MONOLITH

This is the Rudston Monolith, the tallest prehistoric standing stone in Britain.

The significance of the standing stone must have been religious.

It stands in the churchyard of Rudston Village, near Bridlington UK. Sizewise it is almost eight metres high, nearly two metres wide, one metre thick and weighing somewhere in the region of 26 tons.

This giant block of grey gritstone was brought to the Norman churchyard of All Saints, Rudston either in the late Neolithic or early Bronze Age, between 2000 and 3000 BC.

The monolith is part of a cursus system, obviously important in prehistoric times. Cursus monuments are essentially very long and relatively narrow rectangular enclosures, used either for astronomical or religious purposes and often connected to streams and rivers.

This monolith and several henges and mounds follow the valley of the stream known as the Gypsey Race, which eventually reaches the sea at Bridlington Harbour.

The whole of the Gypsey Race landscape has a rich selection of sites. A major Roman villa was discovered to the southwest of Rudston village. Curiously the Gypsey Race is dry for most of the year and appears when it wants to - it is still dry today, after huge amounts of rain ! It may run later in Autumn, and maybe for a few days only. Guess it is a case of surprise, surprise !