Mystery
The Elephant Stone
The fort fell silent. The stone elephant stayed on guard.
See it clearly
- What's there
- Huge limestone block inside Iron Age ramparts
- Legend from
- Iron Age site; folk custom
- Tone
- Curious
A stone elephant sleeps inside the old fort. Lower down, two stones will cure you if you pass between.
On the summit of Bredon Hill, inside the Iron Age fort of Kemerton Camp, stands the Banbury Stone, a great block also called the Elephant Stone for its shape. The name may come from 'Baenintesburg', an old name for the camp. The fort was abandoned in the first century AD after a battle. Lower on the hill are the King and Queen Stones; tradition says passing between them cures illness. Jabez Allies in 1852 wrote a chapter on the Banbury Stone and its companions as 'Ambrosiae Petrae', sacred stones, and noted a lost cave nearby, probably destroyed by a landslip. Parsons Folly stands close by.