Stanton Drew

In ‘The Modern Antiquarian’ Julian Cope waxes lyrical about Stanton Drew stone circle and quite rightly so. Six miles south of Bristol on the A37 the stones are situated on a farm outside the village of Stanton Drew. Here lies one of the largest stone circles in Britain after Avebury and Stonehenge yet it has not received the attention or publicity of the other two. Somehow it is protected and is the more interesting for that.

There are three stone circles here including The Great Circle with 26 surviving stones, dated at 3000-2000BC, perhaps early Bronze Age. There are two smaller stone circles to the north-east and south-west and also the remarkable ‘Cove’ in the local pub garden. The ‘Cove’ is three large interesting stones that are 1,000 years older than the stones of the circles close by. Myths and legends abound locally with theories about alignments and ley lines and the frequent folklore that crops up around Britain that no one is able to count the correct number of stones on the site. Cope writes, ‘Stanton Drew is undervalued…who cares? It is a very blessed monument – and a battery of awesome size.’

Location: Outside the village of Stanton Drew on the A37

Coordinates: 51.367797°N 2.575257°W

Photo credit: Rodw, Wiki Media Images, Creative Commons Licence