| Summary : The Rollright Stones consist of three groups: the King's Men stone circle; the Whispering Knights burial chamber; and the single King Stone. They span nearly 2,000 years of Neolithic and Bronze Age development. The monuments are a stone circle, portal dolmen, standing stone, round cairn and a ditched round barrow, situated 900 metres north-east of Little Rollright on the Oxfordshire - Warwickshire border. The monument was one of the 29 monuments protected in the original Schedule for the 1882 Ancient Monuments Protection Act, and was taken into state care in 1883. They are in the care of English Heritage and now managed and owned by The Rollright Trust. |
More information : ROLLRIGHT STONES (NR)
(SP 2963096) King Stone (NR)
(SP 29583088) King's Men (NAT) Stone Circle (NR)
(SP 29933084) Whispering Knights (NAT) Burial Chamber (NR). (1)
The Rollright Stones are situated on the borders of Oxfordshire and Warwickshire, close to the villages of Great Rollright and Little Rollright.
The Stones comprise the following:
1. A Stone Circle known as King's Men, consisting of eleven [sic] stones with a diameter of 100ft. Not yet dated by excavation, but probably dated to c.2000/1800 BC. (See UID 968686)
2. A Standing Stone known as King Stone, 8ft. high and 5ft. wide. (See UID 968764)
3. Whispering Knights, the remains of a Burial Chamber comprising a group of stones, 4 set vertically to define a chamber about 6 ft. square, and the fifth, a capstone, resting at an angle. No trace of the mound. Dated to c.2000BC. (See UID 968858)
4. A cairn associated with the King Stone. (See 332802) (2)
The Rollright Stones including the Whispering Knights and King Stone under guardianship and scheduled (3)
A project reassessing stones was carried out in order to develop more realistic management policies, this included extensive documentary research, geographical survey, field walking and selective excavations to clarify particular problems. Results can be seen within each of the individual records. (4)
Additional source. (5)
Revised scheduling. (6)
Additional source. (7)
This source includes a detailed description and plans of the stones. (8)
Assesses the reliability of William Cunnington's 1809 observations and description of the site through comparison with the contemporary drawings by Fisher and the earlier survey by Stukeley. Suggests that the overall similarity between these three accounts supports the reliability of all three sources. Indicates that Cunnington notes important aspects of the monuments whose significance escaped the other antiquarians. (9)
The name 'Rollright' is believed to derive from 'Hrolla-landriht', the land of Hrolla. There is a full description of the stones on The Rollright Trust website. (10)
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