stanton drew: sourcing the stones

The following preliminary report is based around an ongoing research project being conducted by myself, Vince Simmonds BSc (Hons) PGCert FGS.  The report has been adapted to enable it to be published on this website and it represents just part of a wider range of data that has been compiled from the Neolithic monument site at Stanton Drew and from the wider surrounding area.  It is hoped that the project can be seen as a fluid creation in that the thought processes involved can change and evolve, this my interpretation and I daresay there are others that have alternative interpretations, I suspect none will prove definitive as ideas and notions change with time. 

All the photographs used were taken by Vince Simmonds. 

First published online: February 2011.

A photographic record of the stones at Stanton Drew taken in 2010 can be found at: www.stantondrew.mendipgeoarch.net

A regular update of recent field trips can be reviewed by following the link to the online journal at: www.sourcingthestones.mendipgeoarch.net also take a look at www.ramblingon.mendipgeoarch.net a rather more general uptake of the outdoors.  

Introduction

Conneller (2008) when discussing lithic technology argues that the locations of raw material sources are a vital piece of the archaeological record because of the information it may provide about mobility, trade and exchange in prehistoric studies.  In can also be inferred to embody place, and it appears many places where the material was sourced might have been of importance to the peoples of that time (Conneller 2008: 169).  While Conneller was discussing lithic technology

I believe that some of his inferences are a valid point when considering the Stanton Drew Stone Circle Monument and where the stones there might have originated from.  There are at least four distinct rock types to be found within the monument site and the origins of the rock types appear to be from geographically as well as geologically diverse areas.  There seems to be several different questions to be considered why the particular rock types were chosen

Was the colour or composition of the individual rock types used of importance?  Were the river and associated springs of particular significance?  Was the river used in the transportation of the stones?   How does the site at Stanton Drew relate to other sites in the area, such as the Priddy Circles? 

The complex at Stanton Drew comprises of three distinct stone circles, the Great Circle is the second largest stone circle in Britain, and the other two circles to the south-west and the north-east are considerably smaller.  The Great Circle and the north-east circle both appear to have been approached, or left, to the north-east by short avenues of stones and in the garden of the local hostelry, the Druid’s Arms, is a group of three stones known as ‘The Cove’.  To the north of the complex on the other side of the River Chew lies a solitary stone known as Hautville’s Quoit, Lloyd Morgan (1887: 42) places two other small stones to the west at Middle Ham or Lower Tyning that are not located on the modern Ordnance Survey maps of the area. 

Megalithic sites such as this have been broadly dated late Neolithic and early Bronze Age ca. 3000 – 2000 BC and this site has been interpreted as being an important centre for ritual and ceremonial activities (Lewis: online accessed 2010).  From about 4000 BC humankind began to radically alter the landscape with the construction of large ceremonial, religious and burial monuments in clearings created in the wildwood.  These monuments belonged to and were used by specific groups of people who were also using the local countryside, partly to grow crops and for animal husbandry while also still hunting, fishing and gathering (Aston, 1985: 23).  Recent geophysical surveys at the site indicate that the Great Circle was contained within an outer ditch and that inside the circle were concentric rings of pits, interpreted to have held timber uprights (English Heritage, online accessed 2009) and more recently the possibility of the Cove being the remnants of a substantial long barrow (Oswin, Richards and Sermon, 2009).  It should be noted that Tratman remarks that a very large elm tree at the centre of the Great Circle was felled and removed in 1963 and that its removal caused a major disturbance in the central area where its presence had possibly destroyed any archaeological features that may have been there (Tratman, 1966: 42).

Location

The Stanton Drew Stone Circles are located at NGR ST 600 633 on the outskirts of the village of Stanton Drew, within the Chew Valley and to the north of the Mendip Hills.  It is about 8 miles to the south of Bristol and is in the Bath and Northeast Somerset unitary authority region.  The name ‘Stanton’ possibly derives from the Old English ‘stān’ which means ‘stone and from ‘tūn’ meaning ‘enclosure, farmstead, village, manor, i.e. ‘Stanton’ possibly refers to ‘stone farmstead’.  This might be an archaeological reference to the megalithic monuments nearby (Cameron, 1961: 116).

To the north of the Stanton Drew Stone Circles the summit of Dundry Hill is capped by an outcrop of Inferior Oolitic limestone of Jurassic age while to the east and to the south of the stone circles are sandstones from the Coal Measures, these rocks are of Carboniferous age.  Lying to the southwest is the locally silicified Dolomitic Conglomerate from the Harptree and Compton Martin areas, these rocks are of Triassic age and occur as inter-digitations on the northern flank of the Mendip Hills.  The more silicified Dolomitic Conglomerate rock types constitute the most common of the rock types found at Stanton Drew, while the rocks that form ‘The Cove’ are of a Dolomitic Conglomerate that has a lesser degree of silicification and good examples of this rock type can be seen to outcrop throughout the length of Harptree combe which lies between the villages of West and East Harptree, the more silicified rocks can be seen to outcrop higher up the combe at Garrow and at Ridge.  

The course of the River Chew flows to the east of the Harptree area and flows north before turning to an easterly direction and passes to the north and very close to the stone circles at Stanton Drew.  Rivers or fresh water seems to have been key elements at Neolithic sites, such as henges, causewayed enclosures and cursus monuments (Fowler and Cummings, 2003: 10).

A description of the four rock types identified at the Stanton Drew site:

Oolitic Limestone – Jurassic 205 – 142 Ma.  These rocks are a pale grey-yellow colour, although this is difficult to fully distinguish due to a substantial lichen cover.  The surface of the blocks resembles a limestone pavement and has numerous cup-like depressions and pits that partly fill with water.  Many rock art sites have flat slabs of stone open to the elements and, when it rains, the cup-and-ring marks fill with water, rocks with natural cup marks are often utilised for the same effect.  It could be that places where rocks ran with water or held water were culturally significant in many ways (Fowler and Cummings, 2003: 10).  It is possible that some of these limestone slabs at Stanton Drew were not intended to stand or were used as capstones.

Jurassic Oolitic Limestone.  The Great Circle.

Silicified Dolomitic Conglomerate - Triassic 248 – 205 Ma.  These rocks have a wide range of colours from pale pink to orange-pink with some bright, sometimes ochreous orange, through to dark rust, and purple-red blotches, the red and orange colour is indicative of the mineral iron content of these Triassic rock types.  The rocks have a glassy, metallic appearance and feel and the surface can be described as pitted, pock-marked, frothy, knobbly and gnarly.  There are abundant quartz geodes that make many of the stones sparkle, William Stukeley (cited in Lloyd Morgan, 1887: 39) remarks that “it shines eminently and reflects the sunbeams with great lustre”.  Quartz was a highly significant and regarded material in prehistory as indicated through its use in various monuments (Lewis: online accessed 2010).  There are some silicified fossil fragments from the remains of limestone clasts within the conglomerate.  The varying clasts range from sub-rounded to sub-angular, fine to coarse gravel to pebble and cobble size.  The majority of the stones have a substantial cover of lichen with some moss and grass.

Triassic Dolomitic Conglomerate (silicified).  Northeast Circle.

Dolomitic Conglomerate – Triassic.  This is a weathered pale grey-pink and has a lesser degree of silicification.  The varying clasts range from rounded to sub-angular fine to coarse gravel, pebbles and cobbles of limestone and sandstone.  There are also some silicified fossil fragments from the remains of limestone clasts within the conglomerate and the stones again have a substantial cover of lichen.

Triassic Dolomitic Conglomerate.  The Cove.

Pennant Sandstone – Carboniferous 354 – 290 Ma.  These rocks are of a pink to fawn colour and distinct bedding layers are clearly visible in particular cross-stratification which is typical of material that has been laid down in deltas.  There is a layer of rounded to sub-rounded fine to medium gravel of quartz.

Carboniferous Pennant Sandstone.  The Great Circle.

The Great Circle, Northeast Circle and the Avenues

The majority of the stones within the Great and Northeast Circle complex comprise of a silicified Dolomitic Conglomerate similar to that found around the Harptree area in particular at Garrow and at Ridge.  In the Great Circle 61.5% of the visible stones comprise the more silicified Dolomitic Conglomerate, 23.1% comprise Oolitic Limestone that is likely to have originated from the Dundry Plateau, 11.5% comprise Sandstone that appears to be of a more local origin and 3.8% are Dolomitic Conglomerate of a rock type has a lesser degree of silicification and, again is similar to types found within the Harptree area.  The stones that form the Northeast Circle and the Avenues comprise 90.9% silicified Dolomitic Conglomerate and 9.1% Oolitic Limestone and the probable origins of these stones are as detailed above.  The orange to rust-red colours of the silicified Dolomitic Conglomerate does not look out of place at Stanton Drew matching well with the local red sandy soils and the Triassic Mercia Mudstone that underlies the monument site. 

Three disturbed soil samples were taken from molehills in a spread across the Great Circle and Northeast Circle complex and these were analyzed for particle size distribution to give an indication of the underlying geology.  There are many different methods for particle size analysis but these split into three main groups.  Sieving which involves the physical separation of grain sizes through a stack of sieves of reducing mesh size down to a minimum of 63 microns.  Whilst smaller mesh sizes can be used to quantify the silt fraction down to 5 microns the time investment required means that one of the other techniques is normally used for the fine fraction.  Sedimentation is usually carried out on the passing 63 micron fraction (silt and clay) after the sand has been quantified by sieving.  It uses the principle that coarse particles separate out of a suspension quicker than fine particles. The clay and silt content is measured by either drawing off samples by pipette (pipette method) or using a hydrometer to measure suspension density (hydrometer method) over set periods of time (SASSA, 2010).  For the samples analyzed from Stanton Drew the hydrometer method was used to determine the fine fraction and the results are presented in the table below. 

Summary table of particle size proportions for the samples taken at three locations from the Great Circle and Northeast Circle, Stanton Drew.

Samples SDGC 1 and 3 were also analysed for iron content, pH and soil organic matter.  The results are presented in the table below.

Summary table of chemical analyses results of samples SDGC 1 and 3 from the Great Circle and Northeast Circle.

The reddish-brown to red colour and with a sand content ranging from 77.3% to 86.5% that comprises of a mainly fine and medium grain size suggests that the origin of the soil is a result of the weathering and erosion of the underlying Triassic strata of Mercia Mudstone, where there is found locally a marginal facies comprising soft red and fawn calcareous sandstone bands.  There appears, from the samples tested, to be a general coarsening of the material across the site from the southwest to the northeast and down slope; SDGC 1 has a medium sand content of 33.0%, SDGC 2 has 48.4% and SDGC 3 has 67.8% while the fine sand content reduces SDGC 1: 42.8%, SDGC 2: 27.4% and SDGC 3: 16.0%.  The iron content of sample SDGC 3 determined as 15920 mg/kg is almost double of that of SDGC1 determined as 8283 mg/kg and this may be a reason for the much redder colour of SDGC 3.   It is possible that the variability of the iron content and the sand content may have some effect on any geophysical survey results undertaken at the site.  There is a slight reduction in pH across the sample line from pH7 (SDGC 1) to pH6.7 (SDGC 3), the soil organic matter might have been influenced by grass roots present in the sample.  These sandstones can be seen in a road cutting 500 metres to the south of the Stone Circle complex also heading from the village hall and going westwards along the same outcrop as the Stone Circle complex runs the aptly named Sandy Lane.

Roadside exposure of Triassic sandstone bands.

Although these results may give some indications as to the local geology it should also be noted that the sample size is very small and as a consequence the results should be seen as inconclusive.  In order to fully understand the soil composition a comprehensive sampling strategy would need to be undertaken across the full extent of the site and probably into the surrounding area and for a representative range of samples to be collected and analysed for a wider range of particle size distributions and trace elements.

The Southwest Circle

When standing in the Southwest Circle the almost circular appearance of the site gives a feeling of an almost manufactured situation.  It has a levelled surface where the stones are placed with a significant drop-off or falling away of the ground, in particular to the east, west, and south sides, although this could just as easily be the consequence of later agricultural practices.  A solitary stone just off centre in the circle is possibly the cornerstone of a field boundary marked on Dymond’s 1890’s site plan, although a slightly earlier 1884 – 1887 map depicts this as a solitary central stone at the corner of a field boundary.  This stone and another stone in the Southwest Circle comprise a Dolomitic Conglomerate, of a type similar to that of the stones located in the Cove.  The majority of the stones in the Southwest Circle comprise a silicified Dolomitic Conglomerate, although at least one stone is of the local sandstone, possibly from the sandstone bands that are found within the Mercia Mudstones of this area and are visible in the local environment. 

The geology and landscape of Stanton Drew and the surrounding area

Archaeologists are becoming increasingly aware that monuments help to shape the perception of landscape, possibly altering both the form and content of a landscape, helping to promote and create senses of time, place and notions of identity and belonging (Goldhahn in Jones 2008: 57).  It is feasible that monuments were constructed to occupy a permanent place in the landscape and were intended to exert an influence on future occupants of that landscape.

The visibility of the monuments at Stanton Drew from the surrounding countryside might have been an important factor in the location of the site.  High ground surrounds the lower ground of the River Chew basin where the monuments are situated and an approach from this low level would have meant that the site could not be seen, the seclusion giving a sense of privacy.  The Great Circle and Northeast Circle and the Avenues occupy a place on a slightly elevated terrace above the river where the basin widens between the 40 metre contour line before narrowing considerably to the northeast of the site.  It might be that this widening of the basin was a significant factor in the placement of these particular monuments; consider the approach from an upstream direction following a narrow channel then a widening of the basin, perhaps flooded, and the monument situated on a raised terrace above the water.  Streams enter the main river here, from Dundry and Norton Marleward to the north and from the Stanton Wick area to the south.  During the Neolithic many sites are placed close to rivers, water sheds and water sources as can be seen at Stanton Drew and at Avebury.  The Southwest Circle occupies a rather different place in the landscape when seen in comparison to the Great Circle and Northeast Circle complex.  The Southwest Circle is situated in a prominent position on a brow and commands a wide panoramic view of the surrounding countryside particularly when looking to the west along the valley towards the Severn Estuary.  The high ground of Blackdown on the Mendips is clearly visible.  The different positioning of the Southwest Circle might suggest a differing thought process or even a different period of construction.  This prominent position has been later utilised as the site of the circa 13^th century church and the circa 15^th century Church Farmhouse. 

As the perception and cognition of landscape is altered by the construction of a monument, then the actual physical landscape is also altered.  The monument materializes in the landscape while the landscape then becomes materialized in the monument.  The materials used to construct the monument, such as earth, wood and stones have been selected and gathered from specific sources within the landscape and are then incorporated into a new form as part of the monument.  The social and ritual performance of monument construction can alter entire landscapes (Goldhahn in Jones 2008: 59).  Stone circle monuments are not usually regarded as creating places specifically designed for burials, although some sites have received burials most usually as secondary deposits.  It has been suggested by Parker Pearson and others that wooden henges and circles may have been designed for use by the living while stone-built monuments were constructed for the dead or ancestors (Cummings in Pollard 2008: 139 – 141).  An interesting consideration at the Stanton Drew site where recent geophysical surveys have suggested a wooden structure within the stones (English Heritage, online accessed 2009) and a possible long barrow (Oswin, Richards and Sermon, 2009) which perhaps indicates the site was developed through different stages with time.  It might be that the long barrow was constructed first, followed by the wooden henge and finally the stone circles.  The architecture of the monument may have been designed to reflect the social position of people in life or death, this could suggest simple differences between male and female and the young and old in Neolithic society (Cummings in Pollard, 2008: 139).  Alexander Keiller, who was largely responsible for the re-construction of the stone circle at Avebury during the 1930’s, suggested that the shapes of the stones placed at that site might have represented gender, i.e. columnar are male shapes and triangular or lozenge are female shapes (Malone, 1994: 21) and the same interpretation might be applied to the stones at Stanton Drew.   

When considering the monuments at Stanton Drew their place within the landscape of which they have become a part, is a major factor, as it is for the individual stones that remain a part of that landscape.  When describing the geology and landscape of the stones and surrounding areas it is with these considerations in mind.

The Stanton Drew Stone Circles complex is situated on the south side of the River Chew where the underlying rocks are mainly of the Mercia Mudstone Group of Triassic Age.  These beds occupy most of the upper basin of the River Chew and it is a gently rolling landscape of a modest elevation.  To the east of the site are the more sharply contoured Coal Measures, through which the river cuts its valley through the villages of Pensford, Woollard, Compton Dando and beyond (Lloyd Morgan 1887: 44).  During the Lower Carboniferous sedimentation and uplift resulted in land creation where the coal-forming swamps and forests became established.  The climate during this period would most likely have been warm with a relatively high rainfall resulting in a high water table these were ideal conditions for coal to be formed.  The sedimentation of the Coal Measures was cyclical – periods of organic deposition, followed by flood events, mud and sands were then deposited until the swamp conditions were re-established and vegetation grew.  Eventually during the Upper Carboniferous there was general uplifting with folding and erosion of the surrounding areas followed by a widespread change in sedimentation patterns.  Marine flood events ended and a deltaic sediment, comprising coarse-grained grey, current-bedded, felspathic, subgreywacke-type sandstone, known as the Pennant Formation was laid down in a belt across the district (Green, 1992: 52).  The main Coal Measure deposits including the Pennant Formation lie to the east of Stanton Drew, there is also a thin tongue of Pennant Formation to the south around Stanton Wick.  It is noteworthy that during their excavations at Chew Valley Lake Rahtz and Greenfield found several examples of pennant sandstones being utilized (Rahtz and Greenfield, 1977).  To the west of Stanton Drew are Broadfield Down comprising limestone and fringed to the east by Dolomitic Conglomerate and Leigh Down comprising Dolomitic Conglomerate where there is evidence of some silicification in the curiously altered Lias or Rhaetic Harptree Beds.  To the south and southwest lie the Mendip Hills comprising mainly of limestone and Old Red Sandstone, but fringed near East and West Harptree by beds of Dolomitic Conglomerate of both silicified and un-silicified types and the Rhaetic Harptree Beds (Lloyd Morgan 1887: 44 - 45).  At the end of the Carboniferous and into the Permian there came the cataclysmic earth movements of the Variscan Oregeny, also known as the Amorican (Green, 1992: 67) when the Mendip and surrounding area was uplifted, folded and eroded.  During the Permian and Triassic the climate was dry for long periods and weathering quickly removed the cover of Upper Carboniferous sediments from the summits exposing the limestone beneath, the rainwater run-off that resulted from the lack of vegetative cover, caused flooding and rapid erosion transporting pebbles and boulders of limestone and sandstone down the slopes, this debris became deposited at the base of the major gorges.  These pebble bed and scree deposits formed the Dolomitic Conglomerate, so called because of the dolomite content (calcium/magnesium carbonate) (Hardy, 1999: 73).  Within the conglomerate the degree of roundness of the clasts and their size gives some indication to the amount of transportation that has occurred and the energy required for transport prior to deposition.  It is noted that at the time of writing there is a substantial piece of Dolomitic Conglomerate currently being used as a gatepost at the entrance to the farmyard of Church Farm in Stanton Drew, this is also the rock type that comprises the stones in The Cove.  The Dolomitic Conglomerate has in many cases undergone considerable secondary changes (Green, 1965: 64-65), this is particularly noticeable in the Harptree area where the rock has been silicified probably by metasomatism, this is a metamorphic process whereby rocks are affected by a combination of heat, pressure and fluids in which the chemical composition of the rock is altered significantly most usually as a result of fluid flow.  Lloyd Morgan (1887: 45) suggests that heated waters have seemingly dissolved any limestone clasts and the spaces left have been partially or completely filled with crystallised quartz. 

Pockets of quartz are found within the silicified Dolomitic Conglomerate.

If water was a significant influence to Neolithic people then it might have been that the sparkling and reflective qualities of quartz possibly emphasized the link between stone and water (Fowler and Cummings, 2003: 14).  Lloyd Morgan goes on to remark that great weathered blocks of this nature are to be found in the Harptree area (Lloyd Morgan 1887: 46).  Referring to the geological maps of these areas (BGS: Sheets 264 and 280) only in the Compton Martin and Harptree areas has the Dolomitic Conglomerate been subjected to silicification, in the Broadfield and Leigh Down areas the siliceous material is from the later Rhaetic Harptree beds.  Examples of silicified Dolomitic Conglomerate can be seen in several locations around the Harptree villages much of it present in older walls and field boundaries.

Locally derived Dolomitic Conglomerate including the silicified variety can be seen in a number of construction types in West Harptree.

The stones that have been used to construct ‘The Cove’ monument comprise a Dolomitic Conglomerate that also has been silicified but to a lesser degree.  Within some of the limestone clasts are the silicified fossil remains of the corallite Siphonodendron of Carboniferous age.  Examples of this coral type can be found in limestone cobbles in the bed of the stream that flows through Harptree Combe.  In the light some of the silicified clasts within the Dolomitic Conglomerate can be seen to sparkle due to the quartz crystallisation.  The stones of the cove lack the vivid oranges and rusty-reds of the more silicified rocks found in the Circles and Avenues and are greyer in colour.  There is evidence of siliceous rocks having been used in the remnant walls of the circa 12^th century Richmont Castle in Harptree combe, the walls have since been almost completely robbed out and/or re-worked for its mineral content and in the construction of various local manor houses and cottages.

Just about all that remains of the walls of Richmont Castle in Harptree Combe.

The strata of Triassic age found around Stanton Drew is mainly of the Mercia Mudstone Group (formerly called Red or Keuper Marl) consisting largely of red dolomitic siltstone and mudstone with a starchy texture and a feebly conchoidal fracture (Green 1992: 80) this in turn overlies, unconformably Supra-Pennant Measures from the Upper Coal Measures of Carboniferous age below at an unspecified depth.  The red mudstones commonly have small patches, streaks and occasional bands of grey and grey-green, the colour differences are inferred to be the result of the oxidation state of the constituent minerals (Green 1992: 81).  Where there are extensive outcrops of Coal Measures, such as those found at Pensford, there is a marginal facies comprising soft red and fawn calcareous sandstones that have resulted from the erosion of the older rocks (Green 1992: 81).  The Mercia Mudstone Group was deposited in a mudflat environment in three main ways; the settling-out of mud and silt in temporary lakes, rapid deposition of silt and fine sand by flash floods, and the accumulation of wind-blown dust on the wet mudflat surface (Chandler and Forster 2001: 16).

To the north of the Stone Circles is the elevated hill-outlier of Dundry the upper part of which comprises Inferior Oolite of Jurassic Age overlying Lias beds (Lloyd Morgan 1887: 44).  Marine conditions during the Jurassic period were marked by a gradual deepening of the sea leading to the formation of the Inferior Oolite in a shallow shelf sea.  There are numerous gaps in the succession indicating there were interruptions and/or modifications by frequent earth movements.  On the eastern part of Dundry Hill the Upper Inferior Oolite rests directly on Upper Lias, in which sandy ferruginous beds and hard limestones with limonitic ooliths typify the Dundry rock type (Green 1992: 117). 

An outcrop of Oolitic Limestone seen at Maes Knoll on Dundry Hill.

An oolith is a spherical granule of which Oolite is composed; they are formed by concentric accretions of thin layers of mineral around a core.  The ooliths that comprise the Dundry Inferior Oolite are sometimes referred to as ‘ironshoots’ due to their iron content (Green, 1992: 117).  There is a significant area of landslip around the slopes of Dundry Hill just below the summit which may have produced blocks of the Inferior Oolite material ready for use not only as stones in megalithic sites but also throughout time as building materials for field boundaries and in dwellings, it is also possible that a good deal of this material was used in the construction of Maes Knoll.

Immediately to the north of the Stanton Drew Stone Circles is a narrow band of alluvium of Pleistocene and Recent age.  This alluvium represents the course of the River Chew which seems to have been restricted by the topography to a relatively narrow channel.  During prehistory rivers were probably used as connections and communication routes to the outer world, as highways for navigation and travel, for the transportation of goods and remained as fixed points within the landscape.  It may be that a variety of watercourses, such as springs, rivers and swallets (caves) represented links with the spirit world and were important places for disposing of the remains of the dead.  In lowland Britain some enclosures and henges were bisected by rivers or were subject to flooding and it has been suggested that flowing or standing water may have been a vital element in the decay of bodies left at these sites.  It seems that places of stone and water might have been key locations for the transformation, fragmentation, and disposal of the human body in the Neolithic (Fowler and Cummings, 2003: 8).  Is it possible that at the point where the River Chew narrows to the northeast of the stone circle near to Byemills Farm that temporary dams were constructed and the river basin artificially flooded during certain ceremonies, celebrations and/or rituals.  There was certainly the logistical and technical knowledge to move large, heavy stones a considerable distance and place them according to a design and dam construction would not have presented too much of a problem to the engineers of the time.  Prior to the construction of Chew Valley Lake there was anecdotal evidence of commonplace extensive flooding of the area in particular at Stanton Drew and further down river at Woollard (Rahtz and Greenfield, 1977: 6).

In the wider landscape

To the southwest of Stanton Drew on the Mendip Plateau are the Priddy Circles interpreted as probable ceremonial henge monuments bearing some similarity to the early form of Stonehenge (Adkins, 1992: 97).  The Circles are surrounded by sinkholes and swallets that may have been instrumental in the abandonment of the site (Stanton, 1986).  All across the Mendip Plateau there are numerous sinkholes and swallets (caves) where water enters and disappears from view and these were possibly regarded as places of transition from a world of the living to a world of the dead or of the ancestors.  Many of these sites have been used as burial sites, such as at Charterhouse Warren Farm Swallet and Brimble Pit Swallet where artefacts from the Neolithic period found included flints, Grooved Ware and a polished greenstone handaxe.  About 2 km to the north-north east of the circles, and coincidentally in an alignment with the group of the three southernmost complete circles,  Garrowpipe Spring is located where the water issues from beneath large blocks of silicified Dolomitic Conglomerate, which is very similar to the rock type found at Stanton Drew.  It is possible that the emergence of water from springs might have represented a new beginning, a new life giving unpolluted ‘fresh’ water, it might have signified the start of a journey as the spring water flows to join the river further down the valley. 

Garrowpipe Spring rises from an area with significant boulders of silicified Dolomitic Conglomerate.

During their investigation and subsequent excavation at Stonehenge Darvill and Wainwright (2008) alluded to the significance of the relationship between natural springs and stone when they traced the origin of the bluestones found at the centre of the monument to a location in the Preseli Hills in West Wales.  There the source of the stones was surrounded by springs with reputed healing powers and where inscribed bluestones were also found nearby.  It was these healing and magical powers that, Darvill and Wainwright suggest, were the reason the bluestones were transported the considerable distance to Stonehenge.  The area around the spring at Garrowpipe has, unfortunately, suffered a great deal from overuse by off-road vehicles and has been significantly eroded.   The water from Garrowpipe flows down through Harptree combe, passing by large blocks of Dolomitic Conglomerate at Garrow and throughout the length of the combe are good exposures of in-situ Dolomitic Conglomerate rock type.  The stream then flows out onto the floodplain to join the River Chew near to the place that is now occupied by Chew Valley Lake.  During excavations at Chew Park in the early to mid 1950’s prior to the creation of the lake structural evidence of Neolithic settlement comprising a building and pit was uncovered (Rahtz and Greenfield, 1977).

Large blocks of silicified Dolomitic Conglomerate are to be found in the upper reaches of Harptree Combe at Garrow Bottom.

There is a spring line just beneath the summit of Dundry Hill where several springs rise and these streams are later joined by water issuing from springs at Norton Marleward.  The water flows down to enter to the north side of the River Chew just to the east of the present location of Hautville’s Quoit.  To the east of the stone circle spring fed streams from the Upper Stanton Drew and Stanton Wick areas enter on the south side of the river close to where the river basin narrows.  With the levels of present day water extractions and usage it is entirely possible that water levels and flows were significantly different in prehistoric times when the monuments were constructed and in use.  

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