Tag: antiquities

St. John’s Stone, Leicester, Leicestershire

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Standing Stone (destroyed): OS Grid Reference – SK 5779 0644

Also Known as:

  1. Little John’s Stone

Archaeology & History

Nichols 1804 drawing

This once impressive megalithic site was first mentioned in 1381, giving its name to the field Johnstone Close.  Shown on the early Ordnance Survey maps standing on a raised portion of land in an area north of the modern town centre, not far from the Abbey, its destruction had been a slow one until it finally disappeared about a hundred years ago.  One of the early descriptions of it was by John Nichols (1804) in his immense series of works on the county.  He called it ‘Little John’s Stone’* and gave us the first known illustration of the monolith (right), telling it to be “7 feet 2 inches high, and 11 feet 3 inches wide”—although he obviously meant circumference and not ‘wide’, as his illustration clearly shows.  Although this slight error was perhaps the reason that Historic England proclaimed the stone to have been little more than “a natural feature”—which it clearly wasn’t.

Stone shown on 1885 map
John Flower’s 1815 sketch

The stone stood in what Nichols called “a kind of amphitheatre”, and what James Hollings (1855) subsequently called a sloping hollow which, he thought, had “been excavated by the hand of man.”  It was located “in a meadow, a little to the west of the Fosse-way,” he said, “not far from the ancient boundary wall of the Abbey of St. Mary de Pratis.”  There’s little doubt it was a prehistoric standing stone.  Hollings described it as standing erect and told it to be one of those “monolithic erections, or hoar stones, anciently sanctified by the rites of Druidic worship,” comparing it to “similar rude columns” in Cornwall, Scotland and just about everywhere!  He also told that it was a place of summer solstice gatherings, being

“in the memory of many living, annually visited about the time of Midsummer by numerous parties from the town in pursuance of a custom of unknown antiquity.”

When James Kelly (1884) wrote about the stone, little was left of it save at ground level.  He repeated much of what Hollings had previously written, but had a few notes of his own.  One related to the local mayor and MP for Leicester, Mr Richard Harris, dated January 1853, who told him:

“When a boy, he had frequently played on the spot where it was customary for the children to resort to dance round the stone (which he thought was about eight feet high), to climb upon it and to roll down the hill by which the stone is in part, encircled.  The children were careful to leave before dark, as it was believed that at midnight the fairies assembled and danced round the stone.”

More than fifty years later when Mrs Johnson (1906) wrote about the place she said that only a small section of the stone still remained, just “a few inches above the earth.”  It had been incrementally “broken to pieces down to the surface of the ground and used to mend the road.” (Kelly 1884)  Alice Dryden (1911) lamented its gradual demise in size, summarizing:

“At the beginning of the nineteenth century it was about 7 feet high, but by the year 1835 it had become reduced to about 3 feet.  In 1874, according to the British Association’s Report, it was about 2 feet high, and it has now completely disappeared.”

Local tradition tells that some small pieces of St John’s Stone were moved to the nearby St. Luke’s church, where bits of it can still be seen.  Has anyone found them?

More recent lore has attributed St John’s Stone to have been aligned with the Humber Stone (SK 62416 07095) nearly 3 miles to the east, in a summer solstice line—but it’s nowhere near it!  A similar astronomical attempt said that the two stones lined up with the Beltane sunrise: this is a little closer, but it still doesn’t work.  The equinox sunrise is closer still, but whether these two stones were even intervisible is questionable.

* this was probably the name it was known by local people who frequented the nearby Robin Hood public house (long gone); its saintly dedication being less important in the minds of Leicester’s indigenous folk. 

References:

  1. Cox, Barrie, The Place-Names of Leicestershire – volume 1, EPNS: Nottingham 1998.
  2. Devereux, Paul, “The Forgotten Heart of Albion,” in The Ley Hunter, no.66, 1975.
  3. Dryden, Alice, Memorials of Old Leicestershire, George Allen & Sons: London 1911.
  4. Hollings, James Francis, Roman Leicester, LLPS: Leicester 1855.
  5. Kelly, William, Royal Progresses and Visits to Leicester, Samuel Clarke: Leicester 1884.
  6. Nichols, John, The History and Antiquities of Leicestershire – volume 3: part 2, J. Nichols: London 1804.
  7. Johnson, T. Fielding, Glimpses of Ancient Leicester, Clarke & Satchell: Leicester 1906.
  8. Trubshaw, Bob, Standing Stones and Markstones of Leicestershire, Heart of Albion Press 1991.

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. 

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Balmae (13), Kirkcudbright, Kirkcudbrightshire

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Cup-and-Ring Stone (lost):  OS Grid Reference – NX 68700 44699

Archaeology & History

Coles’ 1895 sketch

This impressive-looking carving was rediscovered in the 1880s during one of Fred Coles’ ventures uncovering many of the petroglyphs in this area.  It could be found, he said, “some three hundred yards south-east of Balmae House.”  When the local historian Malcolm Harper visited Samuel Fletcher who lived in the cottage at Balmae a few years after it had been discovered, he spoke enthusiastically about the carvings and knew much about them, but Harper doesn’t specifically mention whether or not he’d seen this stone (he probably did).  Nowadays the carving is covered in thickets of gorse and and, as a result, it hasn’t been seen in many a year.  The great Scottish petroglyph hunter Kaledon Naddair may have been one of the last people to visit it.

It’s impressive, as Mr Coles’ (1895) sketch shows, comprising, as he said, of

“two sets of concentric rings, one having four, the other five and a central cup. It is smooth, and slopes to the W. at an angle of 40°. The largest ring is 24 inches in diameter.”

A number of other impressive multiple-ringed carvings exist hereby that have also fallen prey to the cover of gorse.  So get some hedge-cutters and decent gardening gloves if you’re gonna look for this one!

References:

  1. Coles, Fred, “A Record of the Cup-and-Ring Markings in the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries Scotland, volume 29, 1895.
  2. Morris, Ronald W.B., “The Cup-and-Ring Marks and Similar Sculptures of South-West Scotland,” in Transactions of the Ancient Monuments Society, volume 14, 1967.
  3. Morris, Ronald W.B., The Prehistoric Rock Art of Galloway and the Isle of Man, Blandford: Poole 1979.
  4. Morris, Ronald W.B. & Bailey, Douglas C., “The Cup-and-Ring Marks and Similar Sculptures of Southwestern Scotland: A Survey,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 98, 1967.
  5. Royal Commission Ancient & Historical Monuments & Constructions of Scotland, Inventory of Monuments and Constructions in Galloway – volume 2: County of the Stewatry of Kirkcudbrightshire , HMSO: Edinburgh 1914.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Cow Clout Stone, Parton, Kirkcudbrightshire

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Legendary Rock:  OS Grid Reference – NX 6694 7336

Also Known as:

  1. Cowcloot Stone

Getting here

Harper’s 1876 sketch of the Cow Clout Stone

OK—I’m cheating here, as I’ve not visited this site (bad of me!).  The directions given here are from Harper’s 1876 Rambles in this area.  He told that the stone “stands about 100 yards to the north of the march dyke betwixt Upper Ervie, now Ken-Ervie and Nether Ervie. There is little to indicate its whereabouts, but the visitor coming from Kenmure Bridge, and leaving the road on the left, opposite Ringour and Bennan farms, on the opposite side of Loch Ken, would come upon it without much trouble by following the march dyke half a mile up.”  Basically, along the A713 just over 2 miles north of the bridge at Parton (½ mile before reaching the Galloway Activity Centre), 60 yards from the “Farm Access No Parking” spot, in the trees a long straight line of walling runs uphill.  That’d be my route—straight up!

Archaeology & History

This is a curious entry that I’ve added without visiting the site; but as I might never get to see it I thought it should be displayed in the hope that others might check it out.  The earliest literary reference to it is from Crosbie’s (1845) entry in the New Statistical Account, where he implies that the markings on the stone are not of Nature’s handiwork.  In Malcolm Harper’s (1876) fine work exploring the history and folklore of this region, he gave us the first illustration of the stone, which looks suspiciously like elements that we find on cup-and-ring stones.  Many years later when the Royal Commission (1914) lads followed up on Crosbie’s entry, they thought the markings were probably Nature’s handiwork.  They told that:

“It is an irregular mass of outcropping rock about 3 feet in diameter, and bears on its surface certain depressed markings supposed to represent a cow’s foot, a horse-shoe, and impressions which might be made by a man’s foot and knee in the act of kneeling. The markings appear to be natural.”

But it’s the animistic elements and traditions here which are important and which gave the stone its very name…

Folklore

When Rev. W.G. Crosbie (1845) first wrote about this stone, he was narrating the tale told of it by local people, whose traditions were greatly neglected by the majority of writers at that time.  Such stories should be preserved at all times, as they tell us more about the psychocosms of pre-industrial cultures.  Here,

“On the farm of Arvie, there is a flat stone about three feet in diameter, on which are the marks of what might be supposed a cow’s foot, a horse shoe, the four nails on each side being very distinct, and the impression which might be made by a man’s foot and knee while he was in the act of kneeling, the knot of the garter being quite evident.  The tradition connected with this remarkable stone, commonly called the ‘Cow Clout,’ is, that the proprietor, in order to get up arrears of rent, “drave the pun,” or in other words, carried off the hypothecated stock, while a fierce resistance was made by the people, and that over this stone, on which a man had just been praying for relief against his enemies, the cattle passed followed by an officer on horseback, and that it remains as a memorial to posterity of the cruel deed.”

If someone in that neck o’ the woods can find out if the stone’s still there and perhaps send us a photo, or stick it on our Facebook group, that’d be great! 🙂

References:

  1. Coles, Fred, “The Recent Cup and Ring Mark Discoveries in Kirkcudbrightshire”, in Proceedings Dumfriesshire & Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society, volume 5, 1888.
  2. Crosbie, W.G., “Parish of Parton,” in New Statistical Account of Scotland – volume 4, William Blackwood: Edinburgh 1845.
  3. Harper, Malcolm M., Rambles in Galloway, Edmonston & Douglas: Edinburgh 1876.
  4. Royal Commission Ancient & Historical Monuments & Constructions of Scotland, Inventory of Monuments and Constructions in Galloway – volume 2: County of the Stewatry of Kirkcudbrightshire , HMSO: Edinburgh 1914.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Stump Cross, Bramley, Leeds, West Yorkshire

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Cross (destroyed):  OS Grid Reference – SE 2546 3537

Archaeology & History

Location of the old cross

In medieval times an old stone cross was erected at the edge of Bramley where two old tracks once met, and which today is the junction where Broad Lane meets with Outgang Lane.  The cross is long gone – and even the stone cross base on which it stood no longer existed when the Ordnance Survey lads came here in the 1840s.  All that remained when they came here were the place-names which have forever kept a memory of its former existence: Stump Cross Stile and Stump Cottage.  It was mentioned, albeit briefly, in Wardell’s (1890) survey of Kirkstall Abbey where he told simply that a

“stone cross formerly stood some distance south of the Abbey by the side of the Old Road to Bradford, at the junction of the lane leading to Bramley, called the Outgang, but no remains of it are left; the site, however, is still known by the name of ‘Stump Cross Stile.’  Whether this cross marked the extent of some boundary, or was erected by the monks or others for the purposes of devotion for wayfarers, I am unable to ascertain.”

References:

  1. Wardell, James, An Historical Account of Kirkstall Abbey, Yorkshire, Samuel Moxon: Leeds 1890.

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. 

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Killingbeck Cross, Leeds, West Yorkshire

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Cross (destroyed):  OS Grid Reference – SE 3071 3463

Archaeology & History

In James Wardell’s (1890) work on Kirkstall Abbey he describes several of the long lost stone crosses that used to exist in the area.  This one,

“formerly stood by the road side at the south end of Sheepscar Bridge, in Leeds.”

The cross had already been destroyed by the time the Ordnance Survey lads explored the area in the 1840s, as there’s no showing of it on any of their maps.  Wardell further stated that it was,

“called Killingbeck Cross, from being erected by either the Abbot of Kirkstall or the Vicar of Leeds, of that name.”

References:

  1. Wardell, James, An Historical Account of Kirkstall Abbey, Yorkshire, S. Moxon: Leeds 1890.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Kirkgunzeon, Kirkcudbrightshire

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Stone Circle (destroyed):  OS Grid Reference – NX 8657 6668

Archaeology & History

Little is known about this stone circle, which had apparently been destroyed sometime in the first half of the 19th century.  The local Rev. J. Gillespie spoke about it with the great Fred Coles (1895), who told that it was “near the manse of Kirkgunzeon.” The site was listed in Burl’s (2000) magnum opus, where he wondered if it might have been a cairn; and interestingly, when the Ordnance Survey lads came here, they spoke with a Mrs J. Moffat, the oldest inhabitant in the area, who told that,

“a circle of stones c.30 ft in diameter with a small mound in the centre stood on flat ground at NX 8657 6668. Over the years successive farmers have removed the larger stones and now only the slight mound, c.4.0 m diam. x 0.3 m high, with several clearance stones on top, survives to mark the site of the stone circle.”

References:

  1. Burl, Aubrey, The Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany, Yale University Press 2000.
  2. Coles, Fred, “The Stone Circles of the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright”, in Proceedings Society Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 29, 1895.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Knockshinnie, Kirkcudbright, Kirkcudbrightshire

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Stone Circle (destroyed):  OS Grid Reference – NX 681 450

Archaeology & History

In an area that’s littered with prehistoric rock art, this “stone circle” at Knockshinne—listed in Burl’s (2000) magnum opus—is a debatable entry that was described in one of Fred Coles’ (1895) many articles on such matters.  When he came here he told how to the west,

“of Balmae House, and near the base of Knockshinnie, four stones in situ, all, I think, granite, and the sites of six others as distinctly observable…. A  massive stone lies outside the circle on the south.  Diameter 72 feet.”

Subsequent visits to the same spot by the Royal Commission (1914) gave a somewhat different interpretation to that suggested by Coles.  They told us that,

“This setting of stones, noted elsewhere as a stone circle, lies on rough pasture some 100 yards below the road passing to the south-west of Knockshinnie, and about ¼ mile west-north-west of Balmae.  It consists of four granite blocks, the highest standing about li feet above ground, placed on an arc with a chord of 76 feet and radius at centre of 21 feet.  The stones are placed at irregular distances on a sloping bank, so that the lowest stone is at 8 feet lower elevation than the upper one. Other two displaced boulders and a number of smaller stones lie in a heap to the north-west, and the beds of stones which have been removed from the setting are visible. Though the boulders have been placed in position by man’s hand, it is doubtful if they have ever been part of a stone circle, and from their situation on a slope below a plateau it is probable that they represent the line of an old dyke.”

By the 1970s, all that remained here was a line of three stones, but these have subsequently been removed or destroyed.  Modern archaeological interpretation goes against Burl (2000) and Coles, suggesting that the stones were more likely part of an ancient dyke.

References:

  1. Burl, Aubrey, The Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany, Yale University Press 2000.
  2. Coles, Fred, “The stone circles of the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright”, in Proceedings Society Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 29, 1895.
  3. Royal Commission Ancient & Historical Monuments & Constructions of Scotland, Inventory of Monuments and Constructions in Galloway – volume 2: County of the Stewatry of Kirkcudbrightshire , HMSO: Edinburgh 1914.

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. 

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Bardristane (1), Anwoth, Kirkcudbrightshire

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Cup-and-Ring Stone (lost):  OS Grid Reference – NX 529 528

Also Known as:

  1. Bardriston

Archaeology & History

In a region possessed with a good number of cup and ring stones, this one on the lower slopes of Barholm Hill may have once been part of a prehistoric tomb, or cist cover.  A fairly decent design had been carved onto a small flat slab of stone which, when uncovered in the 19th century, doesn’t seem to have been in its original position.  As the great Fred Coles (1894) told us:

Coles’ 1895 sketch

“The Bardristan slab…was removed from amongst the stones of an old drain in 1889, and, through Mr Kinna’s care, it is now preserved at Bardristan.  The evident attempt to square the stone itself; the extreme smallness of the rings ; the direct connection of the grooves, in all cases but one, with cups; and lastly, the vivid sharpness of the whole sculpturing, in which the tool-work is clear much beyond the ordinary, all combine to render this Bardristan slab unusually interesting and valuable.”

Less than twenty years after Coles’ description, the Royal Commission (1914) lads visited the site hoping to make their own assessment, but the carving had already been lost.  Referring to Coles’ account, they told how,

“inquiry there failed to elicit information concerning it, and it appears to have been lost. Mr Coles’ illustration…shows in the general intercommunication of the various cups a feature which characterises the stone at Kirkclaugh, about ¼ mile to the south of Bardriston.”

In the subsequent commentaries on this carving by Ron Morris (1967; 1979) and A.E. Truckell (1961), its whereabouts remained a mystery and, to this day, we know not what became of it…

References:

  1. Coles, Fred R., “A Record of the Cup-and-Ring Markings in the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries Scotland, volume 29, 1895.
  2. Morris, Ronald W.B., “The Cup-and-Ring Marks and Similar Sculptures of South-West Scotland,” in Transactions of the Ancient Monuments Society, volume 14, 1967.
  3. Morris, Ronald W.B., The Prehistoric Rock Art of Galloway and the Isle of Man, Blandford: Poole 1979.
  4. Morris, Ronald W.B. & Bailey, Douglas C., “The Cup-and-Ring Marks and Similar Sculptures of Southwestern Scotland: A Survey,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 98, 1967.
  5. Royal Commission Ancient & Historical Monuments & Constructions of Scotland, Inventory of Monuments and Constructions in Galloway – volume 2: County of the Stewatry of Kirkcudbrightshire , HMSO: Edinburgh 1914.
  6. Truckell, A.E., “Cup-and-Ring-Marked Slabs in the Cairnholy and Auchinlarie Area,” in Transactions of Galloway & Dumfriesshire Natural History & Antiquarian Society, volume 40, 1961.

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. 

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Snowden Carr, Askwith, North Yorkshire

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Cairnfield:  OS Grid Reference – SE 1777 5099

Getting Here

Cairns, front & rear

Park up at the singular dusty car-park on the east-side of Askwith Moor Road.  If you walk to the sloping eastern edge of the car-park and then go down and over the collapsed fence onto the moorland immediately east, walk in the direction of the Tree of Life Stone to the north-east (be aware that there’s no footpath here and it’s boggy as fuck in places) .  Just over halfway towards the carving, nearly 400 yards from where you’ve parked, you’ll begin to see various ruinous piles and scatters of stone.  You can’t really miss them!

Archaeology & History

Cairn, looking north

In a region teeming with prehistoric sites, the great Eric Cowling (1937) seems to have been the person who stumbled across this “barrow group”, as he called it, during one of his rock art forays in this neck o’ the woods.  Little has been written of them since.  Not to be confused with the Snowden Moor cairnfield more than 350 yards to the north, at this place we find at least a dozen quite distinct cairns scattered around the grid-reference cited, most of them much larger in size than the cairns to the north, ranging between five to twelve yards across and up to three feet high.  They have all been opened and robbed, with considerable disturbance on the largest of the ‘barrows’.  We know not who may have done this, but there’s been a history of quarrying close by and it may have been some of the workmen who did the damage, knowingly or otherwise.

Large scatter of cairn-spoil
Cairn covered in bilberries!

As far as I’m aware, no burial or funerary remains have been found here—but there’s been negligible archaeological attention given to any of the sites on this moorland, meaning that we can draw no real conclusions about the nature of the cairns.  They seem to be far too large to be clearance cairns; and the proximity of large scale prehistoric settlements and rock art all round here would strongly suggest they possessed a funerary nature.  Several impressive petroglyphs exist right at the edge of this group, literally yards away from them.  Check them all out out the next time you see the Tree of Life stone…

References:

  1. Cowling, Eric T., ‘Cup and Ring Markings to the North of Otley,’ in Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, volume 33 (part 131), 1937.
  2. Cowling, Eric T., Rombald’s Way: A Prehistory of Mid-Wharfedale, William Walker: Otley 1946.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Snowden Carr (596), Askwith Moor, North Yorkshire

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Cup-Marked Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SE 17959 51141

Getting Here

Carved stone in foreground

If you’re looking for this carving, you’ll have been to the impressive Tree of Life stone first.  From there, you need to walk further away from the walling, 30-35 yards southwest, across the other side of the footpath.  There’s a scattered mass of stones all over the ground here: you’re looking for a low-lying long curved stone—longer than most of them hereby.  If the heather’s grown back over the stone, it might take some finding!

Archaeology & History

Close to a line of prehistoric walling (seemingly a section of a settlement), this typically curvaceous female stone is possessed of two pairs of faint cup-marks on the eastern side of the rock.  It was included in Boughey & Vickerman’s (2003) survey where they described the carving as being, “two small cups visible and two further cups under heather.”  A third possible cup exists close to one of the pairs. The carving is found in an area rich in untouched prehistoric remains. 

References:

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

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian