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Ground Report – Stoney Littleton Long Barrow, Somerset, 07/06/10

Due to moving house (not coincidentally a lot closer to Wiltshire!) I have not been able to visit the most recent formations. However, only three days after the move, this crop circle appeared only a short distance from my new home! 

Despite some (quite amazing) confusion as to the type of crop, I can confirm that the plants are broad beans. Regardless of a familiarity with the plants themselves it is the actual beans growing on many, many stems throughout the formation which gives something of a clue!

 
 

It is true that the location of this crop circle is beautiful. The impressive long barrow seems to be nestled in the middle of nowhere. On the quiet and still evening when we visited the site it certainly was very peaceful and thought provoking.

The features at ground level are not the most amazing thing you will see, but there are points to note. It is intriguing standing in a formation in a field full of beans and surprising in its unfamiliarity. I was reminded of the maize formations of 2008 and 2009, where everything you looked at is like you’ve never seen it before! 

The brittle bean stems in this formation are nearly all laid very flat to the ground, but many do not appear to show much sign of damage and certainly don’t seem crushed. Often the stems are bent quite near to the base (see image below), in other cases the plants have been half uprooted giving the impression that they have not been damaged at all.

 
 

There are stems which have been broken a few inches from the base, but considering how easy it is to cause breakage to these plants, the proportion of these really is minimal. Along the length of most stems there appears to be very little damage.

 
 

In some areas of the formation it is clear to see where visitors have trampled the laid crop. There don’t appear to have been that many people here so this emphasises the amount of damage likely to be caused by foot traffic. There are also lots of plants with flowers intact and occasionally a standing stem or two.

 
 
 

The centres of many of the laid circles are difficult to distinguish from the rest of the crop, but there are places where stems have been swirled more noticeably, in one or two cases mixing the yellow flowering weed (which is prevalent across many parts of the field including within the formation) to create a nice effect (see below).

 
 

This is another intriguing formation and as discussed, a whole new crop circle experience. We look forward to finding out what is coming next…

 

Crop Circle Summary

Location

Stoney Littleton, Somerset

Crop Type

Broad Beans

Design

Line of laid circles and rings with 'arms' made of circles of diminishing size.

Date of First Sighting

07/06/10

Survey Date

08/06/10

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