PLANS to provide an interpretation panel at the site of a 5,000-year-old stone circle in the Lake District have been given the green light.

The Lake District National Park Authority has approved proposals lodged by Alice Lewthwaite to place an interpretation panel next to Swinside Stone Circle which is located on the fells above the Duddon Valley between Broughton-in-Furness and Millom.

Planning documents say the stone circle, also known as ‘Sunkenkirk’, dates back to around 3,000BC and consists of 54 standing stones, making it one of the most complete stone circle megalithic sites left standing in the British Isles.

According to a report by planning officers, the panel will provide members of the public with historical information about the site.

A design and access statement says: “The proposal is to provide one A1 size interpretation panel on a plinth that will inspire visitors to step back in time to imagine those who moved the stones into place, why they might have gone to the trouble, how the stone circle works, and what significance it might have had to them and their communities.”

The information panel installation will not interfere with the views of the stones, or the way that the sun or moon alignments across the stones can be seen, plans add.

The design and access statement says the stone circle is listed with Historic England as a scheduled monument.

An extract from the listing says: “As a rare monument type which provides an important insight into prehistoric ritual activity all surviving examples are worthy of preservation.

“Sunkenkirk Stone Circle, 230m south east of Swinside, is a well-preserved and excellent example of a rare monument type. The value of the monument is not only held in its above ground structural form, but also in its below ground archaeological deposits contained within features such as stone sockets and infilled pits.

“The monument lies within a dramatic landscape setting, typical of many stone circles, and it provides important insight into the character of Neolithic/Bronze Age cosmology and ritual practice.”

The advertisement consent application was approved by the LDNPA on July 9.