Withypool Stone Circle
The location of the circle in 2005; the stones are so small that discerning the site is difficult
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 Shown within Somerset
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| Location | Withypool |
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| Coordinates | 51°05′47″N 3°39′37″W / 51.0963°N 3.6604°WCoordinates: 51°05′47″N 3°39′37″W / 51.0963°N 3.6604°W |
| Type | Stone circle |
| History | |
| Periods | Neolithic / Bronze Age |
Withypool Stone Circle, also known as Withypool Hill Stone Circle, is a stone circle located on the Exmoor moorland, near the village of Withypool in the southwestern English county of Somerset. The ring is part of a tradition of stone circle construction that spread throughout much of Britain, Ireland and Brittany during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, over a period between 3300 and 900 BCE. The purpose of such monuments is unknown, although archaeologists speculate that the stones represented supernatural entities for the circle's builders.
Many monuments were built in Exmoor during the Bronze Age, but only two stone circles survive in this area: the other is Porlock Stone Circle. The Withypool ring is located on the south-western slope of Withypool Hill, on an area of heathland. It is about 36.4 metres (119 feet 5 inches) in diameter. Around thirty small gritstones remain, although there may originally have been around 100; there are conspicuous gaps on the northern and western sides of the monument. The site was rediscovered in 1898 and surveyed by the archaeologist Harold St George Gray in 1905.
Withypool Stone Circle is located on the south-western slope of Withypool Hill; some sources refer to it as Withypool Hill Stone Circle. The site is 381 metres (1250 feet) above sea level. It is 670 metres (733 yards) east of Portford Bridge, and 4.4 kilometres (2.75 miles) south/south-west of Exford.
The site slopes down from east to west. The topsoil is peaty with heather. A range of different Bronze Age round barrows, a type of tumulus, are visible at different points in the surrounding landscape. There is a lone tumulus 262 metres (286 yards) to the north-east of the circle, on the summit of Withypool Hill, although this is so eroded that it can no longer be seen from Withypool Stone Circle itself. The three Brightworthy Barrows can be seen from the circle in a north-west direction. Other Bronze Age barrows visible from the circle are the Green Barrow, the Old Barrow, the Twitchen Barrows, the three Wam Barrows of Winsford Hill, and the barrow on top of Sherdon.
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Wikipedia