 The monolith in 2013 | |
  Rudston Monolith Shown within the East Riding of Yorkshire | |
| Location | Rudston,England |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 54°05′38″N0°19′21″W / 54.093884°N 0.322574°W /54.093884; -0.322574 |
| Type | Monolith |
| Height | c. 8.5 metres (original) 7.6 metres |
| History | |
| Material | Gritstone |
| Founded | c. 3500 BC[1] |
| Periods | lateNeolithic/earlyBronze Age |
| Site notes | |
| Condition | some damage |
TheRudston Monolith at over 25 feet (7.6 m) is the tallestmonolith (standing stone) in the United Kingdom. It is situated in the churchyard of All Saints Church, in the village ofRudston in theEast Riding of Yorkshire.
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 inlead; 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 ofgritstone.[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 aglacial erratic.[1] The monument dates to theLate Neolithic orEarly Bronze Age.[1] A possiblefossilised dinosaur footprint has been claimed to be on one side of the stone, but a 2015 study byEnglish 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. TheNorman 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 fourcursuses, three of which appear to converge on the site of the monolith.[1]
Eighteenth-century antiquarianWilliam 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]
