Maumbury Rings facts for kids
Interior of Maumbury Rings viewed from southern end
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 Location in Dorset
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| Location | Dorchester, Dorset |
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| Coordinates | 50°42′28″N 2°26′25″W / 50.70790°N 2.44039°W |
| Type | Henge |
| History | |
| Periods | Neolithic, with later Roman and Civil War modifications |
| Site notes | |
| Public access | Yes |
| Official name | Henge, Romano-British amphitheatre and Civil War fieldworks known collectively as Maumbury Rings |
| Designated | 1 October 1962 |
| Reference no. | 1003204 |
Maumbury Rings is an ancient circular earthwork in Dorchester, England. It started as a huge Stone Age monument called a henge. Later, the Romans changed it into an arena for public shows. During the English Civil War, it became a fort! Today, Maumbury Rings is a public park where people enjoy concerts, festivals, and historical re-enactments.
Contents
What is Maumbury Rings?
Maumbury Rings is a large, nearly circular earthwork. It is located very close to the center of Dorchester. The inside of the circle is about 50 meters (164 feet) wide. The earth bank around it is about 4 meters (13 feet) wide. It stands about 5.6 meters (18 feet) high on the inside and 4.0 meters (13 feet) high on the outside.
You can still see a bulge on the southwest side of the earthwork. This marks where a gun platform was built during the English Civil War. At that time, the inner side of the bank was also flattened into terraces on the east and west sides. The original ditch that was inside the henge is no longer visible today.
A Look Back in Time: History of the Rings
Maumbury Rings has a long and interesting history. It has been used for many different purposes over thousands of years.
Building the Stone Age Henge
Archaeologists dug up Maumbury Rings between 1908 and 1913. These digs showed that the site was first built in the later Stone Age. The original henge had a ditch inside it. This ditch was made of up to 45 deep shafts dug into the chalk ground. Some of these shafts were as deep as 11 meters (36 feet)!
Inside these shafts, archaeologists found interesting things. These included antlers, animal and human bones, flint tools, and carved chalk. The henge had a single entrance on its northeast side. People say a large stone was found near the entrance in 1849, but it was reburied and has not been seen since.
Other ancient sites are nearby. About 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) to the east are faint traces of a larger henge called Mount Pleasant henge. Another Stone Age site, Flagstones, is also close by. In the 1980s, archaeologists found large timber postholes in Dorchester, about 800 meters (half a mile) northeast of Maumbury Rings. These suggest there was once a huge Stone Age enclosure there, about 300 to 400 meters (980 to 1,300 feet) wide.
Roman Amphitheatre Days
During the Roman period, Maumbury Rings was changed into an amphitheatre. This was for the people of the nearby Roman town of Durnovaria (which is now Dorchester). The Romans lowered the banks of the henge by about 3 meters (10 feet). They used this extra material to make the banks higher.
The inside of the henge was also changed. They dug out an oval, flat area for the arena floor. They also cut seating into the slopes and banks. These seats were likely covered with chalk or wood. Small rooms were also dug into the bank on the southwest side and one on each side of the center.
When archaeologists dug here, they found Roman pottery, coins, and even a burial from the 2nd century. The amphitheatre might have stopped being used by the mid-2nd century. However, some items found suggest people were still active there in the 4th century.
English Civil War Fort
Between 1642 and 1643, Maumbury Rings was changed again. This time, it was because of the English Civil War. Supporters of Parliament used the site as an artillery fort. They wanted to protect the southern entrance to Dorchester.
To do this, they built a platform for guns and a ramp on the southwest side. They also built the internal terraces you can still see. An unfinished well was found near the northwest edge of the arena. Many lead pistol bullets were found on the east bank. These, along with a ditch outside the northern bank, all date back to this time.
Later Uses and Today
The Rings were briefly used as an amphitheatre again in the late 1600s and early 1700s. This was a place for public executions. In 1685, after the Monmouth Rebellion, Judge Jeffreys ordered many rebels to be executed here. In 1705, a young woman named Mary Channing was executed here for a crime. The famous writer Thomas Hardy wrote about this event in his poem The Mock Wife and mentioned it in his novel The Mayor of Casterbridge.
By the late 1700s, the area was being used as farmland. In 1846, the planned route for the Southampton and Dorchester Railway was changed to protect Maumbury Rings.
Today, Maumbury Rings is a public park. It is used for outdoor concerts, festivals, and historical re-enactments. Many of the items found during the excavations are now on display at the Dorset Museum.
Images for kids
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The Maumbury Rings viewed from the northern end.
