The most important prehistoric site of the East Midlands, Arbor Low is a Neolithic henge monument atmospherically set amid high moorland. When it was built it is likely that there were between 41 and 43 large limestone slabs in the ring; these would have been set upright, most probably in shallow holes. At the centre of the monument are the remains of a group of stones known as the ‘cove’, which may originally have formed an upright rectangular box about 3–4 metres wide. Nearby stands the enigmatic Gib Hill, a large burial mound. This is thought to be a Neolithic oval barrow with an Early Bronze Age round barrow superimposed at one end.

Avebury Stone Circle, Wiltshire

The Avebury complex is one of the principal ceremonial sites of Neolithic Britain. It was built and altered over many centuries from about 2850 BC until about 2200 BC and is one of the largest, and undoubtedly most complex, of Britain's surviving Neolithic henge monuments.

The exact sequence of construction of the banks, ditches and stone circles at Avebury is still not completely understood. Within the henge monument stands a larger circle, originally of more than 100 sarsen monoliths, set just within the ditch. Inside this are two smaller circles, each of about 30 stones, the northern enclosing a square ‘cove’ setting and the southern a larger arrangement of stones. Limited excavations and more recent aerial and geophysical surveys indicate that many other features once existed within the enclosure.

At some stage, two avenues of stones were also built, linking the Avebury Henge with other ceremonial sites at Beckhampton and Overton Hill.

The Sanctuary, Wiltshire

If you were stood here 4,500 years ago, this hilltop would have been dominated by a remarkable ceremonial temple made of standing stones and wooden posts. Today, the positions of these are marked by concrete blocks.

Probably built  in about 2500 BC, the Sanctuary was originally a complex circular arrangement of timber posts and standing stones. The Sanctuary was uncovered during excavations led by Maud Cunnington in 1930. With her team, she found two concentric stone circles with a series of timber rings among and between them. This was likely to have been a free-standing monument rather than a roofed building.

The posts and stones seem to have been carefully positioned to control space and the movement of people. It may have been important to restrict visual and physical access to the ceremonies that took place inside.

Later, West Kennet Avenue was constructed to connect the Sanctuary with the stone circles at Avebury, reinforcing the status of this enigmatic but clearly very important site.

Castlerigg, located in perhaps the most stunning location of any stone circle, formerly comprised 42 stones in a circle, 30 metres in diameter. It is thought to have been constructed in about 3000 BC, making it potentially one of the earliest stone circles in the country.The entrance at Castlerigg, on the north side of the circle, is flanked by two massive upright stones, and the outlier is presently to the west-south-west of the stone circle but this stone has been moved from its original position. It has been suggested that such outlying stones had astronomical significance – alignments with planets or stars – although examination of those in early stone circles elsewhere in Britain has shown that there are no consistent orientations for them. One of the more unusual features of Castlerigg is a rectangle of standing stones within the circle; there is only one other comparable example, at the Cockpit, an open stone circle at Askham Fell, near Ullswater. Hurlers Stone Circles - Cornwall

The monument, which was excavated in the 1930s, consists of three adjacent stone circles aligned north-east to south-west. A strip of granite paving, found in excavation, ran between the northern and the central circle. All the stones still present have been hammered smooth, and the chippings were deposited nearby. The southern circle, which has not been excavated, is the least well preserved,: it has nine original stones of which seven have fallen. To the west is a pair of outlying upright stones standing close together, known as the Pipers.

A local legend identifies The Hurlers as men who were turned to stone for playing the ancient game of hurling on a Sunday. The two isolated stones of the Pipers are said to be the figures of two men who played tunes on a Sunday and suffered the same fate.

The 18 visible stones at Kingston Russell have all fallen: they lie flat, in a big irregular oval. Some are broken, and it is impossible to tell which fragments are bases and which were originally upper parts. None of the stones have been shaped in any way, but they may have been set up with the tallest to the north. Nearby is a much earlier Neolithic chambered tomb known as the Grey Mare and Her Colts, showing that this area of chalk downland had been a focus for community ceremonies for at least one thousand years before the stone circle was erected. Today, Kingston Russell Stone Circle lies at the junction of five footpaths, and has clearly been a landmark for millennia.

Mayburgh Henge probably dates to the late Neolithic period, about 5000–4,500 years ago. The central area is almost 100 metres in diameter and surrounded by an enormous bank, composed of river pebbles and now crowned in places by trees, creating a vast enclosed space.

Unusually for a site of this type there is no surrounding ditch, while the bank is extremely tall. Slightly north-west of the centre is a single large standing stone, just short of 3 metres high. Originally seven others accompanied this: three more in the centre, forming a square with the fourth, and two pairs flanking the entrance. The other stones were recorded as standing in the eighteenth century. It is thought that they may have been removed to provide building material for either Penrith Castle or Eamont Bridge, although there is no real evidence to support this suggestion. Legend has it that the labourers responsible were cursed for their act of desecration, one going mad and another hanging himself.

The group of monuments at Merrivale, where a settlement site and ritual complex lie side by side, is one of the finest on Dartmoor. The monuments here are associated with the Neolithic to Middle Bronze Age (about 2500–1000 BC) and comprise a group of round houses; two double stone rows and one single row; a small stone circle, with two standing stones nearby; and a number of cairns (earthen mounds), associated with burials.

It is quite possible that the ritual monuments of the Merrivale landscape belong to several different periods. In what way they might be related is a matter of conjecture, but such a vast array of monuments indicates that the site was of great spiritual importance to the people who lived in the area.

Mitchell’s Fold Stone Circle was constructed in the Bronze Age, over 3,000 years ago, using dolerite stones from nearby Stapeley Hill. Today there are 15 stones, arranged in a rough circle, but there may once have been as many as 30. Mitchell’s Fold is just one of a remarkable number of prehistoric monuments in the surrounding landscape; there are also two other stone circles, a long barrow and numerous cairns. Nearby was the important Bronze Age axe factory at Cwm Mawr, where distinctive axe-hammers were produced and traded extensively into central Wales and England.

We do not fully understand why stone circles were built but it is clear that they were ritually important for prehistoric people. They may have provided a focus for funerary rites, or perhaps had a calendrical function, with carefully aligned stones marking important lunar or solar events.

It is said that during a time of famine, a fairy gave a magic cow that provided an endless supply of milk. One night an evil witch milked her into a sieve. When the cow realised the trick, she disappeared. The witch was turned to stone and a circle of stones was erected around her, to ensure that she could not escape.

Despite the name, there are 10 stones within the circle, the tenth (which has fallen and now lies flat) having been located in 1977. The stones are set on the inner edge of a slight bank, and form a ring which measures 11.5 x 10.5 metres. The monument was first recorded by Major Hayman Rooke in 1782. He noted that there appeared to be stones in the centre of the ring, which may have formed a small cairn or ‘cist’. The name of the monument derives from their associations with folk traditions, in which it is said that nine women were dancing on the Sabbath to a fiddler – the nearby King Stone – and were turned to stone. The graffiti carved on the King Stone, which includes the name ‘Bill Stumps’, is also mentioned in The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens.

Although this is the third largest complex of prehistoric standing stones in England, the three circles and three-stone ‘cove’ of Stanton Drew in Somerset are surprisingly little known. The Great Circle, 113 metres in diameter, is one of the largest stone circles in the country and has 26 surviving upright stones. Yet recent surveys have revealed that the circles and cove were just part of a much more elaborate and important ritual site than had previously been imagined.

Geophysical surveys, which detect features under the ground, have revealed that inside the Great Circle were nine concentric rings of wooden posts, each standing several metres tall.  Surrounding the stones would have been a large and deep circular ditch, probably with one or two banks. A 50-metre gap on the north-east side formed a wide entrance.

The three circles stand on the floodplain of the river Chew. Both the Great Circle and the north-east circle were approached by short ‘avenues’ (parallel lines) of standing stones leading down towards the river.

The Cove is a group of three large stones. There are several other standing or large stones in the area. To the north, across the river Chew, is the stone known as Hautville’s Quoit, and to the west once stood the Tyning Stones. These stones may have formed part of the monument complex.

Now in a wooded glade, this small prehistoric circle of nine standing stones was probably constructed around 4,000 years ago. Seven of the stones are under 1 metre high, although as they are all partially buried they may be larger than the exposed parts suggest. Two larger stones on the north-west side of the circle are about 1.5 metres high and 1.5 metres wide. The stones are roughly spaced at 1m intervals around the circle, though there is a gap of 3 metres between the two larger stones suggesting a possible entrance. Nearby is the extraordinary barrow cemetery at Winterbourne Poor Lot, a concentration of many early Bronze Age burial monuments.

Woodhenge is an atmospheric Neolithic site close to Stonehenge. Probably built about 2500 BC, it was originally believed to be the remains of a burial mound, surrounded by a bank and ditch almost completely destroyed by ploughing. Aerial photography detected rings of dark spots in a crop of wheat. When the site was excavated these dark spots proved to be empty sockets that had formerly held large upright timbers. There are six concentric rings of post holes which are marked today by concrete blocks. The rings are oval-shaped, with the longer axis pointing towards the winter and summer solstice.