"Three ancient giants standing where the Devil's arrows fell short"
The Devils Arrows
Boroughbridge, England, United Kingdom
Rising from the fields west of Boroughbridge, the Devil's Arrows are among Britain's tallest and most mysterious standing stones. Erected some four thousand years ago and transported nine miles from their quarry, these weathered monoliths mark what scholars believe was once a ceremonial landscape rivaling Stonehenge in significance. The rituals that brought them here have fallen silent, but their presence—grooved by millennia of rain, rooted in soil that has witnessed epochs—continues to arrest those who encounter them.
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Quick Facts
Location
Boroughbridge, England, United Kingdom
Tradition
Site Type
Coordinates
54.0917, -1.4167
Last Updated
Jan 30, 2026
Learn More
The Devil's Arrows were erected during the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age, approximately 2700-2000 BCE, as part of an extensive ritual landscape in the Vale of York. Their builders—whose identity remains anonymous—transported them nine miles from Plumpton Rocks and set them in alignment with other sacred monuments. The site has witnessed four thousand years of human history, from its original ceremonial use through medieval solstice fairs to modern heritage tourism.
Origin Story
No founding narrative survives from the people who erected the stones. What remains is the folklore that followed: the Devil, standing on Howe Hill, attempted to destroy the Christian town of Aldborough by hurling massive stone arrows. His cry echoed across the land—'Borobrigg keep out o' way, for Aldborough town I will ding down!' But his aim proved poor. The arrows fell short, landing in the fields west of Boroughbridge where they stand today.
This is, of course, a later invention—a way of explaining what could not otherwise be understood. The pattern is common across Britain: stones of mysterious origin become the Devil's handiwork, sacred sites of pre-Christian practice reframed as evidence of Satan's malevolence and failure. The story tells us more about medieval Christian anxiety than about Bronze Age intention.
Another variant suggests the stones simply 'sprung up one night in the very places they now occupy'—magical emergence rather than human effort. Both stories point toward the same recognition: that something about these stones exceeds ordinary explanation.
Key Figures
William Camden
historical
The Elizabethan antiquary who described the stones in his 1586 Britannia, calling them the greatest wonder he had seen in Britain. He recorded four stones standing in his time, with one already toppled by treasure hunters.
John Aubrey
historical
The 17th-century antiquary who visited in 1687 and recorded the name 'Devil's Arrows' in his notes—the first documented use of this title.
William Stukeley
historical
The 18th-century antiquary who documented the site and recorded the St. Barnabas Solstice Fair tradition. He theorized that the stones served as 'Metae of the Races'—turning points for ceremonial races—and connected the site to his romantic vision of Druidic practice.
Alfred Watkins
historical
The early 20th-century antiquarian who identified the Devil's Arrows as lying on a ley line—a straight alignment of ancient sites that he believed represented prehistoric trackways.
Spiritual Lineage
The stones stood here before recorded history, before the Romans came to nearby Aldborough, before the English language existed. For two thousand years, perhaps longer, they witnessed ceremonies whose nature we can only imagine—gatherings aligned with solstices, offerings to powers we no longer name. The Romans must have known them, their settlement at Isurium Brigantum lying less than two miles east. What they made of the stones goes unrecorded. Medieval farmers worked the land around them, eventually forgetting whatever meaning had once attached, until the stones became the Devil's work—an explanation for the inexplicable. By the 18th century, antiquarians were documenting what they found, preserving traditions that might otherwise have vanished. The St. Barnabas Fair, held near the stones on Midsummer's Day until sometime in the 18th century, may have represented continuity from Bronze Age solstice gatherings—or may have been a medieval invention. The link remains suggestive but unproven. Since 1923, the stones have held legal protection as a Scheduled Ancient Monument. They are managed by Historic England, though 'managed' may be too strong a word—they stand as they have always stood, largely uninterpreted, asking visitors to bring their own meaning.
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