There is a tradition that if two people try to count the stones that make up Castlerigg Stone Circle, they will never get the same answer...
The circle is around 5000 years old, and like other stone circles, we can not be entirely sure why it was built. We do know that sunrise on the Autumn equinox appears over the top of Threlkeld Knott, a hill 3.5 km to the east, and that some stones in the circle seem to be aligned with the midwinter sunrise and lunar positions, so it may be some sort of calendar - although there are other theories.
The largest stone weight in at a hefty 16 tons, while the tallest is around approximately 2.3m - substantially smaller than the better-known Stonehenge, but still impressive, and unlike Stonehenge you are able to easily get up close.
This photo was taken from Geograph and is licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence. Peter Trimming is the author of Belinda: The Forest How Red Squirrel (Amazon link), a photography and wildlife report about a colony of squirrels in the Forest How that was nearly wiped out by squirrel pox, and their road to recovery.
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