The Rudston Monolith

The Rudston Monolith is the tallest standing stone in the British Isles and at 25 feet it stands higher than the gable of All Saints Church. The monolith was erected in the Neolithic and may have been part of a stone circle which has been slowly robbed out over the centuries leaving the largest which must have been the most difficult to collapse. The monolith must have been of importance in later times,as the name Rudston comes from old English "rood stone", a rood was the Old English word for cross, so it is possible this ancient monolith was used as a crucifix in the conversion period. This monument stands at the heart of various Neolithic cursuses, ancient ceremonial Causeways and is in on the banks of the Gypsey Race a Winterbourne stream that may have been sacred to prehistoric peoples.