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England
Mayburgh HengeHenge
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Visited on 24th May 2011 on the way back from Long Meg and Her Daughters. Information board says that this huge henge has a circumference of 150 metres and was built from 5 million cobblestones brought from the nearby River Eamont many of which have now been removed for building materials. It varies in height from 4 metres to 7 metres and has no internal or external ditch. There were 4 large stones at its centre though only one remains. There were also 4 stones standing at a single 7 metre entrance to the east - these too are gone. The nearby King Arthur's Round Table can be clearly seen from Mayburgh Henge. |
Posted by tjj28th May 2011ce |
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I much preferred this site to Arthur's Round Table. Probably due to the still standing high sides of the henge plus the standing sone in the middle. Very pretty place and easily accessed. I am amazed that it has survived so well over all these years. Will visit again one day. Although a bit off topic, whilst in the area, I would recommend a visit to St Andrew's church in Penrith. In the grave yard, to the right of the church main doors, is a Viking 'Hog Back' grave. I 'discovered' this by pure accident - what a happy bunny I was!! |
Posted by CARL 17th March 2010ce Edited 19th March 2010ce |
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Having read Fitzcoraldo's tales of stone hunting in Shap, I was well keen to revisit the area, and this was a logical place to go, it's so close to car access it would have been silly not to. We had time to ponder the stone, where did it come from? Was it carried by glaciers? How far did the Hengineers have to shift it? But then my attention was drawn to the small prannets of the bank, which poke through in patches all over. How many are there? How long did it take? Were they brought after the central stone, or was it brought after them? Are there any buried that might have cup marks on them? Why only one entrance? Then the henge started playing tricks, like nicking my camera twice, sending a bull to come snort, and generally behaving in a Loki-esque manner. It's got character. |
Posted by Hob31st August 2004ce |
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[visited 31/5/4] I've wanted to visit this ever since I'd read about it, an 'irish' henge in England next to a classic style henge, how could I resist. Access is fairly good, you can park pretty much next to the henge and get in through a gate. So, I set off from my car almost at a run, straight up the west edge of the well preserved bank of rocks and pebbles. As I reached the top I looked down into the gloomy centre, the low sun not really lighting this place with its large tree and high banks. I inspected the remaining stone defiant in its solitude, Burl reckons it could be the last stone of a giant four poster, I remain reckonless. A henge without an inner ditch is a weird one to see for the first time and I'm still left pondering who it was that built this. Was it irish traders in the Lakes backyard, maybe a permitted intrusion or was this a local tribute to a distant race or religion? Whoever it was this slightly foreboding henge is well worth a visit. This post appears as part of the weblog entry Four stone circles and two henges, doodaa doodaa
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Posted by juamei27th June 2004ce |
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I just wish that all those who take time to visit Meg would come here too! A mere 10 minutes drive (take the Shap A6 turning at the roundabout into Eamont Bridge and the first right at the pub. It is signed posted for Arthur's Round Table and Mayburgh) and you come across the most amazing place. I come up here as often as I can, just because it is the most beautiful of places (if you can ignore the motorway that is!) I have never seen another person on all my visits and have always just wallowed in the beauty of this site. I try to visualise how it would've looked before the other stones were removed - and look over at Arthur's Round Table and make the connection between the 2 sites. Quite difficult as you have to sort of squint the houses out of view! I urge you all to visit - I went up there again last week and it was frosty and bitterly cold - and all the more amazing than ever. |
Posted by Vicster5th January 2004ce Edited 5th January 2004ce |
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I love this sheltered snug. Visited at 9am on this sunny spring morning. Can't escape the perpetual motorway noise, but no-one else was around except for a skiving postie in the car park. Some evidence of swings on the trees, small bonfires and seats made of stones. Anyone remember Murun Buchstansinger? .o0O0o. |
Posted by pebblesfromheaven14th April 2003ce |
| Visited with MushroomSi and Ursula on a tour of a few of the Cumbrian sites at Winter Solstice. This hadn't been a planned visit, we were driving past when I pointed it out to Si, who as it turned out hadn't visited before. The car was quickly turned round and we paid a visit. It was worth it just to hear how delighted Si was to be here! I've been here quite a few times now but am always amazed as the inner bank comes in to view. Once again I found my mind racing with interpretations of this site in it's original use. |
Posted by IronMan6th January 2003ce Edited 24th February 2003ce |
| When we stopped here on yule morn, i didnt expect to be impressed as the close prox of the large noisy road, so when i got the the top the henge bank and looked on my first words were "F***in hell" the sight of the flat surface and the surrounding henge and the stone in the middle blew me away. I LOVED this place, even with the road it is an athmospheric place, i had visions of how it may have been used, tourchlights burning, singing, processions, rites and rituals who knows but a great place, one of the best for me. Made me go WOW! A special place. |
Posted by mushroom si 23rd December 2002ce |
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Mayburgh (21.8.2002) 400m walk from King Arthur's Round Table. Or if you prefer you can park very close, below where the main road (the A6) goes over the motorway. The A6 now has a big Millennium Stone (you know, a big stone plonked somewhere to celebrate the Millennium) between the main road and the slip road down to Mayburgh, so it's probably even easier now to spot how to get to Mayburgh. Very serious looking dowsers and dog walkers were all around when I visited, and I found it a bit weird because of that. But it was still a physically impressive site even if I couldn't get much sense of calm or history. |
Posted by pure joy24th November 2002ce |
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In terms of sheer size Mayburgh Henge is an awesome monument. However, whereas the nearby King Arthurs Round Table is next to the main road through Eamont Bridge and at the centre of the daily hubub, Mayburgh stands just metres away from the motorway yet is alone and abandoned. This is a real shame as it is a mind-boggling construction, containing an estimated 5 million cobblestones in a bank that stands nearly 6 metres high. At it's centre is a single standing stone, one of an original four, there were also four others inside the entrance to East that looks across to the round table. |
Posted by Chris Collyer12th May 2002ce |
| Mayburgh henge never fails to impress. On this day the busy traffic sped past on the M6, Easter bank holiday being well under way, but the solitude of this site *still* impresses. I came with two friends who'd never been before, and both were overwhelmed by it's size and the thought of this site being used by the ancients. |
Posted by IronMan 2nd April 2002ce Edited 19th December 2002ce |
Folklore |
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In his 1829 work entitled 'The History of Initiation 3 courses of lectures', the masonic writer, George Oliver described Mayburgh and Arthur's Round Table. He then goes on to quote an anecdote related to him by the late Mr Briggs of Kendal.Not many years since, an old man in the neighbourhood told me, there were four stones at the entrance, and he had heard the old folks say that there had been four stones in the centre, but he could not recollect them. Those at the entrance he remembered well, and they were destroyed by the landlord of the public house by the side of Arthur's Round Table, and his servant man. But, added he, I think they did wrong to meddle with these ancient things, for one of the men soon hanged himself, and the other lost his reason. What must have been the veneration for this place in the days of its greatest glory, when such a striking relic of superstitious respect is still fostered among the peasantry of the neighbourhood! |
Posted by fitzcoraldo9th November 2006ce Edited 20th November 2006ce |
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The stone in the centre of the henge is one of four that existed. There was an additional four stones flanking the entrance. A bronze and a stone axe were found within the henge. |
Posted by fitzcoraldo 23rd November 2002ce |
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Internet Archive"Mayburgh and King Arthur's Round Table" by C W Dymond (1890). The text might not have anything new for you, but the carefully scanned in illustrations are superb and well worth a look. |
Posted by Rhiannon13th February 2010ce |
Megaliths DecipheredBecause I consider myself to be a fairly open-minded fella, I will not describe this interpretation as barmy, that would wrong of me as I have put forward a couple of barmy interpretations of things myself in my time. I leave you to decide. I particularly like the kangaroo and the penguin. |
Posted by fitzcoraldo 15th January 2005ce |
Northern EarthTroubles surrounding the Millennium celebrations at Mayburgh. |
Posted by Rhiannon 7th September 2004ce |
Northern EarthRobert W E Farrah's interpretation of the sacred landscape around Mayburgh Henge and its possible orientation towards Blencathra. |
Posted by Rhiannon 19th May 2004ce |
Mayburgh panorama360 Degree Panorama of Mayburgh Henge. |
Posted by Chris Collyer 22nd February 2004ce |
Megalithic Walks |
Posted by winterjc 11th June 2002ce |
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