<< Our Photo Pages >> Arbor Low 1 - Stone Circle in England in Derbyshire
Submitted by Andy B on Sunday, 22 January 2023 Page Views: 60928
Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Arbor Low 1Country: England County: Derbyshire Type: Stone Circle
Nearest Town: Bakewell Nearest Village: Middleton
Map Ref: SK16036355 Landranger Map Number: 119
Latitude: 53.168827N Longitude: 1.761666W
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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External Links:
I have visited· I would like to visit
43559959 SumDoood xseawitch whese001 markp1999 would like to visit
Couplands visited on 12th Aug 2023 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 4
Couplands visited on 4th Mar 2023 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 5 Access: 4
lichen visited on 17th May 2022 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 4
Mountainharry visited on 10th Oct 2021 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 5 Access: 4
Catrinm visited on 24th Apr 2021 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 5 Access: 4 Lovely sunny blue sky today for Arbor Lowe
bishop_pam visited on 6th Sep 2020 - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 5 Access: 4
gritstone visited on 16th Jul 2020 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4
lscollinson visited on 22nd Dec 2019 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 5 Access: 4 Visited on the Winter solstice. A truly fantastic place and after repeated visits the place never fails to throw up many unanswered questions.
Catrinm visited on 21st Dec 2019 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 4 Visited on winter solstice 2019
elad13 visited on 22nd Aug 2019 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 4
elad13 visited on 14th Aug 2018 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 4
kthdsn visited on 16th Apr 2016 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 3
MmeSinn visited on 27th Aug 2014 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4
ZamZam visited on 6th Aug 2014 - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 5 Access: 4
NickyD visited on 1st Aug 2014 - their rating: Cond: 2 Amb: 4 Access: 4
Ballhc visited on 19th Apr 2014 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 4
Richard13 visited on 1st Mar 2014 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 5 Access: 4
lichen visited on 5th Jan 2014 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4
foxhat visited on 5th Jan 2014 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 4 Visible barrow nearby.
On private land - with honesty box
k8marieuk visited on 31st Mar 2013 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 3
jon_weekes visited on 30th Apr 2011 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 4
dpickup69 visited on 27th Nov 2010 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 5 Access: 4 A highly intriguing site with fantastic views
mark_a visited on 12th Sep 2010 2011?
markj99 visited on 16th Apr 2009 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 5 Access: 4 Arbor Low Henge and Stone Circle are easy to find by following English Heritage signs off the A515 between Buxton and Ashbourne.
Arbor Low Henge is well preserved but can be overshadowed by the circle of recumbent stones in the enclosure. There is some doubt as to whether the stones were ever standing adding mystery to an already impressive site.
soulsurfer visited on 1st Jan 2009 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 4
BolshieBoris visited on 1st Jan 2006 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 5 Access: 4
megalithicmatt visited on 1st Jan 2005 - their rating: Cond: 2 Amb: 4 Access: 4 Visited in the middle of a thunderstorm - didn't see much for the rain!
xrichhx visited on 17th Jan 1999 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 5 Access: 3
Orcinus visited on 1st Jan 1987 Visited with the MSC scheme folks from Creswell Crags, 1987
jeniferj visited - their rating: Cond: 2 Amb: 4 Access: 4
livingstone visited - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 5 Access: 3
coin visited - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4 Happy to put money in the honesty box.
kith visited - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 3 Access: 4
drolaf Humbucker Aurora_skygazer Bladup myf DrewParsons rldixon AngieLake TimPrevett Andy B MartinRS Wazza12 have visited here
Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 3.26 Ambience: 4.45 Access: 3.87
The stones were added later and were almost certainly in place by 2000BC. Use of the site continued on into the Bronze Age when the most prominent part of the outer bank was reconstructed to allow for the erection of a large round barrow.
Sometimes referred to as ‘The Stonehenge of the North’, The site of Arbor Low now consists of a ruined circle (actually egg-shaped) of around fifty large locally quarried limestone blocks with seven smaller blocks in the centre forming a cove, close to which the human skeletal remains were discovered. All but one of the stones are now recumbent with only one to the west-south-west remaining partially upright. Some of the fallen, broken stones do appear to fit together, indicating there were probably between forty-one and forty-three standing stones originally. They are of varying shapes and sizes ranging from about 1.6m to 2.1m in height, with the exception of the monoliths at the entrances which are between 2.6m and 2.9m tall. The stump of one stone, perhaps the remains of a portal stone, can be found in the southern entrance while a large pit in the northern entrance indicates this may also have contained a stone.
The oval earthen bank is approximately 90m by 85m externally in diameter and 2m high, with the inner platform of 52m by 40m. The surrounding ditch is circa 2m deep and between 7m and 12m wide. The bank and ditch are broken by two causewayed entrances which are not exactly opposite, one 9m wide to the north-west and one 6m wide to the south-south-east.
For more information see Historic England List ID 1011087 and Pastscape Monument 308656. Pastscape has a separate entry for the small Bronze Age bowl barrow close to the henge; see Monument No. 308661. The Journal of Antiquities also features a page for this important site - see their entry for Arbor Low, Middleton, Derbyshire which includes directions for finding this site, photographs, and background information. The Journal adds: "There are said to be up to 50 ley-lines intersecting or passing through the henge, something the ancient people who dwelt in the area would have been well aware of with regard to alignments and the energies of the earth".
Note: Hillshade plots of Arbor Low, Pilsbury Castle, the Bull Ring and Gib Hill produced by Dr Helen Malbon from Keele University, who is speaking at Staffordshire Archaeology Day, Saturday 18th March 2023 in Stoke on Trent. More on our page
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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
58m NNW 329° Arbor Low Earthwork* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SK160636)
311m SW 223° Gib Hill* Long Barrow (SK15826332)
366m SSW 206° Gib Hill Plantation* Misc. Earthwork (SK15876322)
413m SW 233° Arbor Low 2* Henge (SK157633)
1.0km NE 36° Cales Dale* Round Barrow(s) (SK16636437)
1.7km WSW 255° Parsley Hay* Round Cairn (SK144631)
1.8km SW 220° Lean Low* Round Barrow(s) (SK149622)
2.2km SSW 206° Moneystones* Round Barrow(s) (SK151616)
2.3km W 271° Custard Field Farm* Round Barrow(s) (SK137636)
2.4km NNE 31° One Ash Shelter* Cave or Rock Shelter (SK17266559)
3.0km NNE 17° Ringham Low* Chambered Cairn (SK169664)
3.0km S 188° End Low* Round Barrow(s) (SK156606)
3.0km NE 52° Calling Low Dale* Cave or Rock Shelter (SK184654)
3.1km WSW 254° Carder Low* Round Barrow(s) (SK130627)
3.3km ESE 112° Rusden Lowe Round Barrow(s) (SK19116231)
3.3km ENE 69° Bee Lowe Round Cairn (SK19166473)
3.7km WSW 254° Lud well (Hartington)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SK125625)
3.8km SE 136° Smerril Moor Chambered Cairn (SK187608)
3.8km NNW 342° Monyash Round Barrow 1* Round Barrow(s) (SK148672)
4.1km ESE 103° Larks Low Bowl Barrow* Round Barrow(s) (SK20086260)
4.2km SSW 202° Dale End* Modern Stone Circle etc (SK14455970)
4.2km NNW 340° Monyash Round Barrow 2 Round Barrow(s) (SK146675)
4.3km SSE 160° Aleck Low* Round Barrow(s) (SK175595)
4.5km SE 138° Sites of Meaning Marker Stone, Long Dale* Modern Stone Circle etc (SK1906060254)
4.5km W 275° Pilsburry holed standing stone* Holed Stone (SK1148363892)
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