Long Meg and her Daughters

Hunsonby, Penrith, CA10 1NW.

One of the finest stone circles in the north of England, the circle has a diameter of about 350 feet, the second biggest in the country.

Long Meg is the tallest of the 69 stones, about 12 feet high. The stones probably date from about 1500 BC, and it was likely to have been used as a meeting place or for some form of religious ritual.

Legend has it that the stones are petrified people who, if counted correctly, will be released from the spell that holds them. Long Meg is made of local red sandstone, whereas the daughters are boulders of rhyolite, a form of granite.

Just over a third of a mile (0.5 km) to the North-East of Long Meg and her Daughters, is one of the smallest stone circles, appropriately named Little Meg.

A new car park has been created for visitors to Long Meg and her Daughters after a two-year project.  Read more in our news section.