<< Our Photo Pages >> New Farm, Henbury - Stone Circle in England in Cheshire
Submitted by vicky on Friday, 03 January 2003 Page Views: 12744
Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: New Farm, HenburyCountry: England
NOTE: This site is 0.728 km away from the location you searched for.
County: Cheshire Type: Stone Circle
Nearest Town: Macclesfield Nearest Village: Henbury
Map Ref: SJ887728 Landranger Map Number: 118
Latitude: 53.252089N Longitude: 2.170821W
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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Stone Circle in Cheshire
Sadly all that remains of the stone circle at Henbury is a few stones scattered amongst the hedgerows of a field belonging to New Farm, to the east of Lower Pexhill Road.
Attention was first drawn to this important site in the spring of 1970, when the field was ploughed for only the second time in recorded memory. During ploughing, two stones were unearthed, one a small limestone boulder and the other a large millstone grit slab, both glacial erratics around 30 to 40cm in diameter. A search of the field led to the discovery of several other stones, some lying in hedges, others used in a nearby stile.
Large boulders are not commonly found in this locality, so the possibility of them belonging to some kind of prehistoric monument was considered. Investigations began in the north-western area of the field, where the ground rises slightly and where the two buried boulders had been found. Trenches were cut across the crest, revealing a series of 13 pits, 11 of which lay in a circle surrounding one in the centre, the other being outside.
The pits had been cut into the ground surface to a depth of about two feet. Most were filled with either cobbles or soil mixed with ash and charcoal. The only finds were one tiny fragment of flint, two minute pieces of bone and a large chunk of charcoal. The excavators could not be certain that all eleven of the holes contained stones, but concluded that ‘the site would be appropriate for a small stone circle’.
The most convincing piece of evidence that it was a ritual monument used by prehistoric man comes from its positioning in the landscape, however. On the winter solstice (December 21st/22nd) it was observed that a sighting taken through the centre on a north-west / south-east axis pointed to the rising sun over Sutton Common, four miles to the south-east.
One stone of particular note, fitting the dimensions of Rowley’s plan, is located to the north-east of the stile on Lower Pexhill Road, along the hedge line. The surface of this stone is very smooth suggesting it had travelled some distance, possible via a glacier. It is interesting that the circle builders used a mixture of both limestone and millstone grit. In the nearby Peak District all of the stone circles are composed of either one or the other (the local rock).
Access
The site of the circle can be accessed in either one of two ways. The first, which is the easiest for parking but a slightly longer walk, is to take the Gawsworth Road from Broken Cross to the west of Macclesfield until you come to open countryside with a small row of houses on the right. Take the footpath at GR: SJ892725 and follow this across the field and over a small bridge for approximately 700m. Once you have crossed the rickety wooden footbridge, you will find yourself in the field where the circle once stood. Some of the stones which may once have formed the circle can be seen along the hedge line. One of particular note is located close to the fence a few tens of metres to the right of the styal on Lower Pexhill road.
The alternative route is to take the B5392, Lower Pexhill Road, from Broken Cross and access the field via the footpath from this end. However, parking can be difficult from here.
References
G. Rowley “Macclesfield in Prehistory” (1982)
G. Rowley ‘Excavation of a circle at New Farm, Henbury’, TLCAS, volume 78 (1975)
Note: Please note the former site of this stone circle is located on private land but can be easily viewed from the nearby road / public footpath.
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