Four Shire Stone

The Four Shire Stone is a boundary marker placed where the counties of Warwickshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Worcestershire met until 1931 when boundary changes removed Worcestershire. It is an impressive monument some 9 ft. high, built of local Cotswold stone, and dating probably from the 18th century. It is said to have been the inspiration for J.R.R.Tolkien’s Three Farthing Stone, which marked the centre of The Shire, wherein lived the Hobbits. It is now in need of conservation and there is a project in hand to do some cleaning and repair. The surrounding scrub has recently been cleared.