#25sarsensofchristmas
The Grey Mare and her Colts is a Neolithic burial monument. 4 large sarsens were placed in front of the entrance once it was no longer used.
#25sarsensofchristmas
#sarsen #Neolithic #southdorsetridgeway #TombTuesday #FarminginProtectedLandscapes @Gorwellfarm
© Past Participate
December 3, 2024 at 9:23 AM
This small circle of stones in the Valley of Stones is the remnants of a bronze or iron age house. The house itself would have been built out of wood, just using the stones for additional external support.
#25sarsensofchristmas #dailysarsen
#sarsen #valleyofstones #FarminginProtectedLandscapes
December 8, 2024 at 3:57 PM
These stones are on the top of the ridge. They must have been brought up here by people but we don't know when. They have been left in this arrangement by a modern farmer!
#25sarsensofchristmas
#dailysarsen #FarminginProtectedLandscapes #StandingStoneSunday
December 15, 2024 at 5:18 PM
The Moot Stone marks the meeting point of 4 parish boundaries: the word Moot means ‘Meeting place’. It has been moved slightly in recent times; but was probably first erected in prehistory.
#25sarsensofchristmas
#sarsen #FarminginProtectedLandscapes #megalithicmonday
© Past Participate
December 2, 2024 at 12:49 PM
This is a stone we have affectionately called ‘the turtle stone’. It is one of 18 in the Kingston Russell Stone Circle.

#25sarsensofchristmas
© Rebecca Pullan
#sarsen #Neolithic #southdorsetridgeway #FarminginProtectedLandscapes @englishheritage.bsky.social
December 4, 2024 at 10:54 AM
One of our volunteers surveyed this stone in the summer. It looks as though it might have been used for grinding something, at some point!
#dailysarsen #25sarsensofchristmas
#valleyofstones #grindingstone
#fundinginprotectedlandscapes #heritagefunduk
December 20, 2024 at 11:54 AM
What should you expect to find when digging around sarsens? More sarsens!
We excavated a small area near the polissoir, and found many, many, small sarsens underneath the topsoil.
#25sarsensofchristmas #dailysarsen
#sarsen #Neolithic #valleyofstones #FarminginProtectedLandscapes
December 13, 2024 at 4:27 PM
These sarsens appear to be underneath a field lynchet. There has long been speculation over the date of the field systems in the Valley of Stones?
#25sarsensofchristmas #dailysarsen #valleyofstones
@NaturalEngland

@heritagefunduk.bsky.social
December 18, 2024 at 11:30 AM
This is a map showing the extent of the natural sarsen field on Tenants Hill. People may have moved large stones across significant distances for specific purposes but they were unlikely to have carried the smaller ones.

#25sarsensofchristmas #dailysarsen #FarminginProtectedLandscapes
December 14, 2024 at 4:37 PM
When is a circle of stones not a stone circle?
When it forms a D shape and has house platforms nearby. This is probably a medieval sheep enclosure.

#25sarsensofchristmas #dailysarsen #sarsen #valleyofstones #FarminginProtectedLandscapes
December 6, 2024 at 11:11 AM
We’re recording more than 1500 sarsens in the Valley of Stones, Dorset. Follow us for the next 25 days to hear what sarsens can tell us about people in this landscape.
#25sarsensofchristmas
#sarsen #FarminginProtectedLandscapes
@naturalengland.bsky.social

@historicengland

© Historic England
December 1, 2024 at 12:06 PM
In 1908 these stones were described as ‘a collapsed dolmen’ by the Dorset Field Club. We hope to investigate further-it is an unusual location for this type of monument.

#25sarsensofchristmas #dailysarsen #valleyofstones #FarminginProtectedLandscapes #TombTuesday @heritagefunduk.bsky.social
December 10, 2024 at 2:14 PM
The Hell Stone is a Neolithic Long Barrow that had a ‘make-over’ in the mid C19th. It would have originally looked similar to the Grey Mare and Her Colts. For more on Dorset barrows visit www.pastparticipate.co.uk/post/long-barrows #25sarsensofchristmas #dailysarsen #southdorsetridgeway#TombTuesday
December 24, 2024 at 1:41 PM
This is one of the stones that kicked off Jim’s thinking about sarsens on Tenants Hill. It is buried at the bottom of a hedge bank.
#25sarsensofchristmas #dailysarsen #FarminginProtectedLandscapes @heritagefunduk.bsky.social
December 9, 2024 at 1:46 PM
This is a typical sarsen stone in the Valley of Stones. You can clearly see the different layers of geological deposits.
#25sarsensofchristmas #dailysarsen
#sarsen #Livingamongstthesarsens #valleyofstones #FarminginProtectedLandscapes @heritagefunduk.bsky.social
December 7, 2024 at 3:56 PM
A rather large sarsen was used for the grave stone of John Galpin, a vicar in Portesham who died in 1681. I think it's this one currently covered in ivy. Does anyone have photos before the ivy grew?

#25sarsensofchristmas
#dailysarsen #tombtuesday #portesham #dorset
December 17, 2024 at 11:05 AM
This stone is huge. It’s a contender for the largest stone in the Valley of Stones. Interestingly it has avoided being broken up. Why has it survived?

#25sarsensofchristmas #dailysarsen
#sarsen #valleyofstones #dorset #FarminginProtectedLandscapes @naturalengland.bsky.social
December 5, 2024 at 10:14 AM
We’ve focused our research so far on the Valley of Stones, but there is also a natural deposit of sarsen stones in Portesham, just down the way. These have been built into the infrastructure of the village
#25sarsensofchristmas
#dailysarsen #FarminginProtectedLandscapes #portesham #HeritageFundUK
December 11, 2024 at 11:09 AM
This stone appears isolated and is standing on its head. Look at the orientation of the banding. What happened to the other stones from this field?
#25sarsensofchristmas #dailysarsen
#sarsen #valleyofstones #southdorsetridgeway #FarminginProtectedLandscapes
December 24, 2024 at 1:36 PM
The Nine Stones, near Winterbourne Abbas is a small stone circle made with sarsens, probably from the #valleyofstones.
#25sarsensofchristmas
#dailysarsen #stonecircle #solstice
December 21, 2024 at 11:42 AM
6 stones were recorded by Piggott at the Hampton Stone circle in 1939. In 1965 Wainwright were recorded 28 during excavation, none were in their original settings!
#25sarsensofchristmas #dailysarsen
#prehistory #megalithicmonday
December 16, 2024 at 9:36 AM
Sarsen Street Furniture?
We think these kerb stones in Abbotsbury are made out of sarsen stone. If anyone is walking past, give them a poke and let us know. Very hard probably = sarsen.
#25sarsensofchristmas #dailysarsen
#sarsen #FarminginProtectedLandscapes #Abbotsbury #HeritageFundUK
December 12, 2024 at 9:55 AM