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Snivelling Corner

Standing Stone / Menhir (Destroyed)

Nearest Town:Swindon (12km WSW)
OS Ref (GB):   SU262868 / Sheet: 174
Latitude:51° 34' 44.13" N
Longitude:   1° 37' 18.69" W

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Folklore

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3. Snivelling Corner

About a mile north of Ashbury is a spot known as Snivelling Corner, a few yards south-east of where a footpath from Ashbury crosses a stream, and a quarter of a mile east of Tanner's Barn. The spot is marked by a rough sarsen, three feet long, two feet high, and one foot thick, with a cavity on one side.

The tradition is that in days gone by, Wayland the Smith wanted some nails, so he sent his imp, Flibbertigibbet, down to the village of Ashbury to get the nails. But after the manner of boys, instead of coming straight back with the nails Flibbertigibbet went birds' nesting with some of the boys of the village. After an impatient wait Wayland spied him and in his fury threw a stone at him which pierced the ground and hit the imp on the heel. The dent in the stone is supposed to be where it hit the heel of the imp, who went away snivelling: hence Snivelling Corner !

It is curious how often indentations on stones are attributed to heelmarks. It is said that the Heel Stone of Stonchenge bears the imprint of the lieel of the friar when the stone was hurled at him by the Devil. There is also a good deal of folklore relating to other marks on stones, supposed to represent the imprints of the feet, or hands, of the Devil, or giants or other super-natural beings. A Saxon parallel to the Snivelling Corner legend has already been noted in the section on the legend of Wayland Smith.


L. V. Grinsell
White Horse Hill and the surrounding country - Page 21
Saint Catherine Press; 1st Edition edition - (1939
Chance Posted by Chance
21st August 2012ce
Edited 8th April 2013ce

Miscellaneous

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Details of Stone on Pastscape

Monument No. 975112

SU 262 868. A sarsen stone, 0.9m long, 0.6m high and 0.3m thick, was removed between about 1965 and 1970. It used to stand a few metres SE of where the path from Kingstone Winslow to Odstone Marsh crosses the stream. The stone had a hollow on one side, and there are various folklore explanations for this. (1)

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SOURCE TEXT
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( 1) Transactions of the Newbury District Field Club Grinsell LV (1981) Page(s)54-55
Chance Posted by Chance
21st August 2012ce