Gray Wethers stone circle
The double stone circle Gray Wethers ( German "Graue Mutton" ) probably dates from the Bronze Age and is located west of Fernworthy Forest, at the foot of Sittaford Tor, in Dartmoor , in Devon in England . The two stone circles are 4.5 m apart on a hill between the valleys of the "North Teign River" in the north and the "East Dart River" in the south.
The northern circle of 20 granite slabs is about 32 m in diameter. The southern circle has 29 stones and is a little larger at 33 m in diameter. In 1879 the determined diameters were 31.6 m (north) and 35.5 m (south). The difference could be a measurement error or it could be due to the 1909 restoration. A thick layer of charcoal was found in the circles between 1879 and 1909, similarly found in the excavated stone circle of Fernworthy, just 1.8 km to the northeast. A 1907 photograph of Fernworthy shows some correspondence to Gray Wethers, but while Fernworthy stones vary widely in size and shape, Gray Wethers are more uniform and are all between 1 and 4 feet in height.
The question of why there are two circles here, closely spaced, must remain unanswered. Analogies can be found above all in the tangential stone circles in Northern Ireland.
Nearby are the Fernworthy Stone Circle and Sittaford Tor Stone Circle .
literature
- A. Burl: A Guide to the Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany . London 2005.
Individual evidence
- ↑ The name is more common. One of the two areas in Wiltshire called Fyfield Down has the largest accumulation of sarsen rocks in England. The stones are called Gray Wethers. They were mentioned in his diary by Colonel Richard Symonds in 1644 as follows: "They call this place the Gray Mutton because from a distance they look like a flock of sheep." An alternative name for this natural rock is Mother Jam
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 37 '55.1 " N , 3 ° 55' 34.2" W.