The stone marks the (alleged) spot where King William II was killed by an arrow during a royal hunt in the Forest, in 1100 AD. The king was nicknamed Rufus
because of his ruddy complexion and red hair. William Rufus was not a very popular monarch, showing little mercy for the local inhabitants of the Forest.
On August 2nd, 1100 AD, King William Rufus was out hunting deer with his noblemen, and his best archer, the Frenchman Sir Walter Tyrrell, shot an arrow at a stag.
The arrow struck an oak tree and ricocheted off it and into the king’s chest, puncturing his lung and killing him. Sir Walter fled back to Normandy in fear of
being charged with the king’s murder. According to legend, he stopped at a blacksmith on the way and had his horse re-shod with the horseshoes facing backwards,
to confuse those in pursuit. There was actually no pursuit, though, because no-one was particularly upset about the king’s death.
Three days after William Rufus’ death, his brother Henry was crowned king.

The inscription on the stone reads: “Here stood the oak tree, on which an arrow shot by Sir Walter Tyrrel at a stag, glanced and struck King William the Second,
surnamed Rufus, on the breast, of which he instantly died, on the second day of August, Anno 1100”.

And on the reverse is written: “That the spot where an event so memorable might not be forgotten, the enclosed stone was set up by John Lord Delaware
who had seen the tree growing in this place. This stone having been much mutilated, and the inscriptions on each of its three sides defaced this more
durable memorial with the original inscriptions was erected in the year 1841, by Wm Sturges Bourne, Warden”.