<< Our Photo Pages >> Rollright Stones - Stone Circle in England in Oxfordshire
Submitted by Tom_Wilson on Monday, 21 December 2020 Page Views: 96210
Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Rollright Stones Alternative Name: The King's Men, The Rollrights, Rollendrith, RowldrichCountry: England County: Oxfordshire Type: Stone Circle
Nearest Town: Chipping Norton Nearest Village: Long Compton
Map Ref: SP29583087 Landranger Map Number: 151
Latitude: 51.975515N Longitude: 1.570778W
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:
I have visited· I would like to visit
steph Britishfootpaths DrewParsons 43559959 KieKa whese001 scherre hevveh would like to visit
BarryC visited on 24th Jan 2023 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 3 Access: 4 Not my first visit and hopefully not my last. A clear, bright January day with "see for miles" visibility. The right sort of day to visit this place, I think. Had some time to myself, which was a bonus, but some chaterers arrived and that was my cue to leave - in truth, I never feel inclined to stay long at The Rollrights.
Lots of - what is it called now? - "ritual litter". Persumably from the Winter Solstice. It's interesting (to me) to wonder what might be in those little bags, or what the tied messages might say. It would be rude to touch though, so I wondered and wandered on...
poho visited on 13th Nov 2022 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 5 Dropped in on my way home from a walk in the Cotswolds. This is my nearest stone circle and I've been here a few times. This visit I was lucky enough to find no-one else there and the sun just setting to the west. Standing alone in the circle watching the sun drop below the horizon I felt very connected and at peace. A lovely pagan experience.
fibo74 visited on 1st Jan 2021 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 5
SimonBlackmore visited on 25th Jan 2020 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 5 Access: 5
Brian_Eyes visited on 1st Nov 2019 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 4
eddie304 visited on 1st Sep 2019 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 4 Visited on my 60th birthday. Been to the site since childhood, including a full mapping and dowsing visit in my late teens (on tandem!). Just the most wonderful stone circle and location. (I have been to very many, just ask the wife.) Access is so much improved to the wider area. There is no longer the need to walk down the road to get to the whispering knights.
drolaf visited on 8th Dec 2017 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 4 nice on an early winter morning few tourists
MercuryMars visited on 14th Apr 2016 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 5
emerald visited on 22nd Dec 2015 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 5 Great stone circle with a lay by literally just at the side of it, awesome sight. It was raining heavily when l visited and extremely muddy due to the warmer weather we have been having so l took a few photos and thought ' l will be back'
Chrononaut1962 visited on 12th Sep 2015 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 5
kthdsn visited on 2nd May 2015 - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 4 Access: 5
MartinJEley visited on 22nd Sep 2014 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 5 Access: 4 The stones are stunning because of their somewhat unusual appearance. The circle still presents a good sense of the importance of the site. We visited the day after the Druid celebration of the autumn equinox. A labyrinth had been laid using bird seed and it served very well in identifying the main axis, as shown in the photo that I have uploaded.
NickyD visited on 1st Jan 2014 - their rating: Amb: 4 Access: 5
LittleFaerie visited on 1st Sep 2013 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4
KimIannucci visited on 4th Jun 2013 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 5
wildtalents visited on 6th Apr 2013 - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 5 Access: 5 Although it can get quite busy (but deservedly so: this is a place of great magic) the Rollrights have to be seen if you're in any way serious as a megalithomane.
It's quite easy to park alongside and then it's a very easy walk to the stone circle. The boulders have a unique gnarly quality and are bunched up close, apart from some gaps here and there. One or two of these are by design I'm sure.
The other two monuments are relatively close by (logged separately)
ModernExplorers visited on 8th Mar 2013 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 4 A heavily eroded site with many layers of history
gaddy visited on 1st Sep 2011 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 5 A surprisingly sunny, lovely late-summer afternoon spent among the, slightly eerie, Rollright Stones! You'll think I'm lying -but I distinctly heard some disembodied laughter coming from the direction of the Whispering Knights, but there was nobody around...
PS- I counted 80 stones!
jeffrep visited on 25th May 2011 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4
custer visited on 6th Nov 2010 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 5 Great site. Kingstone on one side of the road. Whispering knights a bit of a walk down the field The kings men circle tucked round the corner by the trees. Great views.
h_fenton visited on 24th Oct 2010 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 5
woodini254 visited on 26th Jun 2010 - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 5 Access: 5 This is a superb site well worth visiting. I have visited it a number of times over a period of 20 years.
rockmanzym visited on 1st Sep 2009 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 4
SteveC visited on 22nd Aug 2009 - their rating: Amb: 4 Access: 5
graemefield visited on 6th Jun 2009 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 5
Richard13 visited on 1st Jun 2009 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 5
ChrisHealey visited on 20th Jun 2008 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 5 I've visited the rollrights several times, it's probably the nearest significant site to where I live. It's very close to a main road, so easy access. Despite that, it always has a good atmosphere and I'll be back at every opportunity.
cactus_chris visited on 1st Jan 2003 - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 4 Access: 5
BolshieBoris visited on 1st Jun 1987 - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 4 Access: 5
Runemage visited on 1st Jan 1980 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 4 Just came across this old leaflet from my first visit in 1980
Elric visited - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 4
kith visited - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4
jlfern2 visited - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 5
Hodur visited - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 5
ChristopherJones visited - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 5 Access: 5 Very nice area. It was supposed to be closed, but it seemed it wasn't.
Mikesee visited - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 5 Access: 4
mark_a NDM Humbucker sorschaL neolithique02 Ahdzib TheCaptain Bladup rldixon Gorient PhilipT sorschaL nicoladidsbury h_fenton myf hamish AngieLake JimChampion TimPrevett ScottHK mdensham sirius_b cazzyjane kelpie AnnabelleStar Phil Alma23 Wazza12 have visited here
Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 3.94 Ambience: 4.33 Access: 4.64
As a result, it would be unwise of us to attempt supplying you with everything there is to be said about this arena. The Rollright complex today consists primarily of three sites: the Whispering Knight's portal dolmen, the King's Men stone circle, and the King Stone. Of these, it is the stone circle which draws most attention. Several alignments are connected with the com plex. The original ritual use of the place would have, primarily, involved rites of passage and death rituals. Women would have played a large part in the ritual use and possible geomantic layout of the original complex. It is likely that the stone circle was used as a moot spot, which may have been in use until medieval times. The recent discovery of the carving of a family crest, at least 500 years old, implies this.
Used as the prime base for what was known as the Dragon Project, a variety of electromagnetic anomalies were recorded here by the scientists and geomancers involved in the work over many years. Much of this was published in Paul Devereux's Places of Power - required reading for everyone who pretends an interest in megalithic sciences.
The King's Men is a near-perfect circle of oolitic limestone uprights. Thought for centuries to be the memorial site of some victory by the Danish King Rollo, they have been described by many historians, travellers and antiquarians from the 14th century upwards. Several early writers described a sort of "avenue" running from the circle, not unlike the one perceived at Stonehenge and elsewhere. Evidence for this cannot be fully disregarded, as there are some recumbent monoliths along the road beside the stone complex, known as the Jurassic Way. This was a prehistoric trade route and it is more likely than not that some other uprights would have been nearby.
Folklore ascribes that the number of stones in the complex cannot be counted (a motif found at other megalithic sites) and, intriguingly, of the surveys done here, no two agree. One early illustration of the circle shows 30 stones, another describes 46, and one survey describes just 22 stones! As the twentieth century progressed the numbers increased dramatically, with surveys differing at 58, 60, 71, 72, 73, 77 and 105. The present-day 'guesstimate' is about 77. Weird!
Folklore tells that if you can count the stones three times in a row and get the same number, you may have any wish you choose. But recently this has become reversed and it is said to be a curse if you count three times the same. Intriguingly, modern visitors who allege no superstitious beliefs, will not count the stones a third time if the same number crops up twice.
The best-known folk tale of this place is of the King, his men and the knights, who "were once men who were changed into vast rocks and fossilised," as Camden first put it in 1586. The King's men sometimes go to drink at a well near Little Rollright, as does the king, but he only goes at certain times. At midnight however, on certain days, the King's Men have sometimes been known to come to life, join hands and dance in a circle. This sounds more like a folk remnant of ritual use here.
Faerie folk are said to live beneath the circle, in great caverns, some of which are linked up to the single monolith across the road. Ravenhill [1926] described how local folk had sometimes seen the little people dancing around the circle by moonlight, but nobody has seen them of late.
Text from The Old Stones of Rollright and District (archived link) by Paul Bennett & Tom Wilson (text used with permission)
See also the Official Rollright Stones Web Site
Note: Winter Solstice Sunrise over the Rollright Stones. More details of the alignment in our Forum. Please upload your winter solstice or planetary alignment photos to our ancient site pages. Have a Happy New Year from all of us at the Megalithic Portal!
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