It's always been like that as long as I've known about it. The plants and grass are cut back in an extreme way once a year. Early May is the best time i've found to visit there as there, when their is an abundance of Bluebells and Wild Garlic on the way up to Nine Barrow down. The stones seem extremely random, at least until I spent much more time there, now they kind of make more sense.

Do you think stones have been moved recently?

unfortunately it has not only been moved but stolen, and its heartbreaking. one of the main stones has gone, i couldnt believe it. to make it worse i could see drag marks and a huge tree trunk, which i think they used to lever it out with was left in its dip in the ground where the stone once stood for hundreds of years, i couldnt believe it. Who would do somethings so disrespectful? and why? it really is very strange. im local and go throughtout the year each time leaving coins and silver as offerings, hardly ever have these been moved or touched when i go back. i truely am gutted this has happend :(

Just looking at the TMA posts for this one. Couldn't help but laugh at the plethora of photos of a bench mark, especially the idea that it could be a carving almost contemporary with a Bronze Age circle.

You'll be very excited to learn that there is an online database of benchmarks and an activity known as "benchmarking". The OS equivalent of trainspotting, presumably.

http://www.bench-marks.org.uk/

:-)