Fortean Times is (to quote from it’s own website) “… a monthly magazine of news, reviews and research on strange phenomena and experiences, curiosities, prodigies and portents. It was founded by Bob Rickard in 1973 to continue the work of Charles Fort (1874-1932).” You can visit the website here.

In the October 2008 edition of the magazine is a wonderful review by David V. Barrett of ‘Standing with Stones’. I have been given permission to quote it in full:

“There are thousands of prehistoric sites around Britain, including nearly 1,000 stone circles, says Rupert Soskin at the start of his journey around these enigmatic monuments left by our ancestors.  Even in the two-and-a-quarter hours of this stunning documentary he can only include a selection – not just of the well-known sites but also many which are hidden away and far less known.  

The main film is sensibly divided into seven chapters: the West Country; Southern England; Wales; Ireland; the Isle of Man and Northern England; Scotland; and the Scottish Isles.  Each of these is further subdivided into sections covering in total well over 100 individual circles, dolmens, standing stones, stone rows and burial mounds.  It starts at Ballowall Barrow at Land’s End and finishes at  the Tomb of the Eagles in the Orkneys, but the excellent indexing means that it’s possible to dip in at any point.

Soskin’s presentation of the monuments is constantly informative and fascinating, and his enthusiasm is catching.  But the true stars of this DVD are the stones themselves.  “No photograph can capture the sheer majesty of the place,” Soskin says about Callanish in the Hebrides, but Michael Bott’s beautiful filming manages it.

Most of the time Soskin simply presents the monuments in their geographical context, and lets them speak for themselves, without any theorising or speculation.  Is it a meeting place?  Is it a temple?  Is it an astronomical calendar?  Of Men-an-Tol, for instance, he mentions the folklore about it curing ills and aiding fertility, then says: “People believe all sorts of things, but in reality – and you’ll hear it said a lot on this journey – we just don’t have a clue what it was for.”  When you think how some commentators might have approached this subject, you’re grateful for such a level-headed approach.

In only a couple of places does he speculate, making it quite clear that he is doing so rather than asserting something as “fact”.  At Bryn Celli Ddu, a passage grave on Anglesey, he believes he has discovered that the carved stone pillar at the heart of the chamber is actually a petrified tree trunk – and that some of the cuts on it were made when it was still wood.  If he is right, this is a sensational discovery, but it is obvious scientific study is needed.

He puts forward two theories about Stanton Drew, near Avebury, where an English Heritage magnetometer survey revealed that inside the circle were nine concentric rings of wooden posts a metre apart and each a metre across.  Could this have been an artificial forest where hunters could demonstrate their skills to spectators looking down from the raised bank?  Alternatively, could the posts have supported a floor, as at the Colosseum in Rome but millennia earlier?  “We can only wonder,” he says.

The 3D imaging reconstructions are kept to a minimum and are always relevant; similarly, the occasional music is atmospheric but never intrusive.  Both are the work of director Michael Bott.

In addition to the documentary itself there are nearly four hours of extras, including, amongst much else, a long interview with Soskin and Bott about the making of the film – an eight-year project that involved 8,000 miles (12,870km) of driving – and the inevitable out-takes.  The package also comes with twelve 7x5in (18x13cm) postcards.  Altogether a beautiful and professional piece of work, and extraordinary value for money.

David V Barrett

Fortean Times Verdict: Stunning study of standing stones – a work of art.  9/10″

Wow. We couldn’t have put it better ourselves.