The Cotswolds 2000
Chapter 2 - The Rollright Stones

Megalithic remains - typically between 3,000 and 5,000 years old - are common over much of the British Isles. However, many in the southeast of the country have long since been destroyed due to development and aggressive farming practices. So anyone visiting England and searching for tangible evidence of pre-Christian sun and moon worship must at the very least go as far as Stonehenge - the most famous of all sites. Just one mile south of Long Compton, however, is another historic site that in many ways conjures up as much mysticism as Stonehenge, even though it is on a much smaller scale. This site is the Rollright Stones.

There are actually three separate sites which form the Rollright Stones (click here to see location map), the Stone Circle (or King's Men), the solitary King Stone, and some way to the east, a dolmen burial chamber (the Whispering Knights). All three sites are now managed by the Rollright Trust which took over the sites quite recently and have promised to preserve them without recourse to unconstrained commercialization.

The Stones have significant archeological merit. They also have much to say to the modern day mystic, as they did in the days of witchcraft and sorcery. These three components come together in any assessment of what the Stones "really" mean to the visitor. But if you approach them with an open mind, almost anything can happen!
The King's Men
The largest of the three sites is the Stone Circle on the south side of the ridge road that runs between the villages of Great Rollright and Little Rollright. It is generally known as The King's Men as a result of folklore introduced in the Sixteenth Century. The circle is not large (diameter 104 feet) and the stones themselves are not huge, like at Stonehenge. The circle is surrounded on three sides by trees and hedges, with an open panorama to the south. The setting is intimate, not at all like most megalithic sites which tend to be on open moorland. The stones are derived from the local limestone which tends to weather and erode into mystical shapes. Lichen likes limestone and the abundance of slow-growing lichen on the stones further lends to a sense of antiquity. It is said that you cannot count the number of stones; there are supposed to be 77 of them, but then again. . . .
While I was visiting in early morning the warm stones attracted a few butterflies. Or were they faeries in disguise?

The King Stone

Located on the north side of the road, and in a different county (Warwickshire), the King Stone is a solitary large stone with a very distinctive shape:
This shape is partially attributed to the fact that sheep drovers used to chip small pieces off for good luck. Despite this additional human erosion, the King's Stone remains the largest stone in the area. For some time it has been protected by a cast iron railing but we were able to capture a wide angle picture from between the bars!

Perhaps this is a good place to mention the most told story about the Rollright Stones, but please understand, it is only a story!

It is said that at one time Long Compton was a favorite place for witches - as many as 14 witches are said to have lived in the village at one time. But the witch of our tale was Mother Shipton of Shipton-under-Wytchwood who lived from 1488 to 1551. A would-be King of England was leading his army north across the Rollright Hills when Mother Shipton suddenly appeared before him and spoke the words:

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

Well the would-be king stepped off the seven paces, exclaiming as he did:

"Stick, stock, stone. As King of England I shall be known."

But the seven paces were not enough to overcome the crest of the ridge. The witch gave a wicked laugh and cursed the entire ensemble:

"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 they men hoar stones shall be and I myself an eldern tree."

This is the view the would-be king would have seen if he had walked about another ten paces. Beyond the crest of the ridge and nestled in the valley is Long Compton.

It is said that the stones move at special times of the year - such as Midsummers Eve - but anyone actually witnessing the stones move will go crazy! And why did the witch turn herself into an elder tree? Was it to guard her magic deed for all time? Perhaps we'll never know.
[September 2001 Update: While cycling near the Rollrights it came to me that there is a logical explanation as to how this story came to be. The Church continued to fight paganism for many years after first converting some of the English to Christianity in the Eighth Century. By the Sixteenth Century the Church was strong but divided between the Papists, the Anglicans and the Protestant Puritans. It is possible that witchcraft may have seen a significant upswing in popularity at this time, so once again the Church would have had to discredit its competition. What better way to do it than to make Witchcraft anti-establishment and have a witch turn a would-be king into stone?]
The Whispering Knights
Although only 400 yards from the stone circle, this 5,000 year old dolmen, or burial chamber, is included with the other stones more because of proximity than because of a common origin.
The view above is looking west toward the grove of tree that surround the King's Men. Again a wide angle lens was used to "get inside" the cast iron railing that protects this site. The upright stones lean in toward each other. Legend has it that they were the would-be king's knights who were either (1) conspiring against him or (2) praying for him when they were all turned to stone! The beauty of legendry is that you can take your choice. The mood of the place may determine the outcome, though. On a bright sunny day they are clearly plotting, while on a misty rainy day they are praying - or is it the other way round?
It almost seems incredible that these stones mark an important burial chamber that is five thousand years old. That's 3,000 B.C. folks!
Today the Friends of the Rollright Trust administer the site. Much of the material used above was taken from their excellent website which includes a lot more information. If you want to know more about the hidden powers of the Stones as well as some of the experiences of visitors, surf their pages. As a lover of maps I have studied some of the proposed "leys" or prehistoric lines between sites and find the evidence interesting. Read Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream and decide for yourself whether there really are faeries! Incidentally, the Bard himself surely visited the Rollrights while on one his journeys between Stratford and London, so perhaps he met Titania along the way?

One final photograph of the Whispering Knights, complete with a view of the beautiful Cotswold Countryside.

[September 2001 Update: The Rollright Trust has been awarded a grant of £45,000 from the Trust for the Oxfordshire Environment (TOE). Funds will be spent on acquiring the site freehold, acquiring additional land and making the site user friendly for disabled people, etc.]
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