The Castlerigg Project

Follow-up Ley-Lines Work

(Also see the original document scan PDF)

THE CASTLERIGG PROJECT.

LEY LINES.

INTRODUCTION.

In December 1975 a team from Keswick School entered a competition to try to win a computer.

The project was intended to study the mathematics of megalithic stone circles. One of the sections of the project was concerned with ley lines.

The team set out to investigate the claim of Watkins (1925), that there is a widespread network of leys or lines linking up ancient sites, using computer techniques.

The results showed that there were no significant differences between the number of leys from real data, and a random set of sites.

On further checking some of the data was found to be incorrect.

The data was therefore re-collected and re-tested for leys; new random data also being generated.

Copies of the various programs are provided.

LEY LINES DATA COLLECTION.

Data collected by MARGARET C. WYLIE and DAVID J. WYLIE.

Data was collected from an Ordnance Survey one inch-one mile tourist map of the Lake District.

100 sites were found & checked; and classified as follows:

STONE CIRCLE .............	1
CAIRN CIRCLE .............	2
CAIRN ....................	3
SETTLEMENT ...............	4
TUMULUS ..................	5
ENCLOSURES & OTHERS ......	6

Of the 100 sites :

11	were stone circles.
4	were cairn circles.
50	were cairns.
5	were settlements.
12	were tumuli.
18	were enclosures etc.

The data is shown in table 1.

N.B: The site numbers are for reference only and have no indication of the position of the site.

LEY LINES DATA. (TABLE 1)

SITE NUMBER	REFERENCE		TYPE	NAME OF SITE (IF ANY) OR AREA
SITE NUMBER	X	Y	TYPE	NAME OF SITE (IF ANY) OR AREA
1	251	826	1	Gill House Beck
2	252	830	3	Brunt Riggs
3	279	844	1	Lowick
4	286	841	3	Lowick
5	264	856	3	Subberthwalte
6	172	882	1	Swinside
7	251	883	3	Kirby Moor
8	256	880	2	Kirby Moor
9	266	890	3	Cocken Skell
10	266	909	3	Yew Bank
11	272	905	3	Tarn Riggs
12	313	902	3	Bethecar Moor
13	111	919	6	Near Bank
14	205	910	3	Stonescar
15	205	915	3	Stonescar
16	211	925	3	Stickle Pike
17	273	925	3	Torver Low Common
18	278	924	3	Torver Low Common
19	134	938	3	Waberthwaite Fell
20	135	939	6	Waberthwaite Fell
21	215	935	3	Stainton Ground
22	271	939	3	Souter-Stead
23	135	945	3	Stainton Beck
24	266	945	3	Bleaberry Haws
25	135	958	3	Black Beck
26	268	950	1	Bleaberry Haws
27	269	959	3	Torver High Common
28	135	961	4	Black Beck
29	151	969	3	Devoke Water
30	188	968	3	Warm Crag
31	277	963	3	Little Arrow Moor
32	285	966	3	Little Arrow Moor
33	323	964	3	Thurston
34	155	975	3	Water Crag
35	245	974	6	Long House Gill
36	287	975	6	Heathwaite
37	291	980	3	Church Beck
38	216	1014	3	Hardknott
39	221	1014	3	Hardknott
40	173	1024	2	Longrigg
41	173	1028	3	Longrigg
42	103	1054	3	Hollow Moor
43	123	1063	3	Windsor
44	100	1077	3	Stockdale Moor
45	99	1080	3	Stockdale Moor
46	115	1077	3	Stockdale Moor
47	96	1089	3	Stockdale Moor
48	107	1083	3	Stockdale Moor
49	140	1085	3	Nether Wasdale
50	88	1099	3	Boat How

LEY LINES DATA. (TABLE 1) CONTINUED.

SITE NUMBER	REFERENCE		TYPE	NAME OF SITE (IF ANY) OR AREA
SITE NUMBER	X	Y	TYPE	NAME OF SITE (IF ANY) OR AREA
51	105	1096	3	Cawfell Beck
52	86	1105	3	Boat How
53	90	1116	3	Lank Rigg
54	215	1167	3	Hindscarth
55	291	1236	1	Castlerigg
56	105	1304	6	Cockermouth
57	177	1317	1	Elva Plain
58	225	1355	5	Binsey
59	141	1380	6	Eweclose
60	196	1377	6	Bothel
61	258	1385	5	Aughtree
62	262	1382	6	Aughtree
63	287	1394	6	Thistlebottom
64	495	868	3	Levens
65	531	888	6	Castlesteads
66	338	981	3	Hawkshead
67	438	1009	4	High Borrans
68	460	1025	4	Millrigg
69	425	1076	3	Troutbeck Park
70	469	1129	5	Birks Crag
71	457	1137	5	Low Raise
72	535	1135	5	Ralfland Forest
73	366	1132	1	Shap
74	556	1155	5	Shap
75	490	1163	6	Bampton Common
76	491	1163	3	Bampton Common
77	500	1163	3	Bampton Common
78	494	1179	1	Towtop Kirk
79	459	1193	6	Brock Crag
80	500	1196	5	Rough Hill
81	528	1193	1	Knipe Moor
82	499	1203	5	Beckfoot
83	482	1218	5	Tarn Moor
84	496	1219	2	Moor Divock
85	482	1222	1	Moor Divock
86	489	1225	5	Moor Divock
87	494	1222	3	Moor Divock
88	494	1229	5	Moor Divock
89	330	1240	4	Threlkeld Common
90	410	1246	6	Greenrow
91	537	1243	6	Newtown
92	397	1254	5	Great Mell Fell
93	519	1259	4	Tirril
94	564	1263	2	Whinfell
95	485	1275	6	Stainton
96	419	1282	6	Beckside
97	519	1285	1	Penrith
98	483	1305	3	Mossthorn
99	417	1313	6	Berrier Hill
100	481	1315	6	Newton Reigny

RANDOM DATA

Sets of 100 random sites were generated in the computer.

The data was then processed in the same way as the real data.

The random sites were generated on an area identical to that of the map used for the real data.

A copy of the data generating program is provided.

The ley detecting program was run with various sets of random data to eliminate the possibility of freak sets of random data giving misleading results.

LEY LINES DATA PROCESSING.

To determine if three sites are in line the following method was used:

1) The length of each side of the triangle made by the sites was found from the site co-ordinates.