Arthur's Stone is a Neolithic chambered tomb, or

dolmen A dolmen, () or portal tomb, is a type of single-chamber Megalith#Tombs, megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the Late Neolithic period (4000 ...

, in Herefordshire, England. It is situated on the ridge line of a hill overlooking both the Golden Valley, Herefordshire and the Wye Valley. The tomb dates from 3700 BC – 2700 BC.

Location

Arthur's Stone is located between the villages of Dorstone and Bredwardine, and more generally between

Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...

to the east and

Hay-on-Wye Hay-on-Wye, or simply Hay (; or simply ), is a market town and community (Wales), community in Powys, Wales. With over twenty bookshops, it is often described as a book town, "town of books"; it is both the National Book Town of Wales and the s ...

to the west, at Ordnance Survey . The tomb commands an elevated view to the south of the Golden Valley and the

Brecon Beacons The Brecon Beacons (; ) are a mountain range in Wales. The range includes South Wales's highest mountain, Pen y Fan (), its twin summit Corn Du (), and Craig Gwaun Taf (), which are the three highest peaks in the range. The Brecon Beacons ha ...

in the distance, and is bounded to the north by a small road (Arthur's Stone Lane) which dissects what would originally have been the site of the tomb's elongated mound.

Description

The tomb is topped by a large capstone, estimated to weigh more than 25 tonnes. The capstone rests on nine uprights and there is a curved, long entrance passageway. To the north, there was once a cup-marked stone called the Quoit Stone. This can no longer be clearly seen, and now a stone to the south of the monument has become known as the Quoit Stone. The stones would originally have been buried within a mound, aligned north-south and of approximately 25 metres in length with an east-facing entrance and a south-facing false portal. The mound is now, however, almost completely eroded and the capstone is broken with a large section fallen from its underside. The site is defined and protected by a wooden fence. The site is seen as a northerly outlier of the well known Severn-Cotswold tomb Group of chambered tombs and one of five

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

tombs in the local area. The site appears to be oriented towards Ysgyryd Fawr mountain in Wales.

Etymology

The tomb is one of many prehistoric monuments in western England and Wales to be linked with the legend of King Arthur. Some tales suggest the tomb was built to mark the location of one of

King Arthur According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Great Britain, Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In Wales, Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a le ...

's battles, while others tell that the stones were already present when Arthur slew a giant on the spot, who fell onto the stones and left indentations in one of them, which remain to this day. Others suggest the indentations on the Quoit Stone were left by Arthur's knees or elbows as he knelt there to pray.

History

Excavations were undertaken by Nash in 2006, followed by preliminary excavations to the mound by Boucher and Rouse from Headland Archaeology (2011). Another excavation of the site was conducted in 2023.

References

External links

Arthur's Stone
English Heritage {{Authority control Buildings and structures completed in the 4th millennium BC History of Herefordshire Locations associated with Arthurian legend Dolmens in England English Heritage sites in Herefordshire Archaeological sites in Herefordshire