Priddy Circles

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  tonye100tonye100

  The monument includes three circular earthworks comprising part of the Priddy Circles and one possible barrow, on the Mendip Hills in Somerset. The circles are regarded as Neolithic ritual monuments similar to the henge class of monuments, but having external ditches. The three circles are arranged equidistantly on a NNE-SSW axis. A fourth circle lies some 800m to the NNE, and is the subject of a separate scheduling. The circles were subject to subsidence which may have contributed to their abandonment. The southern circle is 190m-194m in diameter, with an external ditch up to 6m wide and 1.2m deep. The internal bank is up to 7m wide and 1m- 2m high, surrounding a slightly raised interior. Of five gaps in the circuit, the NNE one was proved by excavation to be a causewayed entrance, between timber revetted banks. The central circle is 185m in diameter. The external ditch is slight to the south, but up to 0.5m deep to the north. The bank is 4m-6m wide and stands up to 1m high to the north. The interior is raised slightly above ground level. There are three gaps in the circuit, and one area to the east of major geological disturbance. There is a possible ovoid barrow in the north east quadrant, 14m north-south by 9m east-west, and 0.4m in height. The northern circle of the three is 180m-190m in diameter, the external ditch is well preserved to the south, up to 1m deep and 5m wide, with the bank standing up to 1m above ground level, and up to 7m wide. There are four gaps in the circuit, a possible entrance to the SSW opposing the NNE entrance of the central circle. An excavation in 1956-9 in the southern circle showed the structure of the bank, proved the existence of a causewayed entrance, but failed to find any evidence for use of the interior. A geophysical survey in 1994 investigated part of the southern and central circles, confirming the expected location of ditch and bank. The survey also investigated the area between this monument and the fourth circle to the north but no archaeological features were revealed. Excluded from the scheduling are all walls and fences, though the ground beneath them is included.

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