Chirbury, Shropshire, Welsh March, England, British Isles

Mitchell's Fold Stone Circle [Map]. There may have been some thirty stone pillars. The remaining stones range are up to 1.91m in height and stand in an ellipse 27m NW-SE by 25 m. The tallest is at the south-east end of the major axis, standing, perhaps by coincidence or design, close to the line of the southern moonrise. Aubrey Burl has stated in his 2000 book A Guide to the Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany that "There was a claim for a central stone and a very dubious eighteenth-century report that 'there was a stone across your two Portals, like those at Stonehenge, and that the stone at eighty yards distance was the altar.'"

Collections Historical and Archaeological Montgomeryshire Volume 1868. Extract from a Paper by Thomas Wright, Esq., P.B.S., &C, &C

On high ground at the foot of the mountain of Corndon, and in view of Shelve Hill, the site of the Roman lead mines, there is an interesting monument of the class which are commonly, though without any reason, called druidical circles, which is popularly named Mitchell's fold [Map], and sometimes Madge's fold. The peasantry of the neighbourhood tell us that this district, without being more fertile, was once more populous that it is at present, and that the population were kept from starvation by a benevolent being that came nightly, in the shape of a white cow, and abundantly supplied the inhabitants with milk. A condition, however, was attached to the comparative happiness of this people; and this was, that if the cow was milked dry, which, it appears, could not happen so long as each person took only a pailful at a time, she would disappear for ever, and the people would be reduced to extreme misery.

Caradoc and Severn Valley Field Club 1897. On Thursday September 16th [1897], in beautiful weather, a good party set out from Minsterley, and drove up the Hope Valley. On the way they saw good sections of the Llandovery and Wenlock shale, in one instance very curiously contorted. They also noticed a large boulder lying in the middle of the stream, and looking quite out of place there; it had evidently been carried by ice from some distant hill. Near the Marsh Pool they were met by the Rev. W. Brewster, vicar of Middleton, and Mr. Jasper More. Under their able and agreeable guidance a very pleasant walk was taken over the hills. In a well-marked ring of stones, which Mr. Brewster pronounced to be older than the time of the Druids, Mr. More read the "Legend of the Fairy Cow," by Olive—

This poem relates not to the stone circle on which the party were standing, but to another called Mitchell's Fold [Map], nearer to Corndon.

Once through the land, the old folks say, a mighty famine spread,

Old age and tender infancy died out for lack of bread,

And brave, strong men grew pale with want, and hollow-eyed with grief,

To see their dear ones suffering when there was no relief.

No more the labourer's happy song woke with the summer's morn,

No more the farmer's wide-stretched fields stood thick with full-eared corn;

For cruel famine ruled the land, and want's relentless ire

Had long since hushed the children's laugh, and damped the cottage fire.

But there were fairies in those days (I wish there were some now),

And one came through the country then, and brought with her a cow—

A snow-white cow, whose shape and size old people speak of still,

And closed her in a circle of stones on Stapeley Hill,

And bade the starving peasant wives each night and morning go

With one pail each, and milk, she said, should never cease to flow.

What words could tell the joy with which this bounty was received!

What weakly lives grew strong again!what misery was relieved!

And how they bless'd the fairy cow, who had such ample store,

And e'en where crowds were satisfied would yield one pailful more.

Now, in this country dwelt a witch, an ill-disposed old crone,

Who practised not the good advice of "letting well alone;"

Besides, it grieved her that, alone she had in sorcery dealt,

The people had not sought her aid when this distress was felt.

So for their harm she wrought her spells, but vainly tried them o'er,

Till she recalled the fairy's words, "One pailful each, no more."

Then with full glee she took her pail, the bottom broke away,

And placed a sieve where it had been, and started off, they say.

Before the sunrise lit the earth, or anyone was near,

To see that she so drew the milk that it might disappear;

And by this means the spell was loosed, the white cow sank away,

Down through the ground, but in the stones the witch was forced to stay;

And when the thronging people came they found the woman there,

With her false pail—the much loved cow they saw not anywhere.

They saw the wasted milk, and then knew what the witch had done,

So walled her up and left her in that living tomb of stone.

The famine passed; but still this tale is in the country told,

Of how the witch was starved to death, walled up in Mitchell's Fold.

Collections Historical and Archaeological MontgomeryshireVolume 34 1907. Mitchell's Fold Stone Circle [Map]

Mitchell's Fold is a stone circle, about 30 yards from side to side, on a lonely part of Middleton Hill (an off-shoot of Corndon); it is barely half-a-mile from the Churchstoke boundary. At present there are 18 stones there: the biggest is over 7 feet in height. Several of these stones appear to have been disturbed and broken; and, doubtless, in the days of old, other stones were there, as there are evidences of their removal. This circle is, unquestionably, of Druidical origin; and, if Tacitus is right, its frequenters must have witnessed the flow of human blood over its central stone and heard the dying groans of its victims. But, for hundreds of years beyond recall, its chief local interest has been the well-known legend of the Fairy Cow. The story goes that in a time of very great famine a good Fairy brought a white cow for the relief of the people of this hilly district. Every morning and evening the cow yielded a supply of milk to all who milked her, and the vessels used for milking purposes were always filled. After a time, however, an old Witch-—Mitchell by name—took a riddle¹ as a milking pail, and the cow left the district in disgust. As a punishment the Witch was turned (by the Fairies, I suppose), into a pillar of stone. And there she will for ever remain, imprisoned and surrounded by the "sentinel" stones.

Note 1. A "riddle"; a large coarse sieve.

Collections Historical and Archaeological MontgomeryshireVolume 35 1908. The principal prehistoric remain in the parish is one of the three monuments, which lie on the side of Corndon, and are known as Mitchell's Fold [Map]. There is a full description of these monuments in the Rev. Charles Henry Hartshorne's Salopia Antiqua, which the writer herewith quotes in full:

Collections Historical and Archaeological MontgomeryshireVolume 35 1908. (Page 33). The Whetstones [Map], or head of this presumed Ophital Toor (for I need scarcely say that I can only regard such theories in the light of agreeable fancies), lie at the foot of Corndon upon the Shropshire side. They are so close upon the borders of this county as to be almost in it. These three stones were formerly placed upright, though they now lean, owing to the soft and boggy nature of the soil. They stand equi-distant, and assume a circular position. Originally they evidently formed part of a circle, for they stood too far apart to have ever been supporters of a Cromlech, even if their actual bearing with regard to each other did not forbid the supposition. The highest of these is four feet above the surface; one foot six inches in thickness, and three feet in width. Vulgar tradition has given them their present title, though without any apparent reason, for as they are all of Basalt, they would be ill adapted to the use which the common acceptance of their name implies. Can this title refer to anything sacrificial? and be derived from the C. Brit. "gwaed-vaen," or bloodstone? It is all supposition, and the utmost insight we can obtain is slight and insignificant. Our facts are so few, that we are compelled to draw upon the imagination, which though it be the most captivating, is in proportion the most unsafe antiquarian guide. Let us see, however, how far etymology will serve us in (p. 34) throwing light upon the objects of our enquiry, that is upon these and such as are in their immediate vicinity ....