 The western face of the Rudston Monolith 
 
|
The Rudston
monolith is the tallest prehistoric standing stone in Britain, standing
almost 8 metres high, nearly 2 metres wide, a metre thick and weighing
somewhere in the region of 26 tons. This giant block of grey sandstone
or gritstone was quarried 10 miles away at Cayton Bay and was brought
here either in the late Neolithic
or early Bronze
Age. The Norman churchyard of All Saints that it stands in is of
course some 3000 years younger although the Christianisation of this
raised site probably took place much earlier. The top of the stone has
been weathered and eroded into a fluted peak similar to the stones of
the Devil's Arrows and
a lead cap was first added to try to preserve it in the 18th century,
an ironic touch, as it was here long before the church, and will probably
remain long after the church has gone. In the corner of the churchyard
is a much smaller standing stone and also the remains of a double cist
that was removed from a nearby barrow on Rudston
Beacon by the antiquarian Canon Greenwell in the late 19th century.
The monolith stands close to the Gypsey Race, an occasional stream that
runs along the floor of the Great Wold Valley from close to Duggleby
Howe in the east, past Wold
Newton and Willie Howe
before turning south past the Argham
Henge and Cursus down to Rudston
itself where it bends sharply and heads eastwards to the sea at Bridlington.
The name 'Bridlington' itself is probably derived from the pre-Roman
goddess of Bridget (or Brid) The whole of the Gypsey Race landscape
was obviously important in prehistoric times and has a rich selection
of sites, most of which have been destroyed or badly damaged by ploughing,
including many round
barrows, several long
barrows, four cursuses
and at least one
henge. It continued to retain its importance into the historic period
- a major Roman villa was discovered to the southwest of Rudston village. *See Gypsey Race map for an overview of the monuments in the area.* Click the thumbnail images to the left to view as a slideshow. |
