King Arthur's Stone (Herefordshire)
Arthur's Stone, Dorstone · Maen Arthur
Early Neolithic·Cotswold-Severn·🇬🇧 Herefordshire, England, United Kingdom
About
About King Arthur's Stone (Herefordshire)
Neolithic chambered tomb on ridge of Dorstone Hill overlooking Golden Valley, Herefordshire: collapsed 25+ tonne capstone over nine uprights enclosing south-facing chamber with passage and forecourt, within 25 m long mound. Built c.3700 BCE Cotswold-Severn tradition outlier, lone English outlier west of Cotswolds. Associated with King Arthur's Stone Quoit folklore — Arthur slays giant on hill. Excavation by Bloxam & Hall (2022) revealed early Neolithic timber predecessor and southern British Neolithic genome.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Outlier far west of Cotswold-Severn core
Theories
- 01Territorial marker at Black Mountains gateway
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 3700 BCE
- Period
- Early Neolithic
- Culture
- Cotswold-Severn
- Purpose
- Chambered long mound collective tomb
- Abandoned
- c.2500 BCE
- Rediscovered
- Antiquarian 17th century; excavated 2022 (Bloxam)
- Excavation
- Excavated
c. 3700 BCE
Initial construction
c. 1168 CE
Major expansion
On the ground
Structures & features
52.0830° N · 3.0655° W · 285 m · 2 mapped features
Collapsed capstone
capstone~25t capstone fallen into chamber
52.0830° N · 3.0655° WForecourt
forecourtHorned forecourt facing south
52.0829° N · 3.0654° W
Gallery