Stone Circle - A fake? | Forum — The Modern Antiquarian

TheStandingStone Nov 1, 2009 09:18:16

I was at the Devil's Quoits this week with my brother and his girlfriend and was very impressed with the work done there. I had seen pictures of what was there and the difference is amazing - particularly now that the rubbish tip is being covered with top soil and this in turn has driven away the birds.

When we were leaving we bumped into a local man who proceeded to tell us that he "knows" the circle to be a fake. He claimed that the real stones were buried under some local sheds and are still there after being put there by the military. He also claimed that many people in the village know this and some of the older residents remember the circle before the military destroyed it. He reckons the "real" stones are made of the same stone as Avebury.

Has anybody ever heard of this story? What do people think?

baza Nov 1, 2009 09:47:07

Replying to TheStandingStone

Well, when John Aubrey drew the remains of the Devil's Quoits in Monumenta Britannica in the 17th century, there were only three stones still standing.

By the time that the military arrived, in the 1940s, to place their airfield over the henge, there was just one stone left in situ.

That stone, plus at least two other old stones from the vicinity, now stand within the circle. They are made from the conglomerate stone found locally.

So, I think your informant has told you a load of bollocks.

Jane Nov 1, 2009 17:18:43

Replying to TheStandingStone

I think baza a right - a load of bollocks from someone who has a head full of half stories. Stick to the facts, mate!

The only (similar) story that I heard was from an old boy in the village. He remembers a stone being moved in the 1940s and dragged out of the way of the constrution of the airfield. They only managed to drag it as far as where the cricket pitch now is, and as far as the old boy was concerned it's still there. It may be. It may not be.

You wanna watch what the locals say... One chap on the parish council objected to its reconstruction on the grounds that it might bring hippies with camper vans and tourists into the village.

Stone Circle — A fake?