Hell Stone facts for kids
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 Location in Dorset
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| Location | Dorset |
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| Coordinates | 50°40′43″N 2°33′33″W / 50.678619°N 2.559209°W |
| OS grid reference | SY604868 |
| Type | Dolmen |
The Hell Stone is an ancient stone structure called a dolmen. It is found on Portesham Hill in Dorset, England. A dolmen is a type of megalithic tomb. This means it was built using very large stones.
The Hell Stone was built a very long time ago, during the Neolithic period. This time is also known as the New Stone Age. It was a time when people started farming and building permanent homes. The Hell Stone is about 0.8 kilometers (half a mile) north of Portesham village. It is also about 1.2 kilometers (three-quarters of a mile) southeast of the Valley of Stones.
What is the Hell Stone?
The Hell Stone is a burial chamber from the New Stone Age. It sits at the top of a dry valley near Portesham. The main part of the tomb is at the southeast end of a long, rectangular mound of earth.
This mound is about 24 meters (79 feet) long. It runs from the northwest to the southeast. The mound is wider at one end, about 12 meters (39 feet) wide. It gets narrower towards the other end, about 8 meters (26 feet) wide. The mound stands about 1 meter (3 feet 3 inches) high.
How the Hell Stone Was Changed
The Hell Stone was put back together in 1866. Eight men worked to set the stones upright again. They arranged the stones in a circle, like slices of a cake. A very large stone, called a capstone, sits on top of these upright stones.
Historians believe the chamber might have been a long, rectangular shape originally. The way it looks now is not exactly how it was first built. There is also a stone wall crossing the mound. In more recent times, a pond was dug nearby for animals to drink from. Another ancient tomb, called The Grey Mare and her Colts, is about 2 kilometers (1.25 miles) to the west.
