Winter Solstice 2005

Rolllright Stones, Oxfordshire

This was a fabulous place to visit. We arrived as the night was closing in, but the moon was shining bright and the stars very vivid.

We walked around the stone circle and investigated and felt quite awe struck in the shining moon imagining what it must have been like many years before.

We also visited the Kingstone and Whispering Knights in a field opposite the main road.

The 5000 year old burial chamber, believed to be part of a Neolithic long barrow . The Knights are a small group of five upright stones , who got their name because of the conspiratorial way in which they lean inwards towards each other as if they are plotting against their king, a separate stone.

We checked the following out:

"It is said that at one time Long Compton was a favorite place for witches - as many as 14 witches are said to have lived in the village at one time. But the witch of our tale was Mother Shipton of Shipton-under-Wytchwood who lived from 1488 to 1551. A would-be King of England was leading his army north across the Rollright Hills when Mother Shipton suddenly appeared before him and spoke the words:

"Seven long strides shalt thou take and if Long Compton thou canst see, King of England thou shalt be!"

Well the would-be king stepped off the seven paces, exclaiming as he did:
"Stick, stock, stone. As King of England I shall be known."
But the seven paces were not enough to overcome the crest of the ridge. The witch gave a wicked laugh and cursed the entire ensemble:
"As Long Compton thou canst not see King of England thou shalt not be. Rise up stick and stand still stone for King of England thou shalt be none; Thou and they men hoar stones shall be and I myself an eldern tree."

Beyond the crest of the ridge and nestled in the valley is Long Compton.
It is said that the stones move at special times of the year - such as Midsummers Eve - but anyone actually witnessing the stones move will go crazy! And why did the witch turn herself into an elder tree? Was it to guard her magic deed for all time?"
Dave