Druidstone

Also known as:
Gwal y Filiast
Nearest town:
Risca (8km NNW)
OS reference:
ST245835
OS sheet:
171
Latitude:
51° 32' 41.31 N
Longitude:
3° 5' 19.98 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Druidstone (Standing Stone / Menhir) by Rhiannon

From Mary E Bagnall-Oakeley’s ‘Account of some of the rude stone monuments and ancient burial mounds in Monmouthshire’ (1889).

Rhiannon
Rhiannon Feb 9, 2025

Articles

Druidstone

C
CARL Nov 29, 2010

Visited 28.11.10
I wasn’t actually planning on visiting this site but as I was passing on my way home (and it was such a beautiful day) I decided to take a chance and see if I could get access. The freezing weather meant the country lanes had quite a lot of ice across them and driving had to be done very carefully. I parked along the ‘main’ country lane (near the West Lodge building) and walked down the private road to the left handily signposted Druidstone. You soon come to the Druidstone Manor House on the right and just a bit further down there is a sort of small cul-de-sac. You will then see a gate marked ‘Private – no entry’ and just beyond the stone itself. As the gate was already open I saw no problem in wandering over to touch the stone.
It is funny how your memory can play tricks with you, the stone wasn’t the same shape how I remembered it. I thought it was more tear shaped but in fact it is more squarish – about 8 ft high and 5 ft wide at the base, slightly narrower towards the top. The whole stone itself was covered in a thin veil of green moss.
Another highlight of my visit was the walk to the stone itself. The private drive went through a small wooded area and the recent snow had meant all the branches were weighed down with snow. With the blue sky, sun shining, glistening snow it was on of those times when it makes you feel good to be alive. Very, very pretty and I am so glad I decided to stop off on the way home.

Druidstone

C
CARL Mar 10, 2010

I visited the stone last year and am happy to report that it looks quite happy with flowers neatly planted in front of it!

Druidstone

J
jane54 Jan 8, 2001

We visited the Druidstone having seen it identified on landranger map 171 as a standing stone. After walking several footpaths in the general area of Druidstone road, Cardiff, to no avail we called at a local property. The householder told us incorrectly that the stone was a boundary stone and removed in the 1950’s. Undaunted we asked a couple of hikers who amazingly were looking for the same stone, and were also lost.

Eventually we did discover the stone in the grounds of Druidstone house. This is a private property and so access had to be agreed with residents.

Although impressive in size, being some 8 feet high and 4-5 feet in diameter we felt very dissapointed with the site. The stone is very neglected. It stands outside a ramshackle shed, in unkempt woodland and is adjacent to a number of properties on the private estate.

Directions:-On reaching Cardiff head for St Mellons on the B4487 turning off towards Began and Michaelstone y Fedw just before you reach St Mellons. After crossing a dual carriageway take the next right (Druidstone Road) The stone is located NE of Cardiff at Druidstone House.

Folklore

Druidstone
Standing Stone / Menhir
Rhiannon
Rhiannon Jun 15, 2004

Mr J. G. Wood, M.A., F.S.A., contributes the following account: – ‘This ‘maenhir’ is at the place now called ‘Druidstone’ on the old Cardiff-Newport road. The stone is somewhat of a pyramidal shape according to the drawing in Mrs Bagnall-Oakeley’s account’ and I should doubt its having anything but a natural origin if it were not for the name which Mrs Oakeley gives to the farm, Gwael-y-filast, which has now disappeared from the map. This is plainly a corruption of Gwal-y-filiast, or ‘The Greyhound’s Bed’ [...]

The N.W. face is covered with pock-marks which have the appearance of tooling or pounding done with rude implements (such as stone hammers for instance). The foreman mentioned a story that the stone is said to go down to the water for a swim when the cock crows at night.‘

In O.G.S. Crawford’s ‘The Long Barrows of the Cotswolds’ (1925).

Sites within 20km of Druidstone

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