A Guide to the Stone Circles of Cumbria

THIS attractive guide is the first overview of its kind to be published for many years and benefits from previously unpublished research. The guide will take the reader on an exciting journey of discovery into these enigmatic monuments and their incomparable landscapes so beloved by the Romantics. The book lists in detail some 50 sites and is superbly illustrated with colour photographs, plans and rare antiquarian plates. The guide also provides the most extensive gazetteer of stone circles yet published, many of which have now disappeared from the landscape. Each site entry in the guide is given the necessary information to aid the location of the circles. It is hoped that this guide will provide a resource which will appeal to the general reader, visitors and academics.

Table of Contents:
Illustrations; Acknowledgements; Preface by Aaron Watson; Introduction; About the Guide; Index to the Stone Circles; The Guide; Glossary; Bibliography; Appendices 1-5

About the Author :
Robert Farrah's main interests are hill walking, mountaineering and prehistory, which have combined to provide an unique insight and understanding of these mysterious monuments - the stone circles. His special interest is archaeoastronomy and he published his first article on the subject The Megalithic Astronomy of Lundy in the early 1990s, the result of research with the late Professor Gerald S. Hawkins. His articles have contributed significant original research and have appeared in various journals worldwide. More locally, in 2002, he helped present an exhibition 'Stone Circles and Standing Stones of Eden' for Penrith Museum. He has lived in the Eden Valley since 1984 and is a member of the Eden Archaeological Action Committee and has acted as a guide to the stone circles for various local authorities.

Review :
Mixing evocative description, excellent photographs and antiquarian plates with objective detail, Robert Farrah has produced an attractive book on a subject not published in a single volume for 23 years. In re-introducing the area's ancient stone circles to the general reader, and presenting a wealth of succinct detail for the enthusiast, the author has also provided an impetus and exciting alternative focus for days out exploring fells, moors and valleys. The book provides descriptions and plans of more than 50 of these enigmatic stone monuments, with details of accessibility, location and site elevations, walking distance from parking areas and a description of terrain approaching the site... The gazetteer records all known circles in our area and specific and general bibliographies complement the text. (Westmorland Gazette) Long Meg and Her Daughters is the largest stone circle in Cumbria and the sixth largest in the country. This enigmatic disposition of rocks, 69 standing stones arranged in an approximate circle, has been a source of wonder to people throughout the ages, no doubt from the days that it was first assembled in Neolithic times... Robert Farrah is an intimate of the stone circles and has sought to tap their inner mysteries. He has provided a comprehensive and useful guide to the location of all the stone circles to be found in the county. The stones, I suspect, will remain as silent and enigmatic as they have always been. (Times and Star) The success of a display held in Penrith Museum a few years ago, is said to have been the inspiration for an attractive new book which provides a unique insight into Cumbria's most ancient monuments - stone circles, dating back some 6,000 years... Castlerigg, near Keswick, is said to be 'the most visited' of Cumbria's circles and, also, one of the earliest, dating back to the late Neolithic period, around 3200BC... The 166-page book is rich in illustrations, many of them in colour. (Cumberland & Westmorland Herald)