BBC Digging for Britain to look at Arthur's Stone, Dorstone

Earlier this year, archaeologists were granted permission to excavate the site of the 5,000-year-old Arthur's Stone, near Dorstone in the Golden Valley – the first dig of its kind.

Like many prehistoric monuments in the borders, this tomb has been linked to King Arthur since before the 13th century.

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According to legend, it was here that Arthur slew a giant who left the impression of his elbows on one of the stones as he fell.

The night sky and Milkway above Arthur's Stone, near Dorstone in the Golden Valley. Picture: Matt Addis/Hereford Times Camera Club

The Neolithic chambered tomb will be featured as part of the BBC Two series Digging for Britain, with the episode featuring Arthur's Stone airing on Sunday, January 8.

Today, only the large stones of the inner chamber remain, though these were once covered by a long earthen mound. The area around Arthur's Stone is rich in prehistoric archaeology.

But the show, presented by biological anthropologist Alice Roberts, will look at the archaeological dig and find out what experts uncovered during the work in the summer.

Julian Thomas, a professor of archaeology at the University of Manchester, led and the dig said that discoveries made have changed preconceptions over the scale of what lies in this remote corner of the county.

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It has always been assumed that Arthur's Stone is an example of single chamber cairn, with a passage approaching from the back, and a forecourt that opens up in front.

Digging for Britain presenter Alice Roberts with professor Julian Thomas at Arthur's Stone. Picture: BBC/Rare TV

This would be similar to the type of burial monument found in the Cotswolds and in the Black Mountains in Wales.

However, Prof Thomas said that what they have uncovered suggests something much more complicated.

Last year, before permission was granted to work close to the tomb, there was an excavation in the next field just to the south of the chamber.

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They were expecting to find pits, postholes, and hearths, but instead found evidence of a secondary mound.

Prof Thomas said: "I take this to be an earlier phase of the construction of the monument.

"It gives us the belief that this was a much bigger and more substantial structure than first thought, with people adding to it over a period of a couple of centuries at least.

"When you consider how old it is, dating back to 3700 BC, it really is a sophisticated piece of engineering, and extremely complex."

Author CS Lewis is thought to have been inspired by the area when creating his fictional world of Narnia – with Arthur's Stone the inspiration for the stone table upon which Aslan the Lion is sacrificed in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.