enjoy the view

NOTES

www.walkscene.co.uk

River Chew

Stanton Drew and Pensford

Notes and points of interest

Stone Circle The Stanton Drew stone circles are in the care of English Heritage but lie on private land, accessible on payment of a £1.00 entrance fee to be dropped into an "honesty box".

Being little known, you might expect this prehistoric monument to be insignificant, but you would be wrong. This is an impressive feature, with three circles including some quite large stones. The Great Circle is one of the largest in the country. The first plan of Stanton Drew stone circles was published in 1776 and they have changed little since then.
Recent scientific studies showed that the Stanton Drew site is the ruin of a much more elaborate and important site, with the remains of an elaborate pattern of pits revealed through magnetic surveys. The Great Circle lies within a large buried enclosure ditch measuring about 135m in diameter, making these circles the largest and most numerous yet recorded at any site.

The Cove In the garden of the village pub is a group of three large stones called The Cove once, undoubtedly, part of the same complex as the larger stone circles. These stones can be accessed from the car park behind the pub.

Hautville's Quoit - is another standing stone lying to the north, across the river Chew.

Pensford - is a ribbon village lying alongside the A37 road. However, it has a long history and sits a strikingly beautiful point in the Chew Valley. The viaduct is high and impressive and the church lies on a strip of land that is almost an island.

Stanton Drew - despite some modern development, Stanton Drew is very much a country village with active farming and a traditional community.

River Chew - this river may be small, but it has created a strikingly beautiful valley with a character and community of its own. The Chew Valley contains a number of villages and small towns that 'feel' related within the valley. Further upstream is a large reservoir (Chew Valley Lake) which supports sailing, fishing, bird-watching and other leisure activities.