Hell Stone
| File:Portesham, Hell Stone - geograph.org.uk - 521836.jpg | |
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| Location | Dorset |
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| Coordinates | Lua error in Module:Coordinates at line 489: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). |
| OS grid reference | SY604868 |
| Type | Dolmen |
| Official name | Helstone burial chamber |
| Reference no. | 1002693 |
The Hell Stone is a badly-restored Neolithic dolmen on Portesham Hill in Dorset, England. It is just to the north of the village of Portesham, and approximately three-quarters of a mile (1.2 km) southeast of the Valley of Stones.[1]
Description
[edit | edit source]The Hell Stone is situated at the head of a dry valley system in the parish of Portesham.[2] The burial chamber is at the southeast end of a rectangular mound. The mound is 24 metres (79 ft) long and orientated northwest to southeast.[2] The mound tapers from 12 to 8 metres (39 to 26 ft) in width from the southeast end to the northwest end, and it is 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) high.[2] The site has been designated as a scheduled monument.[3]
The chamber was badly restored in 1866 when eight men re-erected the stones, arranging them radially "rather like the slices of a cake" and supporting a large capstone.[4] The chamber may have been, originally, a long rectangular one.[4] A drystone wall runs across the mound, and a pond for watering livestock was dug close to the southeast end of the mound in modern times.[2] The remains of another tomb, The Grey Mare and her Colts, is 1+1⁄4 miles (2 km) to the west.[1]
Notes
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- ^ a b Glyn E. Daniel (1950), The Prehistoric Chamber Tombs of England and Wales, page 93. Cambridge University Press. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
