Located just yards from the M6 it’s difficult to understand just how this double circle survived the motorway construction works. In 1844 the circle was in danger from construction of the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway line, but this never came to fruition as a different route was chosen. Just a couple of miles north of Shap on the other side of the motorway, Gunnerkeld is relatively remote and peaceful despite the traffic nearby, and lies on private ground. Permission must be sought to visit.

It is described thus in the Heritage Environment Records (HER):

Gunnerkeld concentric stone circle is located 200m south-west of Gunnerwell Farm on the top of a slight ridge. The monument includes an outer circle measuring c.30m north-south by 24m east-west of 19 large granite stones, three of which are upright and just over 1m tall. There is an entrance on the northern side of the outer circle between two of these large stones. Within the outer circle is an inner circle measuring c.18m north-south by 16m east-west of 31 granite stones. This inner circle forms the kerb of an earth and stone cairn up to 1m high. Limited antiquarian excavation of the central cairn located a stone cist.

The name may have Old Norse connections – ‘keld’ denotes a water source or spring and Gunnar is a known name, so ‘Gunnar’s Spring’. There is a small stream nearby, and there was a large Viking influence in the area in the mid to late Medieval period.

The vast majority of the stones in the outer circle are prostrate, and Dymond (1880) gave his opinion on these: 

The question arises, with respect to the prostrate stones. Were they originally erect, and have they been overthrown ? I have no hesitation in expressing my belief that they were never set up on end ; and, if so, these rings are of a type differing, perhaps of set purpose, from the true peristalith. 

The stones in the circles are a mix of red granite and limestone, and are all considered to be local glacial erratics in origin. Although notoriously difficult to date, Burl (1976) has assigned a likely construction date of c2900-2500BC to the Gunnerkeld circles. Waterhouse (1985) suggests that the inner circle may indicate a later reuse of an earlier circle for sepulchral use. The design at Gunnerkeld bears some resemblance to the Oddendale circle, some 3 miles to the south, whilst the dimensional ratios are very similar to those employed at Castlerigg.