Castlerigg Stone Circle (alternatively Keswick Carles, or Carles)[3][4] is situated on a prominent hill to the east of Keswick, in the Lake District National Park, North West England.[5] It is one of around 1,300 stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany, constructed as a part of a megalithic tradition that lasted from approximately 3,200 BC to 2500 BC, during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Ages.[6]Various archaeologists have mentioned the beauty and romance of Castlerigg and its surrounding landscape. In his study of the stone circles of Cumbria, archaeologist John Waterhouse commented that the site was "one of the most visually impressive prehistoric monuments in Britain."[7]Every year, thousands of tourists travel to the site, making it the most visited stone circle in Cumbria.[7][8] This plateau forms the raised centre of a natural amphitheatre created by the surrounding fells and from within the circle it is possible to see some of the highest peaks in Cumbria: Helvellyn, Skiddaw, Grasmoor and Blencathra.DescriptionThe stones are glacial erratic boulders composed of volcanic rock from the Borrowdale Volcanic Group. Both andesitic lavas and tuffs (volcanic ashes) are represented.[original research] Castle Rigg sits on a deposit of glacial till,[9] and it is likely that the boulders were originally part of this deposit. The stones are set in a flattened circle, measuring 32.6 metres (107 ft) at its widest and 29.5 metres (97 ft) at its narrowest. The heaviest stone has been estimated to weigh around 16 tons and the tallest stone measures approximately 2.3m high. There is a 3.3m wide gap in its northern edge, which may have been an entrance. Within the circle, abutting its eastern quadrant, is a roughly rectangular setting of a further 10 stones. The circle was probably constructed around 3200 BC (Late Neolithic Early Bronze Age), making it one of the earliest stone circles in Britain and possibly in Europe.[10] It is important to archaeoastronomers who have noted that the sunrise during the September equinox (Autumn equinox) appears over the top of Threlkeld Knott, a hill 3.5 km to the east.There is a tradition, as with other stone circles in Britain, that it is impossible to count the number of stones within Castlerigg every attempt will result in a different answer. This tradition, however, may not be far from the truth. Due to erosion of the soil around the stones, caused by the large number of visitors to the monument, several smaller stones have 'appeared' next to some of the larger stones. Because these stones are so small, they are likely to have been packing stones used to support the larger stones when the circle was constructed and would originally have been buried. Differences in opinion as to the exact number of stones within Castlerigg are usually down to whether the observer counts these small packing stones, or not some count 38 and others, 42. The 'official' number of stones, as represented on the National Trust information board at the monument, is 40.
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