Drawing 345: Swinside Stone Circle
Direction of view: SE
Notes: The circle is at Grid Reference SD172882, and is accessible to view by bridleway from Cragg Hall. Very little has changed, apart from the appearance of a wind farm in the background. The circle is thought to have been erected around 3000BC. It is 90 feet in diameter and comprises 55 stones, approximately half of which are still standing.
This scene also appears on page 128 of Memoirs of a Fellwanderer – the same sketch, though reduced in size.
Comments: I first visited this stone circle on 5th September 2015. Anne Setright and I were on our way to Eskdale, for a week in Lane End Cottage at Boot, and diverted slightly from our route to take it in. It was a lovely sunny late afternoon, and a very attractive scene. AW has two figures in his picture, so Anne posed for my photo (can you spot her?).
The circle is a scheduled monument, and is also known by the more romantic-sounding name of Sunkenkirk. It is considered to be one of the three most important stone circles in Cumbria (the other two being Castlerigg and Long Meg and her Daughters); it “provides an important insight into the character of Neolithic / Bronze Age cosmology and ritual practice”.
In July 2024,approval was given for an interpretation panel to be erected at the site, providing historical information.
