Follow the same directions to reach the Little Skirtful of Stones giant cairn. From here, walk 200 yards straight north until you hit the footpath at the top of the Woofa Bank crags. Walk left along the footpath and where it begins to slope downhill, note the large boulder right by the path and another 30 yards further on. Between these large rocks, turn left into the heather some 20 yards. You’re damn close!
Archaeology & History
Close-up of covered tomb
Rediscovered on March 17, 2012, this small untouched prehistoric stone cairn, measuring 3½ yards by 2½ yards across and about 1 yard tall, was found thanks to the moorland heather being burnt, which has stripped the covering vegetation from the monument. It rests just a couple of yards away from a small, almost dried-up stream, seemingly in isolation. There are scattered remains of medieval workings nearby, between here and the Little Skirtful—some of which have intruded upon and destroyed earlier sites—but this particular cairn has a prehistoric pedigree. An excavation here would be worthwhile sometime in the future; but the problem is, there’s so much neolithic and Bronze Age material all over this area, it’s hard to know where to start!
From Ilkley, take the same directions to reach the Haystack Rock; then walk east along the edge of the moor, past the Pancake Stone and keep along the footpath for more than 800 yards till you see the large cairn above-right of the footpath by about 20 yards, a short distance before you’d hit the Rushy Beck. Walk to the cairn, and past it onto the moor for another 30-40 yards, checking the rocks on the ground thereby. You’ll find it!
Archaeology & History
Scruffy sketch I did of the stone, c.1982
Described in John Hedge’s (1986) survey as a “long, low, smooth grit rock, partly covered with heather. Seven clear cups”, we first found this carving when we were out bimbling on one of our hundreds of ventures on these moors as kids—on this occasion, as I recall, seeking out a cup-and-ring stone that Stuart Feather discovered and mentioned in an early Yorkshire Archaeology Journal. Less than a yard away from the one which Mr Feather described (the overgrown cup-and-ring stone no.375) was this curvaceous female rock, with seven simple cup-markings, mostly on its northeastern side.
When the heather is low in this area, you can clearly make out extensive remains of prehistoric walling 11 yards east of the cup-marked stone, running north-south. This eventually meets up with another line of walling that runs east-west and bends back around on the western sides of the carving about 20 yards away, seemingly encircling it. This enclosure will be described in greater detail at a later date.
References:
Hedges, John (ed.), The Carved Rocks on Rombalds Moor, WYMCC: Wakefield 1986.
Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS: Wakefield 2003.
Fom Burley train station, take the road uphill onto the moor edge, turning right for a coupla hundred yards where the road runs up the side of the Coldstone Beck. Walk up the stream until you hit the footpath that takes you onto the moor proper, on the righthand (west) side. Once on the level, note scatter rocks on the near horizon above you and the faded track that runs up towards them. Walk up here, keeping your eyes peeled for the small chair-shaped rock immediately left of the pathway. You can’t really miss it.
Archaeology & History
One of an increasing number of carvings that I’m finding have curiously not been included in the general rock art surveys of the region (Boughey & Vickerman, 2003; Hedges 1986). We first found this—Jon Tilleard and I—when we were foraging for such carvings in the 1970s and early ’80s and the scruffy drawing here is taken from one of my early notebooks (1981) that explored the archaeological remains on these moors.
Scruffy drawing of the stone, c.1982Close-up of cup-marks
The name of the stone comes from the slightly chair-like shape of the rock on which the blatantly obvious cup-markings can be seen. There are at least six of them, with a possible seventh near the top of the rock. Some curious eroded markings can still be to the left-side of the main cups, but I’m unsure as to their nature and they may be just geophysical. Above and around this rock are a number of medieval pit workings, quarrying and scatterings of other rocks, none of which have been found to possess cup-and-rings.
References:
Bennett, Paul, Of Cups and Rings and Things, unpublished: Shipley 1981.
From Burley train station walk up the road, turning right as you meet the moorland road. Go on for a couple of hundred yards until you run parallel with the Coldstone Beck stream. Walk up here for about 800 yards until the full moorland begins to open up ahead of you. Walk up the slope on your right (west) about 30 yards above the first of the ruined grouse-butts, towards the scattered mass of rocks before the small crags. The small standing stone on the edge of the ruins will catch your attention!
Archaeology & History
A fascinating small cairn which initially had us puzzling as to its very nature. Was it a cairn? Or was it a section of prehistoric walling? The former would seem to be the more likely, though an excavation here would obviously be helpful.
Standing stone, cairn-spoil & Coldstone valley to rearColdstone Cairn 2, looking west
Scanning the Earth hereby we found no surface remains, merely a section of disturbed ground where the small stones were placed and, obviously, removed in some number not too long ago. Stones from the cairn had obviously been robbed to construct the grouse-butts close by (something the local council officials seem to find acceptable). It would appear to be consistent in structure with many of the other cairns on this moorland, some of which are neolithic, but the majority date from the Bronze Age.* This particular cairn seems to be Bronze Age in nature.
The most defining element in the cairn is the small standing stone, less than two feet tall above ground level, within the southwestern area of the denuded tomb. No carvings could be noted on the stone, nor marks of any significance on the other smaller stones. Another cairn of similar age but in much better condition—the Coldstone Beck Cairn 01—can be seen when the heather’s burnt back, some 20 yards north.
* More than 100 singular small cairns exist around here, most of which have never been archaeologically assessed.
From Burley train station walk up the road, turning right as you meet the moorland road. Go on for a couple of hundred yards until you run parallel with the Coldstone Beck stream. Walk up here for about 800 yards until the full moorland begins to open up ahead of you. Walk up the slope on your right (west) about 40 yards above the first of the ruined grouse-butts, towards the scattered mass of rocks before the small crags. You’ll have to scout about a bit when the heather’s deep, but it’s there, hiding away!
Archaeology & History
Cairn in centre, looking east towards Otley Chevin
Like many prehistoric tombs on this moorland, this one has never before catalogued. Found about 20 yards north of Coldstone Beck Cairn 02, this larger and more complete megalithic structure, probably Bronze Age in nature, is of the traditional construction for cairns in this region: of small to medium-sized rocks that can be carried quite easily and deposited over a specified site, beneath which we’ll find either a ruined clay urn, or skeleton, or ashes.
The cairn measures just over 3½ yards in diameter east-west, and 3 yards north-south; it rises nearly a yard tall above ground level at the centre. Much of the internal construction has been compacted through centuries of soil and vegetational growth, with only the outer rocks of the structure being slightly loose. There are several other prehistoric cairns of the same size nearby, none of which have been recorded by the regional archaeologist round here.
Once found on the other side of the road from the prehistoric circle of Acrehowe Hill, this old cross was destroyed sometime in the first half of the 19th century by one of the stewards to the Lady of the Manor of Baildon, a Mr Walker. It’s unlikely that Mr Walker would have performed this act without direct orders from the Lady of the Manor, so the destruction should really be laid at the feet of the land-owner, who’ve got a habit of destroying archaeological sites up and down the land, even today.
Found near the crown of a small hill on the horizon whether you’re coming from Eldwick- or Baildon-side, the cross was erected (probably between the 12th and 14th centuries) amidst a cluster of heathen burials and cup-and-rings, many of which would have been known by local peasants as having old lore or superstitions about them. So the church commandeered this spot, desacralized it and no doubt enacted profane rites around it under the auspice of some spurious christian law. They did that sorta thing with every non-christian site they ever came across—or simply vandalised it, much as many of them still do today. Sadly we know not the exact history of the old cross: whether it was an old standing stone on the crown of this hill which they defaced and made into a cross, or whether they erected their own monument, we’ll never know. But the idea of a once-proud monolith standing here is a strong possibility, considering its position in the landscape and the stone rings of Pennythorn and Acrehowe close by (cup-and-ring stones such as carving no.184 are also close by).
The cross itself once gained an additional incorrect title by the cartographers of the period, who named it Rerehowe Cross—but this was simply a spelling mistake and its newly-found title didn’t last long. The local industrial historian William Cudworth (1876) described the lost cross in his large work, where he told that,
“many of the inhabitants can remember and point out the exact spot where it stood, and no doubt could find some of the stones of which it was composed. It was destroyed by one of the overseers and a large portion of it used for fence stones.”
Harry Speight (a.k.a. ‘Johnnie Gray’) and others also mentioned the passing of this old stone, but give no additional information.
Folklore
In William Cudworth’s description of this site he told how “the village tradition is that it was put up in commemoration of a great battle that was fought on the Moor” at Baildon; but W.P. Baildon (1913) thought this was unlikely. Instead, he cited an 1848 Name Book reference dug out by W.E. Preston, which told that on the summit of Acrehowe Hill,
“Here stood a cross which, according to traditional evidence was erected at the period that markets were held at Baildon, in consequence of a plague which prevented the country people from visiting the village with provisions, etc. The site of its base is very apparent, being circular, about 8 feet in diameter. A large flag stone with the stump of the cross remaining in its centre, was pulled up and destroyed by Mr Walker (Baildon Hall) a few years since.”
References:
Baildon, W. Paley, Baildon and the Baildons (parts 1-15), St. Catherines: Adelphi 1913-26.
Bennett, Paul, The Old Stones of Elmet, Capall Bann: Milverton 2001.
Colls, J.M.N., ‘Letter upon some Early Remains Discovered in Yorkshire,’ in Archaeologia, volume 31, 1846.
Cudworth, William, Round about Bradford, Thomas Brear: Bradford 1876.
Gray, Johnnie, Through Airedale from Goole to Malham, Walker & Laycock: Leeds 1891.
Follow the same directions as if you’re gonna visit the Idol Stone carving. From here, keep walking uphill until your reach the rocky crags on the slope above. Go left (southeast) along the small footpath that runs along the top of this ridge for 350 yards (320m) and, where the path begins to very gradually slope back downhill a little, go sharp left, downhill for 50 yards, where a couple of large rocks stand out. Before one of these, low down in the heather, you’ll find this curious cup-and-ring stone.
Archaeology & History
This is a lovely cup-and-ring stone, seemingly recorded for the first time by fellow rock-art student Stuart Feather (Radford 1968) in one of his numerous ramblings over these moors. It’s a difficult habit to break once the bug bites! The rock itself is unusual, possessed of undulating geophysical waves or ripples across its surface, similar to a cluster of others a couple of miles west near the very top of Rombald’s Moor. The curvaceous feature alone would have given this stone a spirit-nature of its own, different from the others in this area — though we may never know what that might have been.
Primary design (after Hedges)
The cups carved onto this rock are cut much deeper than most other prehistoric carvings along this ridge and, for some reason or other, give an immediate impression of having been painted and coloured in lichens or other natural dyes, to encourage or awaken the mythic history within and around the stone. It’s a formula that occurs worldwide and needs serious consideration, not just here, but at many other outcrop carvings in Wharfedale and much further afield.
The carving was described in John Hedges’ (1986) fine survey as a,
“Fairly small flat rock, level with the ground, sloping slightly in heather and crowberry, its surface layered in waves which appear to have been incorporated in the design which covers the rock. About 25 cups, some very deep and some showing pick marks, three are enclosed in rings, one of which has three cups in its circumference and a groove leading from it to edge of rock.”
Many other carvings scatter the moorland plain of Woofa Bank — some recorded, others not — in a region rich in Bronze Age and probably earlier cairns. We’ll add all their profiles here as time floats by…
References:
Bennett, Paul, Of Cups and Rings and Things, unpublished: Shipley 1981.
Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS: Wakefield 2003.
Hedges, John (ed.), The Carved Rocks on Rombalds Moor, WYMCC: Wakefield 1986.
Radley, J. (ed.), “Yorkshire Archaeological Register, 1968,” in Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, volume 42: part 166, 1968.
Cup-Marked Stone: OS Grid Reference – SE 1380 4521
Archaeology & History
Buried Stone carving
One of this regions many simple cup-marked stones, this example is another that is not in the archaeological records as it was rediscovered on March 1, 2012, by one-time rock art student, Michala Potts of Keighley. Found in association with one of the many prehistoric cairns in the landscape, it is a small flat rock, that was mainly covered over in dead bracken remains. There are two very distinct archetypal cup-marks etched on the westernmost half of the stone, with a possible faint third in-between the two. The larger of the two cups measures 2 inches across and is a half-inch deep; the other cup being 1½ inch across and roughly the same depth. Several other cup-and-ring stones can be found close by.
Buried Stone, when dry
The curious-looking inverted ‘F’ beneath the two cups is somewhat of a dilemma, as part of it appears to have been carved and has the hallmark of a typical boundary marker. However, the top line is almost certainly a natural feature on the rock, but the vertical and second horizontal line may have been cut into the rock at a later date. There are remains of some medieval workings just 10 yards away from this stone, which may account for the enhanced lines; but we could do with a decent geologist to have a look and tell us one way or the other!
Cup-Marked Stone: OS Grid Reference – SE 1395 4517
Getting Here
Sketch of the main design
Once you’re on Ilkley moorland itself, head over to the Little Skirtful of Stones giant cairn. From here, walk due east for 115 yards where you’ll come across an overgrown dried-up (usually) dyke cut into the heath, which runs roughly north-south. Walk over the dyke onto its eastern side and just a few yards in front of you, in a slight dip, you’ll found a female oval-shaped boulder amidst the heather.
Archaeology & History
Rediscovered on Tuesday March 6, 2012, this medium-sized rounded (female) rock has somehow evaded all previous archaeological evaluations. It is one of at least five previously unrecorded cup-marked stones found close to each other on the eastern section of Rombald’s Moor near the Little Skirtful of Stones. The rock measures roughly 2 yards by 1½ yards and possesses at least 15 cup-marks that cover most of its surface. Each cup-mark averages about 2 inches across and are less than ½-inch deep. There is a natural ‘bowl’ in the southern section of the rock with a typical cup-mark in it and a smaller one in close association.
Dyke Stone cupmarksand from another angle
The other cup-markings found close by, appear to be associated with the prehistoric cairns but this stone — the largest of the group — lacks any immediate relationship with such monuments. Further ground explorations are required at other potential spots close by; plus we could do with getting back here when the sunlight’s better, so we can get some clearer photos!
Go thru Killin and, just past the Bridge of Lochay hotel, take the tiny road on your left. Go down here for 3 miles till you pass the gorgeous Stag Cottage (with its superb cup-and-rings in the field across the road) for another 300 yards, until you see Duncroisk Farmhouse set back on your right. On the other side of the road, go thru the giant deer-gates (close ‘em behind you) to the river-bridge and across it. Walk along the track till you reach the turning to Corrycharmaig House on the right (over the stream), but here, go up into the field thru the gate. Walk up the hill ahead of you with its trees on the left, walking up onto the grassy level, over the deer-fence, then up again to the rounded knoll another 100 yards up. You’re here!
Archaeology & History
On my first visit to this stone, in overcast and wet conditions — the easternmost of at least four separate carved rock faces along the same geological ridge — I only noticed a handful of cup-marks etched onto the northeastern section of the stone. But I was sure there were supposed to be more. And when I returned home to check up, found that Ron Morris (1981) said there were “40 widely scattered cups of which, however, 29 well-defined cups are in a compact group, of which 6 are in a line.” Much more than what I saw! And when I checked further, it was evident that even more cup-marks were once visible on the rock. In the very first description of this carved stone, E.A. Cormack (1952) told:
“On the easterly area there are about 70 small cups, roughly one inch in diameter, in groups of ten to twelve. Most are on the flatter rock surface, but some are on the steeper slope facing south, which also bears the marks of deep glacial scorings.”
A sample of cups on ‘Corrycharmaig 1’
So on our visit here again a few weeks ago when we stayed at Corrycharmaig house*, a couple more visits allowed a slightly better investigation, albeit in even wetter and cloudier conditions than our first visit! And the more we looked, the more we could see; and it was plainly evident that a number of cup-marks had become receptacles for moss-growth! We counted at least 40 cup-markings on this ‘Corrycharmaig 1’ stone, but it seemed pretty obvious that beneath the grasses and vegetation, more carvings would be found.
Walking SSE along the same rocky ridge brings you to the other rock faces of Corrycharmaig 2, 3 and 4 — all with their own carvings. Corrycharmaig 2 possessing the only known complete cup-and-ring on the ridge. More carvings remain hidden nearby…
Morris, Ronald W.B., The Prehistoric Rock Art of Southern Scotland, BAR 86: Oxford 1981.
Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, Archaeological Sites and Monuments of Stirling District, Central Region, Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 1979.
* Huge thanks Sylvana!! – please let us know when we can stay again!
