The Hemlock Stone or Himlack Stone is an

inselberg An inselberg or monadnock ( ) is an isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain. In Southern Africa, a similar formation of granite is known as a koppie, an ...

on Stapleford Hill at Stapleford,

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

, England.

Geology

The Hemlock Stone is an outcrop of

New Red Sandstone The New Red Sandstone, chiefly in United Kingdom, British geology, is composed of beds of red sandstone and associated rocks laid down throughout the Permian (300 million years ago) to the end of the Triassic (about 200 million years a ...

, deposited more than 200 million years ago in the

Triassic The Triassic ( ; sometimes symbolized 🝈) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.5 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.4 Mya. The Triassic is t ...

Period Period may refer to: Common uses * Period (punctuation) * Era, a length or span of time *Menstruation, commonly referred to as a "period" Arts, entertainment, and media * Period (music), a concept in musical composition * Periodic sentence (o ...

. Approximately high, it is formed of a layer of Nottingham Castle Sandstone overlying a layer of Lenton Sandstone. Both layers are members of the

Sherwood Sandstone Group The Sherwood Sandstone Group is a Triassic lithostratigraphic group (a sequence of rock strata) which is widespread in Britain, especially in the English Midlands. The name is derived from Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire which is underlain by ...

. The Nottingham Castle Sandstone is a medium- to coarse-grained sandstone in which the grains are strongly cemented together by

baryte Baryte, barite or barytes ( or ) is a mineral consisting of barium sulfate (Ba S O4). Baryte is generally white or colorless, and is the main source of the element barium. The ''baryte group'' consists of baryte, celestine (strontium sulfate), ...

. The Lenton Sandstone is very fine-grained but less well cemented together. As a result, the lower part of the stone is more vulnerable to erosion than the upper part, resulting in

differential erosion Weathering is the deterioration of Rock (geology), rocks, soils and minerals (as well as wood and artificial materials) through contact with water, atmospheric gases, sunlight, and biological organisms. It occurs ''in situ'' (on-site, with litt ...

that has given the inselberg its current "waisted" shape. There are two

geological Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth s ...

theories as to what removed the surrounding sandstone layers of which the inselberg was once a part. In the 18th century the

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...

William Stukeley William Stukeley (7 November 1687 – 3 March 1765) was an English antiquarian, physician and Anglican clergyman. A significant influence on the later development of archaeology, he pioneered the scholarly investigation of the prehistoric ...

(1687–1765) proposed that it had been left by quarrying of the surrounding stone. Certainly there are signs of past quarrying on and around Stapleford Hill. In 1908 the Ordnance Geological Survey (OGS) propounded that it was the result purely of natural differential erosion, particularly by ice in the

Quaternary glaciation The Quaternary glaciation, also known as the Pleistocene glaciation, is an alternating series of glacial period, glacial and interglacial, interglacial periods during the Quaternary period that began 2.58 Year#SI prefix multipliers, Ma (million ...

. The

British Geological Survey The British Geological Survey (BGS) is a partly publicly funded body which aims to advance Earth science, geoscientific knowledge of the United Kingdom landmass and its continental shelf by means of systematic surveying, monitoring and research. ...

, the OGS's modern successor, now supports Stukeley's theory. In October 2015 with the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

's Geospatial Institute undertook further study, as part of their "Three Stones Project". Since, in the past, laser mapping had not completely covered the stone, they employed a

drone Drone or The Drones may refer to: Science and technology Vehicle * Drone, a type of uncrewed vehicle, a class of robot ** Unmanned aerial vehicle or aerial drone *** Unmanned combat aerial vehicle ** Unmanned ground vehicle or ground drone ** Unma ...

equipped with laser mapping cameras. Black grime coats the Nottingham Castle Sandstone that forms the upper part of the inselberg, but there is none on the Lenton Sandstone below. The deposit is from industrial

air pollution Air pollution is the presence of substances in the Atmosphere of Earth, air that are harmful to humans, other living beings or the environment. Pollutants can be Gas, gases like Ground-level ozone, ozone or nitrogen oxides or small particles li ...

before the UK started to restrict air pollution, and illustrates the fact that the upper layer has eroded much more slowly than the lower.

Wind erosion Aeolian processes, also spelled eolian, pertain to wind activity in the study of geology and weather and specifically to the wind's ability to shape the surface of the Earth (or other planets). Winds may erode, transport, and deposit material ...

is continuing and will eventually destabilise the inselberg. The stone is now protected by an iron fence, next to which is an explanatory sign.

Cultural responses

Medieval

In the Middle Ages it was claimed that the Devil threw the stone there from

Castleton, Derbyshire Castleton is a village and civil parish in the High Peak, Derbyshire, High Peak district of Derbyshire, England, at the western end of the Hope Valley, Derbyshire, Hope Valley on the Peakshole Water, a tributary of the River Noe, between the Da ...

, about away, because the ringing of church bells annoyed him. Quite apart from the fancifulness of the legend, there is no New Red Sandstone outcrop in that part of Derbyshire from which the stone could have come.

Modern

On 3 June 2002 to celebrate the

Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II The Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II was the international celebration held in 2002 marking the 50th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952. It was intended by the Queen to be both a commemoration of her 50 years as ...

a large bonfire was lit on the top of Hemlock Stone as part of the worldwide chain of 2,006

beacon A beacon is an intentionally conspicuous device designed to attract attention to a specific location. A common example is the lighthouse, which draws attention to a fixed point that can be used to navigate around obstacles or into port. More mode ...

s lit, watched by a crowd of an estimated 2,000 spectators. The stone is referenced in D.H. Lawrence's novel ''

Sons and Lovers ''Sons and Lovers'' is a 1913 novel by the English writer D. H. Lawrence. It traces emotional conflicts through the protagonist, Paul Morel, and his suffocating relationships with a demanding mother and two very different lovers, which exert ...

.''

Hemlock Happening

From the Golden Jubilee celebration developed an annual free festival, the Hemlock Happening, that is held one day each June.The Hemlock Happening Website
/ref> It is organised by the communities of Stapleford and

Bramcote Bramcote (, ) is a suburban village and former civil parish in the Borough of Broxtowe, Broxtowe district of Nottinghamshire, England, between Stapleford, Nottinghamshire, Stapleford and Beeston, Nottinghamshire, Beeston. It is in the parliame ...

and held in the Bramcote Walled Gardens near the stone. It usually lasts from 1 pm to 10:45 pm, showing the talents of local schools, groups and individuals and culminating in

firework Fireworks are Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large numbe ...

s set off around the Stone at 10:30 pm. Some scheduled Hemlock Happenings are as follows: *10 June 2006 – attended by about 800 people *9 June 2007 *7 June 2008 *6 June 2009 – cancelled due to bad weather *12 June 2010 *11 June 2011 *2 June 2012 –

Queen's Diamond Jubilee Queen's Diamond Jubilee may refer to: * Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897 * Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 2012 {{Short pages monitor