Four shire stone
The Four shire stone is a boundary marker that marks the place where the four counties of Gloucester, Oxford, Warwick and Worcester meet.
Boundary marker
It is not a stone, but a nine-foot high monument, built from the local Cotswold stone. It is located a mile and a half east of the town of Moreton-in-Marsh. The existing structure was probably built in the 18th century, and is a grade II listed building.[1] There was an earlier "4 Shire Stone" on or near the site in 1675.[2]
From the stone, one can go either east or west into Gloucestershire (east into the detached part of Little Compton), north into Warwickshire, south-east into Oxfordshire, or south-west into Worcestershire (detached). Most of Worcestershire is to the north-west of the stone. Thus the order of the four counties around the stone differs from what one might expect from a standard map.
It is claimed that the Four shire stone inspired the "Three-Farthing Stone" in Tolkien's books The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. In those books, The Shire is divided into four farthings, three of which meet at the "Three-Farthing Stone".[3][4]
References
- ↑ "British Listed Buildings". http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-305989-four-shire-stone-evenlode-gloucestershir. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
- ↑ Ogilby, John (1675). Britannia Atlas. Richard Nicholson of Chester, map dealer. p. Plate 44. http://www.antiquemaps.com/uk/mzoom/29411.jpg. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
- ↑ "Moreton-in-Marsh Tourist Information and Travel Guide". cotswolds.info. http://www.cotswolds.info/places/moreton-in-marsh.shtml. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
- ↑ Hooker, Mark T. (2009). The Hobbitonian Anthology. Llyfrawr. p. 98-99. ISBN 978-1448617012.
