MidBorder News Summer 2023

Okay, lets settle one thing straight off: the Arthur Stone has got nothing to do with King Arthur, Arthur Daley or any other Arthur one might know of, even though legend says that King Arthur slew a giant who left the impression of his elbows on one of the stones when he fell. In reality The Arthur Stone is a Neolithic burial chamber, a fascinating stone monument and one of the most significant in the whole of the UK - right on our doorstep! It can be found very easily in the hills above the Golden Valley halfway up Dorstone hill, so if you don’t mind driving up very steep narrow roads then it’s definitely well worth a visit.

The Neolithic era (New Stone Age) started in Britain around 6000 years ago. This was a time when communities were transitioning from nomadic hunter gatherers towards a more structured farming lifestyle. It was a time when most of the large structures associated with ritual and burial were built, such as Stonehenge, Avebury and Silbury Hill. The Arthur Stone would have been built during this era, around 5000 years ago.

The people who then lived in Britain were exactly the same as us, the same number of arms and legs and similar sized brains as well. Burial chambers were very commonly built in Britain during the Neolithic and there are many examples still standing. If you’re interested in them then you couldn’t do better than get The Architecture of Death by George Nash. The book describes around 100 such tombs and monuments associated with burial and ritual in and around Wales.

These can take the form of a chamber constructed by large upright stones with a huge capstone positioned and balanced on top forming a roof to the chamber. Often there is also a passage leading into the void as can be seen at the Arthur Stone. They would have been used for the burial of individuals and family groups for the communities who lived in the area. It is estimated that there could have been a population in excess of 250 in the Dorstone settlement occupying the upland areas of the Golden Valley.

The dramatic hills of the Black Mountains and the Skirrid would have been of great significance to the community around the Golden Valley and they would have traded and been in constant contact with the population further afield. Many finds of flint axes and arrow heads in the area support the idea that there were many communities living and hunting in the area. The monuments may also have been completely covered over with stones, rubble and turf with just the entrance passage remaining visible providing access for further burials.

A recent archaeological dig at The Arthur Stone revealed evidence of a bigger and more substantial structure, possibly with an avenue of posts leading up to the monument reinforcing the idea that it may have been a significant place for meeting and ritual.

By Old Peculier