Paul Daw is an enthusiast, when he found a passion for ancient stone circles, he began a quest to survey all 600 sites where they are found, so far he claims to have visited 500 sites. He surveys them by dowsing; to find the position of a missing socket where a stone was situated in a circle is indicated by the rods twitching when held over the exact spot where the stone was buried.
If you Google 'Paul Daw stone circles' you will find lots of information about his finds, methods, and the organisation he is setting up 'Stone Circle and Henge Trust'. Today there is an article in the Whitehaven News about him:
http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk/news/stone-me-it-s-britain-s-newest-stone-circle-1.1083957
Paul showed us lots of slides of stone circles, some with forts built around them, many with stones moved from their original positions, but I found the information about the Swindon stone circles was the most interesting, I knew there were 2 stone circles in Day House Lane shown on the map below:
But to find out there was one bisected by the M4 just below Ladder Lane was fascinating. Paul Daw thinks the reason Stone Circles were built was so people could trade goods and socialise with each other. This would make sense since this is a very old route from Marlborough to North Wilts.
Chedworth Gate is built on another stone circle, remains of which can be seen there today:
There is another stone circle under Coate Water, and on the site of the play area as can just about be seen by this map of Swindon:
Here are the Grid References:
Thank you to Paul for your fascinating talk, and for allowing me to take photographs of your photos.
Hello there. I've been gathering my own interest with regards to the 'Swindon Stone Circles' and I find it absolutely fascinating that this site has been overlooked. Searching google I keep finding these excellent little blog spots where I keep digging out info and finding out more about the sarsen stones in this area. As a local to Swindon I wish to find out more information and visit as many of these sites as possible (or whats left of them!) Sadly though, from searching Paul Daw, I have found out that he passed away last year (2017). Also another great amateur photographer and archaeologist, Tom Bullock, also passed on during 2011. So I'd like to find out who is carrying on with the great work into these stone circles and where I can find out more information. Any help would be much appreciated.
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