Hell Stone

The Hell Stone (grid reference SY604868) is a badly-restored Neolithic dolmen on Portesham Hill in Dorset, England. It is around 1 kilometre north of the village of Portesham, and approximately 1 kilometre southeast of the Valley of Stones.

For other uses, see Hellstone.
Hell Stone
Shown within Dorset
LocationDorset
Coordinates50.67995°N 2.56114°W / 50.67995; -2.56114
TypeDolmen

Description

The Hell Stone is situated at the head of a dry valley system in the parish of Portesham.[1] The burial chamber is at the southeast end of a rectangular mound. The mound is orientated northwest to southeast, and is 24 metres long.[1] The mound tapers in width from the southeast end (12 metres) to the northwest end (8 metres) and is 1 metre high.[1] The remains of another tomb, The Grey Mare and her Colts, is 2 kilometres to the west.

The Hell Stone

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.[2] The chamber may have been, originally, a long rectangular one.[2] A drystone wall runs across the mound and a pond for watering stock was dug close to the southeast end of the mound in modern times.[1]

Notes
  1. Historic England. "Hell Stone (452288)". PastScape. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
  2. Glyn E. Daniel (1950), The Prehistoric Chamber Tombs of England and Wales, page 93. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 110769762X


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