Maen Huail Explained

Maen Huail
Map Type:Wales Denbighshire
Map Alt:Denbighshire
Map Size:280
Location:Centre of Ruthin. (OS Grid ref SJ123582)
Region:North Wales
Coordinates:53.1144°N -3.3108°W
Type:historic stone
Epochs:post-medieval or older
Public Access:Yes
Condition:Good
Designation1:Scheduled monument
Designation1 Number:DE030

Maen Huail is a stone block at St Peter's Square, in the centre of Ruthin, Denbighshire, North Wales. A circular plaque next to it states "Maen Huail on which tradition states, King Arthur beheaded Huail, brother of Gildas the historian". The stone was recorded in 1699 as being in the middle of the road, and now stands on a concrete plinth against the half-timbered wall of the Barclays Bank building, a 20th-century copy of the now mainly destroyed Exmewe Hall.[1]

The legend probably originated as an oral tradition, and is first recorded in the Chronicle of Six Ages of the World by Elis Gruffydd, dating to around 1550.[2] [3] The stone itself is thought more likely to be a market or civic stone, or a preaching stone. It is a craggy and heavily weathered limestone boulder, measuring 1.2m (03.9feet) long, and some 0.6m (02feet) high and wide.

See also

List of Scheduled Monuments in Denbighshire

Notes and References

  1. . Cadw SAM: DE030: Maen Huail Historic Stone
  2. http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/huail.html 'The Quarrel of Arthur and Huail, and the Death of Huail ap Caw'
  3. Book: Lloyd . Scott . 2017 . Arthurian Place Names of Wales . Cardiff . University of Wales Press . 2017 . 94–96 . 9781786830258 . 12 April 2020 .