Hoarstones


The Hoarstones form a stone circle in the civil parish of Chirbury with Brompton in the English county of Shropshire. The circle comprises 38 stones, all less than a metre high.

Description

The stone circle comprises 37 stones and one central stone, all composed of dolerite. The circle has a diameter of 22 metres. The site lies upon a southeast slope of marshy ground, not far from the north end of a former glacial lake, of which the Marsh Pool is a remnant. There are two small mounds in the north-west of the circle that may be the remnants of barrows.
The circle is also known as Black Marsh, Hemford and Marsh Pool Circle. There are holes drilled in some of the stones, but these date from a much later period, when local miners would use the stones during wedding celebrations by filling the holes with gunpowder and setting it off.
The Hoarstones may have a connection to the similar circle nearby at Mitchell's Fold, and a third circle formerly to the south known as the Whetstones.