Maen Huail

Maen Huail is a stone block at St Peter's Square, in the centre of Ruthin, Denbighshire, North Wales. A circular plaque next to it states "Maen Huail on which tradition states, King Arthur beheaded Huail, brother of Gildas the historian". The stone was recorded in 1699 as being in the middle of the road,^[1] and now stands on a concrete plinth against the half-timbered wall of the Barclays Bank building, a 20th-century copy of the now mainly destroyed Exmewe Hall.^[2]

Maen Huail

The stone stands against the wall of Exmewe Hall, facing the roundabout.
Shown within Denbighshire
Location	Centre of Ruthin. (OS Grid ref SJ123582)
Region	North Wales
Coordinates	53.1144°N 3.3108°W / 53.1144; -3.3108
Type	historic stone
History
Periods	post-medieval or older
Site notes
Condition	Good
Public access	Yes
Scheduled monument
Reference no.	DE030

The legend probably originated as an oral tradition, and is first recorded in the Chronicle of Six Ages of the World by Elis Gruffydd, dating to around 1550.^[3][4] The stone itself is thought more likely to be a market or civic stone, or a preaching stone.^[1] It is a craggy and heavily weathered limestone boulder, measuring 1.2 metres (3.9 ft) long, and some 0.6 metres (2.0 ft) high and wide.^[1]

The re-built Exmewe Hall, on St. Peter's Square, Ruthin.

See also

• List of individual rocks
• List of Scheduled Monuments in Denbighshire

References

1. Maen Huail, St. Peter's Square, Ruthin (ID NPRN306840). at the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW)
2. Maen Huail stone (ID PRN100868). in the 'SMR' for Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust (CPAT). Cadw SAM: DE030: Maen Huail Historic Stone
3. 'The Quarrel of Arthur and Huail, and the Death of Huail ap Caw', in The Chronicle of Elis Gruffudd. Celtic Literature Collective. Accessed 14 April 2016
4. Lloyd, Scott (2017). Arthurian Place Names of Wales. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. pp. 94–96. ISBN 9781786830258. Retrieved 12 April 2020.