Brithdir
Mawr - The
Raising of a Stone Circle
Ros Briagha
This
is an account of the creation of Brithdir Mawr stone
ring in SW Wales, taken from the construction diary
of member Ros
Briagha. The stones were found more or less 'in
situ' on the land, all of them fallen and partially
buried beneath the topsoil. It is not known if they
were originally standing stones as it is not an archaeologically
recorded site.
This is an excellent example of the geomantic creation
of a stone ring using traditional techniques without
the use of heavy machinery.
Brithdir
Mawr construction diary
9th
September 2000.
We started on Friday evening with a brief
inspection by Jon, Jamie, Jim and Ros, to see the place
and the stones. All except Ros had not seen it before,
and they all agreed that it had the look and feel of
a potential stone circle.
That evening we had a ceremony there, to connect with
the ancestors and the stones. We lit a central fire,
then sang and touched each stone, tuning in to them,
and visualising our intent to raise them upright. A
very beautiful evening.
The first day of practical work started by establishing
an East-West base line right through the circle, and
then measuring the approximate position of each stone,
bearing in mind that they were all still partially covered.
Jamie and Pete Bodger uncovered stone (1) (Beltane),
which turned out to be huge! .Probably 7-8 tons. While
Ros drew the stone positions onto graph paper (Fig.1),
Jon drew a 360 degree horizon.picture showing significant
outcrops etc.(Fig. 2), and measured
the angular positions of the stones, to see what celestial
events they could mark (Fig
4). The rest of the stones were uncovered to their
apparent edges, and all proved to be quite big, approx.
1.50 x 1.30m on average.
On
the second day digging continued round the South stone
(6) and it was fully exposed, measuring 1.30x 1.15m
x .50m deep. Probably about 4 tons. As we had not known
what sizes the stones would be, there was a limited
amount of stollage[1]
prepared, and two quite short levers, not really long
enough. We did lift the stone though, to a 45 degree
angle, and then tried to pull it upright with the big
horse, Samson. This was NOT effective, being too big
and too dead a weight for him to manage.
We then decided to bring the stone up horizontally and
pivot it into its hole. We got it as far as ground level,
with the pivot log in place, and then ran out of stollage,
so it was agreed to stop at that point and continue
next month, October, when more of the equipment is ready.
Because the stones are set in the ground, we have various
different approaches to work out on how and where we
move them. We are looking at what shape the circle needs
to be, and we will try to mark a potential outline in
October, with the help of dowsers.
6
October 2000
We met up again on the evening of 6th
October, informed new folk of progress so far, and checked
out all the new equipment prepared by the Brithdir folk
in response to Pete Bodgers’s list, sent after
the first weekend.
Saturday morning we all went up to the circle, and the
first job was to replace all the wobbly stollage under
the stone, using the new ash pole levers and railway
sleeper stollage. We then continued levering the stone
up until it could go onto the tracks and rollers needed
to move it to its correct position. Meanwhile several
dowsers had checked out the energy and water lines in
and around the circle, and they agreed that energy and
water lines both went through true North and South,
and that the stone would sit well on the spot where
these lines met and passed the circle perimeter. This
meant moving the stone approx. 6ft. The dowsing also
showed a major energy ley along the Beltane/ Lammas
sunset line, which Jamie and Ros had both felt was the
major axis of the circle. Jamie had drawn up a plan
of the circle which showed it could be marked out to
form a Type 1 egg shape, like Prof. Thom had found in
ancient circles (Fig. 3). By Saturday afternoon we had
the stone up to the right height for putting on the
rollers, and as it was cold and rainy, we stopped at
that point.
Sunday morning, and the rain cleared as we put the stone
on rollers, and easily pulled it the few feet it needed
to move. We then tried to gently pivot it into its new
hole. Howeverthe rope holding the pivot log to the stone
slipped, and it slid into the hole at a funny angle.
We then discovered that, after tighting and securing
the pivot log, we could lever the stone by taking a
“bite“ on the pivot, and it smoothly went
up to a vertical position and was in! This seems to
be a very useful discovery, as previously moving the
stones from 45 to 90 degrees has proved the most difficult
part, and has needed a windlass, a very dangerous bit
of gear!
A small bit of hand blown glass was found, and some
other bits, which Jon has got for future reference.
April
2001.
When we arrived at the start of our week-long
session, it felt quite mind-boggling. So many stones
to work on - another 13 to arrange and adjust - and
two up so far (Jamie had done a lightning trip up in
November and put up a little stone (10) in the North-
West). So we decided to start with a little one (9),
about 3 tons, and put it in the right position to mark
mid-summer sunset, a setting point actually made invisible
from the circle by a little grove of trees about 40
yards away. As with all the stones, the initial chunky
appearance of the stone in the ground made it hard to
know how it would look when upright, and harder still
to know which bit to have as top or bottom. But when
it was fully uncovered, and the process of moving it
had begun, sliding it upslope approximately eight feet.,
the appropriate placing became clear. The rather small
initial team of seven proved perfectly able to move
it, and it was upright and in place after only a day
and a half’s work.
The next stone we decided to do was the Beltane stone
(1), one of the biggest we’d uncovered so far,
at least 7ft. long by 3ft. wide by 2-4 ft. thick. Happily,
it had a interesting “shelf” at one end,
which made an ideal leverage point, and the great thickness
at the other end made a good counter-balance. We did
not need to raise the whole stone above ground level,
or move it in any direction other than up, so two days
of levering and propping and our bulky, misshapen giant
was sitting comfortably with its huge bottom mainly
below ground, and the shelved top standing proud; its
flat face and height a lovely match for the South stone
erected last September.
With team spirit and numbers building up well, we turned
our attention to the North stone (11). This was another
huge, chunky block around 6 tons in weight, and almost
a cube in shape, approximately 4ft. square. As we started
to lever it up, many discussions were held as to Which
Way Was Up? A decision was almost reached, but then
a strong message from the stone during a tune-in session
led to a re-think, and a decision to turn the stone
through 90 degrees and expose the bottom as the side
to face into the circle. And then a small miracle occurred;
as we applied the levers, this enormous lump started
to turn itself, swivelling on some hidden point, and
gently placing itself into the hole we’d prepared.
So no need for complex manoeuvres, as we levered, it
turned, and with remarkable ease erected itself into
the right position, marking the North- South axis and
a major energy ley running through the circle. Most
amazingly of all, the chunky cube became a perfect match
for the Beltane and south stones, of similar height
and with a lovely flat face showing inwards to the centre.
With each stone only having taken 2 days, we still had
time for one more and so, after a lovely day trip to
the coast and seeing Carreg Samson, a beautiful dolmen,
we considered using the three small stones in the North-east
(12ab) to make a small “cove” to receive
the suns rays at midsummer sunrise and midwinter sunset.
But once again during our tuning-in session inspiration
came, and we decided to move the largest of the three
to the point marking the Moon's major Northerly standstill,
between the North and Beltane stones. This meant moving
it quite a long way, about 15ft., but as it was quite
small, around 1.5-2 tons, this was quite easily accomplished,
lifting it onto tracks and then pulling it along with
a rope. We reached the hole, raised the stone a little
higher and Hey Presto, it did a lovely balancing act
as the stollage was removed, then dropped neatly and
exactly into its hole! Once up, it made a pleasing symmetry
with the midsummer sunset stone, and we had a whole
arc of the circle up and looking good.
So, four stones in a week, and the weather really smiling
on us - no rain at all, though the Northerly wind kept
us pretty cool. The team left, well pleased with our
work, and hoping to return in the autumn to carry on.
September
2001
This was a time of huge upheaval, five
days after the New York plane attacks, and we started
the week with only three of us able to work, so the
first day it seemed as though we were on a hopeless
mission. However the sun was shining and our spirits
were keen, so we decided to tackle another of the small
stones in the North-east (12b).
On tuning in it became clear that one of them was ready
to move right across the circle to mark the potential
point of Imbolc-Samhain sunset – potential because
this is the direction of Carn Ingli, the holy mountain,
and the sun disappears behind it long before it actually
sets. So, having levered the stone up, we set the tracks
and the 3 of us moved a ton or so of elegant rock approx.
40ft across the circle. Although it was a lightweight
stone, it was about 3ft. tall, so we carefully placed
it so that its sloping top echoed the shape of the mountain
behind it, when seen from the centre of the circle.
 The
next day more folk arrived, and we set to work on the
stone for the East (2). This one was about 10ft. outside
the circle in the east-north-east, so we had to raise
it out of its hole onto rollers, then move it about
15ft. to its new location. As it must weigh around 6
tons, is about 5ft. by 3ft. by 2ft., and had to be rolled
uphill initially, this was quite an effort,
with five people pushing VERY hard! Still, we did it,
and at a ton or more each, those pushers certainly showed
their true strength! Then we tried to drop it into its
socket nice and neatly, but alas, its starting level
was too low, and it went at a 45 degree angle, so we
had a day of levering and stollage moving, and final
sideways tweaking, before it sat tidily upright in the
right spot. This was just a couple of days before Autumn
Equinox, and the next morning at dawn, one of our team
had the pleasure of seeing, and photographing, the sun
rising neatly behind the stone. This is a particularly
beautiful stone, a blunt triangle, that once again matches
the other large stones in both height and its flat inner
face.
 The
next day we had the privilege of having a geoligist
visit us, and check out what the stones are, geologically
speaking. They seem to be a mixture of Dolerite and
Rialite, created by underwater volcanoes - a true blend
of Earth, Air, Fire and Water. They are first formed
underwater, then deposited on land and compressed under
the mile-thick ice formed in this area during the last
ice age. This is perhaps why they nearly all have these
lovely flat bottoms, which we are now using as the faces
into the circle.
Our last stone of the week was a really big, heavy one,
over in the West-north-west (8). It is a sort of diamond
lozenge shape, around 7ft. long, at its widest 4ft.
and 2-4 ft. thick. Luckily it was already in the right
place to mark the Beltane-Samhain sunset, and so all
we had to do was raise its 8-9 tons of weight upwards!
This was an intense and fraught procedure, with our
numbers low again, and 3 or 4 people trying to lift
such a heavy being; but we pressed on, gathering extra
folk at crucial moments, and finally had it upright
and correctly aligned after 2 days of very hard work.
The next morning, we came up to fill the hole around
it, with earth and then turves, and had to go the side
of the field to strip turves as we had run out (the
larger a stone, the bigger the socket hole left behind,
and the more extra turves needed to fill it in). As
the final piece was laid, around 2pm. on a beautiful
sunny day, a barn owl flew out of the hedgerow trees
beside us, flew in a circle above our heads and the
stone before silently disappearing into the grove. A
Magical moment, and a wonderful reward for all our efforts!
That night, 22nd of September, the Brithdir folk and
us joined up in the circle to light a fire and celebrate
the Equinox. It was lovely to see the stones by firelight,
and sing and dance amongst them, under a starlit sky.
The circle is now 2/3 of the way to completion, with
nine stones up and four to go, and we hope to do our
last session in the spring of 2002.
[1]
Stollage - name given to the odd selections of timber
and logs used to pack, lever and support the stones
during movement.
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