Devils Dyke

[desprateseagull]

i'vbe heard about the devil digging to the sea legend, but not the bit about someone lighting a candle.. i just remember that the sun came up before it could finish.

 

[The Antikythera Mechanism]

Hove Park's great claim to fame, the Goldstone, lies in its southwest corner. This huge rock, weighing about 20 tons, is commonly believed to have been used by the Druids for worship. Its notoriety was so great in the 1830s that the local farmer, on whose land it stood, buried it to stop crowds of sightseers trampling his crops. It was dug up again and placed in its present position in 1900.

Another legend has it that the devil threw it there while excavating Devils Dyke , the deep valley through the Downs above Hove. Whatever the reality behind these legends, the shape of a human face is clearily visible in the stone - have a good look and you'll spot it.

 

[Seagull's Return]

It's a sarsen stone, the Goldstone, I believe - there used to be a number around these parts, leftovers from glacial activity; almost all were broken up to be used as building materials by local farmers, as there isn't much hard-wearing stone around the Downs and coastal strip. Dunno about druids, but a lot of the sarsens had been set upright at some point in the past (Neolithic, I think) indicating ritual use.

Or possibly they were just petrified remnants of Old Nick's spilled seed...

 

[¤DãŃn¥ §êãGüLL¤]

Very good there for dogging