Copyright: Angie Lake. Original available at Megalithic Portal
A substantial double stone row (or avenue) measuring at least 3000m long, originally including possibly hundreds of large stones of which only 31 now survive. The row is situated in gently rolling countryside, is orientated north west to south east and leads from a stone circle at its southern end. Excavation around one stone revealed no dating material. There is at least one cairn in the vicinity but others have probably been removed.
Location
| England | Cumbria | Rest of England | NY 55168 15925 |
| Lat 54.536596 Long -2.6943836 | |||
Map showing the location of Shap stone row.
Shap stone alignment (After Clare, T., 1978, 8).
Characteristics
| Type: Double | Length: 3000m |
| No. of stones: 31 | Size of stones: Only large |
| Orientation: 130° | Altitude: 258m |
| Upper end: – | Lower end: – |
| Straight (Yes or No) : No | Sea View: No |
| Context: Ritual landscape | |
| Notes: There would have originally been far more stones. Most have been removed. There is some debate whether there are two alignments. This is because of the shift in orientation south of the Skellaw Hill barrow. This shift is no greater than that observed at the West Kennet or the Upper Erme rows and therefore until further evidence is found it is perfectly possible that there is only one alignment at Shap and it is the second longest in Great Britain. | |
Other Information
| Public Access: Partly |
| Land Status: |
| Scheduled Ancient Monument: Yes |
Identification
Category: Plausible. Whilst there could be a debate concerning the original form of this row, there is no reasonable doubt that it is a prehistoric stone row.
Photographs
Recumbent stone at NY 56299 14780 measures 1.15m high by 2.7m long by 2.26m wide. Smaller stones on its eastern edge may be packing stones. View from south east (Scale 1m).
Recumbent stone at NY 56299 14780. View from north west (Scale 1m).
Recumbent stone at NY 56236 14781 measures 1.1m long by 0.6m wide and 0.18m high . This stone may have formed part of the stone row. View from west (Scale 1m).
Goggleby Stone at NY 55924 15092 stands 2.23m high. Concrete around the base of the stone indicates remedial conservation work. The arrow indicates the position of the stone at NY 55841 15206. View from south (Scale 1m).
Goggleby Stone. View from north (Scale 1m).
Goggleby Stone. View from west (Scale 1m).
The stone at NY 55841 15206. Photograph taken from the Goggleby Stone.
Goggleby Stone in the background and stone at NY 55841 15206 in the foreground. View from north west.
Recumbent stone at NY 55548 15282. View from south east.
Recumbent stone at NY 55548 15282 has been incorporated into a field wall. View from north
Stone at NY 55558 15268 in the foreground with stone at NY 55548 15282 behind. View from south.
Skellaw Hill barrow. View from south west.
Stones built into the base of a wall at NY 56289 14824 may have been broken off a slab forming part of the stone row.
Access Information
Parking is available at NY 56358 15076. From here a network of public footpaths provides access to some of the stones. Others can be viewed from the paths and public road.
Online Resources
Megalithic Portal Modern Antiquarian PastScape Clare, T. Stone Circles
Other References
Burl, A., 1993, From Carnac to Callanish – The prehistoric rows and avenues of Britain, Ireland and Brittany, Yale University Press, New York and London, pg. 216.
Clare, T., 1978, ‘Recent work on the Shap ‘Avenue’, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological SocietyNew series, vol. 78 Pgs. 5-15.
Timeline
VISITED:- 8th September 2017
FIRST PUBLISHED:- 12th Februrary 2016
LAST UPDATED:- 10th February 2018
