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ARTHUR'S
STONE, BREDWARDINE. SO 318431
A Neolithic passage or chambered tomb, 3700-2500 BC. To get there
take the small road uphill leaving the Red Lion pub in Bredwardine
on your left and just keep going. The road veers right leaving the
Golden View to your right and becomes Arthur Stone lane on the border
of Dorstone and Bredwardine, along the ridge of the hill with a
spectacular view.
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The
stones are surrounded by post and rail and labelled. Turning back
towards Brewardine, there is what is probably a small standing stone
on the left near the gateway in the hedge. This might be connected
with the original shape of the monument see Re-evaluating Monumentality,
Arthur¹s Stone, by George Nash, 3rd Stone vol 45 Winter 2003. Or
it may be an independant single stone or part of a row. These are
often found near barrows as part of a sacred or special area either
predating or post dating the barrow itself.
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BOSBURY
CHURCH STONE SO 6955 4341
This lies flat near the church tower, which is separate from the main
church. The church has a fine medieval preaching cross which originally
stood opposite the porch. When this was moved in 1796, this boulder
was found underneath it. A simple font in the church is all that remains
from the Saxon church. “Stone Spotting in Herefordshire” by Jonathan
Sant (Moondial £6) quotes an l863 magazine that the tone’s ‘location
beneath the cross is curious and seems to imply that it was an idolatrous
stone…” Was this boulder something to do with the original Saxon church
(an altar stone or suchlike) or part of an earlier sacred site, on
which the church was built? |
CROW HILL SO
269 640
At the three way intersection in the middle of the village are three
lumps of stone that look like a broken standing stone of some kind.
What was this? A Roman mile stone? It’s on a Roman road. I cannot
find anything about this at all. I’d welcome more information. |
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MYNYDD
BRITH, VAGAR HILL, DORSTONE SO 2803 3989
This looks more like a gatepost than a standing stone though there
are no holes for hinges etc. |
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It is shaped with a W carved into the top and a surveyor’s mark. “Stone
Spotting in Herefordshire” by Jonathan Sant (Moondial) claims that
it is one crossing place of old tracks, though only one is marked
as a foothpath on the OS. As this is on the parish boundary of Michaelchurch
Escley and Dorstone, not far from the road along a track leading to
Vagar Hill, is it a boundary stone?Or an estate marker? What is the
W? It is not mentioned in the Guide to Prehistoric Roman Sites in
Herefordshire, produced by the Woolhope Club but the online sites
and monuments record (www.smr.herefordshire.gov.uk~) lists it. |
STANFORD
BISHOP CHURCH STONE SO 6822 5158
Just to the right of the gateway of the churchyard stands a stone
in the hedge – about four and a half feet high and about three feet
wide. The Herefordshire sites and monuments record says ‘it is assumed
that the stone is not in its original location.” (Stone tip seen over
the hedgin the picture is just a gravestone.) Worth seeing see St
Augustine’s chair (probably not authentic) inside church. the churchyard
yew is 1,200 years old – authentic! Not far from the church is Jumpers
hole in the Whelpley brook, strewn with boulders. One of them three
horseshoe dents, and an oval hollow. These are said to be the marks
of a witch’s horse. She had stolen loaf of bread and as she jumped
the brook, the loaf fell on to the stone. I looked at the crossing
marked ford on the Explorer map (now with a footbridge) and could
not find this stone. |
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WERN
DERRIS, MICHAELCHURCH ESCLEY SO 3036 3726
The tallest stone in Herefordshire and also known as the King Stone.
Legend has it that a farmer once hitched up 12 horses to move this
tone but could not do so. Actually it fell down of its own accord
due to having so little of itself buried below ground but was restored.
It stands in the countryside of Arthurian legend with Merlin and Mordred
being buried in this area. It is in the valley below. |
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Herefordshire
Arthur's Stone
Bosbury Church Stone
Crow Hill
Mynydd Brith, Vagar Hill, Dorstone
Stanford Bishop Church Stone
Wern Derris, Michaelchurch |
