Raggedstone Hill is situated on the range of

Malvern Hills The Malvern Hills are in the English counties of Worcestershire, Herefordshire and a small area of northern Gloucestershire, dominating the surrounding countryside and the towns and villages of the district of Malvern. The highest summit af ...

that runs approximately north-south along the

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

border. Raggedstone Hill lies close to the borders of

and

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

. It has an elevation of . The northern flank of the hill lies on the southern side of the

Hollybush Hollybush is a residential area of Malpas within the city of Newport, South Wales, United Kingdom. Location Hollybush is situated off Malpas Road in Newport and famous for the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal that runs through it. Ameniti ...

pass, from where its summit is a brisk 15–20 minutes steep walk from the nearby Hollybush car park. According to legend, the hill's shadow casts misfortune upon whomever it falls.

Raggedstone Hill in cultural life

Literature

''The Shadow of the Ragged Stone Hill'' is a 19th-century novel by Charles F. Grindrod concerning a monk of

Little Malvern Priory Little Malvern Priory, in the village of Little Malvern near Malvern, Worcestershire, was a Benedictine monastery c. 1171–1537. It was founded from Worcester Cathedral. Little remains of the 12th-century church (building), church, which was ...

. He has been made a monk against his will, and his main object in life is to avenge his father's murder of his mother, a deed incited by false accusations made against his mother by a "wicked knight". The monk disguises himself in borrowed armour, attends a tournament and there kills the knight. Later, he breaks his vow of

chastity Chastity, also known as purity, is a virtue related to temperance. Someone who is ''chaste'' refrains from sexual activity that is considered immoral or from any sexual activity, according to their state of life. In some contexts, for exampl ...

by marrying a woman who he has rescued from the advances of a "lascivious knight", and is then falsely accused of killing her father in a

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people with matched weapons. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and later the small sword), but beginning in ...

. He is condemned to crawl to the summit of Ragged Stone Hill once a day as punishment. When the monk can no longer bear the punishment he curses the hill and anyone on whom the shadow of the hill should fall. ''The Ragged Stone'' is a poem by

Wilfrid Wilson Gibson Wilfrid Wilson Gibson (2 October 1878 – 26 May 1962) was a British Georgian poet, who was associated with World War I but continued publishing poetry into the 1940s and 1950s. Early work Gibson was born in Hexham, Northumberland. His parents ...

, a founder of the Dymock Poets.

Music

'Raggedstone Hill' is the name of a song by the band

Dodgy Dodgy are an English rock band formed in Hounslow in 1990. The band rose to prominence during the Britpop era of the 1990s. They are best known for their hits "Staying Out for the Summer", "If You're Thinking of Me", and " Good Enough". "Go ...

, written and recorded in the Malverns during 2011.

References

External links

Raggedstone Hill Walk

Raggedstone Hill gallery
{{The Malvern Hills Hills of Worcestershire Malvern Hills