This article is about Hellstone (disambiguation)|Hellstone. For other uses, see Hell Stone (disambiguation).
Quick facts for kids
Hell Stone
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| Location |
Dorset |
| Coordinates |
50°40′43″N 2°33′33″W / 50.678619°N 2.559209°W / 50.678619; -2.559209 |
| OS grid reference |
SY604868 |
| Type |
Dolmen |
The Hell Stone is a badly-restored Neolithic dolmen on Portesham Hill in Dorset, England. It is around half a mile (0.8 km) north of the village of Portesham, and approximately three-quarters of a mile (1.2 km) southeast of the Valley of Stones.
Description
The Hell Stone is situated at the head of a dry valley system in the parish of Portesham. The burial chamber is at the southeast end of a rectangular mound. The mound is 24 metres (79 ft) long and orientated northwest to southeast. The mound tapers from 12 to 8 metres (39 to 26 ft) in width from the southeast end to the northwest end, and it is 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) high.
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. The chamber may have been, originally, a long rectangular one. A drystone wall runs across the mound, and a pond for watering livestock was dug close to the southeast end of the mound in modern times. The remains of another tomb, The Grey Mare and her Colts, is 1+1⁄4 miles (2 km) to the west.
