Gun Point Stones
The Stones are part of the wider Thirlmere Stone Circuit - The Valley of Styans. The entire circuit consists of the Thirlmere Feat Stone, the Stenoch Stones, the Nags Head Stones, the Daleshead Stones and the Wythburn Church Stones.
Weights
Ravens Egg - 78kg / 171 lbs
Middle Stone - 119kg / 262lbs
Thirlmere Feat Stone - 192kg / 422lbs
Location
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The Challenges
Ravens Egg - Break ground, Lap, Chest, Shoulder
Middle Stone - Break ground, Lap, Chest, Shoulder
Thirlmere Feat Stone - Break ground, Lap, Chest
Name Origin
The Gun Point Stones take their name from the defensive positions established during the Second World War, when soldiers were stationed at Thirlmere Reservoir to protect the vital water supply from potential air attack. Gun emplacements were constructed near the dam, positioned to defend this critical infrastructure from enemy aircraft.
Stone Placement
These modern Stones were placed by conortoms_strongman, sherlock_stones and andrewr462 in the bleak midwinter. The Thirlmere Feat Stone weighs 192kg and is part of the Thirlmere Loop Stone Tour. The Stone was discovered sticking out of the ground as part of the old forest road foundations and moved and placed 10 feet to where it sits now.
Its companion Stones; the Middle Stone (still to be ordained with its offical title) is slightly longer and offers lifters a progressive incremnet towards the heavier stone.
The Ravens Egg - is a nice, round 78kg stone, named after a famous Crag towering over the valley, Raven Crag.
Overlooking the valley like three guardians, the stones stand watch as British soldiers once did — a perfect setting for an ancient test of strength.
History
Human activity around Thirlmere stretches back to the Mesolithic period (c. 8000–4000 BC), when hunter-gatherers moved seasonally through the valley, followed by Neolithic communities (c. 4000–2500 BC) linked to the Langdale stone-axe industry.
Although no Roman settlement stood at Thirlmere itself, nearby forts and roads connected the region during the Roman period (AD 43–410), while local folklore later spoke of mists and spirits haunting the high ground. After Rome, the valley lay within the Brittonic kingdom of Rheged before strong Norse influence from c. AD 800, reflected in place-names and legends of trolls and hidden beings in the fells.
Thirlmere remained a remote sheep-farming valley through the medieval period (c. 1066–1500), crossed by packhorse routes, giving rise to stories of ghost lights and drowned bells. Between 1890 and 1894, the valley was dammed and flooded to create Thirlmere Reservoir for Manchester, submerging farms and settlements—an event that endures in local folklore claiming the sound of church bells can still be heard beneath the water.
Today, within the Lake District National Park, Thirlmere remains a landscape where ancient paths, stones, and stories coexist with the modern reservoir.
