Solstice at The Rollright Stones 2020

HERESY site visit to The Rollright Stones on Summer Solstice 2020.

The ancient site consists of 3 monuments dating from different periods: The King's Men Stone Circle circa 2,500 BC, The Whispering Knights circa 3,800-3,500 BC and the King Stone circa 1,500 BC.

The Stones take their names from a tale about a king and his army who were marching over the Cotswolds when they encountered a witch who confronted the king saying, “Seven long strides shalt thou take and if Long Compton thou canst see, King of England thou shalt be”. On his seventh stride a mound rose up obscuring the view, and the witch turned them all to stone: the king became the King Stone; his army the King’s Men; and his knights the Whispering Knights (plotting treachery). The witch became an elder tree, supposedly still in the hedge: if it is cut the spell is broken the Stones will come back to life.

It is also said that it is impossible to count the number of stones at the King's Men Stone Circle. For any man that can count the same number three times in a row will never live.