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Little Round Table

Stubob and Fitzcoraldo — henge detectives

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fitzcoraldo F
fitzcoraldo Jul 2, 2004 11:38:32
Replying to Rhiannon

Cheers Rhiannon.
We had a crackin' few days over there and turned up a few lovely sites.
Finding the remains of the henge was something that Stu and I had been trying to do for quite a while now.
We were working from the SMR and the bits and bobs of research that we'd turned up in the past.
The Little table lies on the banks of the Lowther in the next field south of King Arthurs Round Table.
The henge was destroyed when the Lowther Gatehouse and Earl Henry's Drive was built. The eastern bank has been lost to the River Lowther.

You're right, it's a fascinating landscape around there and judging by the amount of circles in the immediate area it obviously held a deep significance to our ancestors.
According to the SMR the henge was 92M in diameter so it was smaller than King Arthurs Round table.
There is a Stukely picture of the henge on the notice board at the site. I posted it in TMA. It's a bit confusing because the drawing shows no entrances but the geophysical summary mentions an entrance. I guess we'lll never know.

R Rhiannon
Rhiannon Jul 2, 2004 12:46:54
Replying to fitzcoraldo

It is so frustrating not knowing what the purpose of the different henges was! Why did they need so many? and whether they were built at radically different times. So many unanswered questions. But it's cool that you were able to find the remains of this one by yourselves - it is a bit of a thrill isn't it? Even though to Normal People it may seem a bit odd. But it's like you've found a fraying thread that connects you with the distant past, by careful observation, something that people might pass daily on the dogwalk and never comment on.

I was looking at the map again wondering too whether there must have once been something at the confluence itself (the romans had a fort there and there is a later medieval castle) - you'd think that if you deliberately sited the henges with regard to the enclosing rivers (which they surely must have done) then the confluence itself would be the most significant (in whatever way) spot? But maybe not.

The rivers are clearly natural boundaries - so I suppose it's not surprising I see on the Explorer map that they are still the parish? boundaries (so one parish must have a long pointy section between the rivers).

It's interesting to see the Stukeley drawing, I didn't realise that it included the little henge (not paying attention). Maybe he didn't include an entrance because it was already dilapidated and he didn't notice it?

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