The Great Stone of Fourstones
The Great Stone of Fourstones is a massive rock in a lonely landscape on the border of Yorkshire and Lancashire. It has stairs carved into it by an unknown hand, so one can climb up, admire the view and wonder where the other three stones are...
This impressive stone, a glacial deposit, stands close to a lonely road south of High Bentham on the moorlands of Tatham Fells.
The name suggests that there were once four stones, but now there is only one. The other three were possibly broken up for scythe sharpening stones, or building stone, centuries ago. Large stones such as this were useful as boundary markers in the open countryside, and this one was used as a boundary marker for the Lancashire-Yorkshire boundary between Tatham and Bentham parishes.
A local myth tells of how the stone was dropped by the devil, on his way to build Devil's Bridge at nearby Kirkby Lonsdale. The stone has 15 steps carved into the side of it to allow access to the top. It is not known when they were carved, but they are well worn from years of use.
Further reading
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