Category: England (north)

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!

Ball Cross Carving 01, Bakewell, Derbyshire

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Cup-and-Ring Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SK 2310 6911

Archaeology & History

Ball Cross 01 Carving (photo © Dean Thom)
Ball Cross 01 Carving (photo © Dean Thom)

This is another carving (one of three here) that was removed from its landscape setting when found during excavations of the Iron Age hillfort of Ball Cross in the 1950s, and then placed into a box in Sheffield Museum, decontextualizing it and leaving future researchers slightly in the dark as to its possible nature.  In removing the carving from its site, the stone was left with additional scratches and grooves slightly damaging the stone.  Not good!

Ball Cross Carving (after Beckensall)
Ball Cross Carving (after Beckensall)
Ball Cross Carving (after A. Cooper)
Ball Cross Carving (after A. Cooper)

Although unlike the Ball Cross 2 and 3 carvings, the design here is structurally very similar to that found east of Gardoms Edge, with this one comprising of a large unbroken carved oval, with at least twelve cup-marks inside.  Or as Beckensall (1999) described, it “has 12 cups inside a flattened ring.”  Again, like the Gardoms Edge carving, a single cup-mark was etched outside of the enclosed ring. It was found with its companion carvings built into the main walled structure of the hillfort.  It’s unlikely that the stones date from the same age as the hillfort: more probable that they were re-used in the structure, with their mythic nature perhaps already long forgotten…

References:

  1. Barnatt, John & Reeder, Phil, “Prehistoric Rock Art in the Peak District,” in Derbyshire Archaeological Journal, 102, 1982.
  2. Beckensall, Stan, British Prehistoric Rock Art, Tempus: Stroud 1999.
  3. Beckensall, Stan, Circles in Stone: A British Prehistoric Mystery, Tempus: Stroud 2006.
  4. Cooper, Ali, Archaeology Walks in the Peak District, Sigma: Wilmslow 2010.
  5. Morgan, Victorian & Paul, Rock Around the Peak, Sigma: Wilmslow 2001.
  6. Stanley, J., “An Iron Age fort at Ball Cross Farm, Bakewell,” in Derbyshire Archaeological Journal, volume 74, 1954.

Acknowledgements:  HUGE thanks to Dean Thom for the use of his photo, plus helpful data on this site.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Gardoms Edge 02, Baslow, Derbyshire

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Cup-and-Ring Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SK 2752 7328

Archaeology & History

Gardoms Edge 2 carving, in Sheffield Museum (photo - Dean Thom)
Gardoms Edge 2 carving, in Sheffield Museum (photo – Dean Thom)

This carving is one of two cup-and-ring stones that were removed from this area and transported to Sheffield Museum, decontextualizing them from their landscape presence (this should not be done unless very severe damage is happening, or their destruction is imminent).  It’s quite an intriguing carving, similar in design to one found not far away at Great Hucklow, the Middleton Moor 479 carving, etc.  Like many Pennine cup-and-ring stones, it was located in a prehistoric cairn field (or necropolis), with hut circles not far away too, and really should have remained in situ for the benefit of future researchers.

Gardoms Edge carving (after Beckensall 1999)
Gardoms Edge carving (after Beckensall 1999)

The carving was cut into one end of a small rock and comprises of a singular unbroken, large oval, within which are enclosed thirteen or fourteen cups, plus a single cup on the outside of the ring.  Lunar associations may be invoked by the 13 cups, enclosed within one cycle of the year.  But I’m speculating of course.  It’s probable that other carvings in the area remained undiscovered.

References:

  1. Barnatt, John & Reeder, Phil, “Prehistoric Rock Art in the Peak District,” in Derbyshire Archaeological Journal, 102, 1982.
  2. Barnatt, John & Robinson, F., “Prehistoric Rock Art in Ashover School and Further New Discoveries Elsewhere in the Peak District,” in Derbyshire Archaeological Journal, 123, 2003.
  3. Beckensall, Stan, British Prehistoric Rock Art, Tempus: Stroud 1999.
  4. Beckensall, Stan, Circles in Stone: A British Prehistoric Mystery, Tempus: Stroud 2006.

Acknowledgements:  HUGE thanks to Dean Thom for the use of his photo here.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Calverley Woods Stone Circle, Leeds, West Yorkshire

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Stone Circle:  OS Grid Reference — SE 20 37

Archaeology & History

Having lived close to these woods in the past, I have searched extensively for any remains of the stone circle described by a Miss Alice Wells in the very first issue of the Cartwright Hall Archaeology Group Bulletin, but to no avail.  A meeting to examine this site was supposed to have taken place in September 1953, “but as Miss Wells was unavoidably absent this was not seen.”  And still to this day it remains hidden [or non-existent, whatever the case may be].  There is ample evidence that prehistoric man roamed this region, as finds of cup-and-ring stones and iron age walling indicate.  A possible contender for this stone circle could be the small ring of rocks seen near the bottom of the wooded hill beneath the giant Hanging Stone, close to grid reference SE 2003 3748.  About 10 yards across, this looked like a smaller version of the Roms Law circle several miles west, but is much overgrown and not visible beneath the undergrowth of summer vegetation.

The presence of prehistoric cup-marked stones in this woodland clearly indicates Bronze Age activity here and—as such petroglyphs have a tendency in West Yorkshire to be associated with tombs and death in many cases—may indicate the lost site was indeed a cairn circle and not a true stone circle. Seems likely to me. If anyone has any photos of this site, or can ascertain its exact whereabouts, please let us know and all credits will be given for its rediscovery.

References:

  1. Bennett, Paul, The Old Stones of Elmet, Capall Bann: Milverton 2001.
  2. Jackson, Sidney (ed.), “Calverley Wood,”in Cartwright Hall Archaeology Group Bulletin, 1:1, July 1954.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Calverley Woods (03), Leeds, West Yorkshire

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Cup-Marked Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SE 20370 37925

Getting Here

Cup-Marked Stone near centre (courtesy Mike Short)
Cup-Marked Stone near centre (photo, Mike Short)

Mike Short tells: Walk ENE along Thornhill Drive (no vehicular access) to gate across road at the last house on the Drive and continue on for approx 475m where road starts to narrow slightly, becomes a little steeper and gently turns to E.  Thornhill Drive is now cut into the hillside at this point with an upwards sloping bank on the S side of the path. After approx 25m further on at approx SE 20375 37950 look out on the S side of the path for a pile of boulders sitting on bedrock on top of the bank and a large rectangular tabular rock on the side of the bank.  Ascend the bank and from the boulder pile the panel is approx 22m 200º(T) in the middle of an ephemeral E-W path more defined to W.

Archaeology & History

The profile (and ‘How to Get There’) for this recently discovered cup-marked stone was forwarded to me by fellow rock art explorer, Mike Short.  The carving is another basic design found in Calverley Woods, between Leeds and Bradford, nearly halfway between the missing petroglyphs of West Woods 2 and Sidney Jackson’s Calverley Woods Stone.  Rediscovered by Lisa Volichenko some time ago, Mike described the new carving here as follows:

Sketch of the carving
(courtesy Mike Short)
Cup-Marked Stone nr centre (courtesy Mike Short)

“Panel is carved on W sloping face of a sub-triangular earthfast coarse-grained sandstone boulder 0.81m X 0.50m X 0.38m, the longest axis lying almost exactly N-S. Carving consists of 3 cups, the most N of which is elliptical approx 65mm X 55mm; the central cup is elliptical approx 50mm X 40mm and the most S is circular diameter approx 40mm. On the N edge of the W face is a shallow elliptical depression thought to be of natural origin. There is an area of damage along the ‘crest’ of the boulder close to its S end.

“Carved rock is the most E of five rocks, measuring between 0.70m and 1.15m in length, in very close proximity forming an arc, 3 of which are in the footpath and one of which is resting on a large slab of rock almost completely covered by soil and vegetation.”

And so the small number of cup-marked stones in this woodland slowly grows.  One wonders how many more are hidden beneath the roots of the trees—and are all of the lines and cups atop of the great Hanging Stone, a short distant away, all Nature’s handiwork…?

Acknowledgements:  Huge thanks for Mike Short for the data, photos and sketch of this carving.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Rudston ‘D’ Cursus, East Yorkshire

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Cursus: OS Grid Reference – TA 099 717 to TA 096 679

Archaeology & History

Plan of Rudston D Cursus & associated monuments (after I.M. Stead 1976)
Plan of Rudston D Cursus & associated monuments (after I.M. Stead 1976)

To the north of Rudston village and its giant standing stone, running roughly parallel with the divinatory waters of the Gypsey Race river and passing a mass of prehistoric remains en route, we find one the biggest prehistoric cursus monuments in the British Isles: the Rudston D cursus.  More than twice as long as any of the three other cursus monuments nearby, its northern end or ‘terminal’ is flattened in nature (others are rounded) and is due east of the village of Burton Fleming starting at the intriguingly-named Maidens Grave field, just as the land begins to rise at TA 099 717.  From here it begins its almost southern trajectory and runs almost dead straight for several hundred yards until edging, ever so slightly in direction, to a slightly more secure southern alignment.  Past the site of the Rudston henge, the cursus broadens out slightly and, as it reaches the farmlands of Littlethorpe, edges slightly further to a more decisive direct southern route.  The cursus then maintains a dead straight course for another mile, heading straight for, and stopping just short of the Rudston monolith in its modern churchyard.  A short distance before we reach its southern end, archaeologists found that a section of the Cursus C monument cut right across it.  Altogether, the Rudston D Cursus is more than 4km (2.3 miles) long!  At its narrowest width, this monument is a mere 160 feet (50m) across, and at its widest is 280 feet (90m).  A giant by anyone’s standard!

Along the entire length of this continuous ditch and inner bank there were just 3 small cuttings on the western side and three on the east, but two of the eastern openings were quite large.  Some of these openings were affected by natural elements and others by modern agriculture. Today, much of this gigantic ritual monument (as the archaeologists call them) is not visible at ground level.

In visiting this area, make yourself aware of the other monuments in this class: the Rudston A cursus and Rudston B cursus, southeast and southwest of here respectively. A full multidisciplinary analysis of the antiquities in this region is long overdue.  To our ancestors, the mythic terrain and emergent monuments hereby related to each other symbiotically, as both primary aspects (natural) and epiphenomena (man-made) of terra mater: a phenomenon long known to comparative religious students and anthropologists exploring the animistic natural relationship of landscape, tribal groups and monuments.

References:

  1. Burl, Aubrey, Rites of the Gods, J.M. Dent: London 1981.
  2. Harding, Jan, ‘Pathways to New Realms: Cursus Monuments and Symbolic Territories,’ in Barclay & Harding, Pathways and Ceremonies: The Cursus Monuments of Britain and Ireland, Oxbow: Oxford 1999.
  3. Loveday, Roy, Inscribed Across the Landscape: The Cursus Enigma, Tempus: Stroud 2006.
  4. Pennick, Nigel & Devereux, Paul, Lines on the Landscape, Hale: London 1989.
  5. Stead, I.M., ‘La Tene Burials between Burton Fleming and Rudston,’ in Antiquaries Journal, volume LVI Part II, 1976.

Links:

  1. ADS: Archaeology of Rudston D – Brief archaeological notes on the longest of the four known cursuses in the region.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Rudston ‘C’ Cursus, East Yorkshire

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Cursus:  OS Grid Reference – TA 0914 6809 – TA 1014 6803

Archaeology & History

D.P. Dymond's 1966 sketch of Rudston 'C' cursus
D.P. Dymond’s 1966 sketch of Rudston ‘C’ cursus

Of the four giant linear cursus monuments that were laid out around the landscape that holds Britain’s largest standing stone—the Rudston monolith—this one, the Rudston ‘C’ cursus, is the one we know the least about. This is mainly due to it receiving the minimum of archaeological attention, which can be forgiven round here as there is so much material to explore!  Traces of the cursus at ground level are also quite negligible.  Thankfully however, like the other cursus monuments nearby, some of the site can be made out on GoogleEarth.  

The alignment of this cursus runs east-to-west, cutting across the Cursus D monument and then running above the northern course of Nature’s curious river known as the Gypsey Race, which local folklore ascribes as being used in animistic divinatory practices.  Cursus C was first noticed in aerial photographs taken by Prof. J.K. St. Joseph in 1961 and first described by D.P. Dymond (1966) a few years later, who told us:

“Immediately north of the village (Rudston), two parallel ditches, about 60 yards apart, are visible as crop-marks running east-west for 1000 yards… As they are too far apart to be considered as road-ditches and are similar to the linear ditches (of Rudston A and B), they are best interpreted as a fragment of a third cursus, C. The western end fades out near the York road as it climbs onto high ground, while at the east the ditches disappear into Bridlington Gate Plantation.  Like Cursus A, this also crossed the Gypsey Race. Approximately 1½ miles northwest of the last westward point of these ditches is the presumed site of two lost long barrows, joined together at one end. There may, therefore, have been an original connection between Cursus C and these long barrows.”

First faint photo of Cursus C
First faint photo of Cursus C

His final remark is quite a good one! And since Dymond’s initial description (according to the PastScape lads anyhow), Cursus C has been found to be much longer than the initial 1000 yards, growing another 500 yards at least!  The final point or ‘terminal’ on the eastern end still remains hidden, as it was intruded upon by the later Argham Dyke and the trees.  The start or western terminal also remains unfound, so we don’t know for sure the exact length of this giant neolithic ‘line on the landscape’, as Pennick and Devereux (1989) call them.

References:

  1. Dymond, D.P., “Ritual Monuments at Rudston, E. Yorkshire, England,” in Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, volume 32, 1966.
  2. Harding, Jan, ‘Pathways to New Realms: Cursus Monuments and Symbolic Territories,’ in Barclay & Harding, Pathways and Ceremonies: The Cursus Monuments of Britain and Ireland, Oxbow: Oxford 1999.
  3. Loveday, Roy, Inscribed Across the Landscape: The Cursus Enigma, Tempus: Stroud 2006.
  4. Manby, T.G., “The Neolithic in Eastern Yorkshire,” in Archaeology in Eastern Yorkshire, University of Sheffield 1988.
  5. Pennick, Nigel & Devereux, Paul, Lines on the Landscape, Hale: London 1989.
  6. Stead, I.M., ‘La Tene Burials between Burton Fleming and Rudston,’ in Antiquaries Journal, volume LVI Part II, 1976.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Raven Stones (559), Thruscross, North Yorkshire

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Cup-Marked Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SE 11835 58006

Getting Here

Heavily cup-marked Raven Stone (after QDanT)
Heavily cup-marked Raven Stone (after QDanT)

Take the A59 road from Harrogate and Skipton and at the very top of the moors near the Gill Head Enclosures, take the small Kex Ghyll road up past the disused quarry works north for a mile or so. At the junction go left, past the Outdoor Centre, thru West End up Whit Moor Road, then go left down to Brays Cross Farm and over the ford. Note the clump of trees on the moors to the west and take the path there. Once here, a large outcrop of rocks will be seen about 150 yards on the moor to the west. That’s the spot! Otherwise, follow the directions of the legendary wandering Teddy!

Archaeology & History

This dramatic looking outcrop of rocks rising out of the ground a half-mile due west of Bray farmhouse has long been known as the rocks of the ravens: oracular birds of ill-omen in all peasant traditions, yet carrier birds of shamans in their Underworld ventures, from accounts in Russia and Scandinavia, through the Scottish highlands and into Yorkshire’s northern hills, as folklore records show.  Whether such mythical figures used the Raven Stones here for such magick, we have no firm accounts; but the existence of the many cup-markings on this particular rock (and others in the outcrop) show that animistic traditions of some form or another occurred here in prehistoric times at the very least.

Looking across the stone
Looking across the stone
Looking down on the cups (after QDanT)
Looking down on the cups (after QDanT)

Records of this place as an archaeological spot are scant indeed.  It is passed with barely a mention by those Victorian antiquarian giants, Bogg, Grainge and Speight.  The rock art students Boughey & Vickerman (2003) give the wrong grid reference here, but added the site to their inventory, saying only that it is “long, low, exposed bedrock. 22-25 cups; some very weathered and smooth.”  A series of channels runs down the slope of the stone, but there are probably natural.  However, a cup-and-line does occur on the eastern side of the carving.

References:

  1. Armstrong, Edward A., The Folklore of Birds, Collins: London 1958.
  2. Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS: Wakefield 2003.

Links:  

  1. Teddy Tour Teas

Acknowledgements:  Huge thanks for QDanT & Teddy for the fine photos of the Raven Stone carving!

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian 


High Green (407), Skyreholme, North Yorkshire

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Cup-Marked Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SE 07508 62599

Getting Here

Skyreholme Cup-marked rock 407
Skyreholme Cup-marked rock 407

Take the B6265 east out of Grassington, thru Hebden, for another 2 miles till you pass the tiny road down to Skyreholme on the right.  Another few hundred yards on, past Nussey Farm and Dry Gill house, park up and look for the track going south into the moors. Go down the track called Black Hill Road for a few hundred yards till y’ reach the gate on the right. A track bends downhill to the psilocybin-rich pastures of Nussey Green. Several hundred yards on, to the right-hand side of the track, we find this and its companions. Look around!

Archaeology & History

Quick sketch of design
Quick sketch of design

This medium-sized, recumbent standing-stone-shaped boulder has perhaps fifteen cup-markings on it.  It’s a plain carving with others of a similar ilk in the area.  First described by Stuart Feather in 1970 as one of “two cup-marked rocks” he found when ambling around; in Boughey & Vickerman’s (2003) survey they give it the wrong grid reference, though describe it correctly as a “long flat rock of irregular outline (with) fourteen to sixteen cups.” A cluster of other carvings are nearby, though some have been destroyed through mining operations.

References:

  1. Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS: Wakefield 2003.
  2. Feather, Stuart, “Appletreewick, W.R.,” in Yorkshire Archaeological Register, 1969, Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, part 168, 1970.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Foster Clough Delph, Midgley Moor, West Yorkshire

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Enclosure:  OS Grid Reference – SE 0234 2708

Getting Here

Near the centre of this photo, the large 'ring' can be seen
Near the centre of this photo, the large ‘ring’ can be seen

From Midgley go west along Height Road and take the track up on your right, at the tree-lined bend, up Foster Clough and onto the moor as if you’re gonna go to Churn Milk Joan.  As you reach the footpath at the quarries up the hill, go to the top of them and take the small footpath where the land levels-out and head east towards the walling.  Just a hundred yards or so before the walling, keep your eyes peeled, cos you’re damn close!

Archaeology & History

Best seen when looking down from the slopes above, this is a fascinating site that is lucky to still be here!  For just a few yards to the west are extensive quarry works that could easily have destroyed the place had they continued.  But thankfully we have here a near-perfect circular enclosure: measuring roughly 27 yards in diameter east-west, and about 25 yards north-south, the circumference around the outer-edge is approximately 82 yards (75m).  It has all the appearance of an overgrown henge monument, with an outer bank and inner ditch, then a central flat arena—and it may indeed be such a monument—but until we have a decent excavation of the site, we’ll stick to calling it a simple enclosure—which it is!

Eastern arc of bank & ditch
Eastern arc of bank & ditch

The outer bank is very much overgrown, but as it runs round and defines this site, it measures 1-2 feet high most of the way, except on the westernmost spot, where it seems there may be an ‘entrance’.  The inner ditch is only a couple of feet deep, again all the way round the monument.  The internal level of the site is pretty flat, like most henges; but there seems to be a small central ‘cairn’ of some sort in the middle.  Again, this is very overgrown by our traditional moorland vegetation.

Aerial image, 2009
Aerial image, 2009
Aerial image, 2006
Aerial image, 2006

So what is it exactly?  An enclosure, a settlement, or even (as local research student John Billingsley once suggested) a henge?  Tis difficult to say for sure without further and more detailed archaeological excavation.  My estimate is that the site is either Bronze- or Iron-Age in nature, and is definitely an ‘enclosure’ of some sort.  We have located other prehistoric sites on the slopes just above here to the north, like the Crow Hill cairn circle and accompanying tumulus, remains of a neolithic settlement and a number of other small single cairns that are only visible when the heather has been burnt back.  If you intend to explore any of the ancient sites sites on this moor, check this one out!

References:

  1. Bennett, Paul, The Old Stones of Elmet, Capall Bann: Milverton 2001.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Panorama Woods (230), Ilkley, West Yorkshire

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Cup-Marked Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SE 10377 47027

Also Known as:

  1. Carving no.63 (Hedges)
Panorama Woods stone 230
Panorama Woods stone 230

Getting Here

From Ilkley, take the directions up to the Panorama Woods 232 carving.  From here you can step from this rock over the stride onto the cup-marked carving 231b, and then go onto the next adjoining rock surface a little lower down. From here, you’ll see another mossy rock surface in front of you by a yard or two. That’s the one!

Archaeology & History

The three cup-markings
The three cup-markings

Here’s another simple cup-marked stone, probably only for the purists amongst you—although in visiting here please take into account the primary carving’s association with other more prominent designs that once existed only a few yards to the west where the houses now stand.  There is also the cluster of other carvings right next to this stone.  A prehistoric settlement was also in evidence adjacent to this carving which was destroyed in the latter half of the 19th century.

Close-up of the cups
Close-up of the cups
John Hedges 1986 drawing
John Hedges 1986 drawing

Described simply in John Hedge’s (1986) fine survey as a small “piece of rock with three clear cups and one depression.”  Boughey & Vickerman’s (2003) survey added nothing more and merely copied the same words.  For some reason or other (mebbe cos I’m simple!) I really like this otherwise innocuous design and its close simplistic relatives. It’s probably due to the trees amidst which the stones are found and the bright mosses on the rocks, giving the site a slightly extra sense of more living genius loci than others on the top of these moors, where the winds move the subtle spirits with greater ease.

19th century addition
19th century addition

If you step down and look at the vertical side of this stone, you’ll notice a more modern stylistic carving etched onto the surface.  Not as deep as the prehistoric cups on the top, it seems probable that a local artist by the name of Ambrose Collins carved this on here (and other similar designs on other rocks nearby) in the late 19th century.

References:

  1. Bennett, Paul, The Panorama Stones, Ilkley, TNA: Yorkshire 2012.
  2. Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS: Wakefield 2003.
  3. Hedges, John (ed.), The Carved Rocks on Rombalds Moor, WYMCC: Wakefield 1986.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian