The Garrotting Stone.

High up on the rocky outcropping known as Ramshaw rocks which overlooks the A53 Leek to Buxton road can be found an unusual rock which to some people is known as the Garrotting stone.

The large stone which can be found close to the side of the main pathway which runs along the top of the ridge has a distinctive notch at its peak. Whether this notch is a natural feature or has been carved on purpose is not known, however, it is thought that in the past a rope would have been secured through the notch in the top of the stone, the other end of the rope would have been placed around the victims neck after having been made into a garrotte noose, the victim would have been made to stand upon the sloping stone at the base of the sacrificial rock, his legs would then have been kicked from underneath him making his body weight cause strangulation.

I did make the effort of climbing precariously onto the top of the stone to take a photograph and was surprised to find two indentations either side of the notch where the rope would have been placed. Perhaps these two indentations were libation cups which would have been filled with honey and herbs as a ritual offering to the God or Goddess at one of the ritual sacrifices which would have taken place here in the distant past.