Memorials of old Derbyshire

by Unknown

The triangular arrangement of the three chief circles calls attention to that of Stadon, situate a mile and a quarter south-east from Buxton. Its stones, like those of its neighbour, the Bull Ring, have been confiscated, and for centuries, perhaps, it yielded to the plough; nevertheless, its mounds, though almost levelled, are quite distinct, and disclose a plan probably unique in its design. It comprises an annular vallum, forming three-quarters of a circle, the fourth quarter being straight-sided for one hundred feet, and from the corners of this side expand two straight causeways or mounds for a distance of about one hundred and, presumably, one hundred and twenty feet respectively, when they then turn at an acute angle and unite in a straight line, of probably one hundred and twenty feet, almost parallel to the side of the circle. Thus they form the base of an isosceles triangle, bisected horizontally by the straight side of the circle. Unfortunately, the south-west corner of the base line is now cut off by the London and North Western Railway line from Buxton to Ashbourne, and therefore its measurements can only be estimated. If continued, the apex of this triangle would correspond with the nearest quarter of the horizon, namely, on the ridge of Stadon Hill at a point nearly due east. On the inside of the mounds, both of the circle and of the triangular adjunct, are indications of a ditch, and the usual entrances are north by west and south-east respectively. The average width of the circle from the outside of the mounds is now two hundred feet, but owing to the straight side it is subjected to more than the usual elliptical variation; the width of the mounds and ditch are twelve and ten feet respectively. These latter dimensions probably indicate that originally it must have had a fosse and vallum of no mean importance. One hundred and twenty feet north-by-east from the circle seems to be the base of what was probably a large mound or “pointer,” about forty feet by twenty feet, but this also has been levelled.

Although lacking the grandeur of Arbor Low, the small circles have an interest only secondary to it in any attempt to determine cause from effect. Many of them, fortunately, have suffered from the hand of time alone, and are to-day as the race that is gone left them. No better examples could be desired than some in the Baslow district, particularly that near Park Gate; but those by the Bar Brook and on Froggatt Edge are nearly as well preserved, and the double circle at Ford is perfect.

Selecting the Nine Ladies on Stanton Moor as a typical example, its description will suffice for its class. A circular vallum ten feet wide and two feet high at the crest, with diameter varying from forty-five to fifty feet, measured from its outer edge, and broken for the usual entrances, which, however, in this instance are east-by-north and south-west. Within the inner margin of the mound are arranged nine stones, all, with one exception, still upright, and the largest measuring, above the heather, three feet high, two feet three inches broad, and nine inches deep. In 1848 there was a cone of stones in the centre, but this has been destroyed; the Park Gate circle, however, shows this in a complete form. Exactly at a distance of one hundred feet west by south of the circle stands a single stone as the pointer, measuring above the turf thirty inches high, twenty-two wide, and eleven deep. It is known as “The King Stone,” and the nine stones of the circle have given the name of “The Nine Ladies” to the monument as a whole. This is, of course, a complimentary variant of the general term “maidens” so often applied to the stones of circles in all parts of the country, and for which so many derivations have been offered.

A circle of this class which has hitherto escaped observation has an interesting deviation from the usual lines. It stands 1,050 feet above sea level on the hillside at Cadster, near Whaley Bridge, but in Chapel-en-le-Frith parish. Its vallum has an elliptical diameter, varying from thirty-five to forty feet, with entrances north-north-east and south-west. The stones are of the same arrangement and size as those of The Nine Ladies, and the diameter of their circle varies from thirty feet to thirty-three feet six inches. The centre is nearly level, but some large stones below the turf may have supported a monolith, which, perhaps, was a large pointed stone, measuring four feet long, two feet six inches wide, and one foot deep, now lying at the foot of the vallum. Ninety feet nearly south by west of the circle, almost prostrate, is the “pointer,” a block of millstone grit measuring three feet six inches high, two feet six inches broad, and two feet deep. In these particulars the monument closely resembles the last described, but it lies on a hillside with a declination to the west of one in ten, and to obtain the required plane for the western vallum and stones, the builders have lowered the height of the vallum on the east to about one foot high, and raised that on the west to four feet. Hence it is nearly, but not quite, level. Although there is a very extensive view to the north-west, the horizon is within two or three hundred yards on the north and east. A line of sight taken over the stones west and east within the circle exactly touches the eastern horizon, where there is a small artificial mound of stones, and this system of levelling the vallum and stones of a circle to the plane of the horizon seems to be general, and is especially in evidence at Ford.

For the purpose of these notes, and to ascertain that the vallum had not been raised by an interment, a partial excavation has been made. A narrow trench cut from east to west disclosed that the entire monument is composed of loose stones, seemingly hand-laid, upon the natural soil. On the west side the raising of the vallum was an example of careful and permanent work. Commencing from the outside there was a foundation of large stones sloping inwards, and acting as a retaining wall for the stones above, and a similar foundation marked the inside margin. In the centre of the vallum was a core of stones about two feet high leaning towards each other, and filled in with horizontal stones, thus forming the base of a solid triangle. Above this the loose stones were built up to the required height and form. An examination of some of the principal stones of the circle disclosed that they were supported by or resting upon others of large size. As it was not desirable to disturb more than was necessary to disclose the general construction, and to remove turf which had overgrown some of the pillars, a very small proportion of the whole was searched, and this did not yield a single relic of the work of man.

So far, we have dealt with the effect of circles as we see them; let us look to the cause. Imagine an agricultural people without any knowledge of the seasons or months of the year, save from the gradual changes from cold to warm weather, and from long to short days; without the means of estimating the length of the latter, and without even the power of numbering the years or knowing whether they themselves were young or old, for except, perhaps, in the calm pools of water, their very appearance would be strange to them. A few treacherously warm days in December, and they would sow their corn to the winds. Preparation for winter needs or summer work would be impossible, and all would end in famine and waste—all would be confusion. No wonder that, like nature, they turned to the sun—the almanac of all time. No wonder their chief astronomer became the chief priest of the tribe. So is it to-day with uncivilized races of mankind. So, also, is the superstition of astrology in civilized races but a survival of the days when the seer alone cast his horoscope and foretold to the people the coming of the seasons, the time for preparation and all that was necessary for their continued existence. Sun worship followed, and religion and astronomy were blended for ages to come.

Sir Norman Lockyer and the late Mr. Penrose have scientifically demonstrated the relation of Stonehenge with the rising of the sun over the Friar’s Heel at the summer solstice, where tradition still gathers people together on the morn of Midsummer day; but it is with the more primitive and varied circles of our hilly county that we are concerned, and these may be treated, as indeed they probably were by their designers, in a more primitive method.

We read a sundial from the outside, and therefore the gnomon is in the centre and the numerals are on the outside. If, however, we stood in the centre of a vast dial, a series of gnomons would be required to replace the numerals. This is the stone circle. As a primitive example, the Cadster circle will suffice for its class. When the circle was constructed, the “pointer,” instead of being a point to the west of south as it is now, a variation owing to the obliquity of the earth’s axis, stood exactly due south; therefore the seer, sighting from the point of the central monolith, knew that when the sun was directly over it the time was mid-day—the greater distance assisting the accuracy. Similarly the east stone is now a point to the southward, so when the sun rose over the horizon in line with it and the central monolith, it was the May festival, and so on for every phase of the sun. Obviously, the northern stones would be useless for this purpose; but the object of the vallum was to enable the line of sight to be also taken across the circle from the outside, and over any stone and the central dial, or over any two stones, thus subdividing the then equivalent to the hours and the months. The slope of the vallum lent itself to any level required by the observer whilst taking his observations, and the entrances enabled the people to pass through the circle to make their obeisance, whilst the arch-astrologer stood by the central monolith giving his instructions and advice. To them his simple predictions would seem to be the greatest of miracles. As the “pointer” is not always in a southerly or northerly position, for the latter would serve the same purpose if the point of observation were transposed, it follows that various monuments were dedicated to or were specially required for various seasons or times; the winter or summer solstice and the spring or autumn equinox being the most popular. The points of the stones would be accurately notched or, perhaps, surmounted with a wooden stile or pierced disc.

In the larger circles the same system would be carried out with greater accuracy. The ditch and vallum enabled the sights to be taken from either the foot or the top of the stones, and the mound would, if required, itself form the horizon. The ditch was certainly not for any processional ceremony, for that at Arbor Low was found to be broken across by faces of natural rock three or four feet in height; but the curved causeway leading towards the great pointer, Gib Hill, may have served that purpose when the seer left the circle to take his observations, and probably to invoke the rising sun from the mound. The central dolmen would be the inner temple of the priest, and the greater distance of the circle of stones would increase the accuracy of his observations.

Let those who question this simple origin for these circles study any one of them with as many or as few scientific instruments as they wish; then, after allowing for the variation of the obliquity, nature’s almanac is there to be read within the oldest astronomical observatory known to man.