The Healing Stone

The Gawton Stone - Knypersley

In woodland copse where fawns did roam
Here lies the wondrous Gawton Stone
That rests middling those waters deep
from ancient tor where magic seeped
It holds a cure from bygone days
That broke a mind but cured a plague
An hermits life within hard rocks
A show for lords who stood and watched.

Information

The Gawton stone lies within a country park that is north east of  Knypersley reservoir in Biddulph, Staffordshire.The stone is approximately 15 cubic metres in size and is thought to weigh approximately 40 tonnes. It rests on three smaller stones and it must have been quite a feat of engineering to put it in place. It is also very near to other sites of interest including: Gawtons well and Druids Grove, both of which have been long regarded hold mystical significance.

The Gawton Stone siite dates back as far as the dark ages and is possibly pre-historic in origin. It is regarded as a healing stone, said to have magical powers. Excavation work in the nineteen hundreds revealed it had once been used as a burial site. There is a legend of a man being cured of the plague after submerging himself in Gawtons well and living the life of a hermit thereafter, sheltering underneath the Gawton Stone for many years and being of much amusement to the guests of the local land owners who often ate picnics near by.