Rudston, The Wolds, Yorkshire.
England
National grid reference: SE 097677
The Rudston monolith, the tallest standing stone in Britain is at the heart of a coplex of four aligned Cursus monuments. This concentration in the Great Wold Valley is unprecedented and archaeological evidence shows a history of settlement and ritual from the Neolithic through the Bronze Age and Roman Times to the Christian era. The longest Cursus is 4000 metres long and the shortest about 1400 metres although some are visible only as crop marks whose terminals in Rudston are lost under the village. Today it is difficult to picture this prehistoric setting of straight monuments across the valley floor and the Gipsey Race river surrounded by a chalk escarpment.
The 8 m high gritstone 'Roodstone' monolith stands on a spur of land possibly on the terminus of cursus B as a focus for the spirit in the environment for at least 4 millennia. It now sports a lead cap to keep it's head warm and protected.
