Tolkien Gateway

Four Shire Stone

3farthingstone.jpg
Four Shire Stone
Physical Description
TypeMarker
LocationNorth of Oxford, England
RealmsUnited Kingdom
DescriptionStone pillar with decorative capital
General Information
ReferencesSee below

The Four Shire Stone is a 9-foot high pillar situated approximately 25 miles north-west of Oxford - and two miles east of Moreton-in-Marsh - in England. The pillar, made from Cotswold stone, marks the centuries-old meeting place of four county shires: Gloucestershire, Warwickshire, Oxfordshire and Worcestershire.

Due to local government reorganisation in the 1970s, the boundaries of these counties have now been moved and only three shires - no longer including Worcestershire, whose boundary is now further west - currently intercept here.

It is believed this stone was an inspiration for Tolkien's Three-Farthing Stone, a central point in the Shire where three Farthings met.

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