An Odd Day Out

An odd day out!

The Thursday 15th March 2018 was only odd because Gill (the navigator) and myself (Chris) had a 'bits and pieces' day semi organised. Kept indoors by the cold inclement winter we felt we had to try to make a move to the great outdoors again. With really only two objectives we found ourselves, as usual, with a rather full day, our interests being blown hither and thither once at the sites.

Gill had never seen the Rudston Monolith so we decided to visit it. This also allowed for Chris to locate the nearby village hall at Kelk where he is going to give a talk. There are two Kelks, Little and Greater which lie east of the junction on the A614 to Ruston Pava between Driffield and Scarborough. The road to Kelk is a long winding narrow one, muddy in parts. The weather was cold and drizzly. The pub, the Chestnut Horse at Greater Kelk, once famed for its pies, seemed to be closed!

Back west along the road and over the B614 a short drive took us to Rudston Parva. In Dooms day the village was called Roreston. and was held by the Canons of St John of Beverley. Chris' memory seemed to have played tricks on him as this is not the place where the Rudston Monolith is. However, we found the narrow upward path and visited the St Nicholas (grade II) church. What struck us that as the church is still used for burials and carrying a coffin up the path can't be easy. Perhaps though there is another way into the cemetery. The church has box pews, and a two stage pulpit. The woodwork is varnished red deal. It was rebuilt in the Norman style in 1832 at cost of £107 from the bricks of the previous church. A York contractor offered an estimate £152 to rebuild it. Notices in the church indicate there are 18 people on the electoral roll in Rudstom Parva with 11 of them being on the parish council! The square bell tower currently seems to have a single bell but once probably once had two. Back to the car in the cold wind and slight drizzle. A small but interesting church with much mole activity in the grave yard!

St Nicholas, Rudston.

St Nicholas. The isle and altar

St Nicholas. The Isle and west door under the tower

From here to Rudston where we had discovered the monolith actually is. So back to the A614, here called Thwing Rd, and turned left leaving Burton Agnes on the right carrying on along a small winding road From this direction Rudston is further than you think and is probably best approached from the B1251 if the monolith is all you want to see. The monolith stands in the church yard of All Saints Church on School Lane. Christianity came to the Rudston area in 615 AD.. There is a small amount of on road parking for about 3 cars.

All Saints church, Rudston

All Saints church with monolith. Rudston

The 12 century Norman font

All Saints church dates from about 1100 AD being built soon after the Norman conquest. A small amount of the original church remains as part of the four foot thick tower base where, on the west side of the tower, the original entrance was. This door was blocked up and replaced by a small lancet window. There are a number of things to commend this church. The interestingly patterned font dates from about 1100 AD. The pattern on the font is made up of crosses representing redemption and circles representing eternity. A stone coffin lid lies besides the font with score marks on it indicating where 'naves' used to sharpen knives, spears or arrow heads when it was outside the church. This is not unusual in rural churches and can also be seen at Brompton by Sawden next to the entrance. Highly patterned tiles form the floor of the Chancel. Numerous other interesting things are to be seen, piscinae, squint, memorial to Winifred Holtby the author who was born and buried in Rudston. The MacDonalds of the Isles have a well maintained burial plot here. There is an excellent display of the areas history backed by a model with labelled button operated lights showing the position of notable local features. There is a bench mark on the east wall of the south isle. Apparently there is also a bolt bench mark on the north side of the tower. We never saw this one.

The Neolithic monolith is the biggest standing stone in Britain and is situated some 12 meters from the north east corner of the church. Standing some 26 feet high but was slightly taller before the tip broke off. It is thought that there could be another ¾ below ground, however, the ground level was raised in 1861 by about 5 ft during the levelling of the cemetery. The stone originates from further north but it uncertain if it was deposited here as an erratic, or transported here, subsequently being erected vertically. If transported it could have been initially by river before being painstakingly dragged up the hill to its present position. A lead cap presently covers the top presumably to prevent water ingress and subsequent freezing. The stone is flat faced on one side and about 5ft 9 inches wide and about 3 feet thick. It weighs in the region of 30-45 tons. It has been said that there is a dinosaur foot print on the stone but this is very unconvincing.

Why is this Neolithic monolith here and why was it included in the church graveyard? No real answers have been given to these questions though speculation can go back to biblical times when apparently about 2000 years ago the pagan temple in Jerico had two standing stones at its entrance. Jewish temples at the time apparently adopted this practice which could have started the association of such stones with Christianity. It has been hypothesised that the development of the church spire arose from standing stones. The Ruston monolith is on a rise and would have been visible from a distance and could have acted as a meeting point for Neolithic tribes. The importance and pagan significance of the monolith could be indicated by the fact that three of the four nearby cursors point to it. The church was probably built on a place of pagan worship, as was common, and the monoliths incorporation into the grave yard of the Christian church and its closeness to the church could reflect this ancient ‘religious’ significance. Excavations in the 1800s uncovered skulls, which some interpreted as sacrifices or perhaps retribution killings but this seems not have forwarded the explanation for the monolith and indeed it could have clouded any interpretation.

Rudston monolith

Bench mark on All Saints Church, Rudston

Our last scheduled visit was to a farm which had a mosaic set in the hall floor which was taken some years ago from the site of the floor of Meaux abbey. Attempting to turn in the narrow road the car got stuck in the grass verge but luckily a van load of 'builders' stopped and helped get the car out. Meaux was a Cistercian abbey, east of Beverley near Warne, founded in 1150 from Fountains Abbey and closed in 1539 by Henry VIII and dismantled in 1542. Originally wooden it was rebuilt in stone this being completed by 1253. On its destruction some of the stone was used to built the defences on the east side of Hull. To the casual observer nothing seems to remain of the abbey but with a more detailed look much is revealed. (see https://candp9.wixsite.com/website for more on Meaux Abbey). The platform on which the abbey stood can be discerned and it was from the floor that this mosaic was taken. The tiles which make it up were made by the lay brothers who lived at the abbey. Unfortunately, other finer tiles are in the British Museum in London. In the garden of the farm is a collection of stones from the Abbey set up in a pillar. Some of the stone is finely carved , other pieces appear to be bits of columns.

A mosaic from the floor of Meaux Abbey.

Stones from Meaux Abbey

Some decorative carving from Meaux Abbey

. Chris Coulson

March 2018