The British Folklore of Stone Circles

Dr Jon Norman Mason is at The Wardrobe on Tuesday 17 November for a talk on the British folklore of stone circles. It's part of the Seed Talks in Leeds collection, and the whole thing runs for about two and a half hours, with doors at 19:00 and the talk starting at 19:30.

Mason is a folklorist, cultural historian and professional storyteller who specialises in how we use imagination to make sense of the world, and in how stories relate to landscape and place. That's exactly where this talk sits: it looks at the tales, dreams and old beliefs that have gathered around Britain's stone circles over the centuries. He'll be talking about lost kings and petrified sinners, mischievous fairies and ancient giants, and then bringing in the archaeology that offers a modern take on what the stones actually mean. It's that pull between the folklore and the facts that gives the night its shape.

He's not just talking from a book, either. Mason has taught at the Universities of Brighton and Sussex, created storytelling to explore archaeology for Butser Ancient Farm, and spent four series as a researcher and writer for the BBC comedy history podcast You're Dead To Me. He's spent a good deal of his career working at the intersection of history and storytelling, so the evening is in capable hands. The session is for ages 16 and up, and it finishes with a Q&A, so you'll have a chance to ask your own questions before the night wraps up.

Tickets are £18.80, and it all takes place at The Wardrobe, 6 Saint Peter's Square, Leeds LS9 8AH. Doors open at 19:00, the talk starts at 19:30, and it runs for two and a half hours.