Mitchell's Fold (sometimes called Medgel's Fold or Madges Pinfold) is a
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
stone circle
A stone circle is a ring of standing stones. Most are found in Northwestern Europe – especially in Britain, Ireland, and Brittany – and typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being built from 3000 BC. The be ...
in southwest
Shropshire
Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...
, located near the small village of
White Grit on dry heathland at the southwest end of
Stapeley Hill
Stapeley Hill is a sacred saddleback shaped hill in South-West Shropshire, near the village of Priestweston, not far from another landmark, Corndon Hill.
The Hill is home to Mitchell's Foldbr>and along the path leading from the Fold which cros ...
in the
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
of
Chirbury with Brompton
Chirbury () is a village in west Shropshire, England. It is situated in the Vale of Montgomery, close to the Wales–England border ( at its nearest), which is to its north, west and south. The A490 and B4386 routes cross at Chirbury.
It is t ...
, at a height of 1083 ft (330m)
o.d.
The stone circle, a standing stone, and a cairn comprise a
Scheduled Ancient Monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...
; the circle is in the guardianship of
English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
.
Description
![Mitchells Fold - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Mitchells_Fold_-_geograph.org.uk_-_558529.jpg)
As with most sites of this type, its true history is unknown. The name of the circle may derive from 'micel' or 'mycel',
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
for 'big', referring to the size of this large circle.
Its doleritic stones came from nearby
Stapeley Hill
Stapeley Hill is a sacred saddleback shaped hill in South-West Shropshire, near the village of Priestweston, not far from another landmark, Corndon Hill.
The Hill is home to Mitchell's Foldbr>and along the path leading from the Fold which cros ...
. Many of them are now missing and others are fallen. One example, reported in pagan magazine ''White Dragon'', is that “This circle was the site of vandalism by a local farmer in the summer of 1995 when several stones were uprooted by a mechanical digger. The stones were promptly righted and "planted" again and the culprit punished. Ongoing unsympathetic use by both local youth and townie pagans, such as the creation of numerous fire pits and the leaving of litter and broken glass after the festivals, does nothing for the atmosphere of this site.”
In the beginning there may have been some thirty stone pillars. The survivors that still stand range in height from 10ins to , and stand in an ellipse NW-SE by The tallest is at the south-east end of the major axis, standing, perhaps by coincidence or design, close to the line of the southern moonrise. This pillar and a companion have been taken to flank an entrance about wide.
Aubrey Burl
Harry Aubrey Woodruff Burl HonFSA Scot (24 September 1926 – 8 April 2020) was a British archaeologist best known for his studies into megalithic monuments and the nature of prehistoric rituals associated with them. Before retirement he was P ...
has stated in his 2000 book ''
A Guide to the Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany
A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...
'' that "There was a claim for a central stone and a very dubious eighteenth-century report that 'there was a stone across your two Portals, like those at
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connectin ...
, and that the stone at eighty yards distance was the altar.'" but that the "probability of a
trilithon
A trilithon or trilith is a structure consisting of two large vertical stones (posts) supporting a third stone set horizontally across the top (lintel). It is commonly used in the context of megalithic monuments. The most famous trilithons ar ...
, otherwise unique to
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connectin ...
, at Mitchell's Fold, like an identical claim for
Kerzerho
Kerzerho lies approximately 8 km northwest of Carnac in the Erdeven commune and in the region of Brittany, France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also compris ...
in
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...
, should be regarded as rumour rather than reality."
Folklore
![Mitchell's Fold - 2004-10-30](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Mitchell%27s_Fold_-_2004-10-30.jpg)
As with most sites of this type, its true history is unknown. However, there is a traditional folkstory that a giant whose marvellous cow gave unlimited amounts of milk used the circle until a malicious witch milked the cow, using a sieve until it was drained dry, as a result of which it fled to
Warwickshire
Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...
where it became the
Dun cow.
As a punishment, the witch was turned into stone and surrounded by other stones to prevent her escaping. What became of the giant is unknown.
Burl goes on to state that "An intriguing fact does exist however. Aerial photographs have revealed mediaeval ridge-and-furrow ploughmarks not only running up to the ring but also through it as though this 'prehistoric' megalithic ring might postdate the Middle Ages!"
Other nearby prehistoric sites
The only other known stone circle in Shropshire are the
Hoarstones, only 1½ miles northeast of the Fold. Nearby but just outside Shropshire are the
Whetstones, less than half a mile to the east of the Fold. So this area is a concentrated area of activity. Nearly all the latter's stones were blown up in the 1860s; now there is only a collapse of stones. When the last stone was uprooted in 1870 charcoal and bones were seen in its hole.
The circle is north of
Bishop's Castle
Bishop's Castle is a market town in the south west of Shropshire, England. According to the 2011 Census it had a population of 1,893.
Bishop's Castle is east of the Wales-England border, about north-west of Ludlow and about south-west of Sh ...
, north of
Corndon Hill
Corndon Hill ( cy, Cornatyn) is a hill in Powys, Mid Wales, whose isolated summit rises to 1,683 ft above sea level.
It is surrounded on three sides by the English county of Shropshire and forms a prominent landmark in the Wales-England ...
over the Welsh border in the small village of
White Grit and within a few miles of the Late Neolithic-Early Bronze Age
picrite
Picrite basalt or picrobasalt is a variety of high-magnesium olivine basalt that is very rich in the mineral olivine. It is dark with yellow-green olivine phenocrysts (20-50%) and black to dark brown pyroxene, mostly augite.
The olivine-rich p ...
stone axe factory of
Cwm-Mawr. To the south-east is a weathered cubical block on a small
cairn
A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ).
Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehis ...
. Along the path leading from the Fold which crosses Stapeley Common, home to the
Cow Stonebr>
or single standing Stone -
Menhir
A menhir (from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large human-made upright stone, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. They can be foun ...
and the Stapeley Hill Ring
Cairn
A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ).
Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehis ...
br>
Popular culture
The circle features on the cover of the 2012 album 'Heathen Psalms' by
Shropshire
Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...
based
pagan metal
Pagan metal is a genre of heavy metal music which fuses extreme metal with " the pre-Christian traditions of a specific culture or region" through thematic concept, rustic melodies, unusual instruments or archaic languages, Wiederhorn 2009, p. 6 ...
band
Hrafnblóð.
The standing stone circle is also a place players can visit in
Assassin's Creed Valhalla
''Assassin's Creed Valhalla'' is a 2020 action role-playing video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It is the twelfth major installment in the ''Assassin's Creed'' series, and the successor to 2018's ''Assassin's Creed ...
, launched 2020. The game is set in 873 A.D. where it is referred to as Mycel Fold.
References
External links
Shropshire Tourism boards entry for Mitchell's Fold History and Research on Mitchell's Fold: English Heritage
{{European Standing Stones
Scheduled monuments in Shropshire
English Heritage sites in Shropshire
Stone circles in Shropshire