Day Seven - Castlerigg Stone Circle & Borrowdale Walk   

Map of the Lake District

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CASTLERIGG STONE CIRCLE

A few miles east of Keswick is one of the oldest Neolithic stone circles in Britain, dating from 5,500 years ago. Castlerigg stone circle is a hundred feet across, with 38 free-standing stones, a few up to 10 feet high. 

People in the Neolithic era (from 4,000 to 2,400 BCE) were genetically & physically identical to us. They were the first organized farmers and animal breeders, and innovators in building in general. Neolithic people started living in small wood dwellings and synonymous with farming success, they developed vast trading networks.

Unlike nearly all subsequent Neolithic stone circles, Castlerigg has no burial cairns, and the stone circle is not oriented to sunrise or sunset on the winter or summer solstices. Among historic Stone Circle sites, it is an anomaly.  

Instead, Castlerigg was a specialty trading center for a widely popular stone axe, made of green volcanic tuff.  

Huge gatherings & multi-day feasts held at all Neolithic stone circles tended to solidify ancestral & kinship ties, especially among distant relatives. Using a green stone axe to honor someone, or, as part of a marriage arrangement, like a dowry, was probably common.      

Over time, polished green stone axes became the best tool to carry around for many utilitarian purposes, from chopping and splitting wood for houses,  while carrying an un-used polished axe came to be an important status symbol that designated clan leaders, or persons of wealth. (cattle = wealth)   

In Langdale, 20 miles south of here, the green volcanic tuff was mined & shaped into the strongest axes of the era, and Castlerigg stone circle was the sole source. The green axes were widely traded throughout the UK & Ireland, for 60 generations !  Archeologists today call the source mine the "Langdale axe factory". 

note - you can enlarge any part of a picture by left-clicking in and then out again.

							Blencathra to the north
		at two big stones
	I waited for an uncrowded view of the whole circle		beyond the wall, a distant valley		Rich		early UK  conservationist
		an English Heritage site		our comfortable cruise mobile

Langdale Axe (web images) -

usually 8 in. long x 3 in. wide, weighing 1.75 lbs.

w/broken wooden haft

see note below

 note - The axe factory at Pike O' Sickle, in the Langdale Peaks, was in very steep terrain, only accessible seasonally.  (see epilogue below)

BORROWDALE - Rosthwaite to Seatoller 

Afterwards Rich drove us up narrow roads along the SW shores of Derwent Water, to Rosthwaite, where we found a car park. 

We walked along River Derwent for a few miles, including downstream & upstream parts, until we reached Seatoller. It was overcast & rained lightly, and it was great to be out walking.   

	my wife's phone photo		Rosthwaite		start of the walk		River Derwent low water crossing
		Rowan tree				R & L
	old stone bridge		rainy day				first-year Herdwick sheep
		around here known as herdies		youth hostel
	bridge to  Seatoller						cotoneaster
		Rich looks right at home at Seatoller				the OS map shows a footpath up there
	preserving old walls						gnarly old Birch tree
				finding the cafe back at Rosthwaite		fruit scone, w/ clotted cream & jam & an Americano
							men's restroom door, about 5 ft 7 in. high
		back to the car park		Herdie shop back in Keswick

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Epilogue - There is a lot of info online about Langdale stone axes, which remained popular until Iron Age metals came into use. 

Thirty months after the visit (in spring '22) I read two books about the Neolithic era in the UK, which are listed on the bibliography page, and I updated info about Castlerigg Stone Circle on this page.

Final note about the stone circle - the Romans knew a defensible spot at a mountain pass, when they saw one, and only 15 years ago, ground-penetrating radar uncovered a 90 ft. diameter roman fort, right next to Castlerigg.  The foundations are six feet down.