The 1975 / 1976 Gorsedd Circle at Netpool, Cardigan

The Gorsedd Circle dating from 1975 for the proclamation of the 1976 Eisteddfod,  now installed at Netpool, Cardigan.  The tall stone nearest to the camera is the only one that stands over 2m.  All the stones are dolerites.

I rather like this Gorsedd Circle, erected first of all at Brondesbury Park in 1975 for the proclamation of the 1976 Cardigan National Eisteddfod, and then moved in 1995 to its present site at Netpool -- a stone's throw from the River Teifi.  It's set in a verdany public park, with adjacent parking, very close to the town's largest cemetery.

There are 11 stones and one inlier, set around a central group of large recumbent stones at the "node".  Thbiggest slab is called the Maen Llog or Logan Stone.  The inlier stone is due east of the circle centre, creating an approximate alignment with the rising sun at the midsummer solstice.  This is all part of the formula invented by Iolo Morgannwg many moons ago.

The Maen Llog at the centre of the circle, used for ceremonials involving the Gorsedd bards and the druids.

As for the stones themselves, they are all igneous, and all appear to be dolerites.  One or two are spotted, but the majority are not.  We have to assume that they originated on Preseli, but I have not been able to access infon as to the actual location.  I imagine that they will not have been taken from the common, but from land belonging to a friendly farmer -- most likely on the north flank of the upland.

The circle is made from a weird and wacky assortment of stones, all except one under 2m tall.  It's rather appealing because of its sheer eccentricity!  the shapes are irregulat blocks rather than tall pillars or slabs.  I am sutrre they have just been picked up from recumbent positions either in hedge banks or in stony ground.  Most surfaces are heavily weathered and most edges are heavily abraded, so this speaks of some glacial transport and long exposure to the elements.  There are some surfaces which are very fresh -- caused by breakage during collection and transport. On some stones you can see changes in the surface patina that must have coincided with ground level where stones were partly buried or embedded in till or surface soil.  There are abundant deep gouges and chain marks on nearly all the stones -- the result iof rough treatment by mechanical diggers and otherc machines employed during stone collection.

Serious damage was done to this stone during collection.  Note the machinery scars on the left face: these are notv very fresh, suggesting damage many years ago when the stone may have been dragged from an inconvenient poosition and set into a hedge.  Note that on the same face we can see the old ground level.

The most colourful stone in the circle.

On this stone, two faces with differing degrees of weathering.  There is comprehensive machinery damage; some of the grooves and scars are old, and some are new, suggesting at least two phases of stone movement.

Another stone which is heavily abraded, probably by ice action. Again there is heavy surface damage from machinery.  The lower part of the stone has previously been embedded in the ground somewhat more deeply.

It's somewhat ironiv that Iolo Morgannwg, in laying out the rules for Gorsedd Circles, specified that the stones used should be "unhewn" -- so as to remain uncontaminated through contact with iron.   But all of these stones have been seriously bashed about by heavy machinery........  that's progress for you.

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The definitive guide to the modern Gorsedd Circles of Wales:

https://sublimewales.wordpress.com/attractions/18th-and-19th-century-stone-circles/gorsedd-circles/

Michael Freeman has done great work on this, and his beautifully illustrated blog is well worth a visit.

Seec also:

https://sublimewales.wordpress.com/attractions/18th-and-19th-century-stone-circles/gorsedd-circles/list-of-gorsedd-circles/