End of the roll of film and a strange orb / sunflare /smudge
Image credit: Matthew Shaw
Images
Equinox sunrise-ish. 21st March 2020
Image credit: Chris Bickerton
As sunrisey as it got
Image credit: Chris Bickerton
Image credit: Chris Bickerton
Image credit: Chris Bickerton
Image credit: Chris Bickerton
Image credit: Chris Bickerton
Image credit: Chris Bickerton
Image credit: Chris Bickerton
Image credit: texlahoma
September 2018
Image credit: texlahoma
Image credit: texlahoma
Image credit: A. Brookes (16.2.2017)
Image credit: A. Brookes (16.2.2017)
Image credit: A. Brookes (16.2.2017)
Image credit: 'Stones', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 2, South east (London, 1970), pp. 512-515. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/dorset/vol2/pp512-515
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Lovely – if noisy – site.
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
The sad remnants of the once majestic tree...
Image credit: Graeme Field
Image credit: Graeme Field
The tree has been tided up somewhat but wouldn’t it have been better to remove it altogether? The little bridge has gone.
Image credit: Jimit Aug 2012
4/2/12
Image credit: texlahoma
31/12/11
Image credit: texlahoma
31/12/11
Image credit: texlahoma
31/12/11
Image credit: texlahoma
31/12/11
Image credit: texlahoma
15th August 2011
Image credit: texlahoma
Last time I passed, it looks like the access to this stone circle has been greatly improved by opening up a right of way across the field from the nearby Little Chef. As others have noted, the walk along the road is unpleasant to say the least.
Image credit: Roger Milton
The stones in all their cold, sombre, wintery glory. My first visit although I must have passed it dozens of times without noticing it’s secluded delights!
Image credit: A R Cane
The ring looking from the entrance.
Image credit: A R Cane
Looking back towards the road and the back of the mighty truncated tree.
Image credit: A R Cane
The Nine Stones at Winterbourne Abbas. Bizarre photographic anomaly (see circular rainbow light on the ground) shot with my phone, as my digital camera was full.
Image credit: Robin Dalton
Nine Stones 02.05.0. I deliberately came early in the season to photograph the circle before the leaves were out on the trees not realising that the mighty beech had been reduced to a stump. Although the tree has been butchered it did meant that the circle was flooded with light and easier to photograph. The wild garlic in the surrounding woods was beautiful. It is a shame that the A35 is so close and it feels like one is taking one’s life in one’s hands to walk along the road from the layby to the circle.
Image credit: Lucy Jones
13th April 2009
Image credit: texlahoma
Image credit: Peter Castle ©
taken april 1st 2007
Image credit: texlahoma
The site is now open to the elements.
Image credit: Mike Murray
All the undergrowth cover is gone and the great Beech is just a stump.
Image credit: Mike Murray
Itinerarium Curiosum 1776
Image credit: William Stukeley, M.D. F.R. & A.S.
Image credit: Moth Clark
This is how the nine stones makes me feel, dizzy with atmosphere.
Image credit: Snuzz
the circle from the woods
Image credit: texlahoma
Remove the road and all is peace and tranquility.
Image credit: Jimit Aug 06
Yet more swasticas at the Nine Stones. The abuse of this ancient site seen on 28/05/06. Methinks its getting to the point where the police should be involved.
This photo was handed to Heritage Action. It shows another pathetic swastika inside the circle. It was removed immediately after the photos were taken. Apologies about the quality of the photo.
A part rubbed out chalk swastika can be seen as a white blob on the stone on the other side of the circle.
Image credit: Samie Tuckin
This photo was handed to Heritage Action. It shows another pathetic swastika inside the circle. It was removed immediately after the photos were taken. Apologies about the quality of the photo.
Image credit: Samie Tuckin
Five of the Nine Stones of Winterbourne Abbas. You could be forgiven for thinking this is a picture of a tranquil place but it’s not. The constant roar of traffic behind where this picture was taken is very distracting. Even the Weald Stone by a roundabout in London is a more relaxing place to visit!
As seen on 02/10/2005 CE
Three of the stones are being absorbed into the roots of the nearby beech tree. 2nd October 2005CE
Image credit: Roger Milton
2nd October 2005CE
Image credit: Roger Milton
2nd October 2005CE
Image credit: Roger Milton
Nine Stones with orb and light anomoly
Image credit: Nikki_A
Pass through the gate and leave the busy world behind....
Image credit: MisterPoo
a large standing stone from winterbourne abba
Image credit: texlahoma
three of the stones at winterbourne abbas
Image credit: texlahoma
The circle
Image credit: Tim Clark
The large ‘gravel’ stone
Image credit: Tim Clark
Circle looking towards the road
Image credit: Tim Clark
The astonishing texture of one of the largest stones. It looks like concrete made with coarse, crushed flints. The other side is smoother. Is this another case of where the fairer side is presented to the middle of the circle?
Image credit: Jimit 22.3.03
Is the stone on the right a touch, well, phallic?
Image credit: Jimit 22.3.03
The scent of wild garlic gave a certain pungency to the air!
Image credit: Jimit 22.3.03
This might be the best time of year to visit as the trees are not yet in leaf and the delightful cluster of daffodils almost seem like a natural offering.
Image credit: Jimit 22.3.03
Nine Stones of Winterbourne Abbas – 4.9.2002
Image credit: Jo
Image credit: Martin Bull
Image credit: Martin Bull
Despite being right beside the busy road ( watch out it’s pretty dangerous!!!!) This site has a real peacefullness about it – a kind of serenity about it. The tree growing around the stones gives an idea of how long they’ve been there
Moey
The ninth stone being absorbed by the tree’s root system. A small pool of clear water collects between the stone and tree.
Inscriptions on the rear side of the guardian tree.
The two largest stones, from the rear of the circle, behind the large guardian tree which provides a roof.
The ‘male’ entrance stone. The ‘female’ one is to the left, out of shot.
Even when you’re aware of the circle, the only sign of it is one of the large entrance stones.
Articles
A 200-YEAR-OLD tree at the centre of worship by druids and witches has been chopped down to size after it became diseased.
The 80ft beech at Winterbourne Abbas has been reduced to a 10-metre stump by English Heritage because of fears it would die and fall over.
The tree has become a dominant feature at the site, famous for the ancient stone circle standing beneath its branches.
More here
dorsetecho.co.uk/display.var.1254034.0.0.php?utag=34317
Hi everyone. I live just down the road in the castle-like house nearby to the Stones. Today (10th Jan 07) two men knocked on my door from English Heritage. They proceeded to tell me that a large tree on the site has a deadly fungus and it has to be removed. Although I have full access to the site, (as the woodland backs onto my front garden) I shamefully have never visited it.... so I wonder if removing the tree will make an impact on the ambience of the place??
It’s surprising how quickly three months can pass, it’s already equinox time again and I thought I’d make a proper long old day of it. Twelve sites in twelve hours, a touch ambitious possibly, but I’ve neglected to bring either of the kids, which will help, and the car though small and slow has been faithful so far.
The plan, such as it was, was to witness an equinox sunrise from Kingston Russell stone circle. There’s just two small problems with that, the actual equinox was yesterday, and I’m apparently a slow driver, because i’m not going to get there in time, I blame the poor state of British motorways, roadworks for mile after mile. Poop!
So I pull over early at the Nine stones, I haven’t been here since before the big tree came down, it is not the only difference.
I parked at the farm building fifty yards down the road, walked back to the stones down the not dangerous at all road, and found no way to get to the stones. The stream was too wide to jump easily, the bridge is gone and the gate, there’s no way in this way.
Back to the car and I drive a bit further down the road away from the stones, there is some new work going on, a housing estate possibly, I parked by the road. Passed through the fence with the red sign that says something like footpath closed and made my merry way off through the field.
It’s about now I should make note that I have once again forgotten my coat, it is windy and cold, I really don’t like being cold.
Having crossed the two fields, I arrive at the stones, here among the trees it is at least less windy. The circle is as lovely as I remembered it, with not much deviation from the original I reckon.
The two big stones, being entrance stones perhaps, meaning the stone between them is not in it’s proper place, are two simply stunning stones, with huge amounts of chocolate rose flint showing, and a small colony of Harlequin ladybirds. Nice.
It’s not easy to get the moment of sunrise and all the stones into the picture, first of all you have to be on the other side of the enclosing fence and there is a hill side in the way as well. So, not good for equinox sunrises, or winter ones, the hill would be even more in the way, but summer solstice would be fine, if you can cut down a few trees. I did say I was going somewhere else for the sunrise.
After failing to see a sunrise, staring closely and intently at the tall flinty stones, and walking round in at least a dozen circles, and this and that, it was time to go get my next stoney fix. So off I go to Hell, there is a stone there.
The Little chef has now shut down and is all borded up. This does mean that for now at least the circle has a dedicated car park and pathway.
It is no longer possible to visit the circle via the A35 and over the little bridge which is gone.
The gate is sealed and a sign directs to access via the Little chef and path- a bit late if you didn’t know! But probably a good thing as it had to be one of them more dangerous routes to a circle.
Visited 13.10.12
As recommended we parked at the Little Chef and Karen and the children enjoyed some refreshments while I headed through the gate and across the field to the trees where this stone circle lives. (5 minute walk)
It is a well maintained site with a fence surrounding the circle for protection and the grass kept short. Despite the very close proximity of the busy A35 it wasn’t long before the calming atmosphere of the place takes you over and you even stop noticing the cars screaming past.
As with most of the places I visited this weekend I had the site to myself which was nice. Particularly this site as it is a place to sit and ponder. The sky was blue with white fluffy clouds floating by; the October sunshine filtering through the leaves. Saplings have been planted along the roadside to shelter the circle even more and a sign has been put up asking people to access via the Little Chef and not by climbing over the fence.
The first thing to strike me was the stones themselves. I have never seen stones made up of so much flint – quite strange. The next thing was the large (dead?) tree which had had its branches cut off. There were masses of toad stools growing out of the base of the tree.
Looking at the stones one by one I discovered an egg ‘offering’ had been placed in a small crevice. The stones varied in height from about 0.3m to 2m.
This is a good place to visit.
I visited the site yesterday for the first time thanks to Julian and his advice about parking in the “Little Chef” carpark. The site is so close to the road and the evidence of the tree being culled was obvious. Despite that it was still one of the most perfect little stone circles that i have ever seen. A hedge or some saplings in the ditch next to the road would help to keep it more private and reduce road noise. I can still imagin how beautiful it would have looked 4000 years ago! Lovely really worth a visit.
We took to the sanctuary of the tiny Nine stones stone circle, sheltered beneath the branches of a spectacular mature beech tree, with massive fungus colonies sprouting from its roots. It’s a very sweet stone circle which was perhaps used by both local people and travellers using the trackway that is now the busy A35.
Some tosser or tossers has chosen to decorate the monument with flowers. One bunch, still wrapped in its sellophane, had been left at the base of the tree. Another bunch had been placed in a log vase in the centre of the circle, around which was arranged some twigs to form the arms of a reversed swastika. Perhaps the same tosser who did this scratched the graffiti at the Hellstone?
Two things: 1. How come the people who apparently have enough ‘respect’ to lay flowers as some kind of offering at an ancient monument, can’t be arsed to respect the 1. environment by taking their sellophane wrappings aways with them? and 2. the feelings of other visitors for who the swastika means nazism and is therefore deeply offensive? You can be sure that the swastika twigs did not stay very long! Moth unwrapped the flowers and took away the sellophane to dispose of correctly.
I don’t know how most other people think with regards to ‘ghost orbs’ and other digital camera peculiarities but I captured an interesting light anomoly and orb at Nine Stones on my visit. I found Akasha’s note about a White Lady by the tree very intriging. I have included the photo here to share with others.
The photo was taken at Lammas 2004 and someone has done a ritual earlier with flowers being left at the stones.
You do risk life and limb getting to this stone circle. When you look at the sketch in the MA you cannot help but think that it is a miracle that the stones survive but a tragedy that they are in this unwanted position where only people like us would dare to visit. Thousands of people roar by every day unaware of the history hidden in the copse by the roadside but at least this way they will survive. One of the stones looks as if it is growing out of the tree which has grown so large beside it.
Noise outside but tranquility inside the stones when I visited 15/7/05 on a red hot day with the sun burning down it felt cool in the shade admiring the stones and wondering.
June 2004. Warm and sunny.
The stones are tranquil. The sun is beating down and the traffic roaring past and yet inside the circle, you get lost in the ambience of the setting and forget the world outside.
We parked in the farmyard across the road and walked along the roadside verge to the stones and it was a real treat! The manner in which the stones are hidden from the road by the tree cover and low hanging branches hinders the tourist but rewards the stone seeker with a truly fantastic environment.
we (charlie and i) visited the nine stones on the 1st of february. after driving past the site a couple of time found that the layby across the road was indeed the best place to park. apart from the narrow strip of grass leading from the little chef there is/was also a deep water filled ditch to contend with if you park in the little chef car park.
being feb there were no leaves on the trees which left a good if little exposed view of the stones. we still found it possible when standing with our backs to the road to forget there was a busy road there at all. There is something very special about this site and the way it made us feel to be there. i took many pictures which i will attept to post should they offer anything not already on this site.
Posted: 07/01/04
We visited 9 stones last night, to find someone had done a ritual recently for the good of the circle which is always nice to see... last time I visited (about a month ago) it wasnt so positive to see that someone had scrawled pentacles on the stones (leave only footprints..? comes to mind.)
I agree that when you first enter the circle its a very unique experience.. very heady and dizzy with energy it takes some getting used to and grounding yourself before you are ready to meditate or work in the circle!
A white lady stands under the tree. x
Access difficult. We parked at the Little Chef, as suggested by Julian in the big papery TMA. What he fails to mention is that it’s a fair distance (mebbe 300-400 yards) along the very narrow verge of the pretty busy A35. So add my voice to the others saying ‘park at the layby’!!!
The very small layby is on the opposite (north) side of the road to the circle but much closer. To actually get to the circle, you have to cross the road and a roadside ditch by a short but rather narrow concrete ‘walkway’. Once into the trees surrounding the stones, the ground is fairly uneven.
Thursday 18 September 2003
It might be me, or it might have just been the day I was there, or maybe I was uncharacteristically fazed by the running of the A35 ‘gauntlet’, but I can’t agree that this circle had any peace to it!!!! At all.
Which is a shame, because it’s a cool little circle of wildly differing stones, the largest of which is a great example of the weird ‘gravel-and-flints-welded-together’ stone that appears in some of the other ‘monuments’ in the area. (That’s the geological name for it, honest.)
I think I’d be saying that the trees ruin it anyway actually. Don’t get me wrong though, I liked it and it’s still certainly WELL worth a visit.
Visited 3rd October 2003
Even at 7:30 in the morning, the A35 is a damn dangerous place! Parking on the wrong side of the road in the ‘makeshift layby’, I precariously made my way the 50 yards along the road to the small concrete bridge across the ditch to the oasis of calm that is the stones. Despite laying only feet from the roar of the traffic, I was surprised at how little it intruded upon the stones.
A ritual had obviously been performed here the previous evening, as a clear swept circle of leaves remained in the middle of the stones. Unfortunately, the light was all wrong for photographs, and I encountered the same difficulties in taking pictures that I had when trying to photograph the Hoar Stone at Enstone. All were out of focus, with a strong colour cast, despite using a monpod.
Access: Dodgy, even for the fully fit, due to the traffic hazard.
I say Park in the lay-by and brave the psychos in lorries.
The site is very sheltered and very missable when charging down the A35.
Me and my best friend love this small circle and have visited it 7-8 times in the last half a year.
We both agree that there is a calm feel to the sight and five of the times that we have been there we have both felt like we were being watched!
Would reccomend this site to be visited at night as the stones take on a different feel. If you do decide to visit at night don’t forget to wear some light clothing that shows up un the dark!
P.s in the spring and summer there is alot of wild garlic plants that give the sites a unique smell!!
Winterbourne Nine Stones (4.9.2002)
Lovely once you get there, but a very uncomfortable journey before you get to the safety of the wooded glade.
I would strongly suggest ignoring most other instructions and to actually park at the makeshift lay-by by the entrance to what is listed on the OS Explorer Map OL15 as Grange Farm Dairy (OL15: 621905). It’s a much shorter and safer walk to the Stones. The OL15 OS map alone does not make it clear EXACTLY where the Nine Stones are (I didn’t have the OS grid reference with me at the time – doh!), and we were not happy at walking up the road / racetrack from the Little Chef not even knowing if we were definitely going in the right direction! So we went and found a better place in the lay-by.
If you really want to park at the Little Chef, rest assured that if you turn left as you walk out of the car park and walk along the road for 400m, you will find the Nine Stones, which are on your left as the woods start.
Ps. The English Heritage website gives these instructions: The parking is located in a small lay-by opposite, next to the barn. Cross the road with care.
By barn I guess they mean the dairy / farm buildings?
Made it to this one at last, what a treat(if you survive the road) No feelings of unease for me , the sheltering trees
helping to forget the road and traffic.
Imagine this Dorset landscape without the roads and new(ish) trees .The ridgeway close by and the multitude and variety of barrows. We travelled down to the nine stones from a vist to the Cerne Giant ,a wonderfull ancient landscape!!
Visited The 9 on sept 11th (hmm....).While patient wife and baby Liberty waited back at the Little Chef.Nearly got killed by roadraged truckers on route back to the stones...serious autogeddon!Met lovely old couple looking for the site, who’d wisely parked at the nearby barn. Rushed visit, but still was a relaxed feel to these sleepy old stones under the trees.
As soon as I set foot within the boundary of this circle I was stopped dead in my tracks and overwhelmed with an unexpected demand for respect and reverence. The sense of power is immense and very alive.
(visited 3rd October 2001)
I used to pass this site often when I lived on the outskirts of Dorchester and one day I decided to stop and have a proper look. Shortly after entering the circle I had a tremendous feeling of unease. Even though I still think it is a wonderful site hidden away and missed by so many which is probably not a bad thing.
This is one of those ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ sites tucked away at the side of the road.
I’ve never actually stopped here but from the road the stones look like huddled ancient conspiracists cloaked in the cover of the encroaching trees. You can almost imagine them coming alive at night and heading outwards in the security of the night.
What shouldn’t be forgotten though is the surrounding countryside is littered with barrows of all kinds. Hundreds of them! I have also read somewhere that there used to be another circle in this area – I think Stukeley mentioned it. Certainly, as you head further down the A35 towards the next town, there is a solitary standing stone in a field at the bottom of the road’s embankment (you can only see it heading back the other way though!). Can’t be sure this is ancient, but its location in the field, and the surrounding landscape it probably is.
This circle is so small that it is entirely sheltered by the branches of the beech tree at its southern edge. Situated right beside the A35 (on the south side), visiting this place requires a precarious walk along the pavementless edge of the trunk road. (As well as the Little Chef to park in, there’s a nearer spot at the entrance to an inactive farm, across the road and a little east).
There’s several things I found to be slightly at variance with the Modern Antiquarian’s impression of this place. Stukeley’s drawing (reproduced in The Modern Antiquarian) shows only eight stones, but there are definitely nine (albeit the smallest one barely a foot high and being slowly enveloped by the beech tree’s roots). John Aubrey reportedly called the stones ‘petrified clumps of flints’, but only three stones have this flinty-pebbledash look to them. Tellingly, it’s the three largest stones. And although Julian Cope is correct in saying that there are massive differences in the heights of the stones, two nearest the road stand way taller than the rest and provide a gateway effect. Between these two stands a tiny stone, looking to me like an arrowhead shape pointing outwards from the gateway.
Despite the rush and roar of the fast traffic on the adjacent main road, there is a heady peacefulness and a tangible tingle to this place.
(Visited 3 August 2000)
.. a Druidical circle called the Nine Stones, 28 ft. in diameter. It stands on a bare spot, which, in the belief of the country people, is likely to continue in the same condition, as there is a popular notion that trees will not grow within the circle.
The stones are of a cherty conglomerate, and 8 in number, and one only appears to be wanting.
p118 in ‘Handbook for travellers in Wiltshire, Dorsetshire and Somersetshire’ by John Murray (1859) – on Google Books.
The Stones are but a tiny hop from the Winterbourne spring. Is it too imaginative to think the two might be connected? Ok possibly.
“Folks say that no man ever saw a ‘winter-borne break. It is dry one day and running the next, but its first downpour was never beheld. Many years ago watch was kept day and night for a fortnight for the breaking of the Winterborne Abbas stream. One night the watchman on duty found that his pipe had gone out. ‘Bridehead-lodge – he bean’t ‘bove hundred or two yard – can’t do any harm to get light there.’ But in those three minutes the winter-borne broke unseen.”
Some might also be keen to read meaning into the nearby house being ‘Bride-head lodge’.
p117 in
Dorset Folk-Lore
J. J. Foster
The Folk-Lore Journal, Vol. 6, No. 2. (1888), pp. 115-119.
Westwood and Simpson suggest in ‘Lore of the Land’ (2005) that an alternative name for these stones is ‘Lady Williams and her little dog Fido’. What can this mean? They give no explanation. Surely no-one can miscount stones that badly. Does anyone know what this is about?
The Nine Stones have been regarded by local folklore to be the Devil, his wife and children. Though another tale suggests that the stones were once children who where turned into stone by the Devil while playing five-stones on the Sabbath.
(57) The Nine Stones stone circle (SY 69 SW; 61079043; Fig. p. 514, Plate 211), stands immediately S. of the Bridport road 850 yds. W. of the church in an enclosure just inside Nine Stone Wood. The site is level at 345 ft. above O.D. on the S. edge of a narrow valley floor. The subsoil is apparently river gravel with Upper Chalk adjacent to the S.
The stones, all sarsens, are arranged in a rough circle with internal diameters of about 27½ ft. (N. to S.) and 23½ ft. (W. to E.). Though they are irregularly spaced, a gap to the N. is almost twice as wide as any other gap. Seven of the stones are small and low, from about 1 ft. to 2½ ft. high. Two are more massive: (a) is 7 ft. high and its elongated form recalls the ‘A’ stones in the Kennet Avenue near Avebury, Wilts.; (b), a large slab, 6 ft. high and 6 ft. across at the base, is like the ‘B’ stones in the same Avenue (cf. Antiquity x (1936), 420).
Aubrey recorded only nine stones, as did Hutchins in 1768; but Warne alleged traces of a tenth to the N.E., presumably in the wide gap. Stukeley’s drawing of 1723 shows the circle in the same state as at present and nothing could be seen of any additional stone in 1936. (S. and C. M. Piggott, Antiquity XIII (1939), 146, with facsimile of Aubrey’s MS. notes as pl. I; J. Hutchins, History of Dorset II, 196, and Gentleman’s Magazine (1768), 112–3, letter signed J. H.; C. Warne, Ancient Dorset (1872), 117–8; J. Stukeley, Itinerarium Curiosum II (1724), tab. 92, which has been wrongly identified as showing a site in Winterbourne Monkton, Wilts.) The site is a guardianship monument of the Ministry of Public Building and Works and is No. 149 on the O.S. Map of Neolithic Wessex.
‘Stones’, in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 2, South east (London, 1970), pp. 512-515. British History Online british-history.ac.uk/rchme/dorset/vol2/pp512-515
Details of The Nine Stones on Pastscape
(SY 61079043) The Nine Stones (NAT) Stone Circle (NR). (1)
The Nine Stones Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age (SY 61079043) stands immediately S of the Bridport road 850 yds W of the church in an enclosure just inside Nine Stone Wood. The site is level at 345 ft above OD on the S edge of a narrow valley floor. The subsoil is apparently river gravel with Upper Chalk adjacent to the S.
The stones, all sarsens, are arranged in a rough circle with internal diameters of about 27 1/2 ft (N to S) and 23 1/2 ft (W to E). Though they are irregularly spaced, a gap to the N is almost twice as wide as any other gap. Seven of the stones are small and low, from about 1 ft to 2 1/2 ft high. Two are more massive: (a) is 7 ft high and its elongated form recalls the ‘A’ stones in the Kennet Avenue near Avebury, Wilts; (b) a large slab, 6 ft high and 6 ft across at the base, is like the ‘B’ stones in the same Avenue (cf Antiquity X (1936), 420).
Aubrey recorded only nine stones, as did Hutchins in 1768; but Warne alleged traces of a tenth to the NE, presumably in the wide gap. Stukeley’s drawing of 1723 shows the circle in the same state as at present and nothing could be seen of any additional stone in 1936. (S and C M Piggott, Antiquity XIII (1939), 146, with facsimile of Aubrey’s MS notes as pl I; J Hutchins, History of Dorset 11, 196, and Gentleman’s Magazine (1768) 112-3, letter signed J H; C Warne, Ancient Dorset (1872), 117-8; J Stukeley, Itinerarium Curiosum II (1742), tab 92, which has been wrongly identified as showing a site in Winterbourne Monkton, Wilts). The site is a guardianship monument of the Ministry of Public Building and Works and is No 149 on the OS Map of Neolithic Wessex. (2)
‘The Nine Stones’ (name on Ministry notice board) remain as described by RCHM. Re-surveyed at 1:2500 on M.S.D. (3)
A late Neolithic/Bronze Age stone circle. The stones are of sarsen or conglomerate and have been arranged in a rough circle. They are irregularly spaced, a gap to the north is almost twice as wide as any other gaps. Seven of the stones are small and low, two are larger. Traces of a tenth stone have been alleged, presumably in the wide gap. Scheduled. (1-3)
The Nine Stones is a late Neolithic or early Bronze Age stone circle. It is located immediately south of the A35 Bridport road, just outside the village of Winterbourne Abbas in an enclosure within Nine Stone Wood. This is situated in a valley bottom close to the South Winterbourne stream. The stones are of sarsen or conglomerate and have been arranged in a rough circle with maximum internal diameter of 8 metres. The circle was first recorded in the 18th century by J. Aubrey, W. Stukeley and W. Hutchins and has seen little change since. The stones measure between 1.5 metres to 0.5 metre in diameter and 1.5 metres to 0.45 metres in height. However all the stones are partially buried and their exact dimensions are not know. Two stones, situated within the northern and western areas of the monument, are notably larger than the rest. The Nine Stones are spaced at about one metre intervals however there is a gap of 3 metres on the northern side, which may be a possible entrance. It was alleged in 1872 by C. Warne that there was originally traces of a tenth stone, which may have filled this gap. However on W. Stukeley’s drawing of 1723 the circle is in the same state as at present. The Nine Stones is one of only four stone circles known to survive within the area, and it’s location in a valley bottom is unusual. (1-5)
‘The 17th century antiquarian John Aubrey described another circle about half a mile to the west but this has since been destroyed, although a fallen 2 metre stone known as the Broad Stone lies semi-buried beside the road about a mile to the west.’ (6) Five of the stones suffered damage from graffiti in the form of white paint in 2007. (7)
At Winterbourne Abbas, four or five miles from Dorchester, is a small circle called the “Nine stones,” 28 or 30 feet in diameter (not in height as stated by the Post Office Directory); six stones only remain, two of which are 6 feet high, the others half that size or less; there are a road and a ploughed field close to the north of this circle, so that if there were ever an outlying stone there it has probably been destroyed or buried; according to Gough’s Camden’s “Britannia” there were formerly a large single stone half-a-mile to the west of this circle, and four smaller ones half-a-mile west of that, but I could hear nothing of them.
You can’t get the staff these days. p119 in
Remarks on Some Archaic Structures in Somersetshire and Dorsetshire.
A. L. Lewis
The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 11. (1882), pp. 117-122.
Sites within 20km of The Nine Stones of Winterbourne Abbas
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Winterbourne Steepleton Cromlech
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Big Wood
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Longlands
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Three Barrow Clump
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Pound Hill
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The Broad Stone
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Sheep Down
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Field Barn
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Little Bredy
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Sheep Down Long Barrow
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Winterbourne Poor Lot
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Valley of Stones Barrow
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Sheep Down Enclosure
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Pigeon House
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Hangman’s Rocks
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Winterborne St Martin Disc Barrow
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Rew Lane
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Black Down (Kingston Russell)
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Black Down (Portesham)
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Crow Hill
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Kingston Russell Cursus
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The Valley of Stones
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Red Barn
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Old Warren
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Third Milestone Barrow Cemetery
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Portesham Standing Stones
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Bronkham Hill
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Grove Hill
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Martin’s Down Long Barrow
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The Helstone
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The Hellstone
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Long Bredy
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Portesham Hill Long Barrow
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Tenants Hill
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Purlands Farm
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North Barn Farm
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Kingston Russell
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Penn Hill
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The Grey Mare & Her Colts
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Hampton Down
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Kingston Russell Barrow
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Great Hill Barrows
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Four Barrow Hill
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Clandon Barrow
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Bishop’s Limekiln
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Barrow East of Two Gates
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White Hill Barrows
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Maiden Castle Long Barrow
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Lanceborough King Barrow
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Ridge Hill
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Wynford Eagle
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Maiden Castle Round Barrow
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Whitfield Farm
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Grimstone Down
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Whitfield
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Wears Hill
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Friar Waddon
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Maiden Castle Bank Barrow
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Grimstone Down Barrows
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Hog Cliff Hill
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Maiden Castle (Dorchester)
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West Compton Down
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Gould’s Hill Barrows
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Abbotsbury Castle
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Chapel Hill
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Pin Knoll
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Two Gates
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Windsbatch
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Poundbury Hillfort
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Askerswell
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South Eggardon Farm
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Ridgeway Hill
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Tulk’s Hill
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Eggardon Barrows
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Limekiln Hill
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Herringston Barrow
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Puncknowle
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Eggardon Hill
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Maumbury Rings
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Wood Hill
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Chilcombe Hill
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Furzey Down Road
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Dorchester Palisaded Enclosure
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Came Down Golf Club
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Norden Hill
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Conygar Hill
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Toller Porcorum Churchyard
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Flagstones
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Peak End Hill
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Bincombe Down Long Barrow
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Powerstock Common
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Wolfeton Clump
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Bincombe Down
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Conquer Barrow
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The Castle (Cattistock)
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Mount Pleasant
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Hammiton Hill
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Smacam Down
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Smacam Down Long Barrow
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Came Wood Long Barrow
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Came Wood
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Broadmayne Bank Barrow
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Fidler’s Green
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Culliford Tree Barrow
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Shipton Hill
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Frome Hill Barrows
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Whitcombe Barn
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Waterston Ridge
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Shipton Gorge
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Chalbury
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The Wishing Stone
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Whitcombe Hill
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West Hill Barrows
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East Hill Barrows
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Bind Barrow
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Sandy Barrow (West Stafford)
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Mayne Stone Circle
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Robins Barrow
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The Rainbarrows
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Cerne Abbas Giant
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The Trendle (Cerne Abbas)
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Burcombe Hill
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North Hill
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White Horse Hill
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Fryer Mayne
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Bradpole
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Boswell’s Plantation
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Puddletown Forest
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Huck Barrow
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Sandy Barrow
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Evershot
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Goggin’s Barrow
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Poxwell
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Dogbury Hill
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Ridge Hill
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South Down
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Moigns Down
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Owermoigne Down
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Lyscombe Hill
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Tinker’s Barrow
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Corscombe
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Colmer’s Hill
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Eype Down
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Thorncombe Beacon
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Nettlecombe Tout
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Doghouse Hill
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Lord’s Barrow
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Pallington Clump
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The Dorsetshire Gap
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Tadnoll Barrow
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Giant’s Grave
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Dungeon Hill
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Five Marys
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Old Knowle
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King Barrow
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Chaldon Herring
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Drove Hill
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Chaldon Down
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Whitcombe Vale
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Yetminster Stone
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Saw Mills Stone Circles
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Blacknoll Hill
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