Rollright Stones
Encyclopedia
The Rollright Stones are a complex of three Neolithic and Bronze Age megalith
ic monuments located near to the village of Long Compton
on the borders of Oxfordshire
and Warwickshire
in England
. Constructed from local oolitic limestone
, the three separate monuments, now known as The King's Men, The King Stone and The Whispering Knights, are each distinct in their design and purpose, and were each built at different periods in late prehistory. The stretch of time during which three monuments were erected here bears witness to a continuous tradition of ritual behaviour on sacred ground, from the fourth to the second millennium BCE.
The first to be constructed was the Whispering Knights, a dolmen that dates to the Early or Middle Neolithic
period and which was likely to have been used as a place of burial. This was followed by the King's Men, a stone circle
which was constructed in the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age; unusually, it has parallels to other circles located further north, in the Lake District
, implying a trade-based or ritual connection. The third monument, the King Stone, is a single monolith
, and although it is not known when it was constructed, the dominant theory amongst archaeologists is that it was a Bronze Age grave marker.
The name "Rollright" is thought to derive from the Old English Hrolla-landriht, meaning "the land of Hrolla". By the Early Modern period, folkloric stories had grown up around the Stones, telling of how they had once been a king and his knights who had been turned to stone by a witch; such stories continued to be taught amongst local people well into the 19th century. Meanwhile, antiquarians such as William Camden
, John Aubrey
and William Stukeley
had begun to take an interest in the monuments, leading to fuller archaeological
investigations in the 20th century, culminating in excavations run by George Lambrick in the 1980s.
In the 20th century, the stones became an important site for adherents of various forms of Contemporary Paganism, as well as for other esotericists who continue to hold magico-religious ceremonies there. They also began to appear more widely in popular culture
, featuring in television, literature, music and art.
and Warwickshire
, two-and-a-half miles north-northwest of the village of Chipping Norton
, and one-and-three-quarters of a mile west of the smaller village at Great Rollright
. The monuments sit on the scarp of a range of hills called the Cotswolds
, just as the scarp forms a ridge between the Stour valley
to the north and the Swere valley to the south; geologically, this ridge had been formed from Chipping Norton limestone, itself a variant of the Great Oolite
series of Jurassic
limestone
.
that included pottery. These developments allowed hunter-gatherers to settle down and produce their own food. As agriculture spread, people cleared land. At the same time, they also erected the first monuments to be seen in the local landscape, an activity interpreted as evidence of a change in the way people viewed their place in the world.
The Early and the Middle Neolithic also saw the construction of large megalithic tombs across the British Isles. Because they housed the bodies of the dead, these tombs have typically been considered by archaeologists to be a possible indication of ancestor veneration by those who constructed them. Such Neolithic tombs are common across much of western Europe, from Iberia
to Scandinavia
, and they were therefore likely brought to the British Isles along with, or roughly concurrent to, the introduction of farming. A widely held theory amongst archaeologists is that these megalithic tombs were intentionally made to resemble the long timber houses which had been constructed by Neolithic farming peoples in the Danube
basin from circa 4800 BCE. As the historian Ronald Hutton
related:
Late Neolithic Britons also appeared to have changed their religious beliefs, ceasing to construct the large chambered tombs that are widely thought to have been connected with ancestor veneration by archaeologists. Instead, they began the construction of large wooden or stone circles, with many hundreds being built across Britain and Ireland over a period of a thousand years.
Fragments of stone used in the construction of the monument underwent a petrological examination at the British Museum
in London, where it was established that they were a form of oolithic limestone
that was local to the area around the Rollrights. Archaeologist George Lambrick argued that the stones had been discovered by prehistoric peoples as naturally occurring surface boulders, rather than having been quarried, because of certain weathering patterns that could be found on them and which were consistent with those found on surface boulders. He went on to argue that the most likely place that such surface boulders would have been found in the late prehistoric was "on the sides of the ridge at or near the level of the strong spring line between the Inferior Oolithic and the Lias clay." If this had indeed been the place where the megalith builders had found the boulders, then they would have had to be transported up hill, at a gradient averaging about 1 in 15 on the shortest routs, for either 250 metres (for the Whispering Knights), or 450 metres (for the King Stone and King's Men).
Basing his ideas upon experimental archaeological
investigations performed at Stonehenge, Lambrick suggested that the prehistoric workers who hauled the stones uphill would have made use of wooden sledges, which were perhaps made more efficient by the use of timber rollers beneath them, cutting down the manpower needed to drag the sledge. After calculating the estimated work force and labour that would have been required to produce the Rollright Stone monuments, Lambrick related that in comparisons with many other monuments, the time and labour investment would have been "trivial", not stretching resources in terms of manpower.
Writing in 1743, the antiquarian William Stukeley
described the Whispering Knights as sitting upon a round barrow
, something that Lambrick accepted as being "reasonable in the context of a portal dolmen", however he cautioned against accepting such an explanation too readily. He went on to argue that a "mound-like effect" could have been created at the base of the monument if ploughing in later centuries had led to the accumulation of soil around the dolmen's uphill side and the removal of it on the downhill side. Excavation failed to provide evidence to prove either suggestion, leaving the issue "ambiguous"; Lambrick noted however that there was a possibility that some of the stratigraphic layers "may represent the base of some sort of cairn" around the Whispering Knights.
Lambrick believed that raising the capstone on the Whispering Knights would have been the hardest task in the entirety of the Rollrights' construction, remarking that it was "analogous" to the raising of the lintels on Stonehenge. He suggested the possibility that the builders had constructed a ramp out of "collected stones", which was then "placed against the back of the chamber", with the capstone then being "hauled up on rollers, probably running on logs embedded longitudinally in the ramp" in order to get it into position.
that is 33 metres in diameter, currently composed of seventy-seven closely spaced stones. Being a stone circle, it was constructed at some point during the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age in British prehistory.
After undertaking limited excavation at the circle in the 1980s, archaeologist George Lambrick came to the conclusion that when it had been originally erected, it would have been a "more perfect circle" than it is today, with each of the stones touching one another, creating a continuous barrier all the way around. He also speculated that the monument's builders intentionally chose the smoother sides of the boulders that they were using to face inwards, something evidenced by the fact that the outer facing sides are predominantly rougher in texture.
Resistivity
and magnetometry surveys undertaken during the 1980s revealed four magnetic anomalies within the centre of the circle, possibly representing "pits related in some way to local ground surface undulations and the presence of localised burning." Lambrick noted that similar features could be found within the stone circles of Mayburgh, Stenness and Balbirnie, suggesting that it was a possible original prehistoric feature, although accepted that it could equally be the result of refuse deposited in the Romano-British period or tree-planting holes. Meanwhile, archaeological excavation also revealed that there was "no indication" of there being "a substantial ditch" either inside or outside the bank on which the stones were positioned.
Making an estimate of the time and manpower that it would have taken to transport the boulders to the site and then erect them, Lambrick concluded that each of the King's Men could have been constructed by a team or ten or twenty (depending on the size of the stone) in about two-and-a-half hours. He noted however that this would have been speeded up if the workers had divided into two groups for some of the smaller stones. Concluding his examination of this issue, he argued that "83 journeys by the whole team would have been required, giving an actual construction time of c 137 hours, or 3735 manhours." Adding to this "210 manhours" for digging the post holes for the boulders, as well as "40 manhours for cutting timber and making the shear-legs and sledges" and also "another 40 for fetching and trimming the timbers", Lambrick came to the conclusion that a total of around "4035 manhours" would have gone into the construction of the stone circle, taking up about three weeks' work for around twenty workers.
As it stands today, the monument is in part a reconstruction, because in 1882, the owner of the site re-erected around a third of the stones that had previously fallen, and in doing so some were moved out of their original positions. Using documentary evidence and lichen
growth analysis, archaeologists have also established that around that time, several new stones were added to the circle in order to fill in gaps where the original stone had been lost or destroyed, although Lambrick doubted that any more than two of those currently standing were modern additions, with four of the other, smaller additions having been stolen by vandals in the 20th century.
, 2.4 metres high by 1.5 metres wide, standing 76 metres north of the King's Men. Unlike the other two of the Rollright monuments, it is of uncertain date. Many different interpretations have been made of the King Stone, with various arguments being presented as to what it had originally been designed to be. Lambrick catalogued six distinct hypotheses that had been presented by antiquarians and archaeologists over the preceding centuries and evaluated their likelihood. Some of these argued that it had been positioned in relation to the King's Men stone circle, with others instead suggesting that it was a component of a long barrow
or other burial site.
Lockyer (1909) and Thom (1967) suggested that the King Stone had been an astronomical marker that may at the same time have had a relation to the ceremonies being undertaken at the King's Men. Lambrick dismissed any astronomical significance as unlikely, because the Stone only aligns with the rising of the star Capella
as it would have appeared circa 1750 BCE, and there is no evidence that late prehistoric Britons saw any relevance with this or any other stars, instead building several of their monuments to have solar or lunar alignments. A second idea, posited by megalithic specialist Aubrey Burl
(1976), suggested that the King Stone had been a landmark or guidepost designed to mark out the position of the King's Men. Again, Lambrick disagreed with this, remarking that its "position and orientation make it too unconspicuous to be satisfactory as a marker for anyone approaching the circle either along the ridge or from the alleys either side." It had also been suggested, by both early antiquarian John Aubrey
and the archaeologist Arthur Evans
, that the monolith was a surviving remnant of a stone avenue that had once led to the King's Men, but Lambrick once more believed that this was unlikely, noting that there was no other archaeological evidence for such an avenue, and that it would have been poorly aligned with the circle.
Other suggestions have been put forward arguing that the stone was once a part of a long barrow
, but this has been dismissed since archaeological investigation in the 1980s failed to reveal any other evidence for such a monument. Another hypothesis arguing that it was associated with burial had been put forward by Bloxham in 1874, when he suggested that it marked the position of a burial or wider cemetery. It was this view that was adopted by Lambrick, who subsequently "tentatively" interpreted the monolith as a cemetery marker, primarily because of the "unsatisfactory nature of other explanations and the existence nearby of Bronze Age barrows and cremations, one of which had been marked by a broad wooden post."
Lambrick estimated that when it was originally erected, the King Stone would have weighed somewhere in the region of 4.7 tonnes, but that since then much of it has been chipped away. Using his own estimates, Lambrick suggested that with a team of 58 workers, the King Stone could have been set up in about two hours.
are associated with the stones, including the tale reported in a rhyming version by William Camden
in 1610, that a king was riding across the county with his army when he was accosted by a local witch called Mother Shipton, who said to him:
His troops gathered in a circle 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:
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.
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 one cannot accurately count the stones and that a different tally will result each time an attempt is made. The King Stone was fenced off between the two World Wars to prevent conscripted troops chipping off a piece of stone to carry with them, since legend suggested that this would give protection in battle. But it is considered unlucky to touch the King's Men.
and the White Horse of Uffington were mentioned alongside the Rollrights. As the author related:
A more detailed account was made by his fellow antiquarian, William Camden
(1551-1623), who wrote about it in his 1586 work Britannia, a topographical and historical survey of all of Great Britain and Ireland. Describing the stones and some of the folklore that the locals attributed to them, Camden went on to hypothesise that they were constructed as a "memorial of some victory, perhaps by Rollo the Dane, who later possessed property in Normandy
."
and William Stukeley
were responsible for initiating modern study of Neolithic monuments such as Stonehenge
, Avebury
and the Rollrights.
, historians undertook documentary research, examining the reports and accounts of the site that had been produced since the 17th century, with particular emphasis on antiquarian and early archaeological drawings. Aerial photographs of the area were looked at for signs of prehistoric crop marks, whilst both a geophysical
survey and a fieldwalk of the area were undertaken.
With the surveying over, the investigators moved on to excavation
, opening up several limited trial trenches, as well as excavating one small round barrow (heavily ploughed out) in its entirety. As excavator George Lambick went on to note, although there was a "limited scope" to the excavations, "a substantial new body of data" was uncovered, revealing a number of lithic
s, pieces of pottery, soil profile changes, molluscan assemblages, carbonised plant remains and both animal and human bones, allowing archaeologists to build up a much wider image of the site and its surroundings.
An interim report on the project's findings was published in a booklet written by archaeologist George Lambick in 1983. He then followed this up with an outline of the management history of the Stones, published in 1986. Lambick's third book on the monument appeared in 1988, being published by the U.K. governmental body English Heritage
as The Rollright Stones: Megaliths, monuments, and settlement in the prehistoric landscape. Containing the full site report, it would prove to be "the first full record and analysis of the King's Men, the Whispering Knights, the King Stone, and their archaeological setting" ever produced, and in the book's preface, the-then Inspector of Ancient Monuments A.J. Fleming commented that this "survey provides a firm basis for the improved management of the monument."
published a book entitled The Rollright Ritual which described his personal experiences with the site.
In their academic study of the relationship between archaeologists and Pagans in early 21st century Britain, archaeologist Robert Wallis and anthropologist Jenny Blain used the Rollright Stones as a case study. They noted that members of both communities have "made common cause, in part by drawing actively on the diversity of discursive interpretations and positionings evident at the site. A climate of inclusivity and multivocality has resulted, quite simply, in fruitful negotiation".
uses the Rollright Stones as a central motif in her 1971 children's novel The Whispering Knights.
The English rock band Traffic
recorded a song named Roll Right Stones for their 1973 album Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory
.
English indie band Half Man Half Biscuit
mention the stones in their song Twenty Four Hour Garage People on their 2000 album Trouble Over Bridgwater
.
On 13 June 1978 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.
Megalith
A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. Megalithic describes structures made of such large stones, utilizing an interlocking system without the use of mortar or cement.The word 'megalith' comes from the Ancient...
ic monuments located near to the village of Long Compton
Long Compton
Long Compton is a village and civil parish in Warwickshire, England near the extreme southern tip of Warwickshire, and close to the border with Oxfordshire. It is part of the district of Stratford-on-Avon and in the 2001 census had a population of 705....
on the borders of Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
and Warwickshire
Warwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Constructed from local oolitic limestone
Oolite
Oolite is a sedimentary rock formed from ooids, spherical grains composed of concentric layers. The name derives from the Hellenic word òoion for egg. Strictly, oolites consist of ooids of diameter 0.25–2 mm; rocks composed of ooids larger than 2 mm are called pisolites...
, the three separate monuments, now known as The King's Men, The King Stone and The Whispering Knights, are each distinct in their design and purpose, and were each built at different periods in late prehistory. The stretch of time during which three monuments were erected here bears witness to a continuous tradition of ritual behaviour on sacred ground, from the fourth to the second millennium BCE.
The first to be constructed was the Whispering Knights, a dolmen that dates to the Early or Middle Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
period and which was likely to have been used as a place of burial. This was followed by the King's Men, a stone circle
Stone circle
A stone circle is a monument of standing stones arranged in a circle. Such monuments have been constructed across the world throughout history for many different reasons....
which was constructed in the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age; unusually, it has parallels to other circles located further north, in the Lake District
Lake District
The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous not only for its lakes and its mountains but also for its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth...
, implying a trade-based or ritual connection. The third monument, the King Stone, is a single monolith
Monolith
A monolith is a geological feature such as a mountain, consisting of a single massive stone or rock, or a single piece of rock placed as, or within, a monument...
, and although it is not known when it was constructed, the dominant theory amongst archaeologists is that it was a Bronze Age grave marker.
The name "Rollright" is thought to derive from the Old English Hrolla-landriht, meaning "the land of Hrolla". By the Early Modern period, folkloric stories had grown up around the Stones, telling of how they had once been a king and his knights who had been turned to stone by a witch; such stories continued to be taught amongst local people well into the 19th century. Meanwhile, antiquarians such as William Camden
William Camden
William Camden was an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and officer of arms. He wrote the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and the first detailed historical account of the reign of Elizabeth I of England.- Early years :Camden was born in London...
, John Aubrey
John Aubrey
John Aubrey FRS, was an English antiquary, natural philosopher and writer. He is perhaps best known as the author of the collection of short biographical pieces usually referred to as Brief Lives...
and William Stukeley
William Stukeley
William Stukeley FRS, FRCP, FSA was an English antiquarian who pioneered the archaeological investigation of the prehistoric monuments of Stonehenge and Avebury, work for which he has been remembered as "probably... the most important of the early forerunners of the discipline of archaeology"...
had begun to take an interest in the monuments, leading to fuller archaeological
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
investigations in the 20th century, culminating in excavations run by George Lambrick in the 1980s.
In the 20th century, the stones became an important site for adherents of various forms of Contemporary Paganism, as well as for other esotericists who continue to hold magico-religious ceremonies there. They also began to appear more widely in popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
, featuring in television, literature, music and art.
Location
The Rollright Stones are located on the contemporary border between the counties of OxfordshireOxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
and Warwickshire
Warwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
, two-and-a-half miles north-northwest of the village of Chipping Norton
Chipping Norton
Chipping Norton is a market town in the Cotswold Hills in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England, about southwest of Banbury.-History until the 17th century:...
, and one-and-three-quarters of a mile west of the smaller village at Great Rollright
Great Rollright
Great Rollright is a village in the civil parish of Rollright, about north of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire.The Mediaeval Church of England parish church of Saint Andrew has features dating from the Norman, Early English, Decorated and Perpendicular periods. The church tower has a ring of six...
. The monuments sit on the scarp of a range of hills called the Cotswolds
Cotswolds
The Cotswolds are a range of hills in west-central England, sometimes called the Heart of England, an area across and long. The area has been designated as the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...
, just as the scarp forms a ridge between the Stour valley
River Stour, Warwickshire
The River Stour is a river in Warwickshire, England. It is a tributary of the Avon, which it joins at Stratford-upon-Avon. The source of the River Stour is in Traitors Ford; it joins the Avon at Clifford Chambers....
to the north and the Swere valley to the south; geologically, this ridge had been formed from Chipping Norton limestone, itself a variant of the Great Oolite
Great Oolite
The Great Oolite is a geological formation in Europe. It dates back to the Middle Jurassic.-Vertebrate fauna:This Limestone is dominant in many areas of the UK particularly in Birmingham and Anglesy. It is composed of oolites and lithic fragments...
series of Jurassic
Jurassic
The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Mya to Mya, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the age of reptiles. The start of the period is marked by...
limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
.
Early Neolithic Britain
In the 4th millennium BCE, around the start of the Neolithic period in Britain, British society underwent radical changes. These coincided with the introduction to the island of domesticated species of animals and plants, as well as a changing material cultureArchaeological culture
An archaeological culture is a recurring assemblage of artifacts from a specific time and place, which are thought to constitute the material culture remains of a particular past human society. The connection between the artifacts is based on archaeologists' understanding and interpretation and...
that included pottery. These developments allowed hunter-gatherers to settle down and produce their own food. As agriculture spread, people cleared land. At the same time, they also erected the first monuments to be seen in the local landscape, an activity interpreted as evidence of a change in the way people viewed their place in the world.
The Early and the Middle Neolithic also saw the construction of large megalithic tombs across the British Isles. Because they housed the bodies of the dead, these tombs have typically been considered by archaeologists to be a possible indication of ancestor veneration by those who constructed them. Such Neolithic tombs are common across much of western Europe, from Iberia
Iberia
The name Iberia refers to three historical regions of the old world:* Iberian Peninsula, in Southwest Europe, location of modern-day Portugal and Spain** Prehistoric Iberia...
to Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
, and they were therefore likely brought to the British Isles along with, or roughly concurrent to, the introduction of farming. A widely held theory amongst archaeologists is that these megalithic tombs were intentionally made to resemble the long timber houses which had been constructed by Neolithic farming peoples in the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
basin from circa 4800 BCE. As the historian Ronald Hutton
Ronald Hutton
Ronald Hutton is an English historian who specializes in the study of Early Modern Britain, British folklore, pre-Christian religion and contemporary Paganism. A reader in the subject at the University of Bristol, Hutton has published fourteen books and has appeared on British television and radio...
related:
- There is no doubt that these great tombs, far more impressive than would be required of mere repositories for bones, were the centres of ritual activity in the early Neolithic: they were shrines as well as mausoleums. For some reason, the success of farming and the veneration of ancestral and more recent bones had become bound up together in the minds of the people.
Late Neolithic Britain
During the Late Neolithic, British society underwent a series of major changes. Between 3500 and 3300 BCE, these prehistoric Britons ceased their continual expansion and cultivation of wilderness and instead focused on settling and farming the most agriculturally productive areas of the island: Orkney, eastern Scotland, Anglesey, the upper Thames, Wessex, Essex, Yorkshire and the river valleys of the Wash.Late Neolithic Britons also appeared to have changed their religious beliefs, ceasing to construct the large chambered tombs that are widely thought to have been connected with ancestor veneration by archaeologists. Instead, they began the construction of large wooden or stone circles, with many hundreds being built across Britain and Ireland over a period of a thousand years.
Construction
The Rollright Stones themselves are three separate megalithic monuments, all of which were constructed in close proximity to one another during the later prehistoric ages of the Neolithic and Bronze Age. The names which are currently given to them — the King's Men, the King Stone and the Whispering Knights — descend from folklore that has surrounded the site since the Early Modern period, although these terms have since been adopted by archaeologists and heritage managers.Fragments of stone used in the construction of the monument underwent a petrological examination at the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
in London, where it was established that they were a form of oolithic limestone
Oolite
Oolite is a sedimentary rock formed from ooids, spherical grains composed of concentric layers. The name derives from the Hellenic word òoion for egg. Strictly, oolites consist of ooids of diameter 0.25–2 mm; rocks composed of ooids larger than 2 mm are called pisolites...
that was local to the area around the Rollrights. Archaeologist George Lambrick argued that the stones had been discovered by prehistoric peoples as naturally occurring surface boulders, rather than having been quarried, because of certain weathering patterns that could be found on them and which were consistent with those found on surface boulders. He went on to argue that the most likely place that such surface boulders would have been found in the late prehistoric was "on the sides of the ridge at or near the level of the strong spring line between the Inferior Oolithic and the Lias clay." If this had indeed been the place where the megalith builders had found the boulders, then they would have had to be transported up hill, at a gradient averaging about 1 in 15 on the shortest routs, for either 250 metres (for the Whispering Knights), or 450 metres (for the King Stone and King's Men).
Basing his ideas upon experimental archaeological
Experimental archaeology
Experimental archaeology employs a number of different methods, techniques, analyses, and approaches in order to generate and test hypotheses, based upon archaeological source material, like ancient structures or artifacts. It should not be confused with primitive technology which is not concerned...
investigations performed at Stonehenge, Lambrick suggested that the prehistoric workers who hauled the stones uphill would have made use of wooden sledges, which were perhaps made more efficient by the use of timber rollers beneath them, cutting down the manpower needed to drag the sledge. After calculating the estimated work force and labour that would have been required to produce the Rollright Stone monuments, Lambrick related that in comparisons with many other monuments, the time and labour investment would have been "trivial", not stretching resources in terms of manpower.
The Whispering Knights
Apparently the earliest of the Rollright Stones, the Whispering Knights are 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 two square metres in area around a fifth recumbent stone, probably the collapsed roof capstone. Although archaeologists and antiquarians had been speculating and debating the nature of the Whispering Knights for centuries, more about the monument was only revealed following the excavations carried out around the stones by George Lambrick and his team during the 1980s. They revealed that the portal dolmen had never been a part of a longer cairn, as had been suggested by some earlier investigators, and uncovered a few pieces of Neolithic pottery around the monument.Writing in 1743, the antiquarian William Stukeley
William Stukeley
William Stukeley FRS, FRCP, FSA was an English antiquarian who pioneered the archaeological investigation of the prehistoric monuments of Stonehenge and Avebury, work for which he has been remembered as "probably... the most important of the early forerunners of the discipline of archaeology"...
described the Whispering Knights as sitting upon a round barrow
Round barrow
Round barrows are one of the most common types of archaeological monuments. Although concentrated in Europe they are found in many parts of the world because of their simple construction and universal purpose....
, something that Lambrick accepted as being "reasonable in the context of a portal dolmen", however he cautioned against accepting such an explanation too readily. He went on to argue that a "mound-like effect" could have been created at the base of the monument if ploughing in later centuries had led to the accumulation of soil around the dolmen's uphill side and the removal of it on the downhill side. Excavation failed to provide evidence to prove either suggestion, leaving the issue "ambiguous"; Lambrick noted however that there was a possibility that some of the stratigraphic layers "may represent the base of some sort of cairn" around the Whispering Knights.
Lambrick believed that raising the capstone on the Whispering Knights would have been the hardest task in the entirety of the Rollrights' construction, remarking that it was "analogous" to the raising of the lintels on Stonehenge. He suggested the possibility that the builders had constructed a ramp out of "collected stones", which was then "placed against the back of the chamber", with the capstone then being "hauled up on rollers, probably running on logs embedded longitudinally in the ramp" in order to get it into position.
The King's Men
The King's Men is a stone circleStone circle
A stone circle is a monument of standing stones arranged in a circle. Such monuments have been constructed across the world throughout history for many different reasons....
that is 33 metres in diameter, currently composed of seventy-seven closely spaced stones. Being a stone circle, it was constructed at some point during the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age in British prehistory.
After undertaking limited excavation at the circle in the 1980s, archaeologist George Lambrick came to the conclusion that when it had been originally erected, it would have been a "more perfect circle" than it is today, with each of the stones touching one another, creating a continuous barrier all the way around. He also speculated that the monument's builders intentionally chose the smoother sides of the boulders that they were using to face inwards, something evidenced by the fact that the outer facing sides are predominantly rougher in texture.
Resistivity
Resistivity
Electrical resistivity is a measure of how strongly a material opposes the flow of electric current. A low resistivity indicates a material that readily allows the movement of electric charge. The SI unit of electrical resistivity is the ohm metre...
and magnetometry surveys undertaken during the 1980s revealed four magnetic anomalies within the centre of the circle, possibly representing "pits related in some way to local ground surface undulations and the presence of localised burning." Lambrick noted that similar features could be found within the stone circles of Mayburgh, Stenness and Balbirnie, suggesting that it was a possible original prehistoric feature, although accepted that it could equally be the result of refuse deposited in the Romano-British period or tree-planting holes. Meanwhile, archaeological excavation also revealed that there was "no indication" of there being "a substantial ditch" either inside or outside the bank on which the stones were positioned.
Making an estimate of the time and manpower that it would have taken to transport the boulders to the site and then erect them, Lambrick concluded that each of the King's Men could have been constructed by a team or ten or twenty (depending on the size of the stone) in about two-and-a-half hours. He noted however that this would have been speeded up if the workers had divided into two groups for some of the smaller stones. Concluding his examination of this issue, he argued that "83 journeys by the whole team would have been required, giving an actual construction time of c 137 hours, or 3735 manhours." Adding to this "210 manhours" for digging the post holes for the boulders, as well as "40 manhours for cutting timber and making the shear-legs and sledges" and also "another 40 for fetching and trimming the timbers", Lambrick came to the conclusion that a total of around "4035 manhours" would have gone into the construction of the stone circle, taking up about three weeks' work for around twenty workers.
As it stands today, the monument is in part a reconstruction, because in 1882, the owner of the site re-erected around a third of the stones that had previously fallen, and in doing so some were moved out of their original positions. Using documentary evidence and lichen
Lichen
Lichens are composite organisms consisting of a symbiotic organism composed of a fungus with a photosynthetic partner , usually either a green alga or cyanobacterium...
growth analysis, archaeologists have also established that around that time, several new stones were added to the circle in order to fill in gaps where the original stone had been lost or destroyed, although Lambrick doubted that any more than two of those currently standing were modern additions, with four of the other, smaller additions having been stolen by vandals in the 20th century.
The King Stone
The King Stone is a single, weathered monolithMonolith
A monolith is a geological feature such as a mountain, consisting of a single massive stone or rock, or a single piece of rock placed as, or within, a monument...
, 2.4 metres high by 1.5 metres wide, standing 76 metres north of the King's Men. Unlike the other two of the Rollright monuments, it is of uncertain date. Many different interpretations have been made of the King Stone, with various arguments being presented as to what it had originally been designed to be. Lambrick catalogued six distinct hypotheses that had been presented by antiquarians and archaeologists over the preceding centuries and evaluated their likelihood. Some of these argued that it had been positioned in relation to the King's Men stone circle, with others instead suggesting that it was a component of a long barrow
Long barrow
A long barrow is a prehistoric monument dating to the early Neolithic period. They are rectangular or trapezoidal tumuli or earth mounds traditionally interpreted as collective tombs...
or other burial site.
Lockyer (1909) and Thom (1967) suggested that the King Stone had been an astronomical marker that may at the same time have had a relation to the ceremonies being undertaken at the King's Men. Lambrick dismissed any astronomical significance as unlikely, because the Stone only aligns with the rising of the star Capella
Capella (star)
Capella is the brightest star in the constellation Auriga, the sixth brightest star in the night sky and the third brightest star in the northern celestial hemisphere, after Arcturus and Vega. Although it appears to be a single star to the naked eye, it is actually a star system of four stars in...
as it would have appeared circa 1750 BCE, and there is no evidence that late prehistoric Britons saw any relevance with this or any other stars, instead building several of their monuments to have solar or lunar alignments. A second idea, posited by megalithic specialist Aubrey Burl
Aubrey Burl
Harry Aubrey Woodruff Burl MA, DLitt, PhD, FSA, HonFSA Scot is a British archaeologist most well known for his studies into megalithic monuments and the nature of prehistoric rituals associated with them. Prior to retirement he was Principal Lecturer in Archaeology, Hull College, East Riding of...
(1976), suggested that the King Stone had been a landmark or guidepost designed to mark out the position of the King's Men. Again, Lambrick disagreed with this, remarking that its "position and orientation make it too unconspicuous to be satisfactory as a marker for anyone approaching the circle either along the ridge or from the alleys either side." It had also been suggested, by both early antiquarian John Aubrey
John Aubrey
John Aubrey FRS, was an English antiquary, natural philosopher and writer. He is perhaps best known as the author of the collection of short biographical pieces usually referred to as Brief Lives...
and the archaeologist Arthur Evans
Arthur Evans
Sir Arthur John Evans FRS was a British archaeologist most famous for unearthing the palace of Knossos on the Greek island of Crete and for developing the concept of Minoan civilization from the structures and artifacts found there and elsewhere throughout eastern Mediterranean...
, that the monolith was a surviving remnant of a stone avenue that had once led to the King's Men, but Lambrick once more believed that this was unlikely, noting that there was no other archaeological evidence for such an avenue, and that it would have been poorly aligned with the circle.
Other suggestions have been put forward arguing that the stone was once a part of a long barrow
Long barrow
A long barrow is a prehistoric monument dating to the early Neolithic period. They are rectangular or trapezoidal tumuli or earth mounds traditionally interpreted as collective tombs...
, but this has been dismissed since archaeological investigation in the 1980s failed to reveal any other evidence for such a monument. Another hypothesis arguing that it was associated with burial had been put forward by Bloxham in 1874, when he suggested that it marked the position of a burial or wider cemetery. It was this view that was adopted by Lambrick, who subsequently "tentatively" interpreted the monolith as a cemetery marker, primarily because of the "unsatisfactory nature of other explanations and the existence nearby of Bronze Age barrows and cremations, one of which had been marked by a broad wooden post."
Lambrick estimated that when it was originally erected, the King Stone would have weighed somewhere in the region of 4.7 tonnes, but that since then much of it has been chipped away. Using his own estimates, Lambrick suggested that with a team of 58 workers, the King Stone could have been set up in about two hours.
Early Modern period
Numerous folktalesFolklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
are associated with the stones, including the tale reported in a rhyming version by William Camden
William Camden
William Camden was an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and officer of arms. He wrote the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and the first detailed historical account of the reign of Elizabeth I of England.- Early years :Camden was born in London...
in 1610, that a king was riding across the county with his army when he was accosted by a local witch called Mother Shipton, who said to him:
- "Seven long strides thou shalt take, says she
- And if Long Compton thou canst see,
- King of England thou shalt be!"
His troops gathered in a circle 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.
18th and 19th centuries
Legend holds that as the church clock strikes midnight, the King Stone comes alive and the king and his men come to life on certain saints' days.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 one cannot accurately count the stones and that a different tally will result each time an attempt is made. The King Stone was fenced off between the two World Wars to prevent conscripted troops chipping off a piece of stone to carry with them, since legend suggested that this would give protection in battle. But it is considered unlucky to touch the King's Men.
Mediaeval accounts
The earliest known written account describing the Rollrights comes from the 14th century CE, during the Late Mediaeval period in Britain. It was at this time that an unknown author wrote a tract entitled De Mirabilibus Britanniae (The Wonders of Britain) in which the prehistoric monuments at StonehengeStonehenge
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about west of Amesbury and north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of a circular setting of large standing stones set within earthworks...
and the White Horse of Uffington were mentioned alongside the Rollrights. As the author related:
- In the neighbourhood of Oxford there are great stones, arranged as it were in some connection by the hand of man. But at what time; or by what people; or for what memorial or significance, is unknown. Though the place is called by the inhabitants Rollendrith.
Early Modern antiquarianism
It was in the 16th century, during the Early Modern period of British history, that further written accounts of the Rollrights were made; one of the earliest of these was provided by the pioneering antiquarian John Leland (c.1503-1552) in his unpublished account of his travel's across England, Itinerary. Nonetheless, despite the fact that he referred to it, he failed to go into any detail.A more detailed account was made by his fellow antiquarian, William Camden
William Camden
William Camden was an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and officer of arms. He wrote the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and the first detailed historical account of the reign of Elizabeth I of England.- Early years :Camden was born in London...
(1551-1623), who wrote about it in his 1586 work Britannia, a topographical and historical survey of all of Great Britain and Ireland. Describing the stones and some of the folklore that the locals attributed to them, Camden went on to hypothesise that they were constructed as a "memorial of some victory, perhaps by Rollo the Dane, who later possessed property in Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
."
John Aubrey and William Stukeley
The antiquarians John AubreyJohn Aubrey
John Aubrey FRS, was an English antiquary, natural philosopher and writer. He is perhaps best known as the author of the collection of short biographical pieces usually referred to as Brief Lives...
and William Stukeley
William Stukeley
William Stukeley FRS, FRCP, FSA was an English antiquarian who pioneered the archaeological investigation of the prehistoric monuments of Stonehenge and Avebury, work for which he has been remembered as "probably... the most important of the early forerunners of the discipline of archaeology"...
were responsible for initiating modern study of Neolithic monuments such as Stonehenge
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about west of Amesbury and north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of a circular setting of large standing stones set within earthworks...
, Avebury
Avebury
Avebury is a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles which is located around the village of Avebury in Wiltshire, south west England. Unique amongst megalithic monuments, Avebury contains the largest stone circle in Europe, and is one of the best known prehistoric sites in Britain...
and the Rollrights.
Inspectorate of Ancient Monuments investigation: 1981-1986
At the start of the 1980s, the state-appointed Inspectorate of Ancient Monuments commissioned an investigation into the Rollright Stones and their immediate surroundings "in order that a fully integrated policy for the future preservation and management of the complex might be formulated." This investigation took place between 1981 and 1982, and involved a multi-pronged approach from both archaeologists and historical researchers. As a part of the initial surveyArchaeological field survey
Archaeological field survey is the method by which archaeologists search for archaeological sites and collect information about the location, distribution and organization of past human cultures across a large area...
, historians undertook documentary research, examining the reports and accounts of the site that had been produced since the 17th century, with particular emphasis on antiquarian and early archaeological drawings. Aerial photographs of the area were looked at for signs of prehistoric crop marks, whilst both a geophysical
Geophysics
Geophysics is the physics of the Earth and its environment in space; also the study of the Earth using quantitative physical methods. The term geophysics sometimes refers only to the geological applications: Earth's shape; its gravitational and magnetic fields; its internal structure and...
survey and a fieldwalk of the area were undertaken.
With the surveying over, the investigators moved on to excavation
Excavation
The term archaeological excavation has a double meaning.# Excavation is best known and most commonly used within the science of archaeology. In this sense it is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains....
, opening up several limited trial trenches, as well as excavating one small round barrow (heavily ploughed out) in its entirety. As excavator George Lambick went on to note, although there was a "limited scope" to the excavations, "a substantial new body of data" was uncovered, revealing a number of lithic
Lithic
Lithic may refer to:*a stone tool*Lithic analysis*Lithic stage*Lithic core *Lithic reduction *Lithic technology *Lithic flake *Lithic fragment...
s, pieces of pottery, soil profile changes, molluscan assemblages, carbonised plant remains and both animal and human bones, allowing archaeologists to build up a much wider image of the site and its surroundings.
An interim report on the project's findings was published in a booklet written by archaeologist George Lambick in 1983. He then followed this up with an outline of the management history of the Stones, published in 1986. Lambick's third book on the monument appeared in 1988, being published by the U.K. governmental body English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
as The Rollright Stones: Megaliths, monuments, and settlement in the prehistoric landscape. Containing the full site report, it would prove to be "the first full record and analysis of the King's Men, the Whispering Knights, the King Stone, and their archaeological setting" ever produced, and in the book's preface, the-then Inspector of Ancient Monuments A.J. Fleming commented that this "survey provides a firm basis for the improved management of the monument."
Esotericism and Contemporary Paganism
In 1975, the English ceremonial magician William G. GrayWilliam G. Gray
William G. Gray was a British occultist, the founder of the magical order the Sangreal Sodality and author of many books. He wrote extensively on the topics of ritual magic, Hermetic Qabalah, the nature of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life. His focus was on the mystical unification of humanity...
published a book entitled The Rollright Ritual which described his personal experiences with the site.
In their academic study of the relationship between archaeologists and Pagans in early 21st century Britain, archaeologist Robert Wallis and anthropologist Jenny Blain used the Rollright Stones as a case study. They noted that members of both communities have "made common cause, in part by drawing actively on the diversity of discursive interpretations and positionings evident at the site. A climate of inclusivity and multivocality has resulted, quite simply, in fruitful negotiation".
Popular culture
Author Penelope LivelyPenelope Lively
Penelope Lively CBE, FRSL is a prolific, popular and critically acclaimed author of fiction for both children and adults. She has been shortlisted three times for the Booker Prize, winning once for Moon Tiger in 1987.-Personal:...
uses the Rollright Stones as a central motif in her 1971 children's novel The Whispering Knights.
The English rock band Traffic
Traffic (band)
Traffic were an English rock band whose members came from the West Midlands. The group formed in April 1967 by Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason...
recorded a song named Roll Right Stones for their 1973 album Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory
Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory
Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory, released in 1973, was the seventh album and sixth studio album by English rock band Traffic. It followed their 1971 hit The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys and contained only five songs...
.
English indie band Half Man Half Biscuit
Half Man Half Biscuit
Half Man Half Biscuit, often "HMHB", are an English rock band from Birkenhead, Merseyside, active since the mid-1980s, known for satirical, sardonic, and sometimes surreal songs. The group comprises Nigel Blackwell , Neil Crossley , Ken Hancock , and Carl Henry...
mention the stones in their song Twenty Four Hour Garage People on their 2000 album Trouble Over Bridgwater
Trouble Over Bridgwater
Trouble Over Bridgwater is the eighth album by UK rock band Half Man Half Biscuit, released in 2000. The title is a play on words, based on the Simon & Garfunkel classic, "Bridge Over Troubled Water"...
.
On 13 June 1978 scenes for the Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
story The Stones of Blood
The Stones of Blood
The Stones of Blood is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from October 28 to November 18, 1978...
were filmed here. The Rollright Stones represented a fictional group of standing stones called The Nine Travellers.
External links
- Rollright Stones website
- Rollright Stones at Megalithia.com
- Aerial photograph
- Handfasting at Rollright Stones
- Photos of the Rollright Stones and surrounding area on geograph
- BBC 360 degree photograph
- http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=140