Thursday was dry and mild with sunshine at times so leaving B to garden D and I journeyed to Arthur's Stone. It took about 50 minutes and in actual fact is only about 5 minutes further than Brobury House Gardens and Bredwardine. D has wanted to visit the chambered tomb for ages.
Arthur's Stone, looked after by English Heritage, is an atmospheric 5000 year old burial chamber made of stone slabs set on Merbach Hill 280 metres above sea level. It overlooks Herefordshire's Golden Valley. It dates from around 3500BC and is 1 of the most northerly chambered tombs of the Severn Cotswold Group which is a series of 200 Middle and Late Neolithic monuments scattered all over the SW Midlands and Central Wales.
It is one of a possible five tombs that are found in the Neolithic landscape of the Northern Marches of the Golden Valley. This area is rich in long barrows and standing stones. Flint scatters and stone axes have been found which illustrate use of the Upper Golden Valley throughout the Neolithic. Originally Arthur's Stone was covered by an oval mound 26 metres by 17 metres and the tomb has nine upright stones which form a polygonal chamber. An unusual right angled passage at the entrance can be seen in one of the photos below. The huge capstone is believed to weigh about 25 tonnes.
The size and weight of the uprights and capstone suggest it took a long time to build and many people would have been involved in its construction. Bill Startin (1981) suggests a tomb like this might have taken between 7000 and 15000 hours labour to construct.
Folklore
One legend suggests it gets its name because King Arthur fought a batttle here. Arthur was killed and buried inside the chamber. Another story suggest that there was a battle between Arthur and a giant. The latter was killed and fell on the stones with his elbows creating hollows on one of the stones.
The stones marking what is probably a false entrance contain cupmarks. Little is known about these but they date from the Bronze Age. They may have been due to defacement or re-use of the tomb for social and political rather than ritual purposes. The one upright has 12 cupmarks. I did look for them but failed to find any! However later research suggests they are only a few cms in diameter and I was looking for something much bigger.
The capstone split into pieces is orientated NE to SW with the latter end pointing towards the southern section of the Golden Valley and towards the Black Mountains.
It is unlikely it was was just used as a tomb. Rituals of the ancestors when claims to a particular area of land could be made, may have taken place here. The tomb is in an area of summer pasture and Neolithic people may have met here on a seasonal basis.
It is possible the stone provided inspiration for CS Lewis as in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe the stone table on which Aslan was sacrificed may have been based on the monument. I believe Tolkien and C S Lewis used to walk in the area.
Some people who have visited the stone have heard a strange low frequency buzzing sound that gets louder and louder before suddenly ceasing. No normal source for this noise has been found.
Last summer archaelogists were granted permisssion to excavate part of the site.
Features unearthed include what could be stone steps leading up to the tomb and Neolithic tools. Drones were used to look for possible signs of other ancient burial sites nearby which could mean that Arthur's Stone was an important meeting place like Avebury or Stone Henge.
After leaving Arthur's Stone we drove to the village of Dorstone to look round and visit the church but I will write about that in a separate post.
I hope everyone is staying safe and well.
Photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera and those marked *D by my son with the Canon SX50HS bridge camera. (I don't particularly rate most of my photos but if anyone wishes to use one of mine or my son's I would be grateful for an email first - thanks)
Reference - English Heritage Website pages on Arthur's Stone
"Prehistoric Site of Herefordshire" by George Nash Logaston Press
"Haunted Herefordshire" by Rupert Matthews Logaston Press
11 comments:
Hello, Timothy!
Tolkien and Lewis both drew heavily on ancient history for their writings, both native and Scandinavian, as you and I both know. I can certainly see the influence that this one may have had on CS Lewis for Aslan’s sacrificial altar, especially as he seems to have walked much in this area.
We also both know that cromlechs, also known as dolmens, abound in Wales. It would be interesting to know how many of them are called Arthur’s Seat or Bedd {grave} One local to me is known Arthur’s Quoit. He certainly got around didn't he, our King Arthur!
Lovely photos, great selection of angles giving a superb overview of the site, which in itself is in a particularly picturesque situation.
Rustic Pumpkin - Thanks so much and Timothy says hello :)
Yes I can definitely see CS Lewis may have been inspired by this tomb.
I was glad I took David to this one as we both regretted not having time on Anglesey to see Bryn Celli ddu! These places are so atmospheric and such a sense of history and the past! Yes King Arthur certainly did get around!! One of these days we will have a holiday in your lovely area :)
It was an amazing site with tremedous views. I was relieved to be able to park there as otherwise a rather steep uphill climb of over a mile from Dorstone. My days of hill climbing I suspect are over!
Glad you got there at last. I should have said it was just up the hill from Bredwardine! Great to be able to park alongside it, and enjoy those wonderful views as well as the archaeology. You gave it a great write-up.
Hello Timothy.... still not an account I see... bad Human
I have never been to this site which is pretty awful. I must rectify this so thanks for the prompt.
Bovey Belle - Thanks so much. Yes I had a swollen foot and ankle (side effect intermittently I think of bp tablets so walking up that hill would not have been good!)!
The Quacks of Life - Thanks so much and yes I know re: Timothy I am a bad human - one day....... Yes do go there when next in Herefordshire and visit nearby Brobury House Gardens and Bredwardine church if you haven't been :)
What an amazing place, your photos are wonderful. I'd love to visit one day. I remember seeing something on the local news about the dig there. I gather from Bovey Belle's comment that parking isn't too far away which would be a bonus for me at the moment:)
Rosie - Thanks so much. You really must try and visit. I think you could visit the dig but with limited parking you may have had to walk from Dorstone. There are 2 or 3 spaces right by the dolmen. We were lucky only one other car there! I think weekends and bank holidays may be best avoided though. Hence my timing!
I had to smile when Timothy popped up! An amazing site full of history. It will be interesting if more digs are allowed to see what might turn up. There must be a lot hidden in what remains of the mound!
Millymollymandy - Thanks so much. I don't always remember to get Timothy out of my bag!!! I am hoping there will be more info available at some stage on what was found on this dig. As you say there may well be a lot hidden!
Arthur' Tomb looks fascinating, I will have to see if I can find it.
When looking for cup and ring markings on stones in Northumberland I have always been unsuccessful.
CherryPie - Thank you - its well worth a visit. I don't think the lichen helps when you ae searching and of course I thought they were much bigger than they are!
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