The Rufus Stone

	The monument which marks the spot where William Rufus was killed

In the heart of the New Forest created by William the Conqueror as his private game reserve - well, only a hundred yards or so off the modern main road! - is the Rufus Stone, the memorial to the death of the Conqueror's son in what many at the time believed to be divine vengeance for the sins of the father.

Ever since debate has raged: was it a hideous accident or did the man who fired the fatal shot have a hidden motive? Was it because Rufus had outraged his wife? Was he hired by Rufus' ambitious younger brother? Or was it an ancient pagan ritual being acted out with the willing consent of all concerned?

We will never know, but the event was considered so significant that folk tradition preserved the memory of the very oak beneath which it all happened, and when old age claimed the oak, a stone was erected in its place, to be replaced in its turn by a cast iron marker for the benefit of tourists and as a memorial to a slain king.