Castlerigg, a 5,000-year-old stone circle

Castlerigg stone circle, Cumbria

There are a lot of stone circles in Cumbria; about 65, in fact. Some are huge¹, and some are tiny². Some have massive standing stones that can hardly be missed from miles away as long as you have an eye line¹ and others are so stumpy that you could literally trip over them before you realise they’re not sleeping sheep³.

Cumbria’s most famous, and most visited stone circle is Castlerigg, which is a

Castlerigg Stone Circle

There is a new, updated and much longer post on Castlerigg here.

Castlerigg stone circle

Castlerigg is the most-visited stone circle in Cumbria, and for good reason. For one, it’s well signposted from the A66 and Keswick, and for two, its location is quite spectacular. It lies on a small flat area of a low hill, surrounded by views of Skiddaw, Blencathra, Lonscale, Derwent and Castlerigg fells and as you enter this National Trust site from the road, you can see across the circle to a view of a typical Lake District valley, framed by two massive stones.