There’s more to stone circles in England than Stonehenge
and Avebury.
It’s just that the rest are smaller and as such they don’t tend to get much of
a look-in. Today, though, I’m going to take a closer look at one of the smaller, lesser-known ones. The Rollright Stones can be found in the Cotswolds and are reckoned to
date back to the Neolithic period. The reasons behind their construction have
been lost in the mists of time (our Neolithic ancestors lived in a pre-literacy
age) although the stones themselves were sourced locally – from within a few
miles of the circle, archaeologists reckon. The lack of a reason for building a
stone circle has created a void that’s been filled by a ‘petrification’ myth (the
stones are people who were turned to stone) which has been used in times past
to explain how they came to be, with the myth having become part of the story
(for, as the man once said, when the legend becomes fact, print the legend).
The Rollrights are by no means alone in having a petrification myth attached to
them.
They’re located high on the eastern edge of the Cotswolds
(around 220 metres, or just over 720 feet, above sea level according to the
Ordnance Survey map which covers the area) just off the A3400 on the
Oxfordshire/Warwickshire border. The stone circle, known as the King’s Men, is
just over a hundred feet in diameter and consists of some 77 closely-placed stones
(oolitic limestone, this being the Cotswolds – that’s the material that forms
the bedrock of the Cotswolds and which has been used as the local building
material of choice for centuries; to this day it is still quarried as Cotswold
stone) although legend has it that it is supposed to be impossible to count
them all, and if you manage to do so and get the same number three times you
get to make a wish!
The location is almost nondescript, or perhaps the word
should be modest – parking is in a lay-by on a minor road just off the A3400,
and within yards from the road just to the south you’re confronted with the
circle which seems almost discreetly tucked away to the side. The private
charity that runs it, the Rollright Trust, doesn’t have anyone there to meet
and greet but there is an honesty-box next to the gate (it’s £1 per adult).
There’s nothing stopping you from touching the stones should you so desire,
although sitting on them is frowned upon as it would add to the erosion of the
stones. Every now and again, a visitor is confronted with the sight of the
occasional neo-pagan who’s gone there for some meditation (pagan groups can
book the site for ceremonies, and the Trust apparently stages an annual
Shakespeare production in the circle).
As well as the circle, there’s also a free-standing
monolith called the King Stone which is located on the north side of the road,
which at this point also serves as the border between the counties of
Oxfordshire and Warwickshire. This is likely to have been erected as a marker
for a burial area, for archaeologists have found much by way of evidence of
cremated human remains having been buried in the immediate vicinity. Its
strange shape can be explained by the fact that it suffered at the hands of
nineteenth-century souvenir-hunters (who, as was the case with Stonehenge,
often came to visit with a hammer and chisel at the ready), and not long after legal
protection was introduced for ancient monuments in 1882 the King Stone was encircled
by railings to prevent further damage.
Finishing off the ancient monuments that make up the
Rollright Stones is a portal dolmen – a Neolithic burial chamber which is
several hundred yards east of the circle. It consists of four upright stones
(plus a capstone which is now lying on the ground) and is known as the
Whispering Knights. They make for an interesting stop if you’re in the area;
the Cotswold towns of Chipping Norton and Moreton-in-Marsh aren’t far away, and
nor for that matter is Hook Norton with its brewery, while they’re located just
over half-way between Oxford and Stratford-upon-Avon. So, if you’re going for a
drive around the Cotswolds, why not take a look?
The names given to the various component parts of the
Rollrights relate to the ‘petrification’ myth attached to them. The story goes
that a king was riding across the country with his followers when they were
stopped by a witch (sometimes credited as Mother Shipton) who challenged the
king to walk forward, with the promise that if he could see the nearby village
of Long Compton he would be King of England. However, his view was blocked by
the rising ground, at which point the witch turned him to stone. She then
promptly did the same to the king’s followers, who’d gathered in a circle to
discuss the challenge, and then she did likewise to four of the followers who
had lagged behind, quite possibly to discuss a plot against the king; they
became the Whispering Knights.
An interesting story, for the King Stone does indeed
stand just below the ridge from which you can see Long Compton which is on
lower ground to the north (and a lovely view it is too).
Another story about
the stones is of a more recent vintage and comes from Doctor Who, for the Rollrights were used as a filming location for
that show, back in Tom Baker’s day. In it, the stones were used as a worship-site
by modern-day druids but they (the stones, not the druids) turned out to be
blood-sucking aliens in disguise!
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