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<< Our Photo Pages >> Casterton - Stone Circle in England in Cumbria

Submitted by WindC on Monday, 26 July 2021  Page Views: 27809

Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Casterton Alternative Name: Langthwaite Gill Plantation Ring Cairn
Country: England County: Cumbria Type: Stone Circle
Nearest Town: Kirkby Lonsdale  Nearest Village: Casterton
Map Ref: SD63937999  Landranger Map Number: 97
Latitude: 54.214364N  Longitude: 2.554601W
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
 3 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
 5 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.
 3 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
 5

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I have visited· I would like to visit

WindC would like to visit

drolaf visited on 20th Sep 2021 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 3 about 17 stones with a few gaps. stones are only about 12-18 inches high, but quite regularly spaced. It is sited in a relatively level site on a steep hillside, near where a beck starts. Some trouble was taken to level the site, by embanking the eastern side. The site looks out across to the southern Cumbrian heights.

Anne T visited on 8th Aug 2019 - their rating: Cond: 2 Amb: 3 Access: 3 Casterton Stone Circle and Settlement: I found this walk VERY difficult once we were in the field containing the stone circle, largely due to the steepness of the slope, but mainly due to all the stones and boulders hidden under the turf. I did not enjoy this visit at all, despite having really wanted to visit this stone circle. We parked at SD 64084 79316 and walked northwards up the lane towards Brownthwaite Pike, a steady uphill plod, passing a spring which emerged from just the other side of the wall, and piped under the footpath to the field beyond. Reaching the gate into the field with the stone circle, which the farmer allows access to, we had to wade through the first 10-15m, as water was trickling down the slope from across the footpath and pooling around the gate. I was quite astonished at all the heaps of stones (clearance cairns) and part-walls all across the field. It reminded me of the ‘5,000 tons of stones’ site in County Durham that Time Team looked at but couldn’t work out what it was. On (finally) reaching the stone circle, which took the best part of 40 minutes, my interpretation was that this was a ring cairn, not a stone circle. On the way back up the slope, did we find a boulder with cup mark? The interior was very smooth, unlike the solution holes, which have a rim. There was also another boulder with a large ‘solution hole’ on its side – an odd location for a solution hole.

kthdsn visited on 5th Jul 2014 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 3 Access: 3 A small circle we almost didn't notice until we reached it. Vegetation hid some of the stones. The walk back up the field was hard work!



Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 2.67 Ambience: 3.33 Access: 3

Casterton
Casterton submitted by Bladup : Casterton stone circle. (Vote or comment on this photo)
An embanked stone circle or ring cairn in Cumbria which is not in the Burl books. It has an adjacent earthwork enclosure and there is extensive evidence of early settlement in this area. A stunningly beautiful place, looking west over the Lune valley above Kirkby Lonsdale, and south to Pendle, down the course of the Belinus Line. The stones barely peep out of the turf, giving the distinct feeling that if the surface was lowered, much of interest would emerge.

The above text by Airybiker. Traveling west on the A65, a mile after Cowan Bridge, take the Roman Road which goes off to the right, and crosses the old railway. After about a mile, at a cross-roads, turn right up Fell Road towards Bull Pot Farm, and begin the climb up the fell. Past the first farm, you will see two tracks off to the left, the first is Fellfoot Lane, (Unmarked), the second, half a mile further on is unnamed … follow it, and the circle is in the NW corner of the fifth field on your left.

For more information see Pastscape Monument No. 44113, an extract of which reads: "(The stone circle) occupies a low knoll situated within a natural shelf or bench in the hillside, and commands extensive views west and south over the Lune valley. It comprises a penannular bank, circa 16m in internal diameter, with stones arranged every 2-3m around the inner face although there are 'gaps', presumably where stones are either missing or grassed over. There are 17 stones visible, up to circa 0.4m high. The northern arc of the enclosing bank appears slightly cut back, perhaps by the construction of authority 1's 'roughly circular sinking' (see Pastscape Monument No. 1575385, a roughly circular earthwork). The modern field in which the monument stands has been improved, presumably in the post-medieval period, by clearance of surface stone into heaps or 'stores', although this mostly seems to have affected the more eastern, uphill, area away from the monument. It is probably an embanked stone circle, although an interpretation as a ring cairn cannot be ruled out."
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Casterton
Casterton submitted by sumdoood : On the slope above the circle are many piles of stone almost all of which include built walls. They do not seem to me to result from agricultural clearance, the slope being, I suggest, by local standards too steep for field-type cultivation. Some have part-hollow centres, but appear to be too small to have formed the base of a hut circle for human habitation (unless a monkish cell!). Others are la... (Vote or comment on this photo)

Casterton
Casterton submitted by Bladup : Casterton stone circle. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Casterton
Casterton submitted by Bladup (Vote or comment on this photo)

Casterton
Casterton submitted by sumdoood : The highest part of the structure in the following image. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Casterton
Casterton submitted by WindC : Looking south along it's easterly edge 26/2/12

Casterton
Casterton submitted by WindC : Looking eastwards, a moment when the cloud base lifted.. 26/2/12

Casterton
Casterton submitted by karolus : Bit overgrown September 2022

Casterton
Casterton submitted by drolaf : westerly stone

Casterton
Casterton submitted by drolaf : the northerly stone

Casterton
Casterton submitted by drolaf : looking sw across the stones

Casterton
Casterton submitted by StanA : Further perimeter stones at putative circle at 642790

Casterton
Casterton submitted by StanA

Casterton
Casterton submitted by StanA

Casterton
Casterton submitted by StanA : This and subsequent pix show putative stone circle at GR 642790

Casterton
Casterton submitted by Anne T : We also spotted this earth-fast' dolphin-shaped' stone further down-slope, which had solution holes on its sides (3 comments)

Casterton
Casterton submitted by Anne T : The location of the boulder with its cup-like depression, showing its relation to the stone circle and the settlement

Casterton
Casterton submitted by Anne T : This stone, with an apparent (smooth inside) cup-like depression was at SD 64083 79908. No other rock art for miles around. The land seems to be on a geological border between an area of limestone and sandstone, although I believe this boulder is limestone, which as rich32 assures me, makes the likelihood of this being a cup extremely unlikely!

Casterton
Casterton submitted by Anne T : One of the many large clearance cairns, almost directly west of the gate into the field, about two thirds of the way down hill towards the stone circle

Casterton
Casterton submitted by Anne T : Standing on the northern arc of the circle, looking south. Standing here, my impression was that this is a ring cairn, not a stone circle

Casterton
Casterton submitted by Anne T : Standing near the dry stone wall to the south east of the circle, looking eastwardsup the field, with its odd collections of clearance cairns and possible old walls. The colour on the photo is a little odd, as I needed to use a filter to avoid flaring from the low sun.

Casterton
Casterton submitted by Anne T : A stitch of four photos looking northwards over the stone circle, from the bottom of the southern bank of its platform. The settlement is between the edge of the stone circle's platform and the wood

Casterton
Casterton submitted by Anne T : Standing just where the southern part of the platform starts to fall away, looking northwards; the stones in the circle are barely visible above the grass

Casterton
Casterton submitted by Anne T : The eastern half of the circle, taken from its southern side, looking NE

Casterton
Casterton submitted by Anne T : The stone circle (my interpretation was it is a ring cairn)on its raised platform, taken from its eastern side. To the centre right of the photo, there is a muddy, circular area, as if a spring rises here during wet weather. A water channel has run roughly north-south along the eastern side of the 'stone circle' but was largely dry at the time of our visit.

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Re: Casterton by drolaf on Tuesday, 21 September 2021
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it's looking a bit scruffier than it did. For some reason the cattle prefer to shuffle about in the centre of the stone circle than the rest of the field. unless it was errant morris dancers! whatever, the centre is now denuded of turf and will rapidly erode.

A great location and if you go up the top of the hill to the cairn you can see Morecombe bay and the Cumbrian heights.
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Re: Casterton by Zooks777 on Sunday, 08 August 2021
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The circle and the rich ancient landscape to the south show up well on the Environment Agency lidar images (click icon next to that for CamRA) Having a resolution of 1 m the lidar data do not show individual stones, whereas the Bing images (OS 25 cm res aerial photos) do pick them out nicely, but fail to show the microtopographic features for which lidar was partly designed
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Re: Casterton by QDanT on Tuesday, 03 August 2021
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some more photos from March 2014 https://teddytourteas.blogspot.com/2014/03/casterton-stone-circle.html
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Re: Casterton and surrounding area by StanA on Wednesday, 07 July 2021
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There's extensive evidence of early settlement in this area, mostly between 1-5 and 2 km to the SSE of the stone circle. The area is mostly enclosed and hence not that easy to access. However, a few hundred metres up Fell Road, there's a gate on the right and a track leading across a field. This is not marked on the OS map, nor does the OS map suggest any ancient features just here.

It can become quite tempting to "spot" stone circles when you're looking for them. Often these are no more than rocks in a vaguely circular pattern. They're especially common on limestone, where the bedrock is just below the surface. However, I was impressed by one collection of protruding rocks at GR 642790, about 1km SSE of Casterton circle. These were around the perimeter of a knoll overlooking a dry valley and their situation echoed that of many smaller stone circles in the area.

There are numerous piles of stones in the vicinity which may or may not be the rseult of agricultural clearance.

I...

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    Re: Casterton and surrounding area by nicoladidsbury on Wednesday, 04 May 2022
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    There is a circular structure showing on LiDAR. I’ll check if it matches your grid reference.
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Re: Casterton by SumDoood on Wednesday, 18 October 2017
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I noticed that this circle is not included in Burl's Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany.
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    Re: Casterton by Alasdair105 on Saturday, 21 October 2023
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    In the revised edition (2000), page 100, Casterton is listed in Table 10 which analyses the traits of Cumbrian stone circles. Burl lists this as phase 3 c. 2500-2000 BC, possibly 20+ stones (or 10-15) with possible Beaker burials.
    [ Reply to This ]

The Cupcake cave, 3km from here by Andy B on Friday, 11 September 2015
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From The Cupcake cave, 3km from here: The Cupcake (so-called because of the shape of an associated stalagmite) is a vertical sediment-filled cave shaft ~12 m deep in Lower Carboniferous limestone at National Grid
Reference SD 6665 7835 and 325 m OD.

A wild boar dominated ungulate assemblage from an early Holocene natural pit fall trap: Cave shaft sediments in northwest England associated with the 9.3 ka BP cold event. Tom C Lord, John A Thorp and Peter Wilson. The Holocene, 2015

A highly unusual pit fall ungulate assemblage dominated by wild boar (Sus scrofa) was recovered during the recent exploration of a cave shaft in the upland karstic landscape of northwest England. Both the opening of the cave shaft to the surface and its infilling by clastic sediments are attributable to accelerated landscape erosion associated with the 9.3 ka BP climatic deterioration. Evidence that wild boar had died in winter or spring suggests that their deaths relate to the prolonged periods of...

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Re: Casterton by airybiker on Thursday, 24 June 2010
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Casterton Stone Circle.


Traveling west on the A65, a mile after Cowan Bridge, take the Roman Road which goes off to the right, and crosses the old railway. After about a mile, at a cross-road, turn right up Fell Road towards Bull Pot Farm, and begin the climb up the fell. Past the first farm, you will see two tracks off to the left, the first is Fellfoot Lane, (Unmarked), the second, half a mile further on is unnamed … follow it, and the circle is in the NW corner of the fifth field on your left.

It is a stunningly beautiful place, looking west over the Lune valley above Kirkby Lonsdale, and south to Pendle, down the course of the Belinus Line. The stones barely peep out of the turf, and I get a distinct feeling that if the surface was lowered, much of interest would emerge.

I have never asked permission, walkers are not uncommon in the area, and though I’m accustomed to going (carefully) wherever I choose, I don’t feel my occasional presence offends anyone.
I have fou...

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    Re: Casterton by WindC on Wednesday, 29 February 2012
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    Thanks for the info. Crossing the field in cloud it was good to know where amongst all those heaps of rock it was.
    I have held back on descriptions of this loverly site as I couldn't really think of how best to describe it's beauty.
    I hope to revisit when its warmer. 29/2/12
    [ Reply to This ]

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