Two and  half kilometres south of the village of Shap, emerging from a railway embankment lie the six remaining stones of Kemp Howe circle. Described in 1769 as a ‘large circle’, the monument was cut through in 1844 by the building of the railway. 

Kemp Howe circle, courtesy of Bing Maps

One really does have to wonder at the mindset of the engineers at that time! There has been a suggestion that some original stones may still lie under the embankment, but I feel this is unlikely as the granite blocks could well have been used for building rather than just being buried. But then why leave the others out in the open? A mystery to be solved in the distant future, courtesy of a 21st century Dr Beeching perhaps?

The stones are composed of a lovely pink granite, local to the area, but none of the stones are what could be called ‘upright’. There are many smaller boulders around the large stones, whether these are packing stones or detritus from the building of the railway is not clear. The stones form an arc some 25m width, giving an idea of the original size of the circle.

Angie Lake on the Megalithic Portal identified one of the remaining stones as mimicking a distant peak to the NW, which may or may not be a significant alignment from the circle.

Kemp Howe circle denotes the southern limit of the Shap Avenue – an alignment of stones, many of which have been removed or destroyed over the years,  covering a distance of nearly 3km which includes the impressive Goggleby Stone and the Thunderstone.

A view from the Kemp Howe circle looking north was sketched in 1775 by Lady Lowther, wife of the Earl of Lonsdale. There is a good description of the circle and avenue in the Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society (PDF) which suggests there was an even larger circle a short distance to the north – of which nothing now remains.

Next time, we’ll visit one of the ‘Hollywood’ sites of the region (of which there are many, it has to be said!)