TOP 10 NEOLITHIC STRUCTURES

Stone circles, long barrows and sacred sites - Ellie Tennant picks remarkable Stone Age creations to visit in Britain and Ireland

- By Ellie Tennant

1 Wayland's Smithy, Oxfordshire

Ringed by lofty beech trees and standing alongside the ancient Ridgeway National Trail above the Vale of White Horse near the village of Ashbury, this impressive stone-chambered long barrow is over 5,400 years old - and it sits on top of an even older burial site.

When it was first excavated in 1963, the remains of 14 people - 11 men, two women and a child - were found in the earlier structure, as well as fragments of pottery and arrowheads. Radiocarbon dating showed that the first burials were placed there between 3590 and 3555 BCE. The second, larger barrow with its monumental façade was built sometime between 3460 and 3400 BCE.

The mound was once believed to be the home of Wayland the Smith - or Weland, as the Anglo-Saxons knew him (inspired by Völundr from Norse and Germanic legend) - a metalworker with supernatural powers. Legend has it that if a passing traveller's steed needs a new horseshoe, they could leave their mount at the long barrow overnight with a coin; in the morning, the horse would be shod and the money gone.

Today, this ancient place has an eerie, peaceful atmosphere redolent of ages past. The famous chalk Uffington White Horse is etched into the turf just 1.5 miles to the northeast on Whitehorse Hill, below an outstanding example of a large Iron Age hillfort that offers far-reaching views across several counties.

Wayland’s Smithy is a pleasant half-hour stroll along the chalky Ridgeway from the National Trust car park on White Horse Hill.

english-heritage.org.uk

2 Castlerigg Stone Circle, Cumbria