Long Meg And Her Daughters

Long Meg and Her Daughters are a series of curious standing stones on a hillside in the western foothills of the Pennines. They are immersed in the most panoramic, picturesque position and live up to the title of being the largest stone circle in Cumbria, as well as the sixth largest in England.

The tallest of the stones, standing proud of the others is Meg, a Neolithic or early Bronze Age monolith cut from red sandstone, likely hewn locally from the bed of the River Eden. She's a big stone mam of 3.6 metres, and that's just the height of the portion we see above the ground! She's thought to weigh around 9 tonnes!

I had the usual quick glance around to check no one was watching and had a rapid rub at the rock face. I always like the tactile nature of stone, but it does look odd to see a grown adult rubbing a random rock! Two sides were sandpapery rough, and two sides were smoother. A closer inspection revealed a side plate sized carving in concentric circles. There may have been many more prior to 4000 years of rain, wind, sun and snow! Meg has four sides each one facing a cardinal point.

22 metres away sit her doting daughters, a further 68 stones, smaller in stature. My kids are way taller than me, so they mustn't be teenage standing stones yet! These stones were a selection of various shapes and sizes but all significant. Some looked like giant stone noses! The Stone Noses!

Stone circles and standing stones in Cumbria are often grouped near water, possibly for religious or cosmological reasons, and this one sits not far from the River Eden which would have brought with it travellers from Scotland, Ireland and even France. The circle must have been of great significance and was surrounded by a large cursus to the west. It's thought that the cursus came before the stones... the chicken to the eggs!

Sprawling over a field and sliced through by a farm track, the stones vary in size and colour. This mish mash of megaliths is thought to have been boulders rolled over in the ice age; sixty eight granite glacial erratics in various states of standing up, sitting down and some recumbent, all hugging up in a stone oval. The 'wholestoneoval' (there, I've created a new geological term) is 94 metres north to south and 109 metres east to west, all told.

William Wordsworth was a Long Meg groupie writing in his memoirs:

“Next to Stonehenge it is beyond dispute the most notable relic that this or probably any other country contains”.

Bill would know! So moved by the monolith was he that he penned a poem called The Monument.

When we visited in the summer, we were the only souls there, and it was an impressive people-less sight!

And where did the name Long Meg come from? Legend has it that she was a witch closer to my neck of the woods in Northumberland, known as Meg of Meldon. Quite how she ended up in Little Salkeld is anyone's guess, but I suppose I'd just jumped in my pickup and drove there. Maybe she just broomed it over, but with all them bairns? If you look at the main standing stone, it has a kind of witchy cut to its jib!

Long Meg was apparently a name for any tall, thin woman however, this one was caught dancing on a Sunday by Scottish smarty pants, astronomer and alchemist, Michael Scot, who, with his wizardly powers turned her and her daughters to stone for sashaying on the sabbath - make sure you watch the full of Strictly on a Saturday. You've been warned!

In the 18th century local landowner, Colonel Lacy decided that he wanted rid of the pesky pillars so he could plough the field. Rumour has it that he believed there to be buried treasure. He ordered his men to blast them with gunpowder, and no sooner had they started, a turbulent thunderstorm erupted causing the men to flee and was seen as a sign that the stones should remain standing!

If you count the stones twice in a row and correctly arrive at the same number, it's said that Meg and her daughters will shake free of their granitey graves and come back to haunt you!

My advice to you is look but don't touch or count or plough! We enjoyed some nice raspberries from the pick your own farm just beside Long Meg...or were they bulbs of witches blood?

If a stone circle floats yer boat, there's one more just down the road, Glassonby Stone Circle but you do have to seek permission from the landowner first as it's on private land.

Thanks loads to Lee Walker for the spectacular aerial shots of Long Meg.