Twelve Apostles Stone Circle

The Twelve Apostles Stone Circle strangely appears to have only 11 stones laid out, measuring 89m in diameter.  This makes it the biggest stone circle in mainland Scotland.  Only the Ring of Brodgar on the Orkney Islands is bigger!  However, when it was first created, it is thought that it may have had up to 18 stones in its layout.

Exact dating for stone circles can prove difficult but it is thought that this circle is from the late Neolithic period, making it about 4500 years old.

The name "Twelve Apostles" only dates to the 19th century, when the stone circle still had 12 visible stones in its formation.  A local farmer is said to have destroyed one of the stones to be used as building material sometime before 1837.  The local legend equates the stones in the circle with Jesus's twelve disciples.  The tale links the destroyed stone to the story of Judas Iscariot's betrayal of Christ.  Obviously, the date of construction indicates the stones have no actual link to Biblical events, preceding this by a couple of thousand years!

The stone circle is laid out so it aligns with the midwinter sunset. 

The stone circle having more of an oval shape is an example of what is called a Type B 'flattened circle'.

The tallest standing stone is 1.9 m tall.  The longest stone is 3.2 m long. 

At present, 5 of the stones are still earthfast.

The circle uses two different types of rock.  One is Porphyry rock; all the others are Silurian rock.  Four are natural boulders, while the rest have been quarried, suggesting some effort went into creating the stone circle, especially when you consider it was all created about 4500 years ago.  The effort it must have taken to create the stone circle hints at an important purpose, now lost to time.