Stories of Stones (A Photo Gallery)

*This post was assembled in November 2017, during our 3rd month living in Dixie, our 2nd month on the road in England*

Neolithic sites, Iron Age forts, any kind of Dolmen, standing stone or stone circle, or other artefacts or remnants of ancient civilisations attract us. Stones in particular have so many stories, fables and local legends attached to them, it’s always interesting. We have been lucky enough to visit many in our 2 months on the road around England, Scotland and Wales. These monuments are tucked away from the rest of the world in peaceful, quiet places usually at a high vantage point, a great place to pause and reflect. We happened upon the 5,000 year old Castlerigg Stone Circle in Cumbria, an amazing sight at sunrise:

One day, Dixie hid just beside Glastonbury Tor while we climbed the mound:

…for the amazing view from the top:

Duloe in Cornwall, the smallest stone circle around (and in some extremely lucky persons back garden) was a beautiful calm spot:

We spent a day at the town of Minion and saw the many standing stones and heard their backstories:

…and we climbed to the top of the quarry to see the massive Cheesewring Tor up close!

We parked up at Danebury Hill Iron Age fort and saw the wild ponies of the moors on our walk around the fort circles:

…and in a different, leafier corner of Kent, we walked this autumn path:

To visit the ancient Coldrum Longbarrow:

On another day, on a busy motorway in Addington, we stopped to try to count the 4,000 year old Countless Stones (impossible of course) :

…they lie there, hiding from the traffic behind a hedge:

…and we found, on a nearby site, and also hiding away:

The impressive Kits Coty House, literal meaning “Tomb in the Forrest”!

In a playground in Dartford Central Park W.E. found this colourful climbing rock, the graffiti updating the slate grey for the children and putting the stone in a more modern context:

We have a great many more of these ancient rocks to find. Stones are strangely alive, they move and change however slowly it’s happening, they get weathered and they crack under pressure and they become smaller stones. I wonder where each stone on this amazing golden beach we visited in Kent came from…