 View looking southwest from Hordron Edge circle at sunset on the Winter Solstice 2009. |
||
| This
stone
circle stands close to Hordron Edge on a shelf of land known as Moscar
Moor with the imposing mass of Stanage Edge to the east, the carved
rock of Ladybower Tor to the west and
the the stone circle and cairns
of Bamford Moor a mile to the south.
Although it is also known as the 'Seven Stones of Hordron' there are in fact eleven stones here plus another three that were discovered below the peat during investigations in 1992 - gaps between the stones would suggest that there were originally several more. Unlike many Derbyshire circles the stones are not set into a bank but instead form a freestanding ring of between 15-16 metres with heights ranging from about half a metre to the largest one metre tall stone to the southwest. This stone, known as the Fairy Stone (see image below) could provide an intriguing insight into the Bronze Age builders world view. The top of the stone bears a curious similarity in shape and angle to two distant hills to the west-southwest seen on the horizon - Win Hill, on the left 2 miles away and Lose Hill, 4 miles away on the right. This apparent mirroring of distant landscape features by a prominent circle stone is also seen at Wet Withens a few miles to the south where the hill mirrored is Higger Tor over which the midsummer sun is seen to rise. Was this an attempt by the builders to 'draw' the power of a sacred hill into the circle? Author John Barnatt who has studied the sites of the Peak District in great detail notes that at certain times of the year the setting sun can be seen to 'roll' down the slopes of Win Hill, these times being close to the later pagan festivals of Samhain and Imbolc and the traditional start of winter and spring respectively. Was the circle purposely sited here to indicate the beginning of the agricultural year? Whether these alignments were deliberate or just coincidental there is no dispute that there are some impressive views from Hordron Edge to the west across the flooded valleys of the Rivers Derwent and Ashop which now form Ladybower reservoir. |
||
 The Fairy Stone with Win Hill to the left, Lose Hill to the right.. |
||
 Looking northeast across Hordron Edge Circle with Stanage Edge to the right. |
||
 Night time HDR image of the Fairy Stone at Hordron Edge with the moon peeping from behind the clouds. |
||
Site Visits / Photographs: January 2008, November 2008, October 2009, December 2009 (2 visits), January 2010.
|
||
