<< Our Photo Pages >> The Great Stone (Trafford) - Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature in England in Greater Manchester
Submitted by vicky on Wednesday, 09 June 2004 Page Views: 16817
Natural PlacesSite Name: The Great Stone (Trafford) Alternative Name: Great Stone of Stretford; Great Stone of Gorse HillCountry: England County: Greater Manchester Type: Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature
Nearest Town: Manchester Nearest Village: Trafford
Map Ref: SJ8043395580 Landranger Map Number: 109
Latitude: 53.456605N Longitude: 2.296142W
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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External Links:
Natural Boulder/possible cross base in Greater Manchester. The Great Stone, now lies at the northern entrance of Gorse Hill Park in Stretford on the A56 (Chester Road) not far from Old Trafford at SJ804955. It was originally positioned adjacent to the nearby 'Great Stone Road' but was moved in 1925.
No one is really sure what the Great Stone is, some say it was used as a road marker during the Roman period, others that it is the base of a Saxon Cross (it does look very similar to Robin Hood's Picking Rods on Mellor Moor in Stockport) and others that it was used as a Plague Stone with the holes on top filled with vinegar to prevent the spread of infection.
Stretford, as the name implies, was an important crossing point over the River Mersey during Roman times, and presumably much earlier. In an area that is generally lacking in stone, surely this glacial erratic boulder of millstone grit must also have had some significance to prehistoric people, perhaps marking a much earlier trackway?
Update January 2019: For more information see Pastscape Monument No. 76747, which classes this as a probably 10th to 11th century boundary cross base. The Journal of Antiquities also features a page for this site - see their entry for The Great Stone Of Stretford, Gorse Hill, Manchester, which includes a photograph, a description of the stone and local legend. The Journal adds a couple of legends, one of which is: "According to legend and local folklore the holes in the top of the stone were filled with vinegar or holy water, perhaps vinegar in one hole and holy water in the other. Coins given by plague victims were placed in the vinegar to sterilise them; the holy water hopefully cured the victim of the disease."
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