Their path should formally and clearly include a
tour around the Rollright Stones.
According to the map and the guide book, walkers
are supposed to head out southwest of Long Compton and jut back to the village
of Little Rollright almost purposely missing the ancient stone circle and
monuments. Yeah, Right - Roll-My-Eyes Right !
I can’t imagine that any walkers, including
Shakespeare (no matter how anxious he was to get to London and build a theatre),
would not take the extra time to walk over to see the Stones while passing
through the area. They might as well
make the detour officially part of the pathway.
I love things like these Stones.
From one perspective- a pile of lumpy rock. From another - a perfect setting for
spiritual connection. And from another –
yet another great Long Compton witch story.
The Stones are really three sites. The leaning
clumps down the hill are deemed “the Whispering Knights” – though they looked
liked they were kissing or cuddling to me.
The two sites closest to the roadway comprise a circle
of about 70 stones and the single, large stone standing by itself on the other
side of the road. These are the circle of the Knights and the King Stone.
Although the various stones have been dated as being erected a thousand years apart in some cases, the favoured explanation involves an event that took place in a flashing instant. It is said that a Viking king and his army were turned to stone by an angry witch while they were trying to conquer the whole
of England.
In flowery Warwickshire detail, it’s a great
story, second only to the one cooked up by an occult leader who is my stone story hero. He convinced young
women that pressing their naked breasts against the Stones would make them
fertile.
