Snivelling Corner

Nearest town:
Swindon (12km WSW)
OS reference:
SU262868
OS sheet:
174
Latitude:
51° 34' 44.13 N
Longitude:
1° 37' 18.69 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Snivelling Corner (Standing Stone / Menhir) by MerryWizard77

Snivelling stone showing the foot shaped cavity, according to legend the heel print

Image credit: Ben Lovegrove
MerryWizard77
MerryWizard77 Oct 12, 2024
Image of Snivelling Corner (Standing Stone / Menhir) by MerryWizard77

The legendary Snivelling Stone, reported lost by English Heritage.

Anglo-Saxon legend tells of how phantom blacksmith Wayland thé Smithy sent his imp into Ashbury village to buy some nails, but the imp went drinking and wénching instead. So Wayland lobbed a Boulder at him which caught him on the heel. The imp went Snivelling into a corner which has been known as Snivelling Corner ever since.

It was said that the stone was still there with the imp’s heel print on it and a hole in the side for which there were various other folklore explanations.

According to English heritage records on past scape the stone was reported missing and assumed destroyed in 1979 but Clive Spinage says in his book that it is still there.

So today I went to look for it, sure enough I found it hidden away in a hedge near the dried up steam where it used to stand. There is a foot shaped cavity and a hole clearly visible on one side.

Image credit: Ben Lovegrove
MerryWizard77
MerryWizard77 Oct 12, 2024

Articles

Folklore

Snivelling Corner
Standing Stone / Menhir
Chance
Chance Aug 21, 2012

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

Miscellaneous

Snivelling Corner
Standing Stone / Menhir
Chance
Chance Aug 21, 2012

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)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SOURCE TEXT
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
( 1) Transactions of the Newbury District Field Club Grinsell LV (1981) Page(s)54-55

Sites within 20km of Snivelling Corner

Like all websites everywhere, we use cookies.