Hidden Britain AtlasOpen the map
All places › Circles & monuments
Ancient monument

Castlerigg

Near Keswick, Cumbria

One of Britain's earliest circles, ringed by the mountains of the Lake District.

Castlerigg is among the oldest stone circles in Britain, older than the great stones of Stonehenge. Its 38 stones sit on a plateau surrounded by fells, and on misty mornings the setting feels like a stage.

Read the full story, see it on the map, get directions and find what else is nearby in the free Hidden Britain Atlas map.

Open Castlerigg on the mapReport a sighting here
When
c. 3000 BC
Where
54.6029, -3.0985
Group
Circles & monuments

Visiting

English Heritage, free entry. Park in the lane beside the field.

Cover of The Ledger of Lost Britain by Cale Mills
Read the full story in the book

The Ledger of Lost Britain

The Romans arrived in AD 43. For most people that is where the history of Britain begins. But by the time the legions landed, people had already been living on these islands for thousands of years. They had hunted, farmed, mined flint, dragged stones across the country, raised a hill by hand, and buried their dead in great tombs. They left no written words. What they left was the ground itself. Every place in this book can be visited, or has been dug up, or is in a museum.

Buy on AmazonAll books by Cale Mills

Nearby mysteries