To search for any sites in the northern counties of England (previously known as Brigantia), click on the list of relevant counties, below. Please note that not all these english counties were truly in Brigantia, but they came close to its southern edges; and as parts of them tickle the edges of the southern Pennines, I thought they should be included. Hope that’s OK with everyone!
Cup-Marked Stone (lost): OS Grid Reference – SD 950 488
Archaeology & History
When the archaeology assistant Stuart Feather ventured over to look at the prehistoric enclosure on the northwest slope of Raygate Hill, a mile or so south-west of Carleton, like any good petroglyph explorer he looked out for any rock art and—like y’ do sometimes—came across a cup-marked stone that hadn’t been recorded before. He wrote down his finds at home and, following his death, those records were thankfully sent to the Manor House Museum in Ilkley, from where these brief notes are taken. There was at the time of his visit, he said, a
“Rock outcrop with two cup-marks, on August 6th 1960 this outcrop was intact. On a second visit the top layer of the rock had become detached and split into two. The pieces were then removed for preservation.”
By “removed for preservation”, he meant that he took it home to Fernbank Avenue in Keighley (he did this with a few of our old cup-and-rings). However, this one has not been found since and it may simply have been buried in his garden. Does anyone know more about it?
He described another less likely contender of a carving a little closer to the enclosure, telling briefly: “Cup-marked rock, cups only possibly man-made. In close proximity, 75 yards, to (the) earthwork marked on the 6” O.S. map.”
Probably best if you start from the car-parking spot at Acrehowe, by taking the road up through Baildon village, across at the roundabout up Northgate and up onto the moor, then after a few hundred yards turn left on the Bingley Road. The Acrehowe parking spot is a half-mile up on your right. From here, cross the road and bear right to take the footpath that follows the contour at the edge of the hillside, walking past the Baildon Moor (184) carving on the way. About 250 yards past this carving, on the right-side of the track as you’re heading to Dobrudden, is this low-lying almost innocuous stone. Keep your eyes peeled and you’ll see it.
Archaeology & History
The carving looking WCup-marks clearly visible
This cup-marked stone was first unearthed by fellow rock art explorers Mike Short and Dave Spencer in 2012 after they’d been looking at some of the other carvings hereby. In peeling back the turf on the stone, otherwise hidden cups—perhaps nine in all—were uncovered that had been hidden for centuries. Most of them are quite distinct, but it seems that a couple of the cups may have been left unfinished, as their size isn’t consistent with the others on this and other carvings close by.
The carved stone—located on the northern edge of the Low Plain prehistoric cemetery—is one in a line of several low earthfast rocks that crosses the track hereby and it’s possible that it was part of some prehistoric walling. Linear remains of walls and ditches were reported here in the 19th century and some of them can still be seen in some places on this part of the hill, but much of it has been destroyed.
Somewhere close to the aptly-named Ladywell House (now a beauty salon) on the south-side of High Ackworth (just as you’re going into the village on your left) there was once a holy well, seemingly no longer with us. It was described in Saywell’s (1894) history of the town as one of the “antiquities” in the area. He told that,
Spring Well – Lady Well?
“This very ancient well is one of the several public wells, which has in recent years somehow become enclosed. From what it derived its name is not known, but from the fact of its being the oldest, it is not unlikely that it was originally set apart by some religious service, and dedicated to ‘Our Lady’ for the use of the inhabitants of the village. In pre-reformation times this custom was common, some wells having miraculous powers ascribed to their waters by the superstitious, like the well of St. Keyne, and in modern times, the ‘Holy Wells’ in Ireland; but nothing of the sort attaches to the well of ‘Our Lady’ at Ackworth.”
To the rear of the old cottages was once a ‘Spring Well’, as shown on the 1852 Ordnance Survey map. It’s possible that this was our Lady Well, dedicated in ancient times to St. Mary. Does anyone know? And is it still there?
References:
Saywell, Joseph L., The Parochial History of Ackworth, James Atkinson: Pontefract 1894.
Acknowledgements:Huge thanks for use of the Ordnance Survey map in this site profile, reproduced with the kind permission of the National Library of Scotland.
You can walk up from Menston, up Moor Lane north-west towards the moor, then turning left when you hit the moorland road of Hillings Lane. Nearly 350 yards along, turn right up the track known as Occupation lane onto the moor. More than half-a-mile up, past the gate at the Bee Stone, where the track splits, keep to the left and head further uphill, roughly parallel with the fence on your left. Literally ¼-mile (0.4 km) up from the split, you’re looking almost straight down at the reservoir; but to your left, walk towards the fence. Zigzag about! You can also approach it from the Grubstones and Great Skirtful area, by following the Occupation Lane track eastwards down the slope until you’re roughly level with the same reservoir.
Archaeology & History
On this somewhat isolated stone on the northern sloping edge of Craven Hall Hill we find a small cluster of shallow cup-marks, first noted in the 1980s and eventually mentioned in a survey by Boughey & Vickerman (2003) where they described it as a,
“Low, medium striated rock lying in slope of hill. SE end carries possibly up to eleven cups, possibly two sets grouped in arcs running into natural striations of rock, one of which may have been artificially enhanced by pecking.”
Shallow cup-marks
The view from here is quite something: gazing east to the heathen hilltop of Otley Chevin (Beltane rites and rock art — albeit not much), north-east to the far uplands of the White Horse of Kilburn, then across the northern panoramas of Askwith and Denton Moors, and beyond. Some archaeologists have started to believe that such vistas may have had relevance with such carvings, sometimes. They’ve caught up at last! 🙂 Anyhow, the carving itself is pretty simplistic and probably only of interest to the real petroglyph nuts amongst you – although it’s mebbe worth checking out if you’re visiting the Great Skirtful giant cairn and its very impressive hengi-form neighbour.
References:
Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS: Wakefield 2003.
Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding – Supplement, YAS 2018.
Acknowledgements: With thanks to Tom Cleland for help in relocating the site on a recent visit.
Numerous ways to get here: probably the easiest (direction wise) is if you’re coming from Dick Hudson’s public house on the southern road surrounding Rombalds Moor. From the pub, head left (east) along Otley Road (passing Weecher reservoir) for 1.9 miles (3.1km) until you reach Reva reservoir where a track leads you to the waters. A small parking spot is on the left-side of the road. From here, go through the gate and along the footpath across the field for nearly 300 yards to the next gate. Go through here and immediately follow the walling down to your left for about 135 yards to the edge of the rushes. It’s there!
Archaeology & History
Single cupmark nr the top
On a recent visit to the Fraggle Rock carving, Tom Cleland foraged about at the edge of what was, in centuries gone by, a good flowing stream below the west slope of Reva Hill. An old pathway cut across one section of it near where the walling now runs, covered these days in the mass of Juncus reeds, typical of mashy grounds. And here, just where folk would cross the waters, Tom found a good sized stone with a single deep cup-mark on its crown, calling through a feast of lichens to be seen once more. There may be a second cup-mark by its side, but the light wasn’t good when we were here, so that’ll be worked out some other day. Anyhow, this one’s probably only for the crazy petroglyph hunters out there. It’s the Fraggle Rock and its companios that you’re gonna be looking for, nearby….
In Steeton, walk up the High Street and after a hundred yards or so, turn right to go up to Quarry House (opposite Falcon Cliffe), up past Quarry Cottages to the end where it turns into a track. Follow the track for 200 yards, where it bends left, then immediately right go into the field, following the wall along for 450 yards where you’ll go through a gate to another rocky steep hill-slope. Walk up by the side of the walling here, at the edge of the trees and, once at the top, bear right and a few yards along keep your eyes peeled. You’re virtually on top of it!
Archaeology & History
Not previously recorded, this is an unusual design: unusual in more ways than one. Firstly, it’s not entirely ‘ancient’; and secondly, the linearity in some of the carved lines around the cup-marks is unusual. It reminded me a little of the Hanging Stones above Ilkley, with its deeply cut lines, swerving around cup-marks, whose lack of ‘ancient’ guise is somewhat betrayed by the fact that Victorian quarry operations uncovered them—much like happened here…
It was first noticed in 2024 by Collette Walsh during a petroglyphic foray in the area. She noticed the distinct cup-marks on the rock surface, but then when she noticed a distinct quarrying mark, she dropped the idea that it was prehistoric. But this distinct quarry or stone-mason mark—executed sometime in the 19th century when the Industrialists were working here—shouldn’t take our attention away from the cup-marks; nor indeed all aspects of the other carved lines that swing round the edges of the deepest of the three cups, which is surrounded by a long curved triangle, some of which was carved into a natural crack, highlighting it more. The single outlying cup looked, from some angles when wet, that it may have had a partial ring around it—but we were unsure and it may have just been a trick of the light, along with our desire to see more than there actually is. Anyhow, it’s worth seeing. But we could do with a stonemason to check it out, enabling us a better assessment of which bits of this design are old and which are not-so-old.
Acknowledgements: To Collette Walsh for uncovering this design; and to Tom Cleland for showing me where it lives!
The location of this site has proved troublesome. Even when Rob Wilson (1991) did his local survey of holy wells he was unable to locate it—but it looks as if it shouldn’t be too troublesome to find, as the area in which it flowed is still very much a mix of open countryside and maintained landscapes. Described briefly as the “Wishing Well near Whiteley Wood” in Sidney Addy’s (1893) fine work, he makes a rather hopeful attempt to derive the word ‘wishing’ from German mythology, where “one of the names of the god Wuotan or Odin was Wunsch or Wish.” But – well – you just never know…..
In the landscape at Whiteley Wood there is a Priest’s Hill, so if this Well was found there, it may indeed have had an authentic ‘holy’ designation. But there were a couple of ponds in the area too, which may be fed by this spring. So, first, we need to find the well!
References:
Addy, Sidney Oldall, The Hall of Waltheof, William Townsend: Sheffield 1893.
Wilson, Rob, Holy Wells and Spas of South Yorkshire, Northern Arts: Sheffield 1991.
An important water source for local folk in Castley hamlet in previous centuries, this was one of several so-called ‘Wishing Wells’ above the higher banks of the River Wharfe a few miles from each other. It’s a title which, to be honest, was afforded the place when its original local name was removed. It was quite obviously a sacred well in earlier times, as it’s found beneath the slope of Chapel Hill, looking eastwards towards the rising sun, when the waters here (as at countless others) had their greatest remedial or magickal powers. Tradition told there was once a small chapel above the well itself. The spring was highlighted on early Ordnance Survey maps, but all that seems left here today is an occasional boggy mass in the trees at the bottom of the sloping hill.
The old folklorist and antiquarian Edmund Bogg (1904) wrote the following about it:
‘Wishing’ Well on 1888 map
“On the terraced bank near the garden, ’neath an overhanging hawthorn, is a beautiful spring of clear sparkling water, which is locally known as Castley ‘wishing-well.’ More than once we have heard the women-folk declare how, in their maidenhood, they loitered down the bank to the well, usually at eventide, when the birds were warbling their vesper song, and placed their offerings there in silence, yet breathing, as it were, the mute longing of their heart’s desire. It is a natural grotto fit habitation of fairies or the traditional elves. The bank, in which the well is situated, is known as ‘Snake Bank.’”
References:
Edmund Bogg, Higher Wharfeland, James Miles: Leeds 1904.
Acknowledgements:Huge thanks for use of the Ordnance Survey map in this site profile, reproduced with the kind permission of the National Library of Scotland.
Your best starting point is from the Great Skirtful of Stones giant cairn. From here follow the fencing that runs down the slope to your left (south-east) for roughly 160 yards (148m) – past the Great Skirtful Ring – until you reach the gate. Go through it and keep walking down the same fence-line for 300 yards then walk south onto the moorland proper (there are no paths here). You’ll pass over several undulations in the heather (some of these are the edges of ancient trackways) and 55-60 yards south from the fencing you’ll walk over and into this overgrown prehistoric ring. It’s very difficult to see when the vegetation is deep, so persevere!
Archaeology & History
Site shown on 1851 map
This is an interesting site. Marked on the 1851 Ordnance Survey map as a “barrow” (right), it is shown with trackways on either side of it to the north and south, and with an opening or entrance on its northwestern side. Yet since that date, very little archaeological attention has been given to it and the site remains unexcavated, despite its location being repeated on all subsequent maps since then. The designation of the site as a barrow or burial site, without being excavated, was educated guesswork at the time as the place seems to be what we today define as a ring cairn. And whilst this seems likely, there are some oddities here.
Measuring roughly 25 yards (SE – NW) by 21 yards (NE – SW), this overgrown oval ‘ring’ is a similar architectural structure to the more famous Roms Law circle more than half-a-mile northwest of here—but bigger! And, unlilke Roms Law, this overgrown circle seems to have been untouched for many centuries. The oval surrounding ‘ring’ itself is composed of thousands of small packing stones between, seemingly, a number of much larger upright stones, reaching a maximum height of more than three feet high at the northernmost edge. The ‘ring’ ostensibly looks like a wide surrounding wall which measures two yards across all round the structure.
Track running into the ringRaised line into the ring
Internally, there seems little evidence of a burial — although our recent visits here, as the photos indicate, took place when the moorland vegetation was deep and covered almost the entire site. The outline of the site is obviously visible, even in deep heather, but the smaller details remain hidden. But in addition to the main ring, another very distinct ingredient here is the existence of an extended length of man-made parallel walling, probably a trackway, that runs into the circle from the southeast all the way through the circle and out the other side and then continuing northwest heading roughly towards the Great Skirtful giant cairn on the horizon 500 yards to the northwest.
Stone at NE arc of walling
Due to the landscape being so overgrown, it’s difficult to ascertain where this ‘trackway’ begins and ends. Added to this, we find that there are additional ‘trackways’ that run roughly parallel to the one that runs through the circle—and these ‘trackways’ are very old indeed, some of them likely have their origins way back in prehistory. The one that runs through the middle of this ring cairn may be a ceremonial pathway along which, perhaps, our ancestors carried their dead. If we follow it out from here and keep walking along the track 300 yards to the southeast, we eventually run right to the edge of the Craven Hall (3) circle. Parallel to this is another ancient trackway that runs northwest to the edge of the Roms Law circle. It seems very much as if we have ceremonial trackways linking sites to each other: ancestral pathways, so to speak.
Have a gander at this when you’re next in the area. There are many other sites nearby that are off the archaeological radar. In recent years, a number of northern antiquarians wandering over this landscape are finding more and more ancient remains: walling, circles, cairns, trackways. It’s a superb arena—but sadly, most of it is hidden beneath deep moorland vegetation.
References:
Faull, M.L. & Moorhouse, S.A. (eds.), West Yorkshire: An Archaeological Guide to AD 1500– volume 1, WYMCC: Wakefield 1981.
Acknowledgements:Huge thanks for use of the Ordnance Survey map in this site profile, reproduced with the kind permission of the National Library of Scotland.
Cup-Marked Stone (removed): OS Grid Reference – SE 1579 3995
Archaeology & History
Jenny Lane carving
A small, seemingly broken cup-marked stone that may have once been part of a prehistoric tomb, found itself being included in an old wall at some time in the not-too-distant past: in the south-facing wall of the cricket ground at the top end of town. No one seemed to know it was there until it was noticed in the 1950s by a local man who brought it to the attention of Sidney Jackson (1958), editor of the local Bradford archaeology mag at the time. Jackson visited the site and thankfully did a sketch of what it looked like, before it was removed at a later date. He wrote:
“The small rectangular stone bearing four cup-shaped hollows…is another of Mr George Pritchard’s finds. It forms part of the high wall which bounds the Baildon Cricket Club’s ground in Jenny Lane… Its appearance suggests that it is part of a Bronze age cup-marked rock which was split to make building stones.”
Following its removal more than twenty years ago, it ended up in the hands of a dude from Cononley called Gerald Wright. I’m not sure whether it still lives over there or has subsequently found a new abode. Does anyone know what’s become of it…?
Folklore
Although there’s nothing specific to this carving, the place where it was found, on Jenny Lane, was where a phantom black dog used to be seen in bygone years. It was renowned as the harbinger od death.
References:
Jackson, Sidney, “Cup-Marked Stone in Jenny Lane, Baildon,” in Cartwright Hall Archaeology Group Bulletin, volume 3, part 10, 1958.
