Swinside Stone Circle

Located in an open field, Swinside Stone Circle, dating from the Bronze Age, is comprised of 55 (of an original 60) close set (five feet apart) stones, 32 of which still stand. The circle is 94 feet in diameter. Its tallest stone, at 7½ feet, weighs in at five tons.

Surrounded by hills, the circle's backdrop is dramatic. The porphyritic slate stones, set in packed pebbles, come from the nearby hills. At the southeast is an entrance marked by two portal stones sitting outside the circle. The midwinter sun hits the two southernmost portal stones as seen when standing in the circle's center.

Swinside was also called Sunkenkirk (kirk meaning church) because of a legend that every time building was begun on a church at the spot, the devil destroyed the work during the night.

Swinside Stone Circle is considered one of Britain's finest stone circles.

Off A595 on minor road through Broadgate.

Photos courtesy of Andy Burnham and Alastair McIvor

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