Clatford Stone Circle facts for kids

Clatford Stone Circle, also known as The Broadstones, was a stone circle found near the village of Clatford in Wiltshire, a county in South West England.

This stone circle was part of a big trend. People across Great Britain, Ireland, and Brittany built many stone circles. This happened between about 3,300 and 900 years before the Common Era (BCE). This time is known as the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. Besides stone circles, people also built wooden circles and large earthen rings called henges. These circular shapes seemed very important to them. We don't know exactly why they built these rings. Some experts think the stones might have stood for special spirits or gods.

An old-time historian named William Stukeley visited and wrote about the circle. Sadly, by the year 1890, all the stones that made up the circle had been taken away.

What Was the Clatford Stone Circle?

The stone circle was located near the River Kennet as it flows through Clatford.

The Clatford Stone Circle stood in a place called Clatford Bottom. This area is in the valley of the River Kennet, right where the river bends. One expert, Aubrey Burl, thought it was probably in Broadstone West Meadows. This spot would have been about an hour's walk from the famous Avebury stone circle. Many ancient burial mounds, called barrows, were also found nearby. These barrows were built during the Early Bronze Age.

William Stukeley wrote about what he saw. He said that "over against Clatford at a flexture in the river, we met with several great stones." He noted that these stones were "flat upon the ground." Sadly, the site was destroyed in the 1880s. By 1890, none of the stones were left.

Why Were Stone Circles Built?

During the time between the Early and Late Neolithic periods (around 4,000 to 3,000 BCE), many things stayed the same. But the types of monuments people built changed a lot. Especially in what is now southern and eastern England.

By 3000 BCE, older types of monuments were no longer being built. These included long burial mounds (long barrows) and large fenced areas (causewayed enclosures). Instead, people started building many different kinds of circular monuments. These new structures included earthen henges, wooden circles, and stone circles.

Stone circles can be found in most parts of Britain where there is natural stone. They are not common in the very south-eastern part of the island. Many stone circles are found in south-western Britain and in north-eastern Scotland. People may have built these circles for a very long time, from 3300 to 900 BCE. The main period of building was between 3000 and 1300 BCE.

These stone circles often show little sign of people visiting them right after they were built. This suggests they weren't places for noisy parties or rituals that left a lot of mess. They might have been meant to be "silent and empty monuments."

Some archaeologists think that in Neolithic Britain, stone was linked to the dead. Wood, on the other hand, was linked to the living. Other experts believe the stones might not have represented ancestors. Instead, they could have stood for other powerful beings, like gods.

Other Stone Circles in Wiltshire

In the area of modern Wiltshire, many stone circles were built. The most famous ones are Avebury and Stonehenge. All the other examples are now ruined. Some have even been completely destroyed, like Clatford Stone Circle.

As archaeologist Aubrey Burl noted, these lost circles have left us "only frustrating descriptions and vague positions." Most of the known stone circles in Wiltshire were built in low-lying areas.

There are four smaller stone circles known around the Avebury area. These are The Sanctuary, Winterbourne Bassett Stone Circle, Clatford Stone Circle, and Falkner's Circle. Experts first thought there might be a fifth circle at Langdean Bottom. But later research showed it was likely a hut circle or a medieval feature.

Aubrey Burl suggested that these smaller circles were like "village churches" around a main "cathedral" like Avebury. Clatford Stone Circle was similar to Falkner's Circle in a few ways. Both had fewer stones. Both were located in valleys. And both were about the same size as the outer ring of The Sanctuary.

Studying the Clatford Stone Circle

Most of what we know about Clatford Stone Circle comes from old writings. These writings were made by people interested in ancient things, called antiquarians.

Archaeologists Joshua Pollard and Andrew Reynolds felt that the records for Clatford Stone Circle were "marginally better" than those for Falkner's Circle. Pollard and Reynolds also said that archaeologists really needed to check something important. They wanted to find out if Clatford Stone Circle was truly built by humans. Or if it was just a group of natural stones that people mistook for a human-made circle.