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89-562: Day House Lane Stone Circle , also known as Coate Stone Circle , is a stone circle near the hamlet of Coate , now on the southeastern edge of Swindon , in the English county of Wiltshire. The ring was part of a tradition of stone circle construction that spread throughout much of Britain, Ireland, and Brittany during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age , over a period between 3300 and 900 BCE . The purpose of such monuments

178-495: A unitary authority on 1 April 1997, following a review by the Local Government Commission for England . The town is therefore no longer under the auspices of Wiltshire Council . Council elections are held in three out of every four years, with one-third of the seats up for election in each of those years; beginning in 2026, the whole council will be elected every four years. Labour gained control of

267-655: A 19% swing at the same election. Prior to 1997 there was a single seat for Swindon, although much of what is now in Swindon was then part of the Devizes seat. Swindon is a town in northeast Wiltshire, 35 miles (56 km) west-northwest of Reading and the same distance east-northeast of Bristol 'as the crow flies'. The town is also 26 miles (42 km) southwest of Oxford , 65 miles (105 km) south-southeast of Birmingham , 71 miles (114 km) west of London and 60 miles (97 km) east of Cardiff. Swindon town centre

356-434: A 50/50 balance of males and females. By mid-2019, the estimated population of the unitary authority area was 222,193. In 2011, 57.5% of Swindonians identified themselves as Christians , a reduction from 70% in 2001. This was followed by those of no religion (31%), Muslims (1.7%), Sikhs (0.6%), Hindus (1.2%), other (0.5%) and Judaism (0.1%). As of 2021, 46.6% of Swindonians identify themselves as Christians. This

445-556: A Built Up Area Subdivision with a population of 182,441. At the 2021 census, the only area covering most of the town was the Built Up Area, which had a population of 183,638. Excluded from this were the parts of Wichelstowe lying in Wroughton parish, the whole of Stratton St Margaret parish, and northern parts of St Andrews parish. By 2018, Swindon had a concentration of people originating from Saint Helena . After

534-535: A Scandinavian name akin to Sven and English swain, meaning a young man. Swindon is recorded in the Domesday Book as a manor in the hundred of Blagrove, Wiltshire . It was one of the larger manors, recorded as having 27 households and a rent value of £10 14s, which was divided among five landlords. Before the Battle of Hastings the Swindon estate was owned by an Anglo-Saxon thane called Leofgeat. After

623-508: A campaign was launched to bring an updated form of county borough status to Swindon. This was successful in 1997 with the formation of Swindon Borough Council , covering the areas of the former Thamesdown and the former Highworth Rural District Council. In February 2008, The Times named Swindon as one of "The 20 best places to buy a property in Britain". Only Warrington had a lower ratio of house prices to household income in 2007, with

712-416: A full circle of stones in the field, although Passmore considered this testimony "not sufficiently strong to build upon". Passmore also related finding flint tools and crude pieces of pottery in the field near these sarsens. Passmore also observed a third feature in the vicinity. This was a row of five stones beside the road in front of the farm; one was on the eastern side of the road, the other four being on

801-604: A mini-Avebury" but that that possibility would be quashed if development went ahead. Campaigners opposed to the residential development asked the government to designate the impacted locale as a conservation area to protect its heritage. The anti-development campaign failed and after the authorities gave their backing to the construction project, the Swindon Civic Voice group organised a two-day event in April 2014 to celebrate Coate's heritage and encourage people to view

890-476: A piece of burnt sarsen and patch of white ash beneath the ground, evidence for the burning and cracking of sarsen on the site. He observed that the western part of the circle was largely occupied by cow yards and rick yards and suggested that most of the stones in this area had been broken up or removed. He commented on the presence of some "big fragments" of sarsen lying around the vicinity and an area of sarsen paving, suggesting that these stones had once been part of

979-575: A small market town of 2,500 into a thriving railway hub that would become one of the largest railway engineering complexes in the world at its peak. This brought with it pioneering amenities such as the UK's first lending library and a 'cradle-to-grave' healthcare centre that was later used as a blueprint for the NHS. Swindon's railway heritage can be primarily seen today with the grade 2 listed Railway Village and STEAM Museum . The McArthurGlen Designer Outlet

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1068-407: A stone circle is found in association with a burial pit or burial chamber, but most of these monuments have no such known association because of a lack of archaeological investigation. Recumbent stone circles are a variation containing a single large stone placed on its side. The stones are often ordered by height, with the tallest being the portals, with gradually reducing heights around each side of

1157-601: A university campus near Coate Water . Local residents raised concerns that this development would harm the archaeology of the area and damage any opportunity to use it to encourage tourism. The Swindon Advertiser quoted Jean Saunders of the Jefferies Land Conservation Trust as saying that with sites like the Day House Farm Stone Circle, two round barrows, and a Bronze Age settlement in the area, Coate could "create almost

1246-434: A year, is typical for inland parts of Southern England, although significantly higher than most areas further north. Annual rainfall averages slightly under 720 mm (28 in) per year, with 123 days reporting over 1 mm (0.039 in) of rain. The 2011 census recorded a population of 209,156 people in the Swindon unitary authority area (including the town's urban area, Highworth , and other nearby parishes), with

1335-480: Is also equidistant from the county boundaries of Berkshire and Gloucestershire, both being 8 miles (13 km) away. The border with Oxfordshire is slightly closer, being around 5 miles (8 km) away. Swindon is within a landlocked county and is a considerable distance from any coastline. The nearest section of coast on the English Channel is near Christchurch, 56 miles (90 km) due south. Meanwhile,

1424-440: Is available, with the exception of the island's south-eastern corner. They are most densely concentrated in south-western Britain and on the north-eastern horn of Scotland, near Aberdeen . The tradition of their construction may have lasted for 2,400 years, from 3300 to 900 BCE, with the major phase of building taking place between 3000 and 1,300 BCE. These stone circles typically show very little evidence of human visitation during

1513-424: Is followed by those of no religion (40.5%), Muslims (2.7%), Sikhs (0.6%), Hindus (2.5%), other (0.6%) and Judaism (0.1%). In 2015, Public Health England found that 70.4% of the population was either overweight or obese with a BMI greater than 25. In 2011, the area of the town was 46.2 km (17.8 sq mi) and there were 3,949 inhabitants per square kilometre (10,230/sq mi). In 2011, 16.7% of

1602-637: Is housed in the renovated former works and the Brunel Shopping Centre is one of several places in Swindon that bear the name of the famous engineer generally acknowledged with bringing the railways to the town. Despite the subsequent decline and closure of its railway works, Swindon was one of the fastest growing towns in Europe post-war as its economy diversified, attracting large international companies, who made use of its burgeoning population and strategic transport links. Major venues in

1691-790: Is in the Italian Alps. As early as 1579, scholars in Germany described large erect stone circles near Ballenstedt . In 2001, a stone circle ( Beglik Tash ) was discovered in Bulgaria near the Black Sea. There are several examples in the Alentejo region of Portugal, the oldest and most complete being the Almendres Cromlech near the regional capital of Évora and within its municipality. Remains of many others consist only of

1780-525: Is likely marginally cooler throughout the year. The absolute maximum is 34.9 °C (94.8 °F), recorded during August 1990. In an average year the warmest day should reach 28.7 °C (83.7 °F) and 10.3 days should register a temperature of 25.1 °C (77.2 °F) or above. The absolute minimum is −16.0 °C (3.2 °F), recorded in January 1982, and in an average year 45.2 nights of air frost can be expected. Sunshine, at 1,565 hours

1869-400: Is often assumed there are thousands of stone circles across both Great Britain, Ireland and Europe, such enclosures are actually very rare, and constitute a regional form of henge . Examples of true stone circles include Cumbrian circles , henges with inner stones (such as Avebury ), and Cornish stone circles . Stone circles are usually grouped in terms of the shape and size of the stones,

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1958-524: Is seen as a pioneering figure in Swindon's post-war regeneration: his last act before retirement was to sign the contract for Swindon's tallest building, which is now named after him. Murray John's successor was David Maxwell Kent, appointed by the Swindon/Highworth Joint Committee in 1973: he had worked closely with Murray John and continued similar policies for a further twenty years. The Greater London Council withdrew from

2047-462: Is thought to be likely, especially by Aubrey Burl . He thought that such sites in Cumbria are analogous to the kerbs that surround some chamber tombs . Burials have been found at all excavated concentric stone circles: both inhumations and cremations. The burnt remains have been found either within an urn or placed directly in the earth. Megalithic monuments are found in especially great number on

2136-415: Is unknown, although some archaeologists speculate that the stones represented supernatural entities for the circle's builders. Five partly buried stones remain at the site. A circle of sarsen megaliths, Day House Lane Stone Circle probably had an original diameter of about 69 metres and possibly contained over thirty stones. It was one of at least seven stone circles that are known to have been erected in

2225-591: The Ethiopian and Eritrean highlands , two kinds of megalithic circles are found. The first type consists of single stone circles, whereas the second type comprises an inner circle enclosed within a larger circle (i.e. double stone circles). On the western side of the continent, the Senegambian stone circles can be found. The individual groups are dated from 700 A.D. to 1350 A.D. In the Near East, possibly

2314-527: The Köppen climate classification ), like the vast majority of the British Isles, with cool winters and warm summers. The nearest official weather station is RAF Lyneham , about 10 miles (16 km) west southwest of Swindon town centre. The weather station's elevation is 145 metres (476 ft) in a rural setting, compared to the typical 100 metres (330 ft) encountered around Swindon town centre, so

2403-666: The Middle Neolithic ( c.  3200 –2500 BC). Around that time, stone circles began to be built in the coastal and lowland areas towards the north of the United Kingdom . The Langdale axe industry in the Lake District may have been an important early centre for circle building , perhaps because of its economic power. Many had closely set stones, perhaps similar to the earth banks of henges . Others were constructed from boulders placed stably on

2492-510: The NHS . The Mechanics' Institute, formed in 1844, moved into a building that looked rather like a church and included a covered market, on 1 May 1855. The New Swindon Improvement Company, a co-operative , raised the funds for this programme of self-improvement and paid the GWR £40 a year for its new home on a site at the heart of the railway village. It was a groundbreaking organisation that transformed

2581-570: The Norman Conquest , Swindon was split into five holdings: the largest was held between Miles Crispin and Odin the Chamberlain, and the second by Wadard , a knight in the service of Odo of Bayeux , brother of the king . The manors of Westlecot, Walcot, Rodbourne, Moredon and Stratton are also listed; all are now part of Swindon. The Goddard family were lord of the manor from the 16th century for many generations, living at

2670-533: The manor house , sometimes known as The Lawn. Swindon was a small market town , mainly for barter trade , until roughly 1848. This original market area is on top of the hill in central Swindon, now known as Old Town. The Industrial Revolution was responsible for an acceleration of Swindon's growth. Construction of the Wilts and Berks Canal in 1810 and the North Wilts Canal in 1819 brought trade to

2759-465: The 1890s, Passmore recorded a line of five stones leading towards the north of the circle, which might have represented such an avenue, although by the 21st century these stones were also gone. In March 2009, work overseen by the Highways Agency revealed two large sarsen boulders opposite Day House Farm. Commenting on the state of the circle in 1980, the archaeologist Aubrey Burl stated that

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2848-477: The Day House Farm Stone Circle and other historic sites before the landscape was significantly altered. Stone circle The archetypical stone circle is an uncluttered enclosure, large enough to congregate inside, and composed of megalithic stones. Often similar structures are named 'stone circle', but these names are either historic, or incorrect. Examples of commonly misinterpreted stone circles are ring cairns , burial mounds , and kerb cairns . Although it

2937-658: The European Atlantic fringe and in Great Britain and Ireland. There are approximately 1300 stone circles in Great Britain and Ireland. Experts disagree on whether the construction of megaliths in Britain developed independently or was imported from mainland Europe. A 2019 comprehensive radiocarbon dating study of megalithic structures across Europe and the British Isles concluded that construction techniques were spread to other communities via sea routes, starting from north-western France. In contrast,

3026-606: The French archaeologist Jean-Pierre Mohen in his book Le Monde des Megalithes wrote that the British Isles are "outstanding in the abundance of standing stones, and the variety of circular architectural complexes of which they formed a part ... strikingly original, they have no equivalent elsewhere in Europe – strongly supporting the argument that the builders were independent." Some theories suggest that invaders from Brittany may have been responsible for constructing Stonehenge. Although stone circles are widely distributed across

3115-573: The New Swindon Company was formed with the remit of regenerating the town centre, to improve Swindon's regional status. The main areas targeted were Union Square, The Promenade, The Hub, Swindon Central, North Star Village, The Campus, and the Public Realm. In August 2019, a secondary school in the town was at the centre of a ' county lines ' drug supply investigation by Wiltshire Police, with 40 pupils suspected of being involved in

3204-552: The New Swindon Industrial Society, which ran a retail business from a stall in the market at the institute. The institute also nurtured pioneering trades unionists and encouraged local democracy. When tuberculosis hit the new town, the Mechanics' Institute persuaded the industrial pioneers of North Wiltshire to agree that the railway's former employees should continue to receive medical attention from

3293-467: The SM&;A ran on 10 September 1961, 80 years after the railway's first stretch opened. During the first half of the 20th century, the railway works was the town's largest employer and one of the biggest in the country, employing more than 14,500 workers. Alfred Williams (1877–1930) wrote about his life as a hammerman at the works. The works' decline started in 1960, when it rolled out Evening Star ,

3382-608: The Town Development Agreement and the local council continued the development on its own. There was the problem of the Western Development and of Lydiard Park being in the new North Wiltshire district, but this was resolved by a boundary change to take in part of North Wiltshire. Another factor limiting local decision-taking was the continuing role of Wiltshire County Council in the administration of Swindon. Together with like-minded councils,

3471-407: The area south of Swindon in northern Wiltshire. The earliest known reference to the site was made by the local writer Richard Jefferies in the 1860s. When the antiquarian A. D. Passmore investigated the site during the 1890s he found nine stones, mostly buried. He observed a line of five stones not far from the circle's northern end, suggesting that these were part of a prehistoric avenue connected to

3560-560: The area, and Swindon's population started to grow. Between 1841 and 1842, Isambard Kingdom Brunel 's Swindon Works was built for the repair and maintenance of locomotives on the Great Western Railway (GWR). The GWR built a small railway village to house some of its workers. The Steam Railway Museum and English Heritage , including the English Heritage Archive , now occupy part of the old works. In

3649-403: The area, and his wife had spent some of her early years living at Day House Farm. His comments on the circle would be published posthumously in the 1896 book Jefferies' Land: A History of Swindon and Its Environs . Jeffries related that he had found "five Sarsden [sic] stones much sunk into the ground, but forming a semi-circle of which the lane is the base-line or tangent. There was a sixth upon

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3738-500: The areas of Penhill and Pinehurst. Oxford clay makes up the rest of the borough. The River Ray rises at Wroughton and forms much of the borough's western boundary, joining the Thames which defines the northern boundary, and the source of which is located in nearby Kemble, Gloucestershire . The River Cole and its tributaries flow northeastward from the town and form the northeastern boundary. Swindon has an oceanic climate ( Cfb in

3827-515: The average household income in Swindon among the highest in the country. In October 2008, Swindon Council made a controversial move to ban fixed point speed cameras . The move was branded as reckless by some, but by November 2008 Portsmouth , Walsall , and Birmingham councils were also considering the move. In 2001, construction began on Priory Vale , the third and final instalment in Swindon's 'Northern Expansion' project, which began with Abbey Meads and continued at St Andrew's Ridge. In 2002,

3916-849: The axial stone. Examples can be found throughout Continental Europe, from the Black Sea to Brittany . Locations in France include several in Brittany (two on the island of Er Lannic and two more suggested at Carnac ), several in the south of France on the Causse de Blandas in the Cevennes , in the Pyrenees , and in the Alps (e.g. the Petit Saint Bernard ). One notable stone circle

4005-629: The built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located in South West England , Swindon lies on the M4 corridor , 71 miles (114km) to the west of London and 36 miles (57 km) to the east of Bristol . The Cotswolds lie just to the town's north and the North Wessex Downs to its south. Recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book as Suindune , the arrival of the Great Western Railway in 1843 transformed it from

4094-502: The case, he reasoned, there would not be such even spacing between the third and fourth, and then the fourth and fifth, of these stones. He also suggested that if farmers wished to remove the stones from their fields, they would break them up into smaller fragments rather than going to the effort of moving them whole. In the late 2000s, the Swindon Gateway Partnership put forward proposals to build 1,800 homes and

4183-573: The central anta (as they are known in the Alentejo). This sometimes appears to have been used as an altar but more often as a central burial structure, originally surrounded by megaliths that show only sparsely survived erosion and human activities. These circles are also known as harrespil in the Basque country , where villagers call them mairu -baratz or jentil -baratz, meaning "pagan garden (cemetery)". They refer to mythological giants of

4272-455: The circle before being removed and repurposed. Passmore noted that in a field to the southwest of the farmhouse stood three large sarsen boulders. One, which was lying on its side, measured at least 0.91 metres (3 ft) and 2.1 metres (7 ft) long. The other two were smaller. Passmore related that an old man had recollected seeing other stones in this field being broken up many decades previously. The old man thought that there had once been

4361-409: The circle was "almost completely overgrown", an assessment he repeated in 2000. The Historic England listing for the site nevertheless considered it to be a "comparatively well preserved example of its class". The earliest known antiquarian observation of Day House Lane Stone Circle came from about 1867 when the naturalist and writer Richard Jefferies described coming across it. He was familiar with

4450-411: The circle would have once contained over thirty stones. The surviving stones used were sarsen . In the 1890s, Passmore recorded nine stones surviving as part of the circle, but by the early 21st century there were only five. Passmore's investigation found that some of the stones were up to 3.0 metres (10 ft) in length. It is possible that there were stone rows or avenues connecting to the circle. In

4539-462: The circle, down to the recumbent stone, which is the lowest. This type is found throughout Great Britain, Ireland and Brittany, with 71 examples in Scotland and at least 20 in south-west Ireland. In the latter nation they are generally called axial stone circles , including Drombeg stone circle near Rosscarbery , County Cork. Scottish recumbent circles are usually flanked by the two largest of

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4628-462: The circle; these too no longer existed by the 21st century. The stone circle is located immediately to the northeast of Day House Farm, at the front of the building. The land on which it is situated is a flat clay plain at the foot of the chalk escarpment. It would have been intervisible with several other prehistoric monuments located on the Ridgeway . The circle is about a quarter of a mile from

4717-682: The council from the Conservatives at the 2023 election , and increased their majority in 2024 . Swindon is represented in the national parliament by two MPs. Heidi Alexander (Labour) was elected for the Swindon South seat in July 2024 with a 16% swing from the Conservatives. Will Stone , also Labour, represents Swindon North – which covers the whole of the north of the borough, including Blunsdon and Highworth – after

4806-783: The doctors of the GWR Medical Society Fund, which the institute had played a role in establishing and funding. Swindon's 'other' railway, the Swindon, Marlborough and Andover Railway , merged with the Swindon and Cheltenham Extension Railway to form the Midland & South Western Junction Railway , which set out to join the London & South Western Railway with the Midland Railway at Cheltenham . The Swindon, Marlborough & Andover had planned to tunnel under

4895-566: The eastern limit of the Bristol Channel , just north of Weston-super-mare , lies 53 miles (85 km) to the west. The landscape is dominated by the chalk hills of the Wiltshire Downs to the south and east. The Old Town stands on a hill of Purbeck and Portland stone; this was quarried from Roman times until the 1950s. The area that was known as New Swindon is made up of mostly Kimmeridge clay with outcrops of Corrallian clay in

4984-469: The edge of the lane, but it was blown up and removed, in order to make the road more serviceable, a few years ago." He suggested that it looked like a "Druidical" circle and might have been made by the druids , but noted that whether this was the case or not "cannot now be determined". Jefferies also observed that in an adjacent field, which was known as the Plain, could be found three more sarsens, one of which

5073-661: The end of World War II, Polish refugees were temporarily housed in barracks at RAF Fairford , about 25 km (16 mi) to the north. Around 1950, some settled in Scotland and others in Swindon rather than stay in the barracks or hostels they were offered. The 2001 UK Census found that most of the Polish-born people had stayed or returned after serving with British forces during World War II. Swindon and Nottingham were parts of this settlement. Data from that census showed that 566 Swindonians were Polish-born. Notes to those data read: "The Polish Resettlement Act of 1947 , which

5162-640: The former village of Coate and two miles southeast from the centre of the town of Swindon . The site is about 9 miles (14 km) northeast of Avebury stone circle. The circle is a Scheduled Ancient Monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 . While the transition from the Early Neolithic to the Late Neolithic in the fourth and third millennia BCE saw much economic and technological continuity, there

5251-562: The foundation trenches, and final construction. Growing evidence suggests that megalithic constructions began as early as 5000 BC in northwestern France and that the custom and techniques spread via sea routes throughout Europe and the Mediterranean region from there. The Carnac Stones in France are estimated to have been built around 4500 BC, and many of the formations include megalithic stone circles. The earliest stone circles in Great Britain were erected 3200–2500 BC, during

5340-408: The fund began providing artificial limbs made by craftsmen from the carriage and wagon works, and nine years later opened its first dental surgery. In his first few months in post, the dentist extracted more than 2,000 teeth. From the opening in 1892 of the health centre, a doctor could also prescribe a haircut or even a bath. The cradle-to-grave extent of this service was later used as a blueprint for

5429-450: The ground rather than standing stones held erect by a foundation trench. Recent research shows that the two oldest stone circles in Great Britain ( Stenness on Orkney and Callanish on the Isle of Lewis ) were constructed to align with solar and lunar positions. Most sites do not contain evidence of human dwelling, suggesting that stone circles were constructed for ceremonies. Sometimes,

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5518-630: The hill on which Swindon's Old Town stands but the money ran out and the railway ran into Swindon Town railway station , off Devizes Road in the Old Town, skirting the new town to the west, intersecting with the GWR at Rushey Platt and heading north for Cirencester , Cheltenham and the LMS , whose 'Midland Red' livery the M&;SWJR adopted. During the second half of the 19th century, Swindon New Town grew around

5607-463: The island, Ireland has two main concentrations: in the Cork / Kerry area and in mid- Ulster . The latter typically consist of a greater number of small stones, usually 1' (0.3 metres) high, and are often found in upland areas and on sites that also contain a stone alignment . The Cork–Kerry stone circles tend to be more irregular in shape with larger but fewer and more widely-spaced orthostats around

5696-527: The known Wiltshire examples were erected on low-lying positions in the landscape. In the area south of Swindon , a town in northern Wiltshire, at least seven stone circles are reported as having existed, often only a few miles distant from one another; the Day House Lane Stone Circle is for instance 2 km north-east of the (now destroyed) Fir Clump Stone Circle . Although the vestiges of the Day House Lane Stone Circle survive, all of

5785-466: The last steam engine to be built in the UK. The works lost its locomotive building role and took on rolling stock maintenance for British Rail . In the late 1970s, much of the works closed and the rest followed in 1986. The community centre in the railway village was originally the barrack accommodation for railway employees of the GWR. The building became the Railway Museum in the 1960s, until

5874-548: The late Neolithic to the end of the early Bronze Age and are found in England and Scotland. Cobble pavements have been found in the centre of many examples. Connected features at some sites include central mounds, outlying standing stones, and avenues or circular banks on which the stones are set. Alternatively, they may be replicas of earlier timber circles rebuilt in stone, especially the examples in Wessex . A funerary purpose

5963-504: The main line between London and Bristol . In 1900, the original market town, Old Swindon, merged with its new neighbour at the bottom of the hill to become a single town. On 1 July 1923, the GWR took over the largely single-track M&SWJR and the line northwards from Swindon Town was diverted to Swindon Junction station, leaving the Town station with only the line south to Andover and Salisbury. The last passenger trains on what had been

6052-407: The oldest stone circles in the world were found at Atlit Yam (about 8000 BC). The locality is now submerged near the Levantine Mediterranean coast. Other locations include India or Japan. See more in the relevant Misplaced Pages category . Swindon Swindon ( / ˈ s w ɪ n d ən / ) is a large town in Wiltshire , England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of

6141-400: The opening of the STEAM Museum in the 2000s. The Second World War saw an influx of new industries as part of the war effort; Vickers-Armstrong making aircraft at Stratton, and Plessey at Cheney Manor producing electrical components. By 1960, Plessey had become Swindon's biggest employer, with a predominantly female workforce. David Murray John , Swindon's town clerk from 1938 to 1974,

6230-416: The other known northern Wiltshire circles have been destroyed. Based on his observations in the 1890s, the antiquarian A. D. Passmore estimated that the circle had originally been up to 69 metres (225 ft) in diameter. He also thought that it would have been of a slightly irregular shape, with its diameter varying at different points. Based on the surviving stones and their spacing, Passmore suggested that

6319-437: The period immediately following their creation. For this reason the historian Ronald Hutton suggested that the circles were not used for rituals that left archaeologically visible evidence, but may have been deliberately left as "silent and empty monuments". The archaeologist Mike Parker Pearson argues that in Neolithic Britain, stone was associated with the dead, and wood with the living. Other archaeologists have proposed that

6408-431: The population of Swindon were non-White British compared with 15.4% in the surrounding borough. There was also little difference between the percentages of Black and Asian residents. Swindon is one of the most ethnically diverse towns in South West England : 4.6% of the population registered themselves as 'Other White' and 2.5% of the population was either mixed race or of another ethnicity. There are several definitions of

6497-680: The pre-Christian era. No example has survived in a good state of preservation, but, like the Alentejo, the Basque Country is dotted with eroded and vandalized examples of many such structures. Ancient stone circles are found throughout the Horn of Africa . Booco in northeastern Somalia contains a number of such old structures. Small stone circles here surround two enclosed platform monuments, which are set together. The circles of stone are believed to mark associated graves. At Emba Derho in

6586-511: The railway's workforce into some of the country's best-educated manual workers. The Mechanics' Institute had the UK's first lending library , and a range of improving lectures, access to a theatre and various other activities, such as ambulance classes and xylophone lessons. A former institute secretary formed the New Swindon Co-operative Society in 1853 which, after a schism in the society's membership, spawned

6675-422: The side of the circle opposite the recumbent stone. These are known as 'portals', as they form an entrance into the circle. Often the portals are turned so that their flat sides face each other, rather than facing the centre of the circle. A concentric stone circle is a type of prehistoric monument consisting of a circular or oval arrangement of two or more stone circles set within one another. They were in use from

6764-415: The span of their radius, and their population within the local area. Although many theories have been advanced to explain their use, usually related to providing a setting for ceremony or ritual, no consensus exists among archaeologists regarding their intended function. Their construction often involved considerable communal effort, including specialist tasks such as planning, quarrying, transportation, laying

6853-494: The standing stones immediately on either side. These are known as 'flankers'. The stones are commonly graded in height with the lowest stones being diametrically opposite to the tall flankers. The circle commonly contains a ring cairn and cremation remains. Irish axial stone circles are found in Cork and Kerry counties. These do not have tall flanking stones on either side of the recumbent stone. Instead, there are two tall stones at

6942-439: The stone might not represent ancestors, but rather other supernatural entities, such as deities. In the area of modern Wiltshire, various stone circles were erected, the best known of which are Avebury and Stonehenge . All of the other examples are ruined, and in some cases have been destroyed. As noted by the archaeologist Aubrey Burl , these examples have left behind "only frustrating descriptions and vague positions". Most of

7031-417: The stones in the circle were prostrate and largely buried beneath the ground. They were, he noted, "not at all conspicuous", with none protruding for more than 18 inches above the turf and some barely visible. Passmore probed the ground with an iron bar to ascertain the location and dimensions of various stones in the circle. He also dug into the space between those stones he numbered four and five, discovering

7120-528: The supply of cannabis and cocaine, and girls as young as 14 being coerced into sexual activity in exchange for drugs. The local council was created in 1974 as the Borough of Thamesdown, out of the areas of Swindon Borough and Highworth Rural District. It was not initially called Swindon, because the borough covers a larger area than the town; it was renamed as the Borough of Swindon in 1997. The borough became

7209-553: The town centre. Other sports in the town include Swindon Wildcats Ice Hockey and five-time British speedway champions the Swindon Robins . The Anglo-Saxon settlement of Swindon sat in a defensible position atop a limestone hill. It is referred to in the 1086 Domesday Book as Suindune, believed to be derived from the Old English words "swine" and "dun" meaning "pig hill" or possibly Sweyn's hill, Sweyn being

7298-435: The town for statistical purposes. The smallest extent is the former unparished area , now covered by the parishes of West Swindon , Central Swindon North , South Swindon , and Nythe, Eldene and Liden ; thus it omits suburbs to the east and north, namely the parishes of Covingham , Stratton St Margaret and Haydon Wick . At the 2011 census, the population of the unparished area was 122,642. The 2011 census also recognised

7387-594: The town include the Wyvern Theatre and the Mechanics' Institute . Lydiard Park has hosted festivals such as BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend , while the Swindon Mela, an all-day celebration of South Indian arts and culture, attracts up to 10,000 visitors a year. The ancient Ridgeway , known as Britain's oldest road, runs a few miles to Swindon's south, with Avebury , the largest megalithic stone circle in

7476-616: The village were the GWR Medical Fund Clinic at Park House and its hospital, both on Faringdon Road, and the 1892 health centre in Milton Road, which housed clinics, a pharmacy, laundries, baths, Victorian Turkish baths and swimming pools, was almost opposite. From 1871, GWR workers had a small amount deducted from their weekly pay and put into a healthcare fund; GWR doctors could prescribe them or their family members medicines or send them for medical treatment. In 1878

7565-459: The western side or in an adjacent ditch. He noted that several of these stones were "of considerable size". Passmore suggested that this may have once formed a prehistoric avenue which could have extended to meet the northern side of the Day House Lane Stone Circle. Passmore rejected the idea that these stones had never formed a deliberate row and had simply been moved to the side of the road by farmers eager to get them out of their fields. If that were

7654-523: The world, and Uffington White Horse , Britain's oldest white horse figure, also nearby. Wiltshire's only professional football club Swindon Town F.C. , have played in the Premier League in the 1993/94 season and won a major trophy, securing a famous giant-killing victory over Arsenal in the 1969 League Cup final . They currently play in League Two at the 15,000-seat County Ground in

7743-516: Was a considerable change in the style of monuments erected, particularly in what is now southern and eastern England. By 3000 BCE, the long barrows , causewayed enclosures , and cursuses which had predominated in the Early Neolithic were no longer built, and had been replaced by circular monuments of various kinds. These include earthen henges , timber circles , and stone circles. Stone circles are found in most areas of Britain where stone

7832-501: Was designed to provide help and support to people who wished to settle here, covered about 190,000 people ... at the time Britain did not recognise many of the professional [qualifications] gained overseas ... [but] many did find work after the war; some went down the mines, some worked on the land or in steelworks. Housing was more of a problem and many Poles were forced to live in barracks previously used for POWs ... The first generation took pains to ensure that their children grew up with

7921-534: Was much larger than the others. The antiquarian A. D. Passmore outlined his investigation of the stone circle in an 1894 article for the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine . As part of this he thanked W. Handy, the tenant of Day House Farm, for "the kind way in which he has allowed me to explore his fields". In his private notebooks he related that he first discovered them in January 1893. Passmore related that at that time all of

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