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<< Our Photo Pages >> Long Meg - Standing Stone (Menhir) in England in Cumbria

Submitted by Andy B on Sunday, 23 December 2007  Page Views: 19996

Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Long Meg Alternative Name: Long Meg & her Daughters
Country: England County: Cumbria Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Nearest Town: Penrith  Nearest Village: Little Salkeld
Map Ref: NY57063716  Landranger Map Number: 91
Latitude: 54.727582N  Longitude: 2.668264W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
4 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
3 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
3 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
5

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PAB 43559959 lichen patsyp would like to visit

TheCaptain visited on 20th Sep 2022 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4 Before heading east over the Pennines, I have time to go and visit Long Meg. A new car park has been made which is well signposted, which leaves a 500 metre walk to the stone circle. I start my visit with Long Meg itself, as there are a few other people here who go the other way. What a lovely stone, standing proud overlooking the circle with its spirals and of course the face of Long Meg herself.

bishop_pam visited on 27th Sep 2020 - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 5 Access: 5

trystan_hughes visited on 12th Apr 2016 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 5

NorthernerInLondon visited on 9th Dec 2014 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 3 Access: 4

ModernExplorers visited on 7th Mar 2013 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 4 Fascinating standing stone with carvings on next to a large stone circle

fingland visited on 22nd Aug 2012 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 5 I was impressed by the amount there was to see on this site and when it was complete it must have been very impressive. And you can park next to it so useful for people of limited mobility but is a large area of field to get around on foot.

jeffrep visited on 20th Sep 2006 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 4

Richard13 visited on 1st Mar 2005 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 5

megalithicmatt visited on 1st Jan 2004 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 5 Access: 4

kthdsn visited - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 5

FrothNinja visited - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 5 Access: 5

Andy B visited #3 in our rundown of favourite standing stones (and pairs) in Britain

Andy B MAIGO Bladup rldixon DrewParsons AngieLake nicoladidsbury kelpie NickyD coin have visited here

Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 3.55 Ambience: 4.36 Access: 4.55

Long Meg
Long Meg submitted by JanF : Long Meg (and her daughters) Stone Circle, Cumbria UK, is a magical place.. I watched the sunset on this special day in memory of my loved one.. Many others were here with me.. Complete strangers, but yet close friends.. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Standing Stone in Cumbria. This is part of a fascinating Bronze Age site covering quite a large area. The stones are placed in a flattened oval 100 by 93 metres, and there were originally about seventy. Today there are fifty-nine, twenty-seven of them still standing. Long Meg herself is a 3.6 metre standing stone just outside the circle.

On the flat surface of Long Meg that faces the circle is a cup and ring mark, a spiral, and an incomplete concentric circle. Nearby is Little Meg.

Aerial photography in 1988 has revealed a huge earthen enclosure to the north of the circle which meets and matches the flattened northerly segment of the ring.

Tradition states that Long Meg and Her Daughters were a coven of witches who were holding their sabbat, some time in the thirteenth century. Michael Scot, a wizard from Scotland, found them so engaged and cast a spell over the assembled company, turning them all into stones.

In common with other circles, these stones are said to be uncountable, and if anyone can count them twice and arrive at the same total, the spell will be broken. It is also said that when a local squire attempted to remove the stones, a tremendous and terrifying storm broke out overhead and so the project was immediately abandoned. Finally, a prophecy tells us that if Long Meg were ever to be shattered, she would run with blood.

Access: 6.5 kilometres north-east of Penrith on the A686 road, a minor road leads north from Langwathby to Little Salkeld. 0.5 km beyond Little Salkeld a track off to the left leads directly to the site, and there is room to park alongside the track.

Note: Damage to Long Meg reported, see comment
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Long Meg And Her Daughters
Long Meg And Her Daughters submitted by nicoladidsbury : * A * Photo with a Summer Solstice theme. Long Meg and her Daughters on Solstice Eve night. This image perfectly captures my experience of the solstice at Long Meg. The full moon rose just after the sun had set. The people in the shot had just finished drumming the sun down, drumming like a heart beat. It was a magic night. Unfortunately the sunrise was covered by clouds. (6 comments - Vote or comment on this photo)

Long Meg
Long Meg submitted by nicoladidsbury : Image of circle stones and ancient old treeGrid Ref: 572373 County: Cumbria Nearest Town: Penrith Nearest Village: Little Salkeld (9 comments - Vote or comment on this photo)

Long Meg
Long Meg submitted by TerryStaniforth : Long Meg Silhoutte as sun is setting. 28th Feb 2004. 17:12 NY 57155 37185 (3 comments - Vote or comment on this photo)

Long Meg
Long Meg submitted by postman : Moooove cows (Vote or comment on this photo)

Long Meg
Long Meg submitted by JanF : ~ It was a dull and overcast day when we visited The Sacred site of Long Meg & Her Daughters, just yesterday, Tuesday 9th April 2013 .. Suddenly the sun broke through the clouds .. and we were blessed. (1 comment - Vote or comment on this photo)

Long Meg
Long Meg submitted by JanF : Long Meg (and her daughters) Stone Circle is a magical place.. I watched the sunset on this special day in memory of my loved one.. Many others were here with me.. Complete strangers, but yet close friends.. (2 comments)

Long Meg Stone Circle 210610
Long Meg Stone Circle 210610 submitted by JanF (6 comments)

Long Meg And Her Daughters
Long Meg And Her Daughters submitted by stonesy : Aerial photo taken by a DJI drone

Long Meg
Long Meg submitted by rldixon : Long Meg taken sept 2013 (2 comments)

Long Meg And Her Daughters
Long Meg And Her Daughters submitted by Bladup : Long Meg And Her Daughters.

Long Meg
Long Meg submitted by tattooedhippy : Long Meg and her Daughters.

Long Meg
Long Meg submitted by rldixon : taken a few years ago a panoramic I made out of 3 photos (2 comments)

Long Meg and Her Daughters
Long Meg and Her Daughters submitted by JACKME : The shadow from Long Meg just reaching stone 9 taken 05.02.03 See The Great Stone Circles - How they Work, for further information (1 comment)

Long Meg
Long Meg submitted by Jimwithnoname : Long Meg and her Friesians (5 comments)

Long Meg And Her Daughters
Long Meg And Her Daughters submitted by Iain_P : Taken from a drone at sunrise. Here's the video: https://vimeo.com/229312871

Long Meg And Her Daughters
Long Meg And Her Daughters submitted by stonesy : Longmeg from the sky

Long Meg
Long Meg submitted by rldixon : Long Meg taken sept 2013

Long Meg
Long Meg submitted by postman : A road runs through it

Long Meg And Her Daughters
Long Meg And Her Daughters submitted by Bladup : Long meg and a few daughters. This Original Artwork in a glass frame is £39.99 + Postage (Just whatever it costs), and is 17 and a half cm x 13 and a half cm. A limited (to a 100) edition print in a 8" x 10" glass frame would be £19.99 + £2.90 postage, E-mail me at paul.blades@rocketmail.com if interested.

Long Meg
Long Meg submitted by threlkeld : Long Meg (6 comments)

Long Meg
Long Meg submitted by raythemapman : This is a three photo stich of the top end of the circle showing Meg and several large stones.07/12/09.

Long Meg And Her Dau
Long Meg And Her Dau submitted by Aerial-Cam : The cup and concentric rings and the faint traces of a spiral on Long Meg. If the light is just right, much more is visible. Photographed on an Archaeology Safari 5th November 2003. (1 comment)

Long Meg And Her Daughters
Long Meg And Her Daughters submitted by Horatio : From my recent trip up to the Lakes. One of the several legends state that if you walk round the circles and count the number of stones correctly, then put your ear to Long Meg, you will hear her whisper. The monument is 109m × 93m in diameter. Long Meg herself stands 25m outside the circle, 6m above the farthest stone in the circle, and is the tallest of the 69 stones at 3.8m. (2 comments)

Long Meg And Her Daughters
Long Meg And Her Daughters submitted by Horatio : Third in size after Avebury and Stanton Drew and a really special place, had it to myself most the time, not even the young cows could be bothered with me. (1 comment)

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Megalithic Mysteries by Andy Burnham
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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 71m NE 44° Long Meg And Her Daughters* Stone Circle (NY57113721)
 519m W 273° Hunsonby Cursus Cursus (NY56543719)
 704m ENE 63° Little Meg* Stone Circle (NY5769037479)
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 7.2km S 187° St Ninian's Preconquest Monastery (Ninekirks)* Ancient Village or Settlement (NY5607129981)
 7.3km S 188° St Ninian's Church (Ninekirks)* Ancient Cross (NY5593629962)
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 7.9km WSW 249° Lowhouse* Stone Circle (NY49623435)
 8.4km W 272° Hallrigg Standing Stone* Standing Stone (Menhir) (NY4865737482)
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 8.8km SW 219° Penrith Museum* Museum (NY5144830339)
 8.8km SW 217° Giants Grave, Penrith* Ancient Cross (NY51653017)
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Prehistoric Monuments of the Lake District

Prehistoric Monuments of the Lake District

Web Links for Long Meg

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Stone Pages (Still Images) by Arosio and Meozzi

Archived Web links for Long Meg

Ancient Sites Directory by Chris Tweed
Alastair's OTHER Stone Circle Pages by Alastair McIvor

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Re: Long Meg by Anne T on Wednesday, 31 May 2017
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When visiting Long Meg, it's worth a short trip 'round the corner' to see Little Meg. This has largely been pushed to the edge of a field, but it's still worth seeing. See the Portal page for Little Meg. Note that this is on private land, but can be seen from the gate into the field or over the hedge.
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This scene from the film Sightseers was filmed at Long Meg by Andy B on Friday, 26 September 2014
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Apparently Ben Wheatley (the director's) dad suggested the location

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKXrt0YDRAM

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sightseers/
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Re: Street View by SteveDut on Tuesday, 25 May 2010
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I like this one better


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Street View by coldrum on Thursday, 18 March 2010
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Re: Long Meg by Arjessa on Thursday, 27 December 2007
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I visited the site many years ago, and it is interesting to note that nearby at Croglin (Lower Croglin) was an account given by a Captain Fisher of a reputed Vampire Attack, supposedly the only genuine recorded instance of such. The vampire was defeated, but his ghost is still said to haunt the location which is actually closer to Kirkoswald, where there is a pleasant nunnery walks, rather than to Croglin itself. Nearby again, at Renwick was the legend of a cockatrice or giant bat-like creature appeared when the church was demolished in 1733. And Long Meg and her Daughters themselves - all within but a few miles of each other. An eerie place to visit - and I remember it well! Never did manage to count the same amount of stones thrice, but we tried!
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Damage to Long Meg by Andy B on Sunday, 23 December 2007
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Nicola Didsbury writes:

I visited Long Meg Stone Circle on Friday 21st Dec. Someone has chipped away a five centimetre circle of stone from near her "nose".

I think it is a very bad attempt at a spiral.

The police were at the site, as the sunset, but I'm not sure if they were there to investigate the vanalism, or just to enjoy the sunset.
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    Re: Damage to Long Meg by Runemage on Wednesday, 26 December 2007
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    This is awful.

    I was there on the 19th at midday and she was fine then.

    I don't know if it's common knowledge, but if you stand at the end of Meg's shadow at midday (and presumably also at midday at Solstice) then turn and look directly at her, the sun sits in the notch in her top.

    Are there any updates as yet, Nicola? Did you get any photographs of the damage?
    [ Reply to This ]
    Re: Damage to Long Meg by DavidRaven on Saturday, 05 January 2008
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    I was there today (5/1/08) and noticed a similar patch of damage on the opposite side of the stone.

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Re: Long Meg by Keltica on Thursday, 27 May 2004
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Condition: 3
Ambience: 4
Access: 3

Took me a bit to find it but when I got there the family who were looking over it were leaving, so I had the place to myself.

A track to the farm beside it cuts through the lower quarter & there is no facility to park your car, so if it gets busy that would be a problem.

No attempt has been made to keep the grass cut around the stones & cows are allowed to make this impressive site a danger to expensive trainers (although I dont wear them).

People have began to decorate one of the trees with little trinkets which hang from the branches; bits of ribbon, small tokens.

I was there alone for two hours & I thought it was a great place just to watch the sky go by.


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