Little Meg

Little Meg is a small Bronze Age kerb cairn surrounded by a circle of large kerb stones near the village of Langwathby in Cumbria. It lies 650 metres north-east of the more famous Long Meg and Her Daughters stone circle. The site forms part of a wider complex of prehistoric monuments including circles at Glassonby and Old Parks. The area sits on a slight ridge among gently rolling glacial deposits. Long Meg would have been visible when Little Meg was in use. Many of the stone circles and cairns in the region cluster near rivers and springs. The site is worth visiting for its unusual layout and the questions it raises about Bronze Age practices. Unlike other circles, Little Meg was not aligned with the midwinter or midsummer line to Long Meg. Clare suggests this may have been deliberate, perhaps to avoid disturbing a sacred line or because vegetation blocked the view. When first uncovered in the 19th century, a mound of about 1.3 metres covered the stones. Bones, charcoal and a plain pot were found buried in a central cist, hinting at ritual use. Visitors find a single decorated boulder with a spiral linked to concentric circles, its crisp carving suggesting it was made just before the mound was raised. Another stone once stood at the west side but is now lost. Two decorated stones from the cist now rest in Penrith Museum, their cup and ring markings differing from those on the ring-stones. The site offers a quiet spot to imagine the rituals of people who lived over two thousand years ago.