Featured: How and why the ancients enchanted Great Britain and Brittany

How and why the ancients enchanted Great Britain and Brittany

Random Image


Pig Hill (S)

Megalithomania by John Michell, Only £4.99 + P&P

Megalithomania by John Michell, Only £4.99 + P&P

Who's Online

There are currently, 487 guests and 6 members online.

You are a guest. To join in, please register for free by clicking here

Sponsors

<< Our Photo Pages >> High Head Sculpture Valley Stone Circle - Modern Stone Circle etc in England in Cumbria

Submitted by Charles_Paxton on Saturday, 14 December 2013  Page Views: 11870

Modern SitesSite Name: High Head Sculpture Valley Stone Circle Alternative Name: High Head Stone Circle
Country: England County: Cumbria Type: Modern Stone Circle etc
Nearest Town: Carlisle  Nearest Village: Gaitsgill
Map Ref: NY405435
Latitude: 54.782859N  Longitude: 2.926665W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
5 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
4 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
4 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
3

Internal Links:
External Links:

High Head Sculpture Valley Stone Circle
High Head Sculpture Valley Stone Circle submitted by Charles_Paxton : High Head Circle with Blencathra in the background. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Modern Stone Circle in Cumbria. Mists shroud the ancient stones linking a distant, mysterious past with modern-day Cumbria. Yet, the 13 stones that make up the High Head stone circle at Ivegill were only installed in 2006 by Penrith sculptor Brian Cowper. The circle has been aligned with the winter and summer solstice and reflects the surrounding landscape.

Article from December 2006.

"There are a lot of myths surrounding standing stones," Brian says.

"The Victorians spread rumours that druids were involved in their building, but we know the stones have been in place for thousands of years."

High Head stone circle is part of the High Head Sculpture Valley, set up by farmer and sculptor Jonathan Stamper and his wife Bernadette, at their working dairy farm in Ivegill.

The rushing waters of the nearby River Ive provide a pleasant, contemplative backdrop to a natural landscape that includes otters, kingfishers, herons and dippers.

The wooded valley is dotted with sculptures, many of which were produced in Jonathan’s on-site workshop.

His work, which focuses on religious and figurative sculpture, is influenced by the sculptures of Barbara Hepworth and Josefina de Vasconcellas.

Since it opened, the sculpture valley has been extremely popular and, in an era when interest in our past seems to have grown markedly, the new exhibit is sure to attract attention.

High Head stone circle marks the rising and setting of the major southern lunar standstill – an event of importance to stone circle architects which occurred in the summer and will not be replicated for 18 years.

Our ancient forefathers attached great importance to tracking and plotting the movements of the stars, sun and moon – a factor that was believed to be of religious significance and vital at harvest time.

Brian studied as a sculptor at Burslem School of Art in Stoke-on-Trent, and in Cardiff and Manchester before returning to his native Cumbria, while working as a lecturer at St Martin’s College in Lancaster.

The circle was designed earlier in the year, but Brian was involved in discussions with Jonathan for several years beforehand.

"We talked about it five or six years ago and as Jonathan has developed High Head Sculpture Valley we decided this would be a celebration," he says.

Machinery was used to manoeuvre the stones, which were hewn from local sandstone and measure between one and two-metres each, into place over three days.

Brian prefers not to draw comparisons with Stonehenge. [Halleluja! - Meg P Ed]

"This is very different. Jonathan approached me to produce something individual that would mark events personal to him," he says.

Brian has worked on other stone circle projects, including one installation in Yorkshire which took place over the course of a year, without using machinery, to reflect the changing of the seasons.

High Head Sculpture Valley has sculptures and an art gallery installed in a natural woodland valley.

It is open every day except Wednesday from 10.30am to 5pm and offers refreshments, a gallery and shop and a dairy farm for youngsters to view.

Visit www.highheadsculpturevalley.co.uk for further information.

Source: Cumberland News

Note: Last chance to visit the High Head Sculpture Valley, which includes this lovely modern circle - it closes on Saturday 21st December
You may be viewing yesterday's version of this page. To see the most up to date information please register for a free account.


High Head Sculpture Valley Stone Circle
High Head Sculpture Valley Stone Circle submitted by Charles_Paxton : Telephoto close-up view of High Head standing stones with Blencathra behind. (Vote or comment on this photo)

High Head Sculpture Valley Stone Circle
High Head Sculpture Valley Stone Circle submitted by Charles_Paxton : Lovely continuance of the tradition, this stone circle of red sandstone is sited in a grove of native trees and has elevated views of the surrounding countryside - nice to see the circle appear among the trees on approach. Aligned with Blencathra, the mighty Saddleback. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Do not use the above information on other web sites or publications without permission of the contributor.

Nearby Images from Geograph Britain and Ireland:
NY4043 : Footbridge over River Ive by Rose and Trev Clough
by Rose and Trev Clough
©2008(licence)
NY4043 : "Swimmers" by Fiona Hudson by Oliver Dixon
by Oliver Dixon
©2010(licence)
NY4043 : "Leadership" by Sarah Cleaver, High Head Sculpture Valley by Oliver Dixon
by Oliver Dixon
©2010(licence)
NY4043 : Pond, High Head Sculpture Valley by Oliver Dixon
by Oliver Dixon
©2010(licence)
NY4043 : Sculpture beside the River Ive, High Head Sculpture Park by Oliver Dixon
by Oliver Dixon
©2010(licence)

The above images may not be of the site on this page, they are loaded from Geograph.
Please Submit an Image of this site or go out and take one for us!


Click here to see more info for this site

Nearby sites

Click here to view sites on an interactive OS map

Key: Red: member's photo, Blue: 3rd party photo, Yellow: other image, Green: no photo - please go there and take one, Grey: site destroyed

Download sites to:
KML (Google Earth)
GPX (GPS waypoints)
CSV (Garmin/Navman)
CSV (Excel)

To unlock full downloads you need to sign up as a Contributory Member. Otherwise downloads are limited to 50 sites.


Turn off the page maps and other distractions

Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 2.2km ENE 63° Broad Field Stone Circle (NY425445)
 5.7km NE 41° St Wilfred's Well (Wreay)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (NY443478)
 6.2km NNE 28° St Mary's Well (Wreay)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (NY4352548921)
 7.4km NNW 331° Chapel Flat Stone Circle (NY370500)
 7.5km N 355° Tarn plantation* Stone Circle (NY4051)
 7.5km WNW 299° St Michael's Well (Shawk)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (NY3395047280)
 7.6km WNW 298° Shawk Quarries Holy Well (Dalston) Holy Well or Sacred Spring (NY3380047100)
 8.7km N 11° St Ninian's Well (Brisco)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (NY42265201)
 8.7km WSW 245° St Mungo's Well (Cumbria)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (NY3251339910)
 9.4km NE 42° St Anne's Well (Cotehill)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (NY4684050420)
 10.1km SE 126° Hallrigg Standing Stone* Standing Stone (Menhir) (NY4865737482)
 11.1km SSW 207° Mungrisedale* Cairn (NY353337)
 11.3km WSW 255° Faulds Brow Holed stone and Enclosure* Holed Stone (NY2950340623)
 11.5km WSW 255° Faulds Brow Banked Cairn Cairn (NY2937140629)
 11.7km SSW 212° Carrock Fell* Hillfort (NY342336)
 11.8km WSW 254° Faulds Brow Banjo Enclosure* Misc. Earthwork (NY2912340331)
 11.9km WSW 250° Faulds Brow Standing stones alignment* Stone Row / Alignment (NY2919339540)
 12.1km SW 215° Round Knott Cairn (NY334337)
 12.2km S 174° Berrier Hill Earthworks Misc. Earthwork (NY416313)
 12.4km N 357° Carlisle Cross* Ancient Cross (NY4008455931)
 12.5km N 356° Carlisle Anglo Saxon Crosses* Ancient Cross (NY39885595)
 12.5km NNE 29° Wetheral Village Cross* Ancient Cross (NY4665954370)
 12.6km NNE 29° Anglo Saxon Cross Base, Wetheral Parish Church* Ancient Cross (NY46835436)
 12.6km N 356° Tullie House Museum* Museum (NY3978556106)
 12.9km SE 134° Lowhouse* Stone Circle (NY49623435)
View more nearby sites and additional images

<< Buttony 1a

Wandylaw C >>

Please add your thoughts on this site

Prehistoric Monuments of the Lake District

Prehistoric Monuments of the Lake District

Sponsors

Auto-Translation (Google)

Translate from English into:

"High Head Sculpture Valley Stone Circle" | Login/Create an Account | 2 News and Comments
  
Go back to top of page    Comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content.
Re: Circles in stone part 1. The Cumbrian Sculpture Valley at High Head by Charles_Paxton on Sunday, 15 December 2013
(User Info | Send a Message)
Thank you very much, Andy.
[ Reply to This ]

Circles in stone part 1. The Cumbrian Sculpture Valley at High Head by Andy B on Saturday, 14 December 2013
(User Info | Send a Message)
Charles Paxton has blogged some more images from the Sculpture Valley and writes: We have recently learned that though the Stone Circle will still be accessible after December 21st, you should endeavour to make your visit before December 21st because the visitors’ centre and cafe will be closed after that.

We found High Head Sculpture Valley to be a delightful sun trap with a distinctly wild feel to it. Ive beck runs through it, feeding the wetland section and providing home to Otters, Water rats, Kingfishers and other wildlife, the sculptures are situated amongst the abundant foliage, and open spaces linked by paths, bull-rushes, willows and other trees in a pleasant naturalistic integration. If you came upon the haunting vision of a faun with Pan-pipes beside the island stilt-house, it wouldn’t seem entirely out of place. Sculptural works by Jonathan Stamper abound, be sure to bring your camera, denizens of this Eden include a glass snake and brilliant giant butterfly.

I came to hear of High Head while researching prehistoric sites in Cumbria for an ANA Wingspan in-flight magazine article. In the course of visiting some of Cumbria’s amazingly rich prehistoric heritage it struck me as clearly impossible to ask the Neolithic and Bronze Age sculptors why they were erecting stone circles where they did and what moved them to do it, so I was very keen to talk with the contemporary Prehistoric Artist, Brian Cowper about Cumbria’s Stone Circles. He is in a better position than most to help us understand stone circle constructions because he has made a thorough study of them both here and abroad, and has been commissioned to design and build circles for both the public and private sectors.

Read more and view the photos at
http://bettercumbria.wordpress.com/2013/11/21/circles-in-stone-part-1-the-cumbrian-sculpture-valley-at-high-head/
[ Reply to This ]

Your Name: Anonymous [ Register Now ]
Subject:


Add your comment or contribution to this page. Spam or offensive posts are deleted immediately, don't even bother

<<< What is five plus one as a number? (Please type the answer to this question in the little box on the left)
You can also embed videos and other things. For Youtube please copy and paste the 'embed code'.
For Google Street View please include Street View in the text.
Create a web link like this: <a href="https://www.megalithic.co.uk">This is a link</a>  

Allowed HTML is:
<p> <b> <i> <a> <img> <em> <br> <strong> <blockquote> <tt> <li> <ol> <ul> <object> <param> <embed> <iframe>

We would like to know more about this location. Please feel free to add a brief description and any relevant information in your own language.
Wir möchten mehr über diese Stätte erfahren. Bitte zögern Sie nicht, eine kurze Beschreibung und relevante Informationen in Deutsch hinzuzufügen.
Nous aimerions en savoir encore un peu sur les lieux. S'il vous plaît n'hesitez pas à ajouter une courte description et tous les renseignements pertinents dans votre propre langue.
Quisieramos informarnos un poco más de las lugares. No dude en añadir una breve descripción y otros datos relevantes en su propio idioma.