| Summary : Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age standing stone in churchyard, with modern cap of metal, and suggested cup and ring markings. The stone is approximately 8 metres high, 1.75 metres wide and 1 metre thick, the stone tapers to a point which at some point has been broken and repaired with a lead hood. Excavations in the 18th century suggested the monument extends as deep below the ground as it stands above. The monolith is of gritstone, the nearest source of which is 10-20 miles away. It is unclear whether it was brought to the site in the Neolithic/Bronze Age or arrived much earlier in a glacier flow. It has been suggested that the stone marks the convergence of the Rudston cursus monuments. Cursus A passes to the east of the monolith and cursus C passes to the north, where they converge. The terminus of cursus B is probably on the spur of land on which the monolith stands, but this is concealed by the village. Cursus D runs along the valley floor below the monolith. There is no dating evidence to suggest which came first, but if the monolith is of Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age date it almost certainly post-dates the cursuses. |
More information : (TA 09816774). Standing Stone (NR). (1)
Rudston Monolith in Rudston Churchyard; rectangular in section, 25
1/2ft high, 6 ft wide and 2 1/4ft thick at the base, made of dressed
grit. Considered BA by Elgee and Brewster. (2-3)
As described. See GP from W and guide. (4)
Published Survey (25") correct. (5)
9/65 Monolith approximately 7 metres north of Church of All Saints
(Formerly listed as standing stone in the churchyard) 30.6.66
I Monolith. Probably Bronze Age. Grey sandstone. Approximately 8.0
metres high, approximately 1.75 metres wide, approximately 1.0 metre
thick. Rectangular on plan, widening towards the mid-point before
tapering to a point. Possible cup and ring marks accompanied by
scoring. The largest surviving monolith in the British Isles.
Scheduled as an Ancient Monument. (6)
TA 0980 6774. Standing stone known as the Rudston Monolith. Scheduled RSM No 26515. The stone is widest at its base, where it measures 1.75m (east side) by 1.6m (west side) by 0.9m (north side) by 0.63m (south side). Excavations conducted by Sir William Strickland in the 18th century suggested that the stone may extend as deep below ground as its height above. The nearest source of gritstone occurs at Cayton and Cornelian Bays, some 15km away, but the stone could have been carried to Rudston by the same glacier flow which cut the Forge Valley near Scarborough. The monument dates to the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age period and stands at the centre of a number of important archaeological sites in the Yorkshire Wolds around the Rudston area. These include henges, prehistoric settlement complexes, rectilinear enclosures, round and square barrow cemeteries. In
particular, the monument appears to mark the convergence of three cursus monuments (TA 06 NE/19, 46-48) . The continuing importance of the site is shown by the founding of the parish church here soon after the Norman Conquest, in around AD 1100. (7)
It is thought that the first lead cap was added to the monolith in 1773 by a Mrs. Bosville; who observed that the stone was being eroded by rain. It was attached by means of a dowel in the top of the stone. (8) |