 View across the western half of the circle | |
  Shown within Dorset | |
| Location | Kingston Russell |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 50°41′19″N 2°35′56″W / 50.68856°N 2.59894°W |
| Type | Stone circle |
| History | |
| Periods | Neolithic / Bronze Age |
| Site notes | |
| Ownership | English Heritage |
| Public access | Open any reasonable time during daylight hours. |
| Website | https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/kingston-russell-stone-circle/ |
| Official name | The Kingston Russell stone circle 750m north east of Gorwell Farm |
| Designated | 6 August 1916 |
| Reference no. | 1011987 |
Kingston Russell Stone Circle, also known as the Gorwell Circle, is a stone circle located between the villages of Abbotsbury and Littlebredy in the south-western English county of Dorset. Archaeologists believe that it was likely erected during the Bronze Age. The Kingston Russell ring is part of a tradition of stone circle construction that spread throughout much of Britain, Ireland, and Brittany during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, over a period between 3,300 and 900 BCE. The purpose of such monuments is unknown, although archaeologists speculate that they were likely religious sites, with the stones perhaps having supernatural associations for those who built the circles.
A number of these circles were built in the area around modern Dorset, typically being constructed from sarsen stone and being smaller than those found elsewhere. The Kingston Russell ring is the largest of those in Dorset, measuring 24 by 27 metres (79 feet by 89 feet) in diameter and containing eighteen sarsen stones arranged in an oval shape. The site has not been excavated or been subject to in-depth archaeological investigation.