Arthur's Stone, Herefordshire

Arthur's Stone is a Neolithic chambered tomb, or dolmen, in Herefordshire, England. It stands on the ridge line of a hill overlooking both the Golden Valley and the Wye Valley, between the villages of Dorstone and Bredwardine, at Ordnance Survey grid reference SO318430. The tomb dates from 3700 BC – 2700 BC and commands an elevated view to the south of the Golden Valley and the Brecon Beacons in the distance.

The tomb is topped by a large capstone, estimated to weigh more than 25 tonnes, which rests on nine uprights, with a curved entrance passageway 4.6 m (15 ft) long. The stones would originally have been buried within a mound aligned north-south and approximately 25 metres in length, with an east-facing entrance and a south-facing false portal. The mound is now almost completely eroded, and the capstone is broken, with a large section fallen from its underside. A small road, Arthur's Stone Lane, bounds the site to the north and cuts through what would have been the elongated mound. A wooden fence defines and protects the site.

The site is seen as a northerly outlier of the Severn-Cotswold group of chambered tombs and as one of five Neolithic tombs in the local area. It appears to be oriented towards the mountain Ysgyryd Fawr in Wales. To the north there was once a cup-marked stone called the Quoit Stone, which can no longer be clearly seen; a stone to the south of the monument has since become known by that name.

The tomb is one of many prehistoric monuments in western England and Wales linked with the legend of King Arthur. Some tales suggest it was built to mark the location of one of Arthur's battles, while others say the stones were already present when Arthur slew a giant on the spot, who fell onto the stones and left indentations in one of them. Others suggest the indentations were left by Arthur's knees or elbows as he knelt to pray. Some 19th century sources call it King Arthur's Table.

Excavations were undertaken by Nash in 2006, followed by preliminary excavations of the mound by Boucher and Rouse from Headland Archaeology (2011). Another excavation was conducted in 2023.

Arthur's Stone is located between the villages of Dorstone and Bredwardine, and more generally between Hereford to the east and Hay-on-Wye to the west, at Ordnance Survey grid reference SO318430. The tomb commands an elevated view to the south of the Golden Valley and the Brecon Beacons in the distance, and is bounded to the north by a small road (Arthur's Stone Lane) which dissects what would originally have been the site of the tomb's elongated mound.