Druid's Stone Circle

The Masham area has a "Druid Temple" constructed in Victorian times by the workers of a rich industrialist who lived in the area.

Situated among woodland about six miles south-west of Masham (off the A6108) this curious set of stones is generally seen as the best druidical folly in the country. In the 1820s William Danby, squire of Swinton, near Masham, found a reason for building a temple. His aim was to provide work for local folk during a time of severe unemployment and he paid them 'a shilling a day' to build a replica of Stonehenge - known as 'Druids' Temple.
As well as the upright stones and linking cross-stones, it has two outer guards, two inner guards, a sacrificial altar, phallus, two guards of the solar temple and a tomb - and just about every other fanciful touch you can think of.

This is a good site to visit, set in the forest and high over the Leighton Reservoir (good view down a fire trail).

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Situated among woodland about six miles south-west of Masham (off the A6108) this curious set of stones is generally seen as the best druidical folly in the country.	In the 1820s William Danby, squire of Swinton, near Masham, found a reason for building a temple. His aim was to provide work for local folk during a time of severe unemployment and he paid them 'a shilling a day' to build a replica of Stonehenge - known as 'Druids' Temple. As well as the upright stones and linking cross-stones, it has two outer guards, two inner guards, a sacrificial altar, phallus, two guards of the solar temple and a tomb - and just about every other fanciful touch you can think of.