The Devil’s Arrows on the outskirts of Boroughbridge have always intrigued me and are shrouded in mystery and superstition. Three gigantic standing stones, also known as menhirs, stand in fields and dominate the landscape.
It is not certain when they were put there, who by, and what their purpose was. The story I was told as a child was that God was locked in a duel with the devil who unleashed projectiles towards God and missed his target leaving these huge stones upright in the ground before getting knocked out and sent back to hell! A fantastic tale for a young boy with a vivid imagination! Legend also has it that walking around the stones 12 times anti-clockwise will summon the devil.
Not a lot of research has been done on the stones but what has been carried out suggests that they are from approx. 2000BC and are most likely part of a megalithic line of stones such as we find scattered across Europe. The most probable use for the stones would likely have been linked to pagan worship rituals. This is one of the earlier lines of England and Ireland of the same design, although the Arrows are taller. Second in height of standing stones in Britain, even Stonehenge cannot compare in height to the tallest of the Devil’s Arrows. The tallest of the three is 22ft 6ins with the second being 22ft and the third 18ft. How many stones there were originally is uncertain but we know there were at least 4, as documents from the 1500’s chart descriptions of four standing stones. One such record is written by a William Camden in 1560 saying “foure huge stones, of pyramidall forme, but very rudely wrought, set as it were in a straight and direct line… whereof one was lately pulled downe by some that hoped, though in vaine, to find treasure.” This gives credence to the belief that one was pulled down and broken up by treasure hunters searching for riches. Yards from the line of stones, in a garden, two large boulders of the same material were found and are believed to be parts of the fourth stone.
Hopefully more research will be done in the future to try and establish more facts about the Devil’s Arrows. Until then, I’m sure they will be the subject of fantastical tales for many more children growing up in the area. Boroughbridge itself is full of history, and a popular place for visitors. If you are nearby, the arrows are definitely worth a visit to see the sheer scale of them up close.
