Reblogged from my friend James Elkington’s blog, Walking with a Smacked Pentax.

Deep within Burley moor is a very old, half ruined stone circle. It is one of half a dozen on the moor – but few know about it. The bracken on these moors can grow very long and often obscures many of the old circles and monuments, so this one is really only visible during those months when the bracken is dead and laid flat.

‘Roms Law’ (or ‘Grubstones’) is the name of this circle and it is estimated to be about 4500 to 5000 years old. No one knows what it’s purpose was but it is very near a Neolithic cemetery and fragments of bone and some ashes were discovered in its centre in 1946. Some think it may have been where the dead were rested, or a ritual of some form occurred, before taken on their way to the cemetery beyond.

Whatever it’s purpose it is a very peaceful place and I have spent may an hour sitting there watching red kites soar overhead or listening to the curlew and grouse. It is at it’s best at first light in the morning when the sun rises and illuminates the moors and circle with it’s glow. It is then when you really get a feeling of the age and the mystery of the place.

To continue reading about this beautiful and mysterious place, please click the link: The Avenue of the Dead | Walking with a Smacked Pentax