Hoarstones
 The Hoarstones, with Corndon Hill in the background | |
 .svg.png){kind=icon} Shown within Shropshire | |
| Location | Chirbury with Brompton |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 52°35′34″N 2°59′57″W / 52.592778°N 2.999167°W |
| Type | Stone circle |
| History | |
| Periods | Bronze Age |
The Hoarstones (or Hoar Stone Circle) form a stone circle in the civil parish of Chirbury with Brompton in the English county of Shropshire. The circle comprises 38 stones, all less than a metre high.[1]
Description
The stone circle comprises 37 stones and one central stone, all composed of dolerite.[2] The circle has a diameter of 22 metres.[2] The site lies upon a southeast slope of marshy ground, not far from the north end of a former glacial lake, of which the Marsh Pool is a remnant.[2] There are two small mounds in the north-west of the circle that may be the remnants of barrows.[2]
The circle is also known as Black Marsh, Hemford and Marsh Pool Circle.[3] There are holes drilled in some of the stones, but these date from a much later period, when local miners would use the stones during wedding celebrations by filling the holes with gunpowder and setting it off.[3]
The Hoarstones may have a connection to the similar circle nearby at Mitchell's Fold, and a third circle formerly to the south known as the Whetstones.[4]
References
- ↑ Castleden, R. Neolithic Britain: new stone age sites of England, Scotland, and Wales, Routledge, 1992, pp.163-4, ISBN 978-0-415-05845-2
- 1 2 3 4 Historic England. "Hoar Stone Circle (107454)". PastScape. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
- 1 2 Burl, A. A guide to the stone circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany, Yale University Press, 2005, p.74
- ↑ Burl, p.75