The
isolated house-sized block of very red sandstone is known as Thor's Stone.
There are several theories to explain the origins of both the stone and
name, some more romantic than others.
Some say the stone was raised by the Danes to commemorate the great battle
of Brunanburh (Bromborough?) which took place in 937, others that Vikings
made blood-sacrifices to their thunder-god on its summit, but, unfortunately,
these are Victorian flights of fancy.
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| Wet
Heath |
More realistic theories are that it was scoured by water flows under the
ice sheet, or post-glacial erosion has removed the softer surrounding rocks.
The most likely explanation is that it is the remains of a quarry, perhaps
even the site of the crane for loading blocks into horse-drawn carts.
Look carefully
at the layers in the rock and you can make out the outline of 230 million
year old desert sand dunes!
The small
pool to the left of Thor's Stone is one of the wetland areas to be found
on the heath.
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| Knopper
gall |
Wet areas
support important plant and animal communities unusual in this area; sundew,
marsh gentian, damsel and dragonflies - hawkers, darters and chasers.
The oak trees
here have been attacked by gall wasps. These tiny wasps lay their eggs
into the plant tissue, which reacts by forming a gall. The wasp larvae
then develop within the gall, before emerging as adults. Each wasp species
produces a specific gall, and three types can be seen here - spangle,
artichoke and knopper.
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