The Modern Antiquarian. Stone Circles, Ancient Sites, Neolithic Monuments, Ancient Monuments, Prehistoric Sites, Megalithic MysteriesThe Modern Antiquarian

Standon Pudding Stone

Standing Stone / Menhir

Folklore

Ben Colman / Mark Ynys Mon's site at
http://www.druidic.org/visits/churches/12.05.02/pages/Standon-stone2.htm
gives a picture of the stone in its current spot (and don't miss the wicked romanesque font in the nearby church, also a picture on the site - sorry but I can't help it)

Puddingstone - or Breeding / Mother stone - is made up of littler rocks conglomerated into one lump. Hertfordshire puddingstone is comprised of little pebbles. Apparently, if you take out one of the pebbles, another will grow back. Though I reckon that'd be quite difficult, because the matrix is so hard that the rock tends to split right through the lot - the pebbles aren't like raisins in a cake.

It's been speculated that puddingstones were used as track markers on the Icknield way, for example. Perhaps they were also used as sacred standing stones. From these tentative ideas some people have inferred that the common use of them in the foundations of churches was to continue the 'sacred' idea - building the old into the new. But I'm kind of inclined to think they may have just been seen as bloody good hard, decorative rocks with which to build. Who knows.
Rhiannon Posted by Rhiannon
25th July 2002ce

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