Coronation Day – Just What is the Stone of Scone

Whether you’re a royalist or not, May the 6th this year will be hard to miss. It’s the Coronation Day of King Charles III, and despite much of the world taking more interest in the Royal Family’s current domestic turmoil than its pageantry, it will go down in the annals of history as a day to be remembered. Part of what keeps many of us riveted to such royal occasions is the mystery surrounding them, and the coronation is no exception. After all, who wouldn’t be intrigued by the reverence dished out to a 152kg block of stone quarter the size of a washing machine!

We’re talking about the ‘Stone of Scone,’ a block of yellow sandstone that, despite its weight, has been hauled around various sites in an effort by those who are doing the lifting, to claim kingship. The Stone’s origins go back into the realm of Celtic legend (which is where it gets a bit messy), but in more recent times we can track it’s movement with a degree of historical accuracy.

Around 840, the stone ended up in the Scottish village of Scone where it was used for centuries to install Scottish monarchs on the throne. However, when the English invaded Scotland in 1296, they nabbed the stone, and once back home, lugged it into Westminster Abbey where they fitted it into a wooden chair that was destined to become a throne. This was a big improvement for monarch’s-to-be, who had originally been obliged to sit on the stone itself (one can only hope it wasn’t for too long).

In 1328, in a gesture of goodwill (and thanks to the ‘Treaty of Northampton’) the English decided to return the Stone of Scone (as it was still called) to Scotland. However, what began as a kindly act, turned into a riot when those who objected to its removal, blocked its way – for the next 600 years! Things looked up when King James VI of Scotland became James I of England, and sat on the stone for his coronation (or at least on the throne the stone was underneath).

The Stone has had a pretty hard time since it’s installation in Westminster Abby. During World War 2, it moved to Gloucester Cathedral, a site deemed safer for it than London. During its war time outing, it also spent a period hidden behind some coffins in a burial vault (with notes being sent to various officials in Commonwealth countries, reminding them where to find it should other records be lost!).

Having survived the war, the Stone should have been safe, but in 1914, it took a slight hammering when some suffragettes blew off one of its corners with a home made bomb. The explosion also cracked the stone, but this wasn’t noticed until 1950 when some Scottish nationalists stole it, and it broke in half. After being hidden in a field in the south of England, the stone ended up back in Scotland, only to be returned to England again in 1951 (along with rumours that it might be a fake).

The Stone of Scone now resides in Scotland, in Edinburgh Castle, after it was handed back to the north in 1996. But it doesn’t mean King Charles won’t get to sit on it. The Stone of Scone has been loaned back to London for the coronation ceremony, and will be slotted into place under the King’s throne.

Unless you’re somebody, it’s not likely you’ll catch more than a TV-camera glimpse of the Stone on May the 6th, but all is not lost. When you’re next in Scotland, you can pop into The Crown Room at Edinburgh Castle. That’s where the Stone of Scone will be on display for you – and the thousands of others who find its remarkable history completely intriguing!