for its remoteness.

We had lunch at the circle, examined all the stones--a few possible cup-marks, an interesting four-stone entry way, three pointy stones marking the compass points--then walked back to the camper and drove off in the direction of Yorkshire, staying at a farm campsite that evening.