The Rudstone Monolith

[poliphilo]

The tallest prehistoric monolith in Britain. It stands around 25 feet high, is made of millstone grit and has been in place for something like 4,000 years. 

Comments

[basefinder.livejournal.com]

Very nice series of photos.

It's amazing that monument has stood so long, without being toppled by nature or man.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Rudston is probably a contraction of Rood-stone- which suggests the medievals employed the monolith as a preaching cross. That continuity of use is probably what preserved it.

[resonant.livejournal.com]

Exactly my thought.

[cmcmck.livejournal.com]

I've friended btw as there are few enough military historians on here for me to talk to!

[cmcmck.livejournal.com]

Wonderful.

I have images of the Orkney standing stones- Brodgar, Stenness and such on here and more recently over on DW.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Nice!

[artkouros.livejournal.com]

Awesome! We don't have those here.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

According to Wikipedia the nearest outcrop of millstone grit is over nine miles from Rudston. I'd love to what technology was used to transport the monolith over such a distance.

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

They're still trying to figure out how the Stonehenge stones were moved from Wales to the Salisbury Plain.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/12/111222-stonehenge-bluestones-wales-match-glacier-ixer-ancient-science/

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Every year brings fresh theories about Stonehenge. I take most of them with a pinch of salt.

[veronica-milvus.livejournal.com]

I'd never heard of this! Thanks for posting.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Yorkshire has some remarkable prehistoric monuments. Another favourite of mine is the henge complex at Thornborough.

[wyrmwwd.livejournal.com]

This means that this site has been in continual use as a sacred site for 4000 years. In my field, we call this a "site of the hierophany." We don't remember what the original event was, but the site itself has been preserved all this time.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I like that phrase.

Another place we visited was the Saxon church at Appleton-le-Street. It's built on Roman cemetery which may well- in its turn- have been located at a prehistoric sacred site.

[wyrmwwd.livejournal.com]

We see this a lot... a modern church built on the site of a medieval church but on the site of a prehistoric mound or something like it. We will never know what most of these hierophanies were, only that someone thought they were important enough to preserve.

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

It looks as thought it's been capped with something.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

That's lead I think. It keeps the rain off.

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

Wow!!! That really is something. I like its little lead cap...

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

It deserves to be better known.

[chochiyo-sama.livejournal.com]

Very beautiful and sort of sad picture. It's a place where I would probably want to sit and just think about all the feet of all the people who've walked across that ground and what impact they made on the world around them during their time.

I wish I was a wealthy woman. I'd come over and we'd put circles all over your booklet. :D

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

A place that's been some sort of sacred site for at least 4,000 years- that's got to be special.

[spike7451.livejournal.com]

Have enjoyed all your photos very much.

Intersting to see other parts of the world.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thanks

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

How fascinating! I haven't visited Yorkshire very often and I'm obviously missing some interesting objects and places.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

As a resident of Lancashire I'm not supposed to say this but I'm inclined to think that- take it all in all- Yorkshire is the greatest and loveliest of the English counties.