The Bawdstone

It is possible to reach the Bawdstone by walking from Ludchurch and crossing over the rocky escarpment known as the Roaches, it is located between the end of the Roaches and Hen Cloud.

The Bawdstone is thought to ba a Dolmen, and it has been placed on a short edge of rock and is also supported by two upright pointed pillars. It is said to have magical healing powers for people who touch the stone, its original purpose is not known but it may have been used as a Neolithic burial site.

During the Spring Solstice it is said to be aligned with another curious stone nearby on Ramshaw Rocks called the Serpent Stone as it resembles the head of a serpent emerging from the earth.

The Serpent Stone

The name Bawdstone is thought to be derived from the Welsh word “Bawd”, meaning table, the three stones which support it are thought to be legs (table legs?). The healing power that the stone is said to possess seems to have cured an injury which I have suffered with for about two and a half years, after touching the stone the pain disappeared within two days and has not come back since.

Because the Bawdstone was healing people in a non Christian way it led to the custom of whitewashing the stone, this was thought to symbolise good over evil. The people of leek and the surrounding area, up until the start of the Second World War would bring sick people to the stone and make them crawl underneath it, and come up on the other side of it, this was said to “Knock the Devil from their backs”. This custom of crawling under the stone was a relatively new custom, and should not be confused with the healing properties it is said to contain, besides you would need to be an accomplished limbo dancer as it is quite a tight squeeze.

The Bawdstone has a high quartz content and is also located on a very powerful Ley line which may explain the energy it is said to possess. Whatever forces this strange stone may have, there will always be an aura of mystery surrounding it!