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032 Standing Stone, Wright's Houses, Gorebridge. |
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Description
Medium sized stone of pink sandstone with some interesting
lichen growth, set in a hawthorn hedge along a minor road to the
east of Gorebridge. Note: the stone may be obscured with
vegetation during the summer months. The stone measures 1.10m
high, around 1.00m square at the base, reducing to 0.60m at the
top. It also has a slight lean to the north east.
Directions
From Gorebridge take the B6372 for Pathhead, turn right at
Mossend and straight on to a narrow minor road. Continue to the
cross roads. The stone is located a few yards along this road to
the south of the crossroads.
Parking
Note that the roads are narrow and parking is difficult. Although
there may be space to park at the crossroads.
Fieldnotes
What struck me about this single standing stone was the variety
of lichens on its western face and the richness of the red
sandstone of the stone itself. The stone is well hidden in a
hawthorn hedge and is easily missed but that seems to make
hunting it down all the more worthwhile. Try and go there in the
evening when the sun is low to the west and the lighting
conditions will highlight to colours of the stone.
A return visit to this stone, mainly to record some
measurement, did not bring any additional information to light.
However, examination of the stone from the rear did reveal it to
be quite massive, over 1.00m square at the base. It's original
purpose still remains a mystery, although I suspect it may
either be a boundary marker or have some connection with the
ancient track that is now the present day road.
There is also a large cream-coloured sandstone boulder about
25m along the road to the south, located just before an old
field entrance. The stone is quite large and has some damage,
probably resulting from vehicular traffic. What is not clear is
whether this stone may have once been associated with the
standing stone or simply the result of field clearance.
Local news reports have revealed that the lone standing stone
near Wright�s Houses, Gorebridge, is not without its share of,
shall we say, X-Files? Local news and gossip has included a
startling number of strange events and sightings in the
surrounding area, such as close encounters with alien beings,
alleged alien abductions, un-marked �black� helicopters,
strange nocturnal lights, a floating green �eye�, sightings
of grey aliens and �Men in Black� moving people out of
certain areas, black flying triangles and even recorded footage
of alien UFO�s! For further information try an Internet search
with the words �Gorebridge and �alien� as your search
terms.
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