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Long Meg and Her Daughters

Penrith, Cumbria, England

Large image (1176x707 - 68k) The tall outlying piller of Long Meg is twelve feet tall and stands some 80 feet outside the circle
Large image (1240x699 - 121k) Looking east
Large image (1224x681 - 95k) Looking southeast
Large image (1240x699 - 126k) At the southwest this group of stones form an entrance to the circle
Large image (1232x827 - 137k) The southern arc of the circle
Large image (834x984 - 119k) Long Meg herself
Large image (1090x658 - 103k) The southern arc and Long Meg, looking west
Large image (1135x724 - 169k) The circle from the eastern side
Large image (1106x763 - 179k) Another view from the east

'Long Meg' is the name given to a tall sandstone megalith that stands outside one of the largest of the British stone circles.

There are several legends associated with this circle. One claims that a holy christian man transformed a local coven of witches into stone. Another claims that if the stone of Long Meg is chipped then it will bleed (please don't try this!). Still another legend claims that the stones of the circle cannot be counted; there are seventy...or are there?

The stones are arranged in the shape of a flattened ring measuring about 110 metres by 93 metres. The long axis runs east-west. From the centre of the ring, the tall outlier is very close to the direction of the midwinter sunset.

The outlier is decorated on one side with a spiral and concentric circles. Another of the few decorated rocks in Cumbria is at the nearby kerb circle of Little Meg.

External Links:

Find Long Meg and Her Daughters (or the nearest known site) at the Megalithic Portal