Kings Men stone circle - Little Rollright, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire
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SMacB
N 51° 58.534 W 001° 34.224
30U E 598193 N 5759285
Information board near The Kings Men stone circle, a ceremonial stone circle probably dating from the late Neolithic period c. 2.500BC
Waymark Code: WM139NC
Location: Southern England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 10/20/2020
Views: 1
The Kings Men are a ceremonial stone circle probably dating from the late Neolithic period c. 2.500BC
"The ring of very pitted stones are irregularly spaced round a 30m diameter circle. Some of the lichens growing on the stones are thought to be 400-800 years old. Rollright is the easternmost stone circle in Britain. The stones are set in a low bank but there was no ditch round it. About a third of the seventy-odd stones were re-erected in 1882.
Antiquarian drawings and a small excavation suggest that the ring of stones was originally a continuous wall of up to 105 boulders set cheek-by-jowl except for a narrow entrance opposite the tallest stone flanked by two portal stones standing just outside the ring. Stone circles of a similar design occur in the English Lake District, Ireland and possibly Wales, but not southern or western England or Scotland.
The circle was not a burial ground but was used for communal ceremonies. The stones are local surface boulders, probably found within 500m. Using antler tools, wooden levers and fibre ropes, 20 people could have built it in a month.
Legends -
The King’s Men are so-called from a legend about a witch who turned a king and his army into stone.
The stones are uncountable — if you can count them three times and get the same number each time, you can have any wish you like!
The tallest stone is said to have been taken to make a bridge over a stream — it took 24 horses to drag it down the hill and 2 men were killed on the way. After it kept flipping over and the crops failed, it only took two horses to pull it back up the hill!"
SOURCE - info board
Type of Historic Marker: info board
Historical Marker Issuing Authority: Rollright Trust
Related Website: [Web Link]
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Age/Event Date: Not listed
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