You’d think that thousands of years, harsh weather, the Crusades, developers, shepherds, wars, and tourists would’ve wiped these stones off the face of the earth. And yet — they’re still here! Standing in the middle of fields, on windswept hills, by the side of the road, as if waiting for something.
When people talk about British megaliths (structures made of massive stones), most think of Stonehenge — majestic, roped off, and forever with a full car park. But hiding in its shadow are equally mysterious and often forgotten standing stones and stone circles, whose stories are just as enchanting. Let’s take a walk through some of Britain’s lesser-known, yet no less impressive megalithic monuments — true witnesses of prehistoric times.
In the green fields of blustery Cumbria stands one of the largest stone circles in Britain — Long Meg and Her Daughters. Towering nearly 4 metres high, Long Meg herself is a majestic red sandstone monolith looking out over her “daughters” — around 60 stones arranged in an irregular circle 100 metres wide. Legend has it they were witches, turned to stone for daring to hold a sabbath on a Sunday. Their fate, it’s said, was sealed by a real historical figure: Michael Scot, a Scottish mathematician, scholar, and astrologer mentioned even in Dante’s Divine Comedy (and the only Scot to receive such a mention, by the way).
If you look closely at Long Meg, you can see carvings of spirals and rings — symbols whose meanings are still debated. Archaeologists believe the circle was constructed around 1500 BCE, but its true purpose — be it a ritual site or an astronomical calendar — remains a mystery. Locals say that if you try to count the stones, you’ll get a different number each time. Try it yourself!
Far off the beaten tourist track, on the wild and windswept Isle of Lewis, stand the Callanais Stones — one of the most spectacular stone circles in Scotland. A central monolith and thirteen surrounding stones form a shape reminiscent of a Celtic cross, with rows of stones stretching outward in every direction. According to legend, they were once pagan giants who refused to convert to Christianity and were turned to stone as punishment.
Built around 2750 BCE, Callanais is far from the only ancient stone site in the area. The island’s prehistoric inhabitants were apparently quite industrious, having erected more than a dozen circles, arches, and lone stones within just a few kilometres. As with Stonehenge, some researchers speculate that Callanais was used as an observatory: certain alignments between the stones, the moon, and nearby mountain ridges suggest astronomical functions. But no theory has been definitively proven.
At first glance, the three towering stones near the road in Boroughbridge (Yorkshire) look like forgotten telephone poles. But stop for a moment, and a striking scene unfolds. The tallest of the three reaches nearly 7 metres high, making it the second tallest standing stone in Britain after the Rudston Monolith (more on that later). The stones are arranged in a straight line, and legend says they were thrown by the Devil himself, aiming for a nearby town with an early Christian community — but he missed.
Carved from local gritstone, they were likely erected during the Late Neolithic or Bronze Age. Modern research suggests that a fourth stone once stood nearby but was probably destroyed in the 18th century — perhaps because it spoiled the view for local gardeners.
In the village of Rudston, right in the churchyard among the graves, stands the tallest standing stone in Britain: nearly 8 metres tall and weighing over 40 tonnes. It was erected long before Christianity reached the area, but like many sacred sites, it was later absorbed into the Christian landscape, with the church claiming the already-holy ground as its own.
The stone likely came from a quarry 16 kilometres away, and how Neolithic people managed to transport it remains a mystery. One theory involves rolling logs — like the Egyptians with pyramid stones — while another suggests the monolith arrived via a glacier that melted away long ago. According to local legend, though, the stone simply fell from the sky. And honestly, that can feel more believable than imagining Neolithic logistics.
This megalithic complex includes three parts: The King’s Men (a stone circle), The Whispering Knights (a group of stones off to the side), and The King Stone (a solitary boulder standing apart). According to legend, a local king was marching by with his army when he encountered a witch. She told him that if he could take seven steps and see the village lying in the valley below, he would become the ruler of all England. His soldiers gathered in a circle to consider her challenge, and the king boldly stepped forward. But the earth suddenly rose up, blocking his view of the village, and the witch, laughing, turned him into a single standing stone — and his soldiers into the stone circle known as The King’s Men.
A short distance away, the witch noticed four knights whispering a conspiracy against their king. She turned them into stones too — now known as The Whispering Knights.
The circle, built around 2500 BCE, was likely used for gatherings or rituals. The Whispering Knights may be an ancient burial site or the remains of a dolmen, while the King Stone might have served as a boundary marker. Intriguingly, the site is still used for neo-pagan rituals today — especially during solstices, when modern witches and druids gather to absorb the stones’ energy.
Britain’s megaliths exist in a strange, twilight space between history and myth, science and sorcery. They stand in silence, but they have stories to tell. And best of all, most of them can still be visited without a ticket, without a security gate, and without having to elbow through crowds of selfie-seekers. So if you’re in the mood to brush up against ancient history, leave the motorway and look for the nearest stone circle. You won’t have to search long — Britain has around 1,300 of them.
