Folklore & legend

The Bleeding Stone of Staunton

Also known as: Long Stone, Staunton

Long Stone beside the A4136, near Staunton, Forest of Dean

Stone prehistoric; tradition recorded 1881 to 1882

The Long Stone stands about seven feet tall beside the Monmouth road near Staunton. It is probably Bronze Age, and later served as a boundary or hundred stone and a wayside marker. It is made of conglomerate and has two grooves running down it.

Tradition says that if the stone is pricked with a pin at the stroke of midnight it will bleed. A rust-red streak down the back is explained by geologists as iron oxide, but the legend ignores that.

A note from 1881 to 1882 records that the only tradition about the stone was that if pricked with a pin exactly at midnight it would bleed, which gives the saying a date older than the tourist trail pages that repeat it. No account of anyone trying it, or of what happened, was found.

By the roadside; take care near the A4136.
Evidence
Long-standing local tradition
Access
Open ground
Location
51.799, -2.640 (Parish-level only, treat as an area)

Sources: Whimsee, "The stones of Staunton" [other]; Visit Dean and Wye, "Myths and Legends of the Forest of Dean" [other]

View on the map →

Comments

Loading…