Ground Report – St. Martin’s Chapel, Chisbury, Wiltshire 03/07/10

Another crop circle, another ancient site and another beautiful location within the Wiltshire countryside. This is another beauty and is understandably attracting many visitors despite the less than prominent position.

One of the most striking features within this crop circle is the size of the laid areas of crop. In between the points of the central star and out towards the ‘kite’ shaped elements there is a considerable amount of flattened crop. In all of these areas the crop flows nicely clockwise in a wide swathe and then overlaps itself following the inner edges of the star to create a stunning effect as light reflects in different directions (see below).

Throughout this formation there are stems showing little or no damage from having been laid to the ground. Interestingly, there also appear to be whole sections where this is not the case and stems are crushed or show white lines from having been ‘folded’ in the process. Whether or not this can be entirely attributed to visitors is unclear as the damaged areas are not always in the parts which have obviously been walked on more. The two photos below show these contrasting effects.

Unlike the two crop circles we have visited previously, the edges of the laid areas of crop here at Chisbury show no sign of additional damage and in fact are often the parts where damage is least obvious.What is continued, however, is the pattern of satellite circles containing standing centres or being laid flat. This formation alternates these two approaches and here this seems more ‘planned’ than in the other two. Some of the standing centres appear to be of good quality with large bunches of stems untouched.

In one of the outlying circles (with a central standing tuft) there is an amount of white/orange powder on the ground and the laid crop itself. We know little about the appearance of fertilisers or anything else used by farmers so this could be something as simple as that, however, while the majority of the power lies in the ground under the laid stems, there is a considerable amount on the crop. Again it is difficult to say whether this could have been disturbed and brushed over the stems by visitors but it is still interesting to note.

It appears that the slight bending of nodes in some parts of this formation is due to phototropism, although sometimes the direction does seem more sideways than upwards and this effect is not apparent everywhere.

The central star really is well constructed and stands out beautifully against the laid crop surrounding it. Each of the five points is clearly defined and in standing crop looks impressive.

Another massive thank you to the farmer for allowing visitors to this field. Please do respect the fact that this crop represents someone’s livelihood and don’t trample through the rest of the standing wheat, keep to the tramlines at all times.Please also give as much money as you can afford as it does make a difference to the whole of the crop circle community when farmers are generous and forward thinking enough to allow us in.