1.1 The Rollright Stones
On a long stretch of A road just outside Chipping Norton there stands a collection of neolithic monuments with a fascinating history.
Listen now to episode one of Wyrd Folk to find out how a meeting between an enchantress and a would-be king ends with a terrible curse.
We chose the legend of how the Rollright Stones were formed as our first episode because it has such a fascinating history. But we didn’t quite have time in either of our stories to include everything. So here is the rundown of our favourite folklore beliefs about the Kingsmen, the King’s stone and the Whispering Knights.
1. The Stones are uncountable
This part of the legend is the one that makes the most logical sense. Anyone who has ever visited the Rollright Stones can tell you that the stones are so weathered and tumbled down that the original upright dolmen have crumbled into pieces over time. Anyone attempting to count the stones finds themselves confronted with many jagged pieces of rock that lay so tumbled together that only the particularly observant can recall which stones they have already counted and which they have not.
2. Removing the Stones is dangerous.
In the episode, we briefly talked about the local story of a farmer who removed one of the stones to make a bridge for the stream at the bottom of the hill. Local folklore tells that it took 24 men to drag the stone out of place and to the stream, killing one of them in the process. But by the next morning, the stone had tipped itself out of position and onto one side of the bank. This continued over and over again until the farmer’s crop also failed and he decided it would be wise to replace the stone, which then slipped easily up the hill and back into its previous spot. We can easily believe that removing a stone from a sacred site would bring down this kind of curse.
3. A Site of Pagan Worship
The Rollrights have such a powerful connection with witchcraft that it is still used by local covens as a gathering place for special events. This area of North Oxfordshire has a strong association with witchcraft and it is quite common to see an offering (like the one pictured above) in the centre of the circle or placed on to the stones of the Whispering Knights.
4. Drinking Stones
Local legend has it that the King’s Stone (pictured above) and his knights in the stone circle get up at midnight and make their way down to Little Rollright Spinney to drink from the water of the stream. We can certainly see why they might be thirsty after a few thousand years as a hoar stone! This kind of legend is quite common with standing stones, with very similar legends being shared about standing stones in Worcestershire and Herefordshire.
5. The Wood of the Whispering Knights
This fact is not a legend but comes from the archaeological evidence excavated from around the Whispering Knights. Soil analysis suggests that the knights, which are thought to be the collapsed portal dolmen for a burial barrow from around 3,500BC, might have been erected in a woodland glade. The Whispering Knights are the oldest of The Rollright Stones and were erected before the clearing of large swathes of forest for agriculture. We love the idea that these stones were once the portal to a tomb which sat in a woodland glade on the hill.