Rollright Stones

The Rollright Stones is the name of a complex of megalithic monuments near the village of Long Compton in England, lying across the border between the counties of Oxfordshire and Warwickshire (gbmapping|SP2930). It consists of three separate sites:

* The "King's Men", approximately 70 closely-spaced stones that form a stone circle of diameter 33 metres. The stones are set on top of a circular bank with an entrance to the southeast marked by two portal stones. The site is unexcavated and so can only be loosely dated to the late Neolithic or early Bronze Age. It was restored in 1882.

* The "King Stone", a single, weathered monolith, 2.4 metres high by 1.5 metres wide, standing 76 metres east of the King's Men. Some archaeoastronomers claimed ancient knowledge of an alignment between the King Stone, the centre of the King's Men circle and the star Capella as it rose in the sky. However, carbon dating of material found beneath the stone during an excavation in 1982 put the mean date of its erection at 1792 BC, much later than the other sites. The King Stone is more likely to have been a marker stone serving a now-destroyed cairn burial site.

* The "Whispering Knights", the remains of the burial chamber of an early or middle Neolithic portal dolmen lying 400 metres east of the King's Men. Four standing stones survive, forming a chamber about 2 square metres in area around a fifth recumbent stone, probably the collapsed roof. In 1764, William Stukeley visited the site and saw the remains of a round barrow.

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Folklore

Numerous folktales are associated with the stones, including the tale that a king was riding across the county with his army when he was accosted by a witch. She said to him:

: "Seven long strides thou shalt take, And if Long Compton thou canst see, King of England thou shalt be!"

His troops gathered in circle to together to discuss the challenge and his knights muttered amongst themselves – but the king boldy took seven steps forward. Rising ground blocked his view of Long Compton in the valley and the witch cackled:

: "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 elder tree!"

The king became the solitary King Stone, while nearby his soldiers formed a cromlech, or circle, called the King's Men. As the witch prepared to turn herself into an elder tree, she backtracked into four of the king's knights, who had lagged behind and were whispering plots against the king. She turned them to stone as well, and today they are called the Whispering Knights.

Legend holds that at midnight, the stones come alive and return the king and his men back to flesh and bone that they can dance. Anyone who gazes upon their midnight glee either turns to stone or dies.

According to 18th century lore, village maids would sneak out to the Whispering Knights on Midsummer's Eve and listen carefully, hoping to be whispered their future and fate.

It is said that you cannot accurately count the stones and a different tally will result each time an attempt is made.

The Kingstone was fenced off between the two World wars as conscripted troops would chip a slice of stone away to carry with them. Legend has it that this gives protection in battle.

It is considered unlucky to touch the King's men.

Recent vandalism

Originally, the King's Men numbered 11 stones, but some have been broken into pieces. The stones were vandalised on March 29, 2004, when yellow paint was dripped onto the King's Men circle. Cleaning it up is expected to be a very slow and expensive process, as ancient lichens cover the Bronze Age stones. Access is now restricted to daylight hours.

The Rollright Stones Independent Music Project

A further incident occurred on March 23, 2006 when someone broke into the warden's hut and started a fire. This gutted the entire hut and damaged the roof beyond repair. [http://www.rollrightproject.org/ The Rollright Project] was set up by a group of friends for whom the Stones, and what has happened to them, has a particular interest. It was set up specifically to help raise the funds for the new warden's hut. This would principally be through the production of a limited print-run CD, that would be sold and the proceeds given over to the Trust. Also through a number of benefit gigs.

References in Contemporary Culture

The British rock band Traffic recorded a song named "Roll Right Stones" for their 1973 record entitled "Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory".

British indie band Half Man Half Biscuit mention the stones in their song, "Twenty Four Hour Garage People", from the 2000 LP "Trouble Over Bridgwater".quote
"I fancy I'll open a stationer's," "Stock quaint notepads for weekend pagans" "While you were out at the Rollright Stones" "I came and set fire to your shed."

On 13th June 1978 location scenes for the "Doctor Who" story "The Stones of Blood" were filmed here. The Rollright Stones represented a fictional group of standing stones called the Nine Travellers.

See also

* Circular ditches
* Standing stone
* Dolmen
* Henge
* Menhir
* Neolithic Europe
* Prehistoric Britain
* European Megalithic Culture

External links

* [http://www.rollrightstones.co.uk/ Rollright Stones website]
* [http://www.rollrightproject.org/ Independent Music Project]
* [http://www.henge.org.uk/oxfordshire/rollr.html Rollright Stones at The Ancient Sites directory]
* [http://www.megalithia.com/sites/sp296309.html Rollright Stones at Megalithia.com]
* [http://www.multimap.com/map/photo.cgi?client=public&X=429500&Y=231000&width=500&height=300&gride=&gridn=&srec=0&coordsys=gb&db=&pc=&zm=0&scale=5000&down.x=188&down.y=5 Aerial photograph]
* [http://www.flickr.com/photos/krhgiles/sets/72157605180658487/ Handfasting at Rollright Stones]