Summer Solstice 2011

Hemlock Stone, Nottinghamshire

The Hemlock Stone stands near the summit of Stapleford Hill adjacent to Bramcote Hills and the park.

The Hemlock Stone is felt by many to have been the site of past activity by the Druids, the priesthood of the Celts. It would form a natural focal point, a temple and altar for Celtic festivals such as Beltane, where the ancient practice of lighting fires on the stone during the night before May Day continued until the early 19th century.

The combination of the stone with the surrounding oak woodland (the oak being a sacred tree for the Celts) and a nearby 'sacred spring' all add credence to the idea of Druidic use. On older maps the spring is shown as the 'Healing Well', just to the north-west of Stapleford Hill. This now lost natural spring was used by gypsies and miners alike as a place to wash and a local 'cure-all'.

Local folklore even conjures up the idea of witches at the site using the poisonous hemlock plant in their potions!

Checking the area with James and using the dowsing rods showed 'magnetism' around the stone. But, just a few yards away there was a signal i.e. the rods parallel.

Tracing it out, it was 25 paces (when I first started checking for leylines they were often 23 paces in width but now more often 25! Am I more sensitive/intune? I don't know!) The leyline headed off in a SSE direction.

Back home, on the map showed that within an area of 5 miles there were 5 churches and the stone, so probably a leyline.

(Also passing a sewage area on the map! But without knowing more about sewage this doesn't help, yet…)

Dave