Greycroft Stone Circle Stone Circle View all content for Greycroft Stone Circle

This is a strange place. As I drove down the A595 the sight of the Sellafield in the distance was enough to make me nervous and I was unsure if I even wanted to visit the circle at all. I drove down towards Seascale and turned off onto the wide and deserted road that leads up the entrance on the southeast side of the works and got close to the main gates while looking for somewhere to park. There are signs warning of no parking on the verges and I got the impression that the road was designed to handle a lot of traffic – but there wasn’t any. Then the penny dropped – part of the purpose of the road was to allow a rapid evacuation of the site in an emergency… I eventually found a lay-by or passing place on a small road that leads north to Seascale Hall and left my car there, unsure if it would have been towed away while I was at the circle. Walking down the road had me constantly looking over my shoulder – maybe it is just my imagination but this place seems to have a real sense of paranoia about it. You’re conscious of the air you breathe, I found myself sticking a finger in the air to see which way the wind was blowing. Getting onto the public footpath that leads west to the coast gave a little relief – if challenged I could at least wave my map and claim access rights to the path. However once I reached a deserted farm house (why was it deserted?) the path followed around the side of the field that holds the circle and it was necessary to climb the barbed wire fence and walk over the crop which luckily was only a set-aside rough grass (I hope). As for the circle itself it consists of 10 chunky boulders which Burl says average 130cm in height and it has some pleasant views of the sea to the west, but to be honest I had no intention of staying here to investigate any longer than I had to – I took my photos, scribbled some notes and left. I’m probably doing the circle a big disservice but the whole place just gave me the creeps and it’s not somewhere I’ll come back to in a hurry. Sorry Greycroft.

Posted by Chris Collyer 21st April 2003ce

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