Several references within English folklore tell of the legend of Snakestones. At Keynsham in Somerset the legend tells of St Keyna turning serpents into stones. Elsewhere Southern England snake stones were thought to have been fairies who for their crimes were changed into snakes and then stones. Snakestones were highly prized as a rare and unusual and ornaments in medieval England and to perpetuate the legend craftsmen have for centuries carved heads on what we now know to be fossil ammonites. This is a genuine fossil ammonite , HILDOCERAS sp. from the UPPER LIAS FORMATION, JURASSIC, 180 MILLION YEARS ago, Illminster Somerset, England with a carved head following a 1000 year tradition.