Fairy Well, Wragby, West Yorkshire

Sacred Well (destroyed):  OS Grid Reference – SE 3953 1570

Archaeology & History

The precise whereabouts of this site isn’t known with absolute certainty, but, following research by the respected folklorist and pagan historian Steve Jones of Wakefield, the grid-reference cited here has a high degree of probability about it.  I certainly agree with Steve about its location.

Pond in Fairy Wood, shown on the 1893 OS-map
Fairy Wood near Nostell, probable home of the Well

Known about in the 19th century, I was fortunate in coming across what seems to be the only reference to the place whilst perusing the scrapbook notes of local historian John Wilson (1903).  Were it not for him we would have lost all knowledge of its existence and the local tale told of it, albeit watered into a dying belief in these supernatural creatures, would have faded completely before its final physical demise.  Wilson was described as a “diligent a student of local history,” who possessed a great collection of rare booklets and pamphlets on Yorkshire history and was a “careful an observer and recorder of all pertaining to past times.”  Of this Fairy Well, Wilson scribed the following poem:

At Nostell is a Fairy Well,
Hard by the margin of a wood
Wherein once dwelt, as old men tell,
The little folks of fickle mood ;
Till smoke and steam denied the dell
And made them quit both wood and well.

Blythe Henry Carr, mine ancient friend,
— So bravely keeping on his feet ;
May death long spare him,
still to wend His way along the village street,
Within the cobbler’s shop to spend
A pleasant hour — mine ancient friend.

The woodman at the Priory
In old Sir Rowland’s halcyon days
Was Thomas Watson, gay and free,
Who roused with song the woodland ways
A friend of Henry Carr’s was he,
—The woodman at the Priory.

This Watson many a tale could tell
Of fairies red and fairies green,
That in the wood and by the well
On summer evenings he had seen:
Of elves that thereabouts did dwell
This Watson many a tale could tell.

Whoever heard of such a thing!
He said that persons, known to him,
At eve would flasks of liquor bring,
And leave them, lying near the brim
Of this — the wondrous Fairy Spring —
Whoever heard of such a thing !

Was ever such a tale yet told ?
He said, that, when the morning came,
Each flask lay empty, and, behold !
Near each a drunken elf. O, shame !
The vice of those of mortal mould :
— Was ever such a tale yet told ?

Then question I mine ancient friend:
“Did no one seize the tipsy sprites? ”
“Not they ! for sudden is his end
On whom the fairy vengeance lights.”
With solemn eyes that fear portend
Thus answers me mine ancient friend.

Steve Jones already knew of the Fairy Wood, which was highlighted on the 1841 and 1854 6-inch-to-the-mile OS-map of the area—but no “Well” is shown in the woods.  However, as Steve discovered, following a subsequent visit by the Ordnance Survey lads in 1891, they showed on their 25-inch-to-the-mile map of the woods a distinct small pond in the trees not far from the roadside.  This, he thought, was probably the Fairy Well referred to by Wilson. It would seem so.  Adjacent to the woods, the 1853 Tithe Award cite the existence of a field also dedicated to the fairy folk, known simply as Fairy Close.

References:

  1. Smith, A.H., The Place-Names of the West Riding of Yorkshire – volume 1, Cambridge University Press 1961
  2. Wilson, John, Verses and Notes, A. Hill: Corley 1903.

Acknowledgements:

Huge thanks to the research by Steve Jones of Wakefield, without whose work the location of the Fairy Well would have remained a mystery.  Also, thanks as always for use of the early edition OS-maps, Reproduced with the kind permission of the National Library of Scotland

© Paul BennettThe Northern Antiquarian

Gab Wood (2), Cookridge, Leeds, West Yorkshire

Cup-and-Ring Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SE 24602 40614

Getting Here

Gab Woods (2) carving

Follow the same directions as if you’re visiting the Gab Woods (1) carving—which you’re probably visiting if you’re checking this one out.  Walk south into the middle of the woods and you’ll soon notice the road/houses on the other side of the trees.  Once here, staying in the woods, follow the walling down for about 100 yards, keeping your eyes peeled for a reasonably large flat stone about 15 yards from the wall in the trees.  If you can’t find it at first, patiently zigzag back and forth until it eventually appears!

Archaeology & History

One of two known petroglyphs in this woodland (there may be more hidden away) that was first found in the 1940s by Dan Cole.  The main feature here consists of a cup-mark encircled by two large, well-defined oval-shaped “rings”, a bit like a large eye.  From the central cup, a long carved line runs down the gently sloping surface of the stone and, roughly halfway down from the cup-and-ring to the edge of the stone, another carved line cuts across at rough right-angles, giving the carving a slight anthropomorphic (human-like) appearance when looking up the stone.  This humanesque figure may have been the intention—though for my part I have to say that I’m slightly skeptical about it.  We may never know either way.  Several other single cups are on the stone: one to the side of the large “eye” and two or three below the elongated “arms.”

Vague humanesque figure
Large eye-shaped element

An additional, interesting non-petroglyphic feature is the name of the woodland in which the stone resides.  In Thomas Wright’s massive dialect work, Gab is a northern dialect word meaning “to talk”, or “idle chatter” (and variants thereof); this is echoed in Blakeborough’s (1911) Yorkshire survey; and Wilkinson’s (1924) local study tells simply it’s “idle talk…able to talk glibly and with much plausibility—a Town Hall Square orator for instance.” This makes the place as something akin to being “the woodland that talks”, “the chattering woods” or “the talking woodland”, etc.  You can make up your own mind as to what this might mean… *

References:

  1. Blakeborough, Richard, Wit, Character, Folklore and Customs of the North Riding of Yorkshire, W. Rapp: Saltburn 1911.
  2. Wilkinson, John H., Leeds Dialect Glossary and Lore, privately published: Leeds 1924.
  3. Wright, Joseph, English Dialect Dictionary – volume 2, Henry Frowde: London 1900.

Links:

  1. Dan Cole’s Image Archive, The Thoresby Society

Acknowledgements:  Huge thanks must go to Peter Murphy for recovering this impressive carving from the archives, and from beneath the carpet of soil and vegetation, so enabling it to see the light of day once again.  Also big thanks to the usual culprit of James Elkington, as well as Sarah Walker and Sarah Jackson.

* a Scottish dialect variant of gab relates to the mouth, tongue, taste.

© Paul BennettThe Northern Antiquarian

Bucking Hill (03), High Moor, Brunthwaite, West Yorkshire

Cup-and-Ring Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SE 0845 4529

Archaeology & History

Discovered by Stuart Feather in the late 1950s, this was one of two carvings found very close to each other (see Bucking Hill 2) whose exact location are unknown (the grid-reference cited here is a reasonably accurate approximation).  In his short article where he mentions the Bucking Hill 2 carving, he then told of,

Sid Jackson’s vague drawing of the carving

“the discovery a few yards away of a small stone bearing a cup-and-ring mark providing evidence for at least one other symbol from this small hill.  This stone, only 14in long, 8in wide, and 6½in thick, has a cup 1¾in in diameter, ⅞in deep with a shallow channel 1½ long running from it.

“Round the cup, which is very symmetrical and has the pecking clearly defined, is part of a concentric channel which, if it were a complete circle, would have a diameter of 4in.  The channel, which starts near to the small channel that runs from the cup, goes only halfway round the cup and is obviously unfinished.  It is irregular in width and depth and in marked contrast to the workmanship of the cup.”

He then queries as to whether this small carved stone could have come off the larger cup-marked Bucking Hill (02) boulder close by.  We may never know, but when we consider the lack of general erosion on this cup-and-ring (the pecking was still visible), it would obviously have remained upside-down in the peat for a few thousand years!  There was an old cairn a short distance away on the top of Bucking Hill and it may have come from there.  Anyhow, Mr Feather subsequenly took this portable carving home with him and it’s subsequently been donated to the Ilkley Manor House Museum where it should be visible. (can someone send us a photo so we can add it to the site profile?)

References:

  1. Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS 2003.
  2. Feather, Stuart, “Mid-Wharfedale Cup-and-Ring Markings – Nos 21 and 22: Bucking Hill, High Moor, Rombald’s Moor,” in Bradford Cartwright Hall Archaeology Group Bulletin, 9:5, 1964.
  3. Hedges, John (ed.), The Carved Rocks on Rombalds Moor, WYMCC: Wakefield 1986.

© Paul BennettThe Northern Antiquarian

Bucking Hill (02), High Moor, Brunthwaite, West Yorkshire

Cup-Marked Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SE 0844 4529

Archaeology & History

This was one of two carvings reported by Stuart Feather (1964) that were very close to each other (see Bucking Hill 3), both of which consisted of simplistic designs but which, he thought, may once have been part of the same rock.  Its precise whereabouts are not known (the grid-ref is an approximation).  He wrote:

“On the southern slopes of Bucking Hill, a fine gritstone rock 5ft 6in by 4ft 6in by 1ft 6in high, has a very clear cup-mark 2in in diameter and ½in deep carved 8in from the straight eastern edge of the rock.”

Feather thought that the edge of the rock had been cut and quarried for use in the boundary wall to the east.  He may have been right.

References:

  1. Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS 2003.
  2. Feather, Stuart, “Mid-Wharfedale Cup-and-Ring Markings – Nos 21 and 22: Bucking Hill, High Moor, Rombald’s Moor,” in Bradford Cartwright Hall Archaeology Group Bulletin, 9:5, 1964.
  3. Hedges, John (ed.), The Carved Rocks on Rombalds Moor, WYMCC: Wakefield 1986.

© Paul BennettThe Northern Antiquarian

Bucking Hill (01), High Moor, Brunthwaite, West Yorkshire

Cup-and-Ring Stone (lost):  OS Grid Reference – SE 0828 4507

Archaeology & History

Described by Boughey & Vickerman (2003) as being located somewhere “below Dirk Hill Sike” in the Rivock woods plantation, this is (or was) a “medium, upstanding rock lying NW-SE (with) one possible heavily weathered large cup-and-ring: cup 75mm diam. and ring 200mm diam.”  However, the authors give no references to this site, nor images, or notes as to who rediscovered this stone.  In their survey they also included one of the Bucking Hill carvings twice, giving the impression that there was more here than had previously been reported.  These errors have subsequently been repeated elsewhere on-line.  In saying this, there are a number of rocks scattered in this area which may have had carvings on them, but it’s been heavily forested and, recently, the trees have been felled and so many of them will have been damaged, turned over, or simply destroyed as a result of the forestry shennanigans.

References:

  1. Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS 2003.

© Paul BennettThe Northern Antiquarian

Ripple Stone, Rivock Edge, Silsden, West Yorkshire

Cup-and-Line Stone OS Grid-Reference – SE 07492 44836

Also Known as:

  1. Carving no.25 (Hedges)
  2. Carving no.64 (Boughey & Vickerman)

Getting Here

Helen inspects the stone

Coming via the Keighley-Bingley (Airedale) B6265 road, go up to Riddlesden and then up the winding Banks Lane until you reach the T-junction.  Turn left here and about 330 yards along, on the right-side of the road is a dirt-track.  Walk up here, sticking to the track (not the footpath) towards the cliffs of Rivock ahead of you, going through the gate and into the Rivock woods area.  450 yards on from the gate, on your right you’ll pass the long straight line of walling running uphill and literally 275 yards further along the track from here, walk straight up into the trees for 20 yards where, just before the slope begins to truly veer into an “uphill” state, you’ll see the stone in question!

Archaeology & History

Cups on east-side of stone

In 1961 when Stuart Feather rediscovered this carving, the “rock was almost completely covered by a six-inch layer of peat and vegetation.”  But, like all good rock art explorers, he slowly and carefully peeled it all back and brought back to light another one of Rivock’s olde stories.  We know not what the story on the rock might tell, but it looks good nonetheless!  Feather counted “several cups carved on it”, but a few more have ben discerned since then.  When Boughey & Vickerman (2003) described it in their typically minimalist way, they told it be a “large square rock with surface in slope of hill.  About nineteen cups.”  Evocative stuff!

Sketch of basic design
Faint line visible, left-side

When I first saw visited this carving as a young lad, the thing which stood out to me more than anything was the long but faint line that ran down one section of the stone.  Added to this was an equally faint arc attached to the side of the line, like a “D” form.  A few months later I did a sketch of it on my second visit, but I’ve looked and looked and seem to have lost it. (not good)  The one I’ve done here is a recent one.  As we can see, a series of cup-marks straddle each side of the D-line and are plainly visible, which implies that the line was carved much earlier than the cups.  Of course, it’s possible that the cups were repeatedly forged over and over many times over a century or more and the D-line, for whatever reason, left untouched.

Another interesting aspect of this D-line is its repetition in the much more ornate petroglyph 35 yards to the east (presently known as Rivock 67 until we devise something more appropriate).  The recently rediscovered Slinger Stone 100 yards south may also have the same feature, but this needs further surveying before we can say for sure.

References:

  1. Bennett, Paul, ‘The Prehistoric Rock Art and Megalithic Remains of Rivock & District (2 parts),’ in Earth, 3-4, 1986.
  2. Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS 2003.
  3. Feather, Stuart, ‘Mid-Wharfedale Cup-and-Ring Markings: No. 14, Rivock,’ in Cartwright Hall Archaeology Group Bulletin, 7:1, 1962.
  4. Hedges, John (ed.), The Carved Rocks on Rombald’s Moor, WYMCC: Wakefield 1986.

Acknowledgements:  With thanks to Andy Roberts for giving this stone its modern name.

© Paul BennettThe Northern Antiquarian

Clunskea Burn, Glen Brerachan, Moulin, Perthshire

Cup-Marked Stone (lost):  OS Grid Reference – NO 003 650

Archaeology & History

When you’ve visited the impressive cup-marked stone at Dalnavaid, this long lost carving might be worth seeking out by the real explorers among you.  It’s not been seen for a hundred years and was only reported in brief by the reputable local historian Hugh Mitchell (1923).  It’s located a mile north of the Dalnavaid carving, up in the hills on the other side of the road, “on the East side of Clunskea Burn, and on the West shoulder of Ben Skievie.” He described the carving as “having some 16 or 18 cups, and at present it forms part of a grouse butt.”

So if we locate the grouse-butt (they’re usually not too difficult to find), the carving will obviously follow.  Mitchell gave us an extra piece of info regarding its location.  He described the existence of several other seemingly prehistoric remains within a few yards of the grouse-butt, curious “pit dwellings”, three of them:

“they are of circular shape, about 9 feet in diameter and nearly 5 feet below the surface of the ground, and had evidently been roofed over at one time.  The entrance to each is at the lowest level and acts as a drain, to keep the house dry.  They are almost the only examples in the district of neolithic dwellings.”

Let us know if you find it!

References:

  1. Mitchell, Hugh, Pitlochry District: Its Topography, Archaeology and History, L. Mackay: Pitlochry 1923.

© Paul BennettThe Northern Antiquarian

St. Helen’s Well, Barmby-on-the-Marsh, East Yorkshire

Holy Well (destroyed):  OS Grid Reference – SE 6900 2841

Archaeology & History

Site shown on 1853 map

One of two holy wells in Barmby village which, like its compatriot St Peter’s Well, was destroyed sometime in the 19th century.  Not good!  It was located in the southwest section of the graveyard of St Helen’s Church and was apparently alive and running when the Ordnance Survey lads visited here in 1851 (as shown on their 1853 map).  But when the site was revisited by them in 1905, it seems to have gone.  However, as with the neighbouring St Peter’s Well, there are conflicting reports as to when it was destroyed, for although the Ordnance Survey lads spoke of it in the present tense when they went there, Thomas Allen (1831) told that “within the last six years (it has) been wantonly filled up.”  Despite this, less than ten years later William White mentioned it in the present tense, also saying how it was “said to possess medicinal properties.”  These healing qualities were, according to Allen, due to its iron-bearing or chalybeate nature, meaning that it would revive a weak and feeble constitution.  Iron-bearing wells are damn good for such things!

As the years passed, St. Helen’s Well fell into folk memory.  When William Smith (1923) surveyed the many holy wells in this part of the world he found how “old parishioners have said that as school-children they both drank of and washed in its water”, but little else.

References:

  1. Allen, Thomas, A New and Complete History of the County of York – volume 2, I.T. Hinton: London 1831.
  2. Gutch, E., Examples of Printed Folk-lore Concerning the East Riding of Yorkshire, Folk-Lore Society: London 1912.
  3. Harte, Jeremy, English Holy Wells – volume 2, Heart of Albion press: Wymeswold 2008.
  4. Smith, William, Ancient Springs and Streams of the East Riding of Yorkshire, A. Brown: Hull 1923.
  5. White, William, History, Gazetteer and Directory of the East and North Ridings of Yorkshire, R. Leader: Sheffield 1840.

© Paul BennettThe Northern Antiquarian

Chacefield Wood (1), Denny, Stirlingshire

Cup-and-Ring Stone:  OS Grid Reference – NS 81636 81281

Getting Here

The Chacefield carvings

We took the A872 road on the south-side of Denny to Dennyloadhead and Longcroft, but a few hundred yards before you go under the M876, keep your eyes peeled for Drove Loan on your left.  Go down here for literally ¼-mile (0.4km) where there’s a footpath into the woods on your left.  Walk on the path into the trees and you’ll reach a track that heads to your right (east). Less than 200 yards on, you’ll see a pond on your right and above here is a small quarried rock outcrop.  This carving’s up top, on the gently sloping rock behind carvings no.2 and no.3.

Archaeology & History

Half-covered in mud and vegetation, the first thing you’ll notice on this sloping smooth surface is what looks to be a standard cup-marking, all on its own.  But it has company—albeit quiet and faint.  A single incomplete cup-and-ring can be seen about 18 inch above (north-ish) this single cup-mark, which may itself be natural.  You can make out the cup-and-ring pretty clearly in the photos.

When we found this, we began to clear the rest of the stone but stopped pretty quickly as a scatter of broken glass was mixed into the mud and I was lucky not to cut my hand open.  Some kids have evidently been getting pissed here and have left their mess on the rock.  But there may well be more symbols beneath the mulch, so if any local folk want to clean it, please make sure to wear some good gardening gloves to protect your hands!  And if you find any other hidden elements, please let us know! 🙂

© Paul BennettThe Northern Antiquarian

Dalnavaid (1), Glen Brerachan, Moulin, Perthshire

Cup-Marked Stone:  OS Grid Reference – NO 0089 6351

Getting Here

Dalnavaid (1) petroglyph

The quickest and easiest route is to take the A924 road from Pitlochry to Kirkmichael.  It’s a gorgeous route in itself!  Anyhoo… Once you’re out past the houses of Pitlochry and Moulin, you begin to make the real ascent up the winding road, past the hairpin bend and, 5 miles up where the road has levelled out and the craggy moorlands surround you, green fields begin to appear on your left.  The first farm on your left is Dalnacarn and less than a half-mile past here, on your right, a small track takes you to Dalnavaid house. Walk along here, past the house and into the field, then the next field where a section rises up towards the fencing.  On top of this are several rocks.  You can’t really miss it!

Archaeology & History

This typically female rounded rock has, unusually, a series of cups in almost three rows along its easternmost slope, with one or two single cups on its top and southern side.  It was first described by Fred Cole (1908) merely as “a small boulder, with a remarkable triple row of cup-marks, resting on a cairn-like mound”; but it wasn’t until John Dixon (1921) came here that a full description appeared.  He told us,

Primary rows of cups
Long worked (?) line

“About 200 yards due east of (Dalnavaid) house a ridge or spit of land juts out from the adjoining hillside on to an almost level field. The ridge has sloping sides, and the nearly flat top is 10 or 12 feet above the general surface of the field.  Near the end of the ridge stands the cup-marked stone…  The dimensions of the stone are: length 4 feet 8 inches; width 3 feet; height from 1 foot 11 inches to 2 feet 4 inches.  The cups are all near the north-east side of the upper surface of the stone, and are more or less in rows.  Some are large, with a diameter of 3 inches and a depth of nearly 1 inch; others are much weathered, and vary from small, scarcely measurable, hollows, to cups 2 inches in diameter and ½ inch deep.  The hollows are no doubt cups almost obliterated by ages of weathering. Reckoning them so, there are in all thirty or thirty-one cups.  All are of the plain type, without rings or connecting grooves.”

Looking (roughly) west

A few years later Mitchell (1923) counted 26 cups on it.  Along the western side of the stone are two natural cracks that run across it roughly north-south.  It wasn’t until I crouched down to look at what seemed to be another cup on its vertical face that I noticed how these lines appeared to have been enhanced by human hands.

For petroglyph enthusiasts, this is a decent carving well worth the visit.  What looks to be a cup-and-ring design is found on a stone due south of here and, in all probability, others are hiding away nearby—the “lost” cup-marked stone of the Clunskea Burn, a mile north of here, being one such place.  Let us know if y’ find it!

References:

  1. Coles, Fred, “Report on Stone Circles Surveyed in Perthshire – North Eastern Section,” in Proceedings Society Antiquaries Scotland, volume 42, 1908.
  2. Dixon, John H. “The Balvarran Cupped Stone, the “Bloody Stone” of Dunfallandy, and a Cup-Marked Stone in Glen Brerachan,” in Proceedings Society Antiquaries Scotland, volume 55, 1921.
  3. Dixon, John H., Pitlochry, Past and Present, L. Mackay: Pitlochry 1925.
  4. Mitchell, Hugh, Pitlochry District: Its Topography, Archaeology and History, L. Mackay: Pitlochry 1923.

© Paul BennettThe Northern Antiquarian