Raggedstone Hill
Raggedstone Hill is situated on the range of Malvern Hills that runs approximately 13 kilometres (8 mi) north-south along the Herefordshire-Worcestershire border. Raggedstone Hill lies close to the borders of Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire. It has an elevation of 254 metres (833 ft).
Raggedstone Hill | |
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Highest point | |
Elevation | 254 m (833 ft) |
Coordinates | 52.0253°N 2.3520°W |
Geography | |
Location | Malvern Hills, England |
OS grid | SO759364 |
Topo map | OS Landranger 190 |
Geology | |
Age of rock | Pre-Cambrian |
Mountain type | Igneous, Metamorphic |
Climbing | |
Easiest route | Hiking |
The northern flank of the hill lies on the southern side of the Hollybush pass, from where its summit is a brisk 15–20 minutes steep walk from the nearby Hollybush car park.
According to legend, the hill's shadow casts misfortune upon whomever it falls.[1]
Raggedstone Hill in cultural life
Literature
The Shadow of the Ragged Stone Hill is a 19th-century novel by Charles F. Grindrod concerning a monk of Little Malvern Priory. He has been made a monk against his will, and his main object in life is to avenge his father's murder of his mother, a deed incited by false accusations made against his mother by a "wicked knight". The monk disguises himself in borrowed armour, attends a tournament and there kills the knight. Later, he breaks his vow of chastity by marrying a woman who he has rescued from the advances of a "lascivious knight", and is then falsely accused of killing her father in a duel. He is condemned to crawl to the summit of Ragged Stone Hill once a day as punishment. When the monk can no longer bear the punishment he curses the hill and anyone on whom the shadow of the hill should fall.[2][3][4]
The Ragged Stone is a poem by Wilfrid Wilson Gibson, a founder of the Dymock Poets.[5]
References
- Ash, Russell (1973). Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain. Reader's Digest Association Limited. p. 325. ISBN 9780340165973.
- Waite, Vincent (1968). Malvern Country. London: J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd. p. 92.
- Grindrod, Charles F (1909). The Shadow of the Raggedstone. London: J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd.
- "The Shadow of the Ragged Stone". Retrieved 27 April 2013.
- George Herbert Clarke, ed. (2005). A Treasury of War Poetry: British And American Poems of the World War 1914 to 1919. Kessinger Publishing. p. 97. ISBN 9781417931071. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
- "Dodgy to release first new album in 11 years". NME. Retrieved 7 June 2012.