Arbor Low

The monument includes about 50 large limestone blocks, quarried from a local site, which form an egg-shaped circle. There were probably 41–43 stones originally, but some are now in fragments. In the centre of the circle lie at least six smaller blocks known as the cove, originally believed to have been set in a rectangle. The stones are surrounded by an earth bank, approximately at the outside edges and high, with an interior ditch about 2 metres deep and wide. There are two causeway entrances breaching both the bank and ditch; a north-west entrance wide, and a south-east entrance wide. The inner bank encloses an area of . Few henge monuments in the British Isles are as well preserved. == Finds ==

Human skeletal remains were discovered close to the cove during excavations between 1901 and 1902. Other finds have included flint scrapers, arrowheads, and bone and antler tools. == Surrounding landscape ==

A large Bronze Age round cairn or barrow was built later, to the east of the henge, using material taken from the earth bank. It was excavated in 1845 and found to contain a cremation burial, flint and bone artefacts, and two pots similar to Late Neolithic Peterborough ware Arbor Low is part of a larger complex, and is linked by an earth ridge to the earlier Neolithic oval barrow of Gib Hill 320m away. == Construction and usage ==

The bank and ditch of the henge, as well as its two entrances, were probably established in the Late Neolithic period, with the stones added later, sometime before 2000 BCE. The site seems to have been in use until the Bronze Age, when the outer bank was reconstructed so that the round barrow could be erected. Both the earthworks and the stoneworks are probably later than the nearby Gib Hill. == Statutory protection ==

area of statutory protection Arbor Low was one of the first ancient monuments to be given statutory protection, on 18 August 1882. == Access ==

The henge stands on private farmland, and a small fee is charged for access. == See also ==