Travelling south from the Midlands along the Fosse Way, we took a detour to have a wander around the lovely Rollright Stones. It’s been a couple of decades since I was last at Rollright, thankfully this lovely place hasn’t changed much.

The Rollright Stones consist of three monuments, The Whispering Knights, The King’s Men and The King Stone. The sites are all close together, accessible and just a short walk from the road.

In his book, The Modern Antiquarian, Julian Cope describes the Rollrights as ‘From the point of view of the modern traveller, the Rollright Stones are probably one of the most important single monuments in this book. For, here on the ancient Cotswold ridgeway known as the Jurrassic Way, in the heart of the middle of England, and with no other stone circle as their neighbour, The Rollright Stones have come to play a vital lifeline role in the lives of pagans and occultists down the ages.’

The Whispering Knights have been interpreted as the remains of an Early Neolithic Dolmen and is one of the earliest megalithic funerary monuments in Britain. The dolmen probably consisted of two or three upright stones supporting a capstone.

The King’s Men is a stone circle built using beautiful gnarly limestone. The stones form a perfect circle and may have had two portal stones at its entrance. The design and age of this monument places it into the same category of circles such as Castlerigg and Swinside in Cumbria and Ballynoe and Beltany in Ireland. These circles are amongst the oldest in our Islands.

‘The evocative stone circle of the Rollright Stones stands on a prehistoric trackway at the edge of a ridge falling steeply to the north…Its weathered stones of local oolitic limestone were vividly described by Stukeley as ‘corroded like worm-eaten wood, by the harsh jaws of time.’ Aubrey Burl

The King Stone is a single standing stone that was erected during the Bronze Age. Its strange shape has been sculpted by superstition, centuries of people chipping off bits of stone to carry as amulets, . Close to the King Stone are the remains of a Bronze Age round barrow. The only visible remnant of the 17m mound are a few loose stones and one large stone that is thought to be the capstone of the barrow’s chamber.

The Rollright Stones are strange and wonderful, the ruined dolmen and the age and design of stone circle are more typical of Neolithic megalithic monuments that are found along the Atlantic seaboard. The site also has evidence of later Iron Age occupation, a Roman settlement, and a nearby Saxon Burial ground.

I think the key to this site is its location on the edge of a limestone ridge. There is evidence that ridge trackways have been used to navigate across the landscape for many thousands of years. Placing monuments on or close to an ancient ridgeway is a way for a community to mark their territory and signify a space where different groups of people could meet, interact and celebrate whatever beliefs they held regarding the cycle of life, death and the afterlife.

Etymology

Hrolla-landriht, ‘the land of Hrolla.’ Aubrey Burl.

Folklore

In the 1978 edition of her book, Prehistoric Monuments, Archaeologist Jacquetta Hawkes is less than complimentary about the physical appearance of Rollrights which she describes as having ‘weathered badly: pocked and flaking and of no quality of either form or colour.’ I guess that Jacquetta wasn’t a fan of limestone. She was however a little more enthusiastic when it came to the folklore of the stones which she describes as, ’This imaginative marinade in which they have been steeped reveals itself in names which give character and romance to these physically undistinguished stones.’

Another Archaeologist, Leslie Grinsell was a great collector of folklore, he states that ‘this group of monuments has associated with it one of the richest collections of folklore of any British prehistoric site.‘ The categories below are his.

Countless stones – If you count the stones of the King’s Men three times and get the same number each time you will have any wish you care to make.

Animism – At 12 o’clock on News Years Eve, the Rollright Stones would go down to the brook for a drink, they return to their positions at midnight.

Consequence of moving stones – A local farmer took the tallest of the King’s Men to use as a bridge. He recieved no rest until it was returned. A stone was once removed by a farmer, it was dragged downhill using four horses and a waggon. Two men were killed during the operation and the stone was returned. Only a single horse was required to return the stone to its original location.

The Returning Army – The King Stone and his men were turned to stone by a witch but one day the spell will be broken and they will return and rule the land.

The Petrifaction Legend – The local king was taking a walk and met a witch who informed him that;

On the king’s seventh stride his view towards the village of Long Compton was obscured by a mound. The witch then said;

As Long Compton thou canst not see,

King of England thou shalt not be.

Rise up, stick, and stand still, stone.

For king of England thou shalt be none,

Thou and thy men hoar stones shall be,

And I myself an eldern tree.

Midsummer Eve and the Elder Tree – The was a custom for people to visit the King Stone on Midsummer Eve and form a circle. The Elder tree was cut and as it bled the king moved his head.

Removal of Bits of Stone – Peoplewould remove bits of the stones to keep as a protection against the devil.

Mother Shipton – A witch named Mother Shipton was supposedly of the nearby village Shipton-under- Wychwood was reputably the witch who turned the king and his men into stone.

Resources

The Modern Antiquarian by Julian Cope. 1998

Site Plan taken from, The rollright stones; the stonehenge of Oxfordshire; with some account of the ancient druids and sagas rendered into English, illustrated with camera and pen by Henry Taunt. 1886

Plan of the Stone Circle taken from, Megalithic Sites in Britain by A. Thom. 1967

A Guide to the Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland & Brittany by Aubrey Burl. 1995

A Guide to the Prehistoric and Roman Monuments in England & Wales by Jacquetta Hawkes. 1978

Folklore of Prehistoric Sites in Britain by Leslie V. Grinsall. 1976

The Rollright Trust