<< Our Photo Pages >> Druid's Stone (Bungay) - Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature in England in Suffolk
Submitted by hamstermoon on Wednesday, 12 October 2022 Page Views: 6599
Natural PlacesSite Name: Druid's Stone (Bungay) Alternative Name: Devil's Stone, Giant's GraveCountry: England County: Suffolk Type: Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature
Nearest Town: Bungay
Map Ref: TM3366689739
Latitude: 52.455583N Longitude: 1.437720E
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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One of the very few well-known stones of Suffolk stands in St. Mary's churchyard. Called variously the Druid's Stone, Devil's Stone or Giant's Grave, it was in folklore the scene of Druid rituals. Apart from being rather rough and mossy, it could at first glance be mistaken for just another gravestone, but it's actually an embedded granite glacial erratic 60cm x 30cm x 76cm high.
In the early 1920s it was referred to as a "fallen monolith", but was re-erected on its original site in about 1925.
One theory proposed it had been taken from the ruins of Bungay Castle for use as a headstone. The legend of the Druid's Stone says that after having danced about it, or knocked upon it, 12 times, young girls would place their ears against the stone to hear the answers to their questions or wishes. Another version states that children would dance around it 7 times on a certain day of the year, then wait for the Devil to appear.
Source: Hidden East Anglia:
Local writer W.A. Dutt wrote that "some consider it to be a Ley or Direction Stone..."
See also The Northern Antiquarian's page for Druid’s Stone, Bungay, Suffolk for local folklore.
Ref: Dutt, W.A., The Ancient Mark-Stones of East Anglia, Flood & Sons: Lowestoft 1926. (see below for links)
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