The Modern Antiquarian. Stone Circles, Ancient Sites, Neolithic Monuments, Ancient Monuments, Prehistoric Sites, Megalithic MysteriesThe Modern Antiquarian

Get the TMA Images feed
pevesigge's Latest Posts

Latest Posts

Pewsey (Standing Stones) — Fieldnotes

I'm sorry about this but I have to correct the wholly misleading suggestion about a local tale of a destroyed stone circle. My family have lived in and around Pewsey for some 500 years. I was born and brought up there and went on to study archaeology at UCL. I can say with authority that i have never heard any story which even vaguely concerns a destoyed stone circle either in or around the village.

It is true that there are sarsens used as footings for the church, almost certainly reused from the original wooden Saxon church that occupied the same site. Pewsey is a saxon word derived from "Pefe's Well-watered land" which might suggest a marshy, low-lying damp sort of place where large lumps of stone were a prerequisite for the footings of many buildings as the town developed. However the ones situated alongside the river were brought in by council contractors when the area between the river and the football ground was landscaped as part of the Queens Silver Jubilee celebrations in 1977. I know because I was part of the local Scout group that helped dig out one of the ponds, and I watched them doing it! I agree that they appear to have been dumped fairly randomly but such was the wisdom of rural council contractors in the 1970's
pevesigge hasn't added a profile


My TMA Content: