jacksprat
Although the site has been farmed for many years it is possible to make out the remains of the earthworks. You can’t really see from these pictures unfortunately!
Image credit: Barry Lalanne
Madmarston Hill, approaching from the southeast, along the Roman Road
Image credit: Barry Lalanne
Master of all he surveys...the enigmatic Hawk Stone
Image credit: Barry Lalanne
I told my niece to get out of the way, but....
In the valley beyond the stones lies the brook where the knights are said to take drink on New Years Eve. Rumours about them having acquired a taste for hooky are unconfirmed...
A Farrier from Hook Norton tells of how the King Stone got its unusual shape by saying an immoral king tricked Wayland Smithy into making enchanted armour for him, but upon wearing it he was twisted and deformed and turned to stone, for only the faeries could don that armour without risk of harm.
In Christine Bloxham’s book ‘Folklore of Oxfordshire’ (published by Tempus 2005), There is another version of the witch’s rhyme, associated with the King Stone at the Rollright site, involving a Danish General and goes thus:
Said the Danish General
If Long Compton I cou’d see
Then King of England I shou’d be
But replied the British General,
Then rise up hill and stand fast Stone
for Kind of England thou’lt be none
Rainsborough Camp is the remains of an Iron Age hill fort, located approximately 1/2 mile south of Charlton, on the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire.
It is said to have been constructed between the 4th and 6th Century BC. Although longbarrows around the site date to 3000 BC (Source: Aynho today website).
Around 150 BC, the camp was burnt to the ground and remained unnoccupied until around AD 250 when Romans settled there as an un-fortified camp.
The site is situated on the brow of a hill and it’s size is impressive. Its earthworks measure over 8 feet deep in some places and up to 15 feet high. It is entirely surrounded by a shallow ditch. Inside, the camp could easily hold three football pitches – the surface area is roughly six acres.
A brook runs down the valley towards Kings Sutton at the bottom of the hill. There are two entrances, to the east and west, although the east facing entrance is much larger.
The remains of long barrows can still be identified to the north and east of the camp, although farming has destroyed much of them.
The east facing earthwork has a large gap and the ground is raised outside it. Presumably, this was the main entrance. There is a smaller one to the west.
Image credit: Baz
Inside the camp. It could easily hold three football pitches in its boundarys
Image credit: Baz
At some points the earthworks are 20 feet high and incline steeply. You can imagine how imposing it must have been with its timber structure towering
Image credit: Baz
You can see the fort looming from 1/2 mile away. This is taken from 300 metres, approaching from the north east.
Image credit: Baz
There are the remains of several barrows at Rainsborough. This one is about 400 metres to the north of the site.
Image credit: Baz
In Christine Bloxham’s book ‘Folklore of Oxfordshire’ (published by Tempus 2005), There is another version of the witche’s rhyme, associated with the Rollright stones involving a Danish General and goes thus:
Said the Danish General
If Long Compton I cou’d see
Then King of England I shou’d be
But replied the British General,
Then rise up hill and stand fast Stone
for Kind of England thou’lt be none
Bloxham’s book also tells that the stones can never be counted. A victorian baker, determined to count them accurately, brought a basket containing a pre counted number of loaves and put down one in front of each stone. But he either had not included enough loaves or they mysteriously vanished because he failed in his task.
Another legend says that if anyone can count the same amount of stones three times in a row, they shall have any wish granted.
The witch is said to have changed herself into an Elder tree. A festival of cakes and ale used to be held on Midsummer’s Eve, when the Elder was in bloom. People stood in a circle around the tree and as they cut the trunk it would weep red sap, resembling the witch’s blood, (blooding a witch is said to rid her of her magical powers) and the King Stone would move his head and watch the spectacle.
The last tale retold in Bloxham’s book tells of the Dowser Enid Smithett, who when dowsing at the site of the Rollrights, felt faint and dropped her pendulum in the long grass. Instead of flopping to the ground, it stood rigidly, for some time....
A Farrier from Hook Norton tells of how the King Stone got its unusual shape by saying an immoral king tricked Wayland Smithy into making enchanted armour for him, but upon wearing it he was twisted and deformed and turned to stone, for only the faeries could don that armour without risk of harm.
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