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Examining folkloric, paranormal & cryptozoological locations in the UK and beyond

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Folklore of Standing Stones & Circles

Caught in the Tread

Location: Bishops Castle (Shropshire) - Lea Stone, located near the castle ruins
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Stone still present
Further Comments: The Lea Stone was created when the Devil picked the rock from his boot and tossed it aside.

Meeting Point

Location: Bishops Castle (Shropshire) - Stiperstones (aka Stiper Stones)
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: 21 December (reoccurring)
Further Comments: It is a curious local legend that states that once a year all the ghosts in the UK meet at the stones, one assumes for their AGM. Another story says that if the stones ever sink into the earth, England shall be ruined; the Devil occasionally sits on the stones to speed up the process.

Growing Stone

Location: Blaxhall (Suffolk) - Stone Farm, Blaxhall Stone
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: The Blaxhall Stone is slowly growing. Cynicism abound, if this stone is really increasing in size, then it could not have been very large to start with...

Charlotte Dymond

Location: Bodmin Moor (Cornwall) - Roughtor (aka Rough Tor), near a memorial stone to Charlotte
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 14 April (reoccurring)
Further Comments: While Charlotte's boyfriend was hanged for her murder, it is widely believed he was innocent; this could be the reason why Charlotte has returned, dressed in a gown and silk bonnet.

Devil's Bolts

Location: Boroughbridge (Yorkshire) - Standing Stones, in a field near Aldborough
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Stones still present
Further Comments: These large standing stones are said to have been thrown by Old Nick at Aldborough, an old Christian settlement that once stood here. After failing to hit his target, the Devil hanged himself from the largest stone!

Thrown

Location: Brockhampton Green (Dorset) - Large stone (no longer present)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A local legend says a large boulder that could once be found here was thrown into position by a giant. Another story says that twenty men moved the stone and tried to throw it at a giant. The stone has since been removed or broken up.

Sleeping Army

Location: Bruff (County Limerick) - Knockadoon earthworks
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A half human, half fairy entity sleeps beneath this hill along with an army waiting for the day they are needed to set Ireland free. The hybrid is said to ride across the nearby lake every seven years on a white horse with silver shoes.


The mythical boat Twrch Trwyth.

Carn Cabal

Location: Builth Wells (Powys) - Pile of stones (no longer present)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: King Arthur's dog Cavall left his footprint upon a stone while hunting the mythical boar Twrch Trwyth (Troyt). Arthur had the footprint placed on top of a cairn, and if removed, the marked stone would always return the following day.

Cursed Stone

Location: Bulford (Wiltshire) - Stone along a bend in the River Avon (stone no longer present)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Pre-1960s
Further Comments: A stone on the riverside was considered cursed, and it was believed could not be removed (until it was).

The Murder Stone

Location: Cadoxton (South Glamorgan) - Churchyard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Stone still present, sighting of ghosts pre 1920s?
Further Comments: A stone monument was erected in the churchyard in memory of Margaret Williams, whose murdered body was found on nearby marshland in 1822. Because she was pregnant at the time of her death, it was widely believed her lover and her killer were the same man. Nonetheless, Margaret's killer was never caught. Two ghostly forms were reported by the stones, thought to be of Margaret and her former lover.

Mysterious Stones

Location: Callanish, Isle of Lewis (Outer Hebrides) - Callanish standing stones
Type: Other
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: It is still argued to what extent this stone circle represents the heavenly bodies above, and what its ultimate purpose was. One legend says that the thirteen stones were giants who refused to become Christians - they were petrified for the sin.

Unlucky Art

Location: Carlisle (Cumbria) - Cursing Stone, Carlisle Museum
Type: Curse
Date / Time: 2001 onwards
Further Comments: Since the installation of artist Gordon Young's sculpted granite 'Cursing Stone' inscribed with a 16th century curse in one of Carlisle's museums in 2001, misfortune has plagued the city - local farm stock were wiped out by foot-and-mouth disease, a devastating flood occurred, several factories have closed, a boy killed in a local bakery and Carlisle United football team dropped a league.

Stone of Dismissal

Location: Carlton (Nottinghamshire) - Devil's Stone (outside the church?)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present?
Further Comments: In a reversal of the normal tale associated with these stones, if a witness spotted the Devil nearby, she or he had to run around the stone to dismiss Old Nick. The stone was also said to be haunted by a woman in white who was sacrificed on it.

John of Gaunt

Location: Carn Brea (Cornwall) - Stones on nearby hill
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Stones still present
Further Comments: The giant John would often throw boulders at neighbouring giants, who would toss them back at him - hence, the hillside is covered in large rocks. The giant's remains are said to be buried somewhere on the site.

Sisters

Location: Catchall (Cornwall) - The Sisters (standing stones), aka Drift Stones
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: These two standing stones are said to be sisters who were petrified after committing an unknown sin.

Clash of Swords

Location: Cawston (Norfolk) - Duelling Stone at Crossroads
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A duel once fought here can occasionally be heard re-enacted many years later.

Knight in Shining Armour

Location: Cefyn Bryn (West Glamorgan) - Arthur's Stone (aka Arthur's Quoit?)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nights of a full moon
Further Comments: Wearing gleaming armour, this figure emerges from under the stone and walks off towards Llandrhidian.

Giant Stone

Location: Cerne Abbas (Dorset) - Stone on Bockhampton Green
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: Two origin myths surround this stone. One says the rock was thrown into position by an angry giant, while the other states the rock was rolled into position by villagers attempting to move it up the hill to use as a weapon against the giant.

Frozen Maiden

Location: Chapel of Garioch (Aberdeenshire) - Pictish Stone
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: The large red monolith is reportedly a maiden who tried to escape from a local warlock - she failed.


The geese were petrified.

Grey Geese of Addlestrop Hill

Location: Chastleton (Oxfordshire) - Goose Stones
Type: Legend
Date / Time: A couple of stones still present; most have been moved
Further Comments: An elderly lady driving her geese down the road met a witch who requested charity. The elderly woman refused, so the witch turned the geese to stone.

Giant Grave

Location: Cheselbourne (Dorset) - Round Barrow
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: The mound found here is said to be the grave of a giant who dropped dead after losing a game of 'throw the boulder the furthest'. Two stones nearby are said to mark the place where the giant and his (winning) friend stood; when the cockerel crows, the stones move.

Elfin Music

Location: Chillingham (Northumberland) - Area around the Hurle Stane (aka Hurl Stone)
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This site was said to often be filled with the sound of fairy music and singing.


The stones at Clava Cairns, Scotland.

Fairy Music

Location: Clava Cairns (Highland) - Stone Cairns
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A Bronze Age cemetery, the haunting sound of fiddling heard in this area has led some to say that the music is produced by fairies. A few people who have removed stones from the site are reported have returned them after suffering streaks of bad luck.

Indestructible Stone

Location: Cleish (Perth and Kinross) - The Lecture Stone (was quarter mile east from church)
Type: Other
Date / Time: Nineteenth century
Further Comments: The stone was said to be blessed after three attempts to blow it up with gunpowder failed. It has since been moved to an unknown location.

Thrown Stone

Location: Clonakilty (County Cork) - Knockatlowig (stone row)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: The largest stone found here is said to have been thrown into position by a giant standing a couple of kilometres away.

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