I took the short walk here from Kirksanton.
This pair of beautiful stones on the edge of a stoney field appear to point to the Whicham valley and a possible route into the central fells via the Duddon valley and the Wrynose pass.
More importantly, they should also be seen as part of group of coastal monuments that include the nearby lost circles of Kirkstones, Hall Foss and Annaside. Beckensall in Prehistoric Rock Art of Cumbria quotes J. Ecclestone (1872) as reporting ‘six stone circles, a Giants Grave, and a huge cairn south of the Esk.‘
In his recent book Prehistoric Monuments of the Lake District, Tom Clare reports a buried landscape around these stones including what appears to be a ring of pits around the stones and other cropmarks which include ‘timber henges or roughly circular palisaded enclosures with internal and concentric pits.‘
I find it rather sad that these stones are all that’s left of this once magnificent landscape, but then again at least they are still there and have not been destroyed, unlike many of our lowland prehistoric monuments.
Access is very good. It’s possible to park at the field gate beside the level crossing and then it’s just a short walk down a bumpy field margin footpath.
Some of the Stones remind me of the stones found in Arran (such As Machrie Moor) - that island got my attention before Lewis in the inner hebrides did, though Lewis main Stone circle is a superb monument to the skill and power of the builders who were no older than eighteen in years and didn't seem to get past the age of twenty due to the burial finds on the island...