On a summer morning in June 2026, the body of a 26-year-old man was discovered at the Nine Ladies Stone Circle in the Peak District, killed, police said, "in the most brutal way." The death, which came after summer solstice celebrations at the Bronze Age monument, has put a spotlight on a site that has been a place of ritual, rave and reverence for centuries.
The Nine Ladies Stone Circle is a Bronze Age monument on Stanton Moor in Derbyshire, within the Peak District National Park. It consists of a ring of nine small stones, traditionally believed to depict nine ladies turned to stone as a penalty for dancing on Sunday. The site is considered sacred by modern Pagan groups, who use it for rituals, including weddings and seasonal celebrations such as the summer solstice. In recent years, it has also become a gathering place for unofficial solstice parties and raves, drawing hundreds of people.
“Explains the Nine Ladies Stone Circle, its Bronze Age origins, solstice gatherings, and the 2026 murder.”
The summer solstice, which falls around 21 June, is the longest day of the year and has been celebrated at prehistoric sites across Britain for thousands of years. At Nine Ladies, as at Stonehenge, people gather to mark the sunrise and the turning of the seasons. However, unlike Stonehenge, which is managed by English Heritage and has controlled access, Nine Ladies is an open, unprotected site on moorland, making it a focal point for informal, unlicensed events.
The murder of Isaac Clare-Watts, a 26-year-old joiner from Arnold, Nottinghamshire, has highlighted the potential dangers of such unregulated gatherings. A 41-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder and remains in custody. Police are urgently appealing for anyone who attended the solstice event between 19 and 23 June to come forward, particularly those with video footage. Detective Inspector Tony Owen of the East Midlands Special Operations Unit said that attendees may hold "the key piece of information" needed to understand what happened.
For UK readers, the case raises questions about the safety of unofficial gatherings at remote heritage sites. Many such sites are not staffed or monitored, and large, sometimes alcohol-fuelled crowds can gather with little oversight. The Nine Ladies circle, like other ancient monuments, is also a protected scheduled monument, meaning any damage or disturbance is illegal. Yet police and heritage bodies often struggle to police these gatherings, especially when they occur overnight.
Q: Where is the Nine Ladies Stone Circle? It is located on Stanton Moor in the Peak District, near the village of Stanton Lees in Derbyshire. The site is open access on common land and can be visited freely.
Q: Why is it called the Nine Ladies? Local folklore says the stones are nine ladies who were turned to stone as punishment for dancing on a Sunday. There is also a separate king stone nearby, said to be a fiddler who played for them.
Q: Are there other similar stone circles in the UK? Yes. Britain has hundreds of Bronze Age stone circles, including Stonehenge, Avebury, and the Rollright Stones. Many are associated with solstice celebrations, but Nine Ladies is distinctive for its small size and remote moorland setting.
What happens next will depend on the police investigation. The arrested man remains in custody, and officers are still gathering evidence and appealing for witnesses. The case may also prompt a wider conversation about how to manage solstice gatherings at unprotected heritage sites – balancing public access, pagan traditions, and public safety.