Mitchell’s Fold Standing Stone, Shropshire Hills
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THE STORY BEHIND THE PHOTOGRAPH
It amazes me that Mitchell's Fold is not better known. There are a series of standing stones and avenues atop the ridge, located almost exactly on the border of Shropshire with Wales. The views to the west are amazing, with the Black Hills offering a wonderful backdrop for the setting sun.
ABOUT MITCHELL'S FOLD
Mitchell's Fold is a Bronze age stone circle formed of thirty stones, half of which still stand. Like many stone circles, its origins are surrounded by myths. One tells that one of the stones is a witch called Mitchell, who was turned to stone as punishment for wasting the milk of a magic cow, which had mysteriously appeared by the circle in a time of drought. The other stones were some sort of prison, to prevent her escaping if she managed to move.
Other versions say that the circle was a pen for the cow, which was owned by a giant (ìFoldî refers to an enclosure, the witch's ìpenî). Ordinary un-magical livestock now graze the area.
Another, possibly later, legend claims that it was from one of the Mitchell's Fold stones that King Arthur drew the sword Excalibur.
From Mitchell's Fold, you can see well into Wales; but the Shropshire landscape here is already of the rugged, dramatic variety. Hardy plants and tough grass carpet the hill, which is decorated by several more ancient sites, and easily clothed in snow. Ancient earthworks cover the ground, including field boundaries and pillow mounds. Several more standing stones share the hill. At the base of the hill can be found the Giant's Grave, an ancient chambered cairn or dolmen which entered into local myth as the tomb of a giant, perhaps the one who owned the magic cow.
Image is © David Ross
