Porlock Stone Circle Stone Circle View all content for Porlock Stone Circle

Visited 12.2.12 What a job it was trying to find this! I was particularly looking forward to visiting this site as it is not every day you get a chance to visit a new stone circle The weather had been fantastic and I was looking forward to watching the sun go down from a stone circle – something I had never done before. That was the plan anyway! We drove up, we drove down. We drove up again and down again. All the while the light fading as the sun finally set on the horizon. Still no sign of the circle. What was throwing us is that the O/S map shows the stones next to a sheep fold and previous notes also refer to a sheep fold. The sheep fold is no longer there! We eventually found the circle by stopping at every field gate and (ignoring the no entry signs) having a look around in the field. This is the best advice I can give for anyone looking for the circle: The circle is close to the road but you obviously need to find the right field gate. Travelling north the circle is on the left. Keep an eye out for a small brick bridge that the road goes over (over a small stream). The field gate you need is the one just before the bridge. Once you have the right gate access is easy! The circle is visible from the gate but it is no effort to climb over it – no barbed wire! Probably due to frustration in finding the thing (plus the fact that I had missed the sunset) I was a little disappointed with this stone circle. There were only 3 or 4 stones of any size (about 2 feet high) – the rest were very small and quite loose in the soil. They were easily moved with one hand and could have been easily pulled out of the ground if someone had wanted to. The larger stones were earth fast. The smaller stones also looked completely different to the larger stones. Why have such discrepancies in stone size? It does make me wonder if the smaller stones have been added later to perhaps show where the original larger stones once stood? They were so shallow in the ground I don’t see how they could have stood for thousands of years! The largest stone is a fallen one – about 4ft long. I am glad I found the circle but all in all a bit of a disappointment.

Posted by CARL 15th February 2012ce

Comments (1)
I'm pretty sure it's all original. Porlock follows the standard template of most Welsh upland circles... stone size would appear to have been irrelevant - many barely breaking the surface - 'merely' the demarcation of the area within. The setting is key and I must admit I thought Porlock was glorious when I saw it a few years back.	Posted by GLADMAN 15th February 2012ce
You must be logged in to add a comment