Scorhill (pronounced ''Scorill'') Stone Circle is now the common name for Gidleigh Stone Circle or Steep Hill Stone Circle, one of

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

's biggest and most intact

stone circle A stone circle is a ring of megalithic standing stones. Most are found in Northwestern Europe – especially Stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany – and typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being ...

s, situated on Gidleigh Common near the village of Gidleigh in the north east of Dartmoor, in the United Kingdom. It is an

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

scheduled monument and has been described as Devon's finest stone circle.

Description

The circle was constructed in the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

. It is approximately in diameter, and the stones vary in height from to an impressive above ground. Gaps between stones vary in width between . There are currently 23 standing stones and 11 recumbent. Characteristic of others in the circle, the largest stone has a distinctive jagged point. It has been noted that, when viewed from the centre of the circle, the sun sets over the stone's tip on

Midsummer Midsummer is a celebration of the season of summer, taking place on or near the date of the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere; the longest Daytime, day of the year. The name "midsummer" mainly refers to summer solstice festivals of Eu ...

's Eve, indicating some purpose in archaeoastronomy Several stones show scars and marks of

vandalism Vandalism is the action involving deliberate destruction of or damage to public or private property. The term includes property damage, such as graffiti and defacement directed towards any property without permission of the owner. The t ...

by stone cutters including rows of holes on many, arranged in lines so the stones could be split with a wedge. Estimates for the original number of stones have varied between 51 and approximately 70, making it among Devon's widest stone circles with the tallest remaining monolith. Although badly damaged, Scorhill has not been subject to any form of restoration, giving it a distinctly ancient atmosphere.

Archaeology

Flint artefacts from around the site on Gidleigh Moor date as far back as 8500 BC, during the

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Ancient Greek language, Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic i ...

period, and are now held at Torquay Museum.

Folklore

Stone with a hole in it over the river at Scorhill - geograph

Scorhill is situated in a landscape of megalithic monuments and features in local stories about horses unwilling to pass through the circle. Some folklore links it to The Tolmen, a stone with a large doughnut-shaped hole in it, overhanging a nearby stream. One story of the "faithless wives and fickle maidens" is of unfaithful women being made to wash themselves in a nearby pool, run around Scorhill three times and then pass through the Tolmen and pray in front of the stones for absolution. Unforgiven women were crushed by a stone, giving the eerie suggestion as to why so many stones have fallen.St. Leger-Gordon, Ruth E., ''The Witchcraft and Folklore of Dartmoor'', 1972, pp. 50-60; A. Sutton, ''Body, Mind & Spirit'', 1982. Reprinted by Peninsular Press, Newton Abbot, UK, 1994. Scorhill circle st

Literature

* Burl, Aubrey, ''The Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany'' (Yale University Press) 2000.

References

External links

English Heritage PastscapeIllustrated entry in the Megalithic Portal
* {{European Standing Stones Dartmoor Stone circles in Devon