Mayburgh Henge

Mayburgh stands near the meeting of the Eamont and Lowther rivers in Cumbria. Its enormous enclosing bank was built largely from river pebbles, rather than soil dug from a surrounding ditch. This makes it unusual among monuments classified as henges. The interior measures approximately one hundred metres across and contains a single surviving standing stone about three metres high. Eighteenth-century accounts described four stones near the centre and four around the entrance, suggesting a more elaborate original arrangement. The monument is generally assigned to the late Neolithic or early Bronze Age, around four and a half thousand years ago. Finds of axes and flint nearby provide evidence of prehistoric activity but do not establish the enclosure’s exact purpose. Mayburgh and the nearby King Arthur’s Round Table show that this river landscape contained several substantial ceremonial monuments. Period: Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age Grid reference: NY 51920 28428 Protection: Scheduled monument Source: Historic England, https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1007902 (Open Government Licence). © Historic England 2026. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Banner photo: "Mayburgh Henge - geograph.org.uk - 4904029" by David Purchase, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 2.0.