Reports are circulating that the landowner has bulldozed one of the Priddy Circles obliterating part of the southern most enclosure.
The Priddy Circles, a 5,000-year-old prehistoric site and Scheduled Ancient Monuments on the Mendip Hills near the village of Priddy, is a linear arrangement of four circular earthwork enclosures, each nearly 200m across, spread over 1km in length.
Three of the circles are closely spaced in a nearly straight line, while the fourth is some 350m to the north and somewhat out of line with the other three. There appears to be no missing earthwork between the northernmost enclosure and the others. This seemingly deliberate offset is somewhat reminiscent of the Thornborough Henges in North Yorkshire, which complex includes only three aligned henges possessing a curious 'dogleg' said to mirror the three stars of Orion's Belt. [1]The Priddy circles are numbered from the south in sequence 1 to 4. Associated with the northern most circle is a group of mounds interpreted as barrows, possibly four inside and one outside the circle to the west. The circles are the most important surviving Late Neolithic sites in Somerset.
Thought to be unique in Britain, the circles at Priddy are similar to a henge but with external rather than internal ditches similar to the the first phase of Stonehenge. Although no firm dating evidence has been found, they also appear to be contemporary with the more famous henge monument on Salisbury Plain. Less than 1km south of the Priddy Circles, are located two round barrow cemeteries at Ashen Hill and Priddy Nine-Barrows indicating that the area to the northeast of Priddy must have held considerable importance in prehistoric times.
English Heritage have been investigating the claims that one of the four Priddy Circles has been obliterated. The damaged circle was the most clearly defined of the four with land near the circles appears to have been recently re-seeded and tree saplings planted nearby. Conclusive photographic evidence on The Megalithic Portal website shows that part of the southernmost circle has been partly bulldozed flat.
English Heritage has refused to speculate on the extent of the alleged damage at this stage, but a spokesman said: "We are aware of damage to the Priddy Circles in Somerset - a series of four large Neolithic henge monuments.
"We are currently investigating the matter which includes an assessment of the harm caused to the monument through an archaeological assessment.
"It is also a criminal offence to carry out works to a scheduled monument without scheduled monument consent from the Secretary of State."
A spokesman for Somerset County Council said: "Priddy Circles are one of the most important prehistoric monuments in Somerset and they were constructed approximately 5,000 years ago.
"New research has now shown, however, that the monuments at Priddy pre-date the construction and use of henges and, as such, have few parallels in the UK. Among these parallels is the first phase of Stonehenge."
The council said it was working together with English Heritage on the investigation into the matter......
Is there any hope that our ancient monuments can be protected in private ownership? The situation at Priddy provides a strong argument to take them into ownership by a governing body. This now presents an opportunity for English Heritage to show it's teeth and demonstrate that it is serious about protecting our ancient monuments from unscrupulous landowners.
*** UPDATE 05 November 2011 ***
Man arrested in connection with damage to Priddy Circle
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Note:
1. Christopher Knight and Alan Butler, Before the Pyramids, Watkins, 2009.
Sources:
1. Priddy Circles damage investigated by English Heritage - BBC News Somerset, 27 June 2011
2. Priddy South has indeed been bulldozed - Megalithic Portal
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