Alphamstone church may be site of ancient stone circle (From Gazette)

Alphamstone church may be site of ancient stone circle

12:20pm Friday 3rd July 2009

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A STONE circle dating back to Neolithic times could have once stood in what is now the grounds of a church.

Surveyor Paul Daw believes a stone circle stood on the site of St Barnabas Church, Alphamstone, near Halstead – and if he’s right, it would be the first such site to be found in East Anglia.

Mr Daw, who is interested in stone circles said what he had found might be of national importance.

He explained: “The fact is, there are stones and we know there were Bronze Age people there.”

Stone circles are believed to have originally been used have been a gathering points and also for trading, and possibly festivals and feasts.

Mr Daw, who lives in Cambridgeshire, said he has discovered eight stones on the site, and has been using divining rods in an effort to locate the outline of the circle.

He thinks there would have been ten stones in total, forming a circle on the north-eastern side of the church yard.

A recent excavation commissioned by the Friends of St Barnabas Church to examine cracks forming in an arch in the church unearthed Bronze Age pottery.

It has also been confirmed the church was built on the site of a bronze age burial cairn.

Mr Daw said: “That sort of confirms there were people on that site.

“The country was completely forested more than 4, 000 years ago, but the Bronze Age people and late Neolithic started clearing areas.”

He said the Essex Record Office had also recognised the possibility of a stone circle there.

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