25/09/2017 – We had popped down to Scarborough for a long weekend just for a bit of walking really. A few days before we came I noticed that we weren’t too far from Rudston so we crammed 3 days of walking into 2, leaving our last day free for a visit to this mega monolith.
Easy enough to get to by car but we were on the bus, which still wasn’t too tricky. Morning 121 bus from Scarborough to Burton Agnes and then a 3 mile or so walk down quietish country roads to Rudston.
We arrived at the south side of the church and had a little debate as to which way round the church we wanted to go for our first sight of the stone. These things are important I think, it’s not every day you get to see the tallest standing stone in Britain for the first time. We chose clockwise.
Rounding the corner of the building and there it stood in all its glory. It really is impressive and as wonderful as I hoped it would be. It seemed to grow and grow as we edged closer. It was hard not to just keep staring at it. So solid and timeless. I know the church and graveyard setting isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but I quite liked it and loved the difference in height between the monolith and the similar shaped gravestones round it.
After having a look at the small stone and cist in the corner (it looked a little sad hidden away and dark with the overhead leaves at this time of year) we sat across the road on a bench and had our butties.
The inside of the church is worth a look and has a small display about the history of the area.
After one last look at the stone we started the slow walk back to the bus stop. We kept an eye out for any sign of the cursus that crosses the road to the south of Rudston but no luck. Did manage to find a coffee shop in Burton Agnes which helped with the wait for the bus.
Top day out and the Rudston monolith is a must see site.
Happy us on the bus back to Scarborough for an evening of chips and gravy and two penny falls.
It is a fabulous monolith, I think the cursuses (There are several) one must run by the Gypsey Race at the bottom of the hill. The Magpie in Whitby is the best place for fish and chips!
The Magpie duly noted for next time, thanks Moss. I just love fish and chips down by the sea.
At the Magpie, if you catch it wrong you'll be queueing out the front door!
The Green Room in Filey's good..fairly near Rudston
I feel a new thread coming on.
'Best chippies you've been to near megalithic sites'
Info like this is important to a TMA traveller I think :-)