<< Our Photo Pages >> Folkestone moot stones - Marker Stone in England in Kent
Submitted by terrybegent on Tuesday, 25 July 2023 Page Views: 2395
Date UncertainSite Name: Folkestone moot stones Alternative Name: Stone group, town crossCountry: England County: Kent Type: Marker Stone
Nearest Town: Folkestone
Map Ref: TR22963589
Latitude: 51.078990N Longitude: 1.181725E
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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A group of 12 stones that were discovered under steps of town cross, in the churchyard of the local parish church of St Mary and St Eanswythe, when it was refurbished in 1897, here is an article from the local newspaper the Folkestone Express from that time:
"In the course of pulling down the ancient steps previous to re-setting them, the workmen discovered, embedded in the rubbish which formed the centre, a circular stone which was unquestionably the base of the ancient cross, and various pieces of kerbing shaped out to fit round the same. These ..., probably will be utilised in fixing the base of the sundial"
The stones were, instead, set to one side and arranged in a circular group by the builders in 1897 (shown in one of the pictures). In the intervening years, a holly tree grew through the middle of the the stones and obscured them from view.
Subsequent research indicates that the pieces were actually all cut from a single stone - probably the moot stone for the Folkestone Hundred since the site of the stones, and the original cross that sat in the socket carved in the central stone, sit on a small, roughly circular mound at the focal point of all the ancient tracks from the other parts of the Hundred.
The original steps that were refurbished in 1897 were erected in 1138 when the churchyard was enclosed for a new priory so, even if the stones are subsequently shown not to be the remains of the moot stone, they are historic in their own right and have been on this site for the best part of 2000 years.
1897 Folkestone Express, 1st September, page 5, col 'd'.
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