Nine Stones Close

Nine Stones Close (or Nine Stone Close) (grid reference SK225626) is a Bronze Age stone circle near Winster in Derbyshire, England. It is sometimes known as Grey Ladies.[1]

Nine Stones Close
Location in Derbyshire
LocationDerbyshire
Coordinates53°09′38″N 1°39′52″W
TypeStone circle
History
PeriodsBronze Age

Description

Nine Stones Close is a small stone circle on the edge of Harthill Moor in Derbyshire, part of a rich prehistoric landscape that includes Bronze Age barrows and settlement enclosures.[2] It consists of four remaining upright stones, originally part of a circle of around 30 metres (98 ft) in diameter, plus the sites of several others removed in the 18th and 19th centuries.[2] One of the stones that was appropriated in the 18th century is now used as an oversized field gatepost nearby.[2]

It is uncertain whether there were originally nine stones, one theory being that nine is a corruption of 'noon', said to be the time when, according to local folklore, fairies would gather at the site to dance.[1]

Excavations in 1847, 1877 and 1939 found flints and pot-sherds that date the monument to the Bronze Age.[2]

Removed upright in field gate

References
  1. Hamilton, Dave (2019). Wild Ruins BC. Bath: Wild Things Publishing. p. 148. ISBN 978-1910636169.
  2. Historic England (1 December 1993). "Nine Stone Close small stone circle (1008007)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 9 September 2019.


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