Stanton Drew

England's second largest Stone Circle is found in the Somerset village of Stanton Drew. Actually, the site has two Stone Circles, one large and one small, like having a main hall for big rituals and a breakout room for smaller ceremonies! They are located in a farmer's field, so you just open the gate and go onto his land --

A lot of the stones are recumbent. But there are still a fair number of stones present on the site.

Two local teens were using one of the stones to film a little video about rock climbing. The megalith was cast as a mountain in their production. Some of our tour group thought they were treating the stones disrespectfully but they weren't hurting them, just using them for a contemporary purpose. I don't think there's anything wrong with that, myself.

Beside the Circle is a large tree -- its limbs bare and black, devoid of leaves and life. It's quite a spectacular tree and creates an eerie atmosphere for the Circle grounds.

I don't know if it's a defunct oak tree but it would be neat if it were, since oaks were sacred to the Druids.

Our guide, Mara Freeman, said that the name "Stanton Drew" is a colloquial pronunciation of what was likely the original name of the site -- "Stone Town of the Druids."

[All photos by my Rare One, official photographer of the She Who Seeks blog]