The ring of stones was discovered in the late 1700s when part of Mont de la Ville – where the Fort Regent leisure centre now stands – was levelled to make way for a parade ground.
No one was entirely sure what to do with the impediment to the hill’s military development – but it was eventually decided to give the stones to the retiring governor of the day, Field-Marshal Henry Seymour Conway, who placed them in the grounds of his property in Henley-on-Thames.
Over the years there have been several attempts to have the dolmen returned to its former Island home, and the subject even reached the floor of the House of Commons in 1928.
Now there is, in theory at least, a glimmer of hope that the States or a local wealthy resident could finally get their hands on the stones, after the modern-day Henley property which has the dolmen in its grounds went on the market.
But the sprawling estate comes with a £7 million price tag.
The dolmen – a Grade II listed building – sits in 43 acres of land belonging to a property known as Templecombe House, which is being marketed by Knight Frank and Savills estate agents.
