Embanked stone circle known as Wet Withens, and adjacent cairn

Wet Withens is a Bronze Age henge on Eyam Moor in the Derbyshire Peak District. It stands on gritstone moorland over 300 metres above sea level. The circle has clear views of the valley of the River Derwent and Higger Tor. The site is protected as a Scheduled Monument. It is also known as Wet Withers, from Old English for ‘the wet land where willows grew’. The earthen bank of the circle is over 30 metres in diameter, making it the largest embanked stone circle in Derbyshire. The circle originally had up to 18 stones spaced evenly around it. Ten upright stones remain, though some lean inwards. The tallest is the Chair Stone, 70 centimetres high, with a ledge cut into its face that looks like a seat. Most stones are hidden among heather and reeds. About 10 metres north of the henge is a large stone cairn known as Eyam Moor Barrow. The cairn is about 27 metres long and 1 metre high and shows signs of damage from past quarrying or excavation. Near the middle of the cairn is an unusual cup-marked stone. The shape of the cairn suggests it was once a prehistoric burial barrow. Wet Withens is also called Eyam Moor 1 because two smaller stone circles, Eyam Moor 2 and Eyam Moor 3, lie about 650 metres to the east. Both are also Scheduled Monuments. The moor holds several other ancient henges, including Arbor Low and The Bull Ring.