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Stone Temple Gardening
Where Land Meets Sky
Landscape First, Monument Second
Stone Temple Gardening explores ancient monuments through the landscapes that shaped them.
Since my teenage years I have been drawn to prehistoric sites, from famous monuments such as Stonehenge and Avebury to obscure standing stones, hidden burial chambers, ridges, rivers, outcrops and forgotten paths. My work begins with a simple idea: the land comes first. Routes, horizons, natural features and movement through place often shaped how monuments were built, used and remembered.
I am a historian by training, not an archaeologist, which gives this project its particular voice. Stone Temple Gardening combines field observation, photography, archaeoastronomy, folklore, sensory experience and careful speculation to ask how ancient people may have encountered the living landscape before stone made those encounters permanent.
All My Stories
All My Stories
Robin Hood’s Stride, Peak District: A Prehistoric Ridge from Stanton Moor to the Grey Ladies
A walk from Stanton Moor to Robin Hood’s Stride reveals a prehistoric ridge shaped by movement, rock art and natural landmarks. From the Cork Stone through Rowtor Rocks and Cratcliffe to the Grey Ladies stone circle, this is not just a route but a sequence of encounters where monuments respond to the land.
Apr 1211 min read
The Grey Ladies of Nine Stones Close: A Peak District Stone Circle and Lunar Landscape
The Grey Ladies of Nine Stones Close emerge slowly from the White Peak moor, a stone circle that gathers space rather than dominates it. Through movement, marking and horizon, this essay explores its relationship with Robin Hood’s Stride and a landscape shaped not by alignment, but by prehistoric human attention to form and return.
Apr 510 min read
The Dolmen of Llech-y-Drybedd: Reading Stone, Serpent, and Sky in the Preseli Landscape.
Llech y Drybedd is often described as a dolmen, but its power lies less in classification than in how it is encountered. This essay explores form, landscape, and perception, asking how prehistoric monuments emerge from their settings and continue to act upon the body, the eye, and the imagination.
Jan 1114 min read
Pentre Ifan & the Preseli Bluestones: Exploring Wales’ Ancient Dolmens, Myth & the Bluestones of Stonehenge.
Explore Pentre Ifan, the iconic Neolithic portal tomb of the Preseli Hills. Thought to date to around 3500 BC, its massive capstone stands poised above three upright stones, overlooking the landscape where Stonehenge’s bluestones began their journey.
Nov 13, 202513 min read
Between Worlds: Samhain, Halloween, and the Shadow of the Sun.
As autumn’s light fades, At the Gates of Winter explores the ancient roots of Samhain and Halloween — from the stone circles of Avebury and Grange to Ireland’s sacred mounds where the sun once set between worlds. Discover how Neolithic alignments, Celtic fire festivals, and modern traditions still mark our timeless dialogue between darkness and renewal.
Oct 31, 202510 min read
Discovering Gors Fawr Stone Circle and My Find of a Possible New Ancient Polissoir Stone
Explore the sacred landscape of the Preseli Hills — birthplace of Stonehenge’s bluestones and home to the enigmatic Gors Fawr stone circle. Join Dr Alexander Peach as he revisits this ancient site after twenty years to uncover new insights into its alignments, mythology, and a hidden polissoir stone. Discover how craft, cosmology, and landscape converged in Neolithic Wales to shape one of Britain’s most profound ceremonial landscapes.
Oct 26, 202516 min read
The Traditions of the Autumn Equinox: A Sacred Balance of Earth and Sky
Discover the meaning of the Autumn Equinox in ancient traditions, from Stonehenge to Celtic harvest rites. Explore how prehistoric monuments marked the balance of day and night, guiding farming, ritual, and myth across the ages.”
It’s under 300 characters, keyword-rich (Autumn Equinox, traditions, prehistoric monuments, harvest, Stonehenge, balance of day and night), and works both as a search snippet and a blog introduction.
Sep 22, 20257 min read
Stonehenge Cosmology: The Temple We’re Not Allowed to See.
This essay challenges dominant archaeological interpretations of Stonehenge by foregrounding its solar alignments, symbolic meaning, and cosmological significance. Drawing on Kuhn’s paradigm theory, ethnographic analogy, and firsthand research at Bryn Celli Ddu, it calls for a renewed understanding of Neolithic monumentality beyond funerary models.
Aug 6, 20259 min read
Stone, Sun, and Spirit: My Summer Solstice Journey to Bryn Celli Ddu
Experience the 2025 summer solstice at Bryn Celli Ddu, Anglesey’s most iconic Neolithic tomb. In this richly illustrated post, Alexander Peach returns to witness the sunrise light enter the chamber, illuminating a quartz-veined stone and casting an axe-shaped beam. Explore the sacred landscape, solar alignments, and new archaeological insights into the Gorsedd, Sun Stone, and Tyddyn Bach. A powerful blend of myth, history, and first-hand observation.
Jul 6, 202515 min read
Unveiling the Cosmic Mysteries of Bryn Celli Ddu: Explore the Celestial Secrets of the Neolithic Solstice Sun
Exploration of Ancient astronomy at Bryn Celli Ddu, Anglesey, Wales, UK
Apr 4, 202531 min read
Spring Equinox: The Hidden Alignments of Ancient Monuments
The spring equinox marks a moment of perfect balance between light and darkness—but for ancient societies, it was far more than an astronomical event. Across the world, monuments were aligned to capture this moment, revealing hidden connections between landscape, light, and the sky.
Mar 19, 202515 min read
Poems of the Winter Solstice: Reflections on Renewal, Ancient Rituals, and the Spirit of the Season
Welcome to Stone Temple Gardening where we dig deep to cultivate new understandings of our past. Today is January 1st of 2025 and I wish all my readers a Happy New Year! As the year has turned towards its quietest moments and the world gathers itself in the arms of winter and the promise of a new year, I want to pause and thank each of you dear readers, for walking this literary journey with me. I embarked upon this blog as a humble dalliance, a vessel to navigate the vast, m
Jan 1, 202510 min read
Solstice Rites and Winter Lights: Myth and Magic From Stonehenge to Today.
The Winter Solstice, that fleeting hinge of the year when the night stretches longest and the sun lingers, pale and frail in its winter repose, has long captivated human imagination. Across ancient cultures, this moment marked a profound threshold—a time when the dominance of darkness gave way to rituals of hope, renewal, and the promise of light’s return. These sacred and celebratory traditions offer a glimpse into humanity’s enduring dialogue with the cosmos: between the ea
Dec 21, 202425 min read
Her Dreams Are Carved in Crystal: The Thirteen Moons of Callanish and the Sacred Echoes of the Sleeping Goddess
A New Theory of the Callainish Stones as a sacred landscape figure connected to the worship of the Moon Goddess.
Dec 9, 202420 min read
Pathways to Eternity: Exploring the Architecture and Cosmology of Neolithic Passage Graves
Welcome to Stone Temple Gardening where we dig deep to cultivate new understandings of the past! Gavrinis Brittany Introduction: From Earth to Sky—Uncovering Neolithic Connections to the Cosmos In my last two posts I explored the evolution of the symbolic shapes of early Neolithic monuments such as long barrows, henges, and passage graves. I argue that they are more than ancient ruins; they are keys to understanding a worldview that once connected humanity, the land, and the
Nov 18, 202414 min read
Beyond Stonehenge: Uncovering the Forgotten World of Neolithic Henges and Their Cosmic Connections
Henge Rising Introduction A henge is a type of prehistoric earthwork structure from the Neolithic and early Bronze Age, dating back roughly 3000–2000 BC. It features a distinctive circular or oval earthen enclosure defined by an outer ring-shaped bank and an inner ditch, which enclose a central area. Although fewer than 100 surviving examples exist across Britain and Ireland today, it’s likely that many more henges were originally constructed. Typically, henges feature one or
Nov 4, 202412 min read
Whispers of the Ancients: Exploring the Secrets of Neolithic Long Barrows in the UK
Imagined Neolithic Ritual at a Long Barrow Introduction Imagine a lush, verdant landscape at dusk, the sky painted with shades of deep purple and orange. In front of the West Kennet Long Barrow, a group of Neolithic people gathers, their figures cloaked in simple, earth-toned garments adorned with natural symbols and beads. They form a circle, holding hands, as flickering torches cast dancing shadows on the ancient stones. The air is thick with the scent of burning herbs, and
Oct 6, 202410 min read
Solstices, Equinoxes, and the Ancient Wonders: How Our Ancestors Harnessed the Seasons at Stonehenge and Beyond
Welcome everybody to Stone Temple Gardening, cultivating new understandings of the ancient past today…and today is the Autumn Equinox! As the cool winds of autumn stir the amber leaves, and the days grow shorter, we find ourselves in a season of reflection and change. For our ancient ancestors, this was not just a time of harvest and preparation, but a sacred moment, deeply connected to the movements of the sun and the cycles of nature. In the shadows of towering megaliths li
Sep 21, 202413 min read
The Glacial Striations Beneath the Stonehenge Avenue: A Hidden Tale of Earth's Ice Age Past and the Mesolithic Foundation of the Sacred Stonehenge Landscape.
When we think of Stonehenge, what usually comes to mind is its iconic stone circle, shrouded in mystery and speculation about its...
Sep 15, 20247 min read
The Neolithic World and the Astronomy of Avebury Stone Circle, Silbury Hill, West Kennet Long Barrow, The Sanctury and Longstones Cove. Part 2.
The Neolithic World and the Astronomy of Avebury Stone Circle, Silbury Hill, West Kennet Long Barrow, The Sanctury and Longstones Cove. As we have seen in my previus post Neolithic Astronomy at Avebury Henge, Neolithic people were aware of the movements of the Sun, the passage of time via the Lunar calendar. However, they were also aware of the fixed way the stars and galactic centre rose, set, and circled both ends of the polar axis. Astronomy is arguably the first science
Sep 1, 20249 min read
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