The Rufus Stone

The Rufus Stone has to be one of the strongest reminders of the origins of the New Forest. The iron-clad stone marks the (alleged) spot where King William II was fatally wounded with an arrow, during a royal hunting outing in the Forest.

The king was nicknamed Rufus, apparently because of his ruddy complexion and red hair, and was of course the son of King William I who was responsible for designating the area as the royal hunting ground that we know as the New Forest.

William Rufus was, by all accounts, an absolute barbarian and showed no mercy to the local inhabitants of the Forest, as well as being a fairly unpopular Monarch.

It was on August 2nd in the year 1100 when King William Rufus and his team of noblemen were out hunting deer and wild boar. The story goes that an arrow was shot, supposedly at a stag, by the Frenchman Sir Walter Tyrell but the arrow struck an oak tree and ricocheted off it straight into the chest of the king, killing him there and then.

Sir Walter hot-footed it back to Normandy, the tale goes that he stopped at a blacksmith on the way and had his horse re-shoed with backwards facing horseshoes, so as to confuse the chasers!

As it happened, there were no chasers because no-one was particularly upset about the King's death.

There is still great mystery over whether or not the death was just a very unfortunate accident, or whether Sir Walter ever intended to shoot the deer at all.
Norman political ambition and the general desire to see Rufus removed from the throne are common theories about the incident.

In recent years, there's been fresh doubt cast over the location of the incident - historians believe that it took place in the Beaulieu area, but locals of Canterton will always be proud of the dubious claim to fame.

Although the original oak tree in question has long been gone, a mature oak does stand next to the stone - quite possibly a direct descendant of the original tree.

A visit to Rufus Stone is brief; two of the three sides of the metre tall monument are inscribed with the gory details, which take just a few minutes to read. The third side details the monument itself.
The inscriptions read:

Here stood the oak tree, on which an arrow shot by Sir Walter Tyrell at a stag, glanced and struck King William the Second, surnamed Rufus, on the breast, of which he instantly died, on the second day of August, anno 1100.

King William the Second, surnamed Rufus being slain, as before related, was laid in a cart, belonging to one Purkis, and drawn from hence, to Winchester, and buried in the Cathedral Church of that city.

That the spot where an event so memorable might not hereafter be forgotten, the enclosed stone was set up by John Lord Delaware who had seen the tree growing in this place. This stone having been much mutilated, and the inscriptions on each of its three sides defaced. This more durable memorial with the original inscriptions was erected in the year 1841, by WM Sturges Bourne, Warden.

Although time spent at the stone will be brief, there are several paths leading into the immediate Forest, and the popular Sir Walter Tyrell pub is just a stonesthrow, or arrowshot, away - the guilty one's name having been immortalised into one of the area's most popular hostelries.

Directly opposite the pub is the grassy lawn of Canterton Glen, a nice spot to relax on sunny days or the start of a pleasant walk through to Longbeech campsite on Stoney Cross.

Getting to the Rufus Stone

The stone is accessible from the north and the south, with the latter being the easiest and quickest way.
You need to be on the eastbound carriageway of the A31, the turning down to Rufus Stone is on the left, approximately half way between the Stoney Cross and Cadnam exits.

From the north, take the small road that rises uphill directly opposite the Bell Inn at Brook. After about a mile, the Stone is immediately after the Sir Walter Tyrell pub.

A third option is to reach the stone (and pub!) by foot or on bike, coming down through Longbeech campsite on Stoney Cross.

You can see this area in more detail by opening this PDF map of the north-west corner of the National Park (approx. 30 sec download time on 1Mbps connection).
The Rufus Stone grid reference is: 272125 [How do I read a map?]

(A larger scale map of the whole National Park can be found on the area maps page).

Return from Rufus Stone page to main New Forest attractions page.