Archaeologists have started to excavate King Arthur’s stone, a tomb in Herefordshire where the legendary King Arthur is said to have defeated a giant.
The tomb, which dates somewhere between 3,700 BC and 2,700 BC, is situated on a hilltop outside the village of Dorstone in Herefordshire’s Golden Valley.
It is formed of nine upright stones, with an enormous capstone forming the top that’s estimated to weigh more than 25 tonnes.
The Neolithic monument, which has never previously been excavated, is said to have inspired the ‘stone table’ in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis.
Last year, experts excavated a patch of land adjacent to King Arthur’s stone, but the first ever excavations of the tomb itself have only just commenced.
Arthur’s Stone is a Neolithic chambered tomb in Herefordshire’s Golden Valley which has never previously been excavated
Arthur’s Stone, which dates back to 3,700BC, is on a hilltop outside the village of Dorstone, Herefordshire
Archaeologists from the University of Manchester are working in partnership with English Heritage, which looks after Arthur’s Stone, to remove turf to expose and record particularly sensitive archaeological remains.
‘Arthur’s Stone is one of this country’s outstanding prehistoric monuments, set in a breathtaking location, yet it remains poorly understood,’ said Professor Julian Thomas at the University of Manchester.
‘Our work seeks to restore it to its rightful place in the story of Neolithic Britain.’
Like many prehistoric monuments in western England and Wales, King Arthur’s stone has been linked to King Arthur since before the 13th century.
According to legend, it was here that Arthur slew a giant who left the impression of his elbows on one of the stones as he fell.
More recently, the British author CS Lewis is thought to have been inspired by the area when creating his fictional world of Narnia.
Arthur’s Stone was the inspiration for the stone table upon which Aslan the Lion is sacrificed in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.
Today, Arthur’s Stone is the remains of what was once a secretive chamber covered by a long earthen mound.
In CS Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the ‘stone table’ (depicted here in the 2005 feature film) is the sacred place where Aslan, a talking lion, is killed by the White Witch
Arthur’s Stone is a Neolithic chambered tomb in Herefordshire’s Golden Valley which has never previously been excavated
The stones that we see today formed the ‘inner chamber’ of this structure, covered in a pile of compressed turf.
It is unlikely that the monument was built solely as a tomb, and was likely also used as a focus for ritual ceremonies, English Heritage says.
Neolithic people may have gathered here on a seasonal basis, much like at Stonehenge in Wiltshire.
Similar structures in the same region in Herefordshire have been found to contain incomplete skeletal remains of several people, together with flint flakes, arrowheads and pottery.
So researchers are hopeful that the excavation will unveil new finds that can shed more light on the structure’s history and purpose.
This illustration shows a cutaway reconstruction of Arthur’s Stone, as it once looked. Today, the large stones that made up the structure’s inner chamber are what’s left
Dating to the Neolithic period in 3700BC, Arthur’s Stone is located on a lonely hilltop outside of the village of Dorstone, facing the Black Mountains in south Wales
This month, English Heritage is opening the site to members of the public as it is excavated by volunteers and archaeologists.
Free tours can be pre-booked in July through the English Heritage website.
‘Arthur’s Stone is one of the country’s most significant Stone Age monuments, and this excavation gives a really rare and exciting chance for members of the public to come and see archaeology in action,’ said Ginny Slade, volunteer manager at English Heritage.
‘Our team of wonderful volunteers will be on hand to explain the latest findings as they happen.
‘We’re asking people to book in advance to make sure everyone has a chance to enjoy this great opportunity.’
Last year, experts excavated a patch of land adjacent to King Arthur’s stone, but the first ever excavations of the tomb itself have only just commenced. Pictured is a plot of land immediately south of King Arthur’s stone that was excavated starting last year
Researchers and volunteers are pictured during excavations of the plot last year, which revealed more about the origins of the Stone Age monument
The new dig follows research undertaken immediately to the south of the monument last year, which revealed the monument originally extended into a field, and so was once part of a much larger ceremonial landscape than previously thought.
The original turf-covered long mound stretched into the nearby field, but rot caused it to collapse over time. The mound was then rebuilt with a slightly different orientation, researchers said.
It’s also linked to nearby remains of two large 6000-year-old halls, called the ‘halls of the dead’, which were discovered in 2013 by a team led by Professor Thomas.