The Devil’s Arrows

The Devil’s Arrows, also known as the Three Greyhounds or the Three Sisters, are a row of three colossal standing stones near Boroughbridge in Yorkshire. The stones, which reach seven metres in height with another three metres underground, are taller than the sarsens of Stonehenge. They were probably raised in the early Bronze Age, around 2000BC. 

Legend says the devil, sitting on How Hill near Ripon, a strangely prominent and eerie-feeling hill with a ruined church dedicated to St Michael, threw rocks at the town of Aldborough after it offended him. They fell short and formed the Arrows.

The row of Arrows, looking uphill

The three stones are the survivors of a larger row. One stone was pulled down in the 16^th century; a fifth one is reputed to have also been removed. Perhaps there were even more, forgotten even by legend. 

The stones, weighing 25 tonnes, are millstone grit, probably originating from a location near Knaresborough, nine miles away. It is possible they were carried by glacial action to a much nearer point, making their transport much easier. The stones were then raised and slid into their sockets, probably using levers and pulleys, and their holes packed with cobbles. It was a phenomenal undertaking. 

The stones were shaped and dressed to give them a smooth finish, something which was rarely done in British stone monuments. The sarsens of Stonehenge are the other best-known example of this, and may suggest this monument was a rival or equal power base to Stonehenge. This area of Yorkshire is believed to have once been equal in importance to the Stonehenge monuments.

The uppermost stone.

The stones are on a 320º alignment, which roughly faces the midwinter sunrise and midsummer sunset, but they are not quite in a straight line. They climb a shallow slope leading from the River Ure – this link to water is reminiscent of Stonehenge – and the final stone sits on the top of the hillside. Perhaps the destroyed stones continued towards the river and the monument formed an elaborate procession up the hillside towards the rising midwinter sun. 

Interestingly, two now vanished henges which stood on shallow hillsides near the village of Hutton to the north, are also on the same alignment as the Arrows. Perhaps it was part of a much greater monumental complex than is currently thought.

The River Ure at Boroughbridge