Rudston Monolith

The Rudston Monolith at over 25 feet (7.6 m) is the tallest monolith (standing stone) in the United Kingdom. It is situated in the churchyard of All Saints Church, in the village of Rudston in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

Rudston Monolith

The monolith in 2013
Shown within the East Riding of Yorkshire
Location	Rudston, England
Coordinates	54°05′38″N 0°19′21″W
Type	Monolith
Height	c. 8.5 metres (original) 7.6 metres
History
Material	Gritstone
Founded	c. 3500 BC[1]
Periods	late Neolithic/early Bronze Age
Site notes
Condition	some damage

Description

The stone is slender, with two large flat faces. It is over 25 feet (7.6 m) tall, is approximately 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m) wide and just under 3 feet 3 inches (1 m) thick.^[1] The top appears to have broken off. If pointed, the stone would originally have stood around 28 feet (8.5 m). In 1773 the stone was capped in lead; this was later removed, although the stone is currently capped.^[1] The weight is estimated at 40 tonnes (39 long tons; 44 short tons).^[2] The monolith is made of gritstone.^[1]

The nearest source for the stone (Cayton or Cornelian Bay) is 9.9 miles (16 km) north of the site, although it may have been brought naturally to the site as a glacial erratic.^[1] The monument dates to the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age.^[1] A possible fossilised dinosaur footprint has been claimed to be on one side of the stone, but a 2015 study by English Heritage concluded that this was unsubstantiated.^[3]

There is one other smaller stone, of the same type, in the churchyard, which was once situated near the monlith. The Norman church of All Saints was almost certainly intentionally built on a site already considered sacred, a practice common through the country – indeed the name of Rudston comes from the Old English "Rood-stane", meaning "cross-stone", implying that a stone already venerated was adapted for Christian purposes.^{[citation needed]}

The many other prehistoric monuments in the area include four cursuses, three of which appear to converge on the site of the monolith.^[1]

Antiquarian accounts

Eighteenth-century antiquarian William Stukeley found "the dimensions of the monolith within ground as large as those without".^[4] Stukeley found many skulls during his dig and suggested they might have been sacrificial.

Thomas Waller states that in 1861, during levelling of the churchyard, the surface of the ground near the monolith was raised 5 feet (1.5 m).^[4]

See also

• Menhir de Champ-Dolent in Brittany