Follow the directions to reach the Snowden Moor settlement and, from the Upper D-shaped enclosure (at SE 1782 5131) walk west up the sloped hillock 30 yards west and, on its top, head to its northern edge where a small cairn can be found. The carving is next to it.
Archaeology & History
Very close to what seems to be the boundary between the Snowden Moor Settlement and its adjacent Cemetery is this small earthfast rock with three cup-markings on it, two of which may be linked by a small line. I have to say that we have to be cautious about the veracity of this carving. By the side of this stone is what seems to be the remains of a cairn.
References:
Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS: Wakefield 2003.
Follow the same directions as to reach the Tree of Life Stone carving. From here walk 7 or 8 yards east. You can’t miss it!
Archaeology & History
Coped Stone carving (after Boughey & Vickerman)
About 20 feet away from the more renowned Tree of Life Stone — and seemingly linked to it by a small stretch of ancient walling that runs between the respective stones — is this rather large boulder close to the walling with at least seven cup-marks on it. A number of vague lines run down and around the edges of some of the cups, but they can be somewhat hard to see if the light conditions aint right (I don’t recommend trying to suss it out on dark grey overcast days — unless you’ve got awesome eyes!). Immediately next to this rock is a large collection of small stones, looking to be the remains of some man-made construction from time past. The nature of this pile of rocks has yet to be ascertained, but it would be reasonable to assume that it was at one point earlier a much larger pile that has been plundered for use to make the drystone walls hereby. Less than 10 yards below this and the Tree of Life Stone carving is a line of ancient walling, at least Iron Age in nature, possibly earlier, running for some distance east-west up and across the moorland.
Cup-marks near top of the stone
The carving was described for the first time, albeit very briefly, by Eric Cowling (1937) in his lengthier description of the Tree of Life Stone, saying how “a small coped stone to the east has several scattered cups” on its surface — meaning this old thing! Boughey & Vickerman’s (2003) survey (2003) describe it as a “medium-sized, upstanding, worn rock. Seven or eight possible cups, mostly at the top of S face, but one at its bottom of E face.”
…And the poor old fella has had nowt else said of it until now! I reckon this carving will only be of interest to the most serious of meditators or hardened rock-art freaks!
References:
Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS 2003.
Cowling, Eric T., “Cup and Ring Markings to the North of Otley,” in Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, part 131, 33:3, 1937.
Cowling, Eric T., Rombald’s Way: A Prehistory of Mid-Wharfedale, William Walker: Otley 1946.
Takes a bit of finding this – but if you like your rock art, it’s worth the search! You can follow directions for the getting to the Man Stone then, when you reach it, look to the near horizon to the east. Get to the bottom of the sloping hillside where a large rounded boulder sits and walk up the slope about 10 yards. Look around here cos you’re very close.
Woman Stone carvingCarving highlighted in chalk
Alternatively, from the Askwith Moor Road, follow the path to the triangulation pillar on Shooting House Hill. Keep going for another 100 yards and check a small path to your left (south). Follow this down until you get to the top of the slope. Go to the bottom of the slope and look around!
This carving is best checked out in winter and early spring: if you go here in summer & autumn there’s bracken covering the entire site & you’ll never find it!
Archaeology & History
Drawing by Inmaculada Ibanez-Sanchez
This stone was first discovered by Graeme Chappell and I during one of our many ambling explorations here in the early 1990s and was first mentioned in my Old Stones of Elmet (pp.149-152). Marija Gimbutas would have loved this seemingly matriarchal-looking cup-and-ring carving, suggestive of many Mother Goddess images she found across Europe – hence its title!
Woman Stone design (after Boughey & Vickerman)
I don’t think that the old-school archaeological types would lower themselves to say such a thing, but as I aint one of them I’m quite confident in saying that this carving does seem to be a pictorial representation of a female figure: one of the earliest of its kind in the British Isles? (check its nearby male compatriot, the Man Stone – a distinctly human figure and one of the earliest of its kind in the British Isles) Very close by we are left with old place-name remnants pointing directly at the presence of pre-christian goddess remains in the mythic landscape – an issue I’ll expand on in the near future.
In the survey by more recent rock art students Boughey & Vickerman (2003), their illustration of the carving makes it look even more like an early female figure! (though I hear they don’t like people giving the carvings names – unless, of course, one of them lot names it…)
References:
Bennett, Paul, The Old Stones of Elmet, Capall Bann: Milverton 2001.
Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS: Wakefield 2003.
Gimbutas, Marija, The Language of the Goddess, Harper-Collins: San Francisco 1989.
Gimbutas, Marija, The Civilization of the Goddess: The World of Old Europe, Harper-Collins: San Franciscoo 1991.
Follow the same directions to reach the Tree of Life Stone, then walk up the well-worn footpath up the slope for about 100 yards and, as you get to near the top of the hill, just watch out for a large-ish stone on the right. That’s it!
Archaeology & History
First described by Eric Cowling 1937, here we have what here looks like a faded cup-and-ring plus at least eight other cup-markings near Snowden Crags (though Boughey & Vickerman [2003] counted only 6 cups here). In more recent years it has become known as the “Fence Stone” due to its proximity the straight line of fencing which ran across the moor hereby. Cowling’s description of the site told:
Faded cup-and-ringCowling’s 1937 drawing
“The spur of hill separating Snowden Carr from Snowden Craggs is surmounted by a D-shaped enclosure which has a small level area in the highest corner. Here, on a triangular table stone amongst the heather, is a well-cut cup, ring and radial groove running to the margin of the surface. Four other cups appear to have no definite arrangement.”
He went onto say that “many of the boulders which surround this table are marked with cups.” They are indeed!
References:
Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS 2003.
Cowling, Eric T., “Cup and Ring Markings to the North of Otley,” in Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, part 131, 33:3, 1937.
Cowling, Eric T., Rombald’s Way: A Prehistory of Mid-Wharfedale, William Walker: Otley 1946.
Acknowledgements: A huge thanks to James Elkington for use of his photo for this site profile.
In the middle of the moors, with no footpaths close by. Unless you’re a rock-art freak I guess there aint gonna be too many people searching for it! From the Ilkley-to-Langbar road, take the track (Parks Lane) onto the moor where the road bends right. Follow it up for about a mile (though it doesn’t seem that far) and where the cup-marked stone at the edge of the wall where the spring appears (Middleton Moor carving 483), walk west (left) into the heather for a coupla hundred yards below Foldshaw Ridge. Look around!
This is one of a small cluster of carvings Richard Stroud found on a few average-sized stones prettty close to each other in April 2005 — and one which the West Yorkshire Archaeology Service told him couldn’t be there cos the region had already been surveyed. Hmmm…
Crap drawing!
Well, my first impression of this when I saw it was a absolute thumbs-up! Simple to look at, I know – but a bloody good little carving. It’s primary characteristic is that most of the ten or eleven cups occur on the vertical and near-vertical face, which aint too common. In traditional societies (though not all) where carvings occur on vertical faces, they’re deemed to be ‘male’ in nature (those on rounded smooth surfaces, female). The carving is well worth checking out — especially as there’s probably more to be found up here, hiding beneath ages of peat and heather.
To find this, follow exactly the same directions as that of the Middleton Moor Carving 001, which is just a few yards away. Both of these stones may take some finding when the heather’s deep — but when we first discovered them, the heather had recently been burnt back.
Archaeology & History
This small rounded stone had a covering of vegetation on it when Richard Stroud and I first discovered it in April 2005, with just a couple of cups visible, but once the heather’d been carefully rolled back, another fine carving greeted our keen-eyed petroglyphic senses!
Drawing of the carving…and again!
At least eight cups seem apparent here, though once Richard had the photos processed there appeared to be a couple of things on the stone which we hadn’t noticed when in the field (a common cup&ring dilemma). One of the most curious parts of the stone seems to be the winding line near the bottom of the stone. Make of it what you will!
Just a couple of yards east of this carving we find the rounded remains of a single burial cairn, probably for just one person, just like as with Middleton Moor 001. This site could do with excavating, as we may have a small neolithic or Bronze-Age cemetery hiding under the heath.
Go up the long winding Ilkley-Langbar country moorland road. A coupla miles along there’s a sharp bend in the road, left, with a dirt-track here that takes you onto the moors. Walk up here to the shooting house just east of Black Hill in the Middleton Moor enclosure and, once there, walk up the steepish slope to the left (west). Once on the level, head to the wall and about halfway along, look around. If the heather’s long and deep you’ll be lucky to find it. Good luck!
Archaeology & History
Photo by Richard StroudSketch of the carving
The carving was first discovered by Richard Stroud and I in April, 2005, amidst one of several exploratory outings to records known sites and, aswell, to keep our eyes peeled in the hope that we might find some new ones! This was the first we came across; but when we found it, just one faint cup seemed noticeable on the southern edge of the small rounded stone; but after fifteen minutes of carefully rolling back the vegetation, this very well-preserved carving was eventually unveiled before us. It’s in quite excellent condition! The most notable part of the design are the two deep cup-markings, with the topmost cup looking half-surrounded by smaller cups on its southern edge.
There is also a well-preserved, though overgrown burial cairn (probably for one person) just a few yards west of this stone. This is just about impossible to see unless the heather’s been burnt back.
Although cited as being on Weston Moor, it is closer to Askwith village. From the village, take the north road and shortly before reaching the T-junction, park-up (somewhere!). There’s a small copse of trees on your right and fields above them – that’s where you’re heading. You might have to bimble about a bit before the rock catches your attention, but it’s worth the wandering. Look around!
Archaeology & History
Sketch of the design c.1985
This is an excellent, archetypal cup-and-ring stone that’ll be loved by any real rock art student! Cups-and-multiple rings are the main visual feature to this stone, along with another 20 single cups and another primary cup-and-ring, all on a medium-sized sloping rock face. The carving was first described by Cowling & Hartley (1937). Since their initial discovery, several other writers have mentioned it with little further comment. The smaller but impressive double cup-and-ring carving 543 can be seen at the bottom left of the woodland in front of you – well worth seeing if you’re visiting here!
References:
Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, West Yorkshire Archaeology Service 2003.
Cowling, Eric T., Rombald’s Way, William Walker: Otley 1946.
Cowling, E.T. & Hartley, ‘Cup-and-Ring Markings to the North of Otley,’ in Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, 33, 1937.
Hotham, John Paul, Halos and Horizons, Hotham Publishing: Leeds 2021.
Follow the same directions for the Ellers Wood 614 and 618 carvings, as it’s nearby. The best way to check them out is simply to walk down past the haunted Dobpark Lodge, where it turns into a footpath and then when you reach the lovely old packhorse bridge at the valley bottom, walk upstream for 3-400 yards until you reach the next small wooded region. Once there, look around…..
Archaeology & History
Ellers Wood is at the very northern edge of the beautiful parish of Askwith and has a very particular ambience of its own. The small cluster of at least 5 cup-and-ring stones in this lovely little woodland gives you the impression that they stood out on their own, living here respresenting the genius loci of this luscious watery vale, all-but-hidden from all but the lucky few.
Cowling’s 1937 sketch1991 sketch of CR-619
Beautifully preserved, this carving was first described in an article by Cowling & Hartley (1937), then included in Cowling’s Rombald’s Way (1946). As with the other cup-and-rings close by, the characteristic grouping of certain cups is here focused into three sections by enclosing rings. This was something I used to call ‘central design’ features, which occur in different locales with their own individual geographical patterns/structures. These central designs are non-numeric in nature, though have a tendency to cluster in patterns of 2, 3 and 4. (I need to write a decent essay on this to outline what I’m on about with greater clarity!)
References:
Boughey, K.J.S. & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS: Exeter 2003.
Cowling, E.T., ‘A Classification of West Yorkshire Cup and Ring Stones,’ in Yorks. Arch. Journal 1940.
Cowling, Eric T., Rombald’s Way, William Walker: Otley 1946.
Cowling, E.T. & Hartley, C.A., ‘Cup and Ring Markings to the North of Otley,’ in Yorks. Arch. Journal 33, 1937.
Grainge, William, The History and Topography of the Forest of Knareborough, J.R. Smith: London 1871.
Grainge, William, History and Topography of the Townships of Little Timble, Great Timble and the Hamlet of Snowden, William Walker: Otley 1895.
Using the OS-map as a guide, from Denton village head up the road northwest, past Moorside Farm and onto the moor. Before you reach the rise of Lippersley Pike you’ll reach the Crow Well itself (completely covered over by Yorkshire Water’s handiwork, stopping anyone from drinking the previously fresh waters here). In the middle of nowhere, just above the completely ruined well, is the old shooter’s cottage and from here, Eric Cowling (1946) told us to look in the heather immediately east. When Richard Stroud and I ventured here a few years back (2.8.5) we couldn’t find a thing — though a vaguely reminiscent structure seemed possible 300 yards away.
Archaeology & History
If the heather’s deep, you’ll have little chance of seeing the site as Eric Cowling (1946) obviously did! He described and illustrated this place — so was fortunate enough to have ventured here following the heather-burning.
The site is not a stone circle, but what Cowling thought to be an Iron Age settlement: ellipsoid in shape and nearly 400 feet across; it’s obviously an impressive archaeological site when visible (akin to the Snowden Carr settlement a couple of miles east). In all probability the site is much earlier than Iron Age.
An aerial image of the site indicates its size to be very close to Cowling’s initial measurements. The ‘settlement’ is quite huge, with the walling or defining edges being between 4 and 6 yards across in places, with double-walled sections akin to that found at the Brackenhall circle on Shipley Glen, just over 8 miles (13km) to the south. However, it’s probably much older than its Brackenhall compatriot. Its maximum diameters measure 130.5 yards (119.3m) roughly east-west and 98.5 yards (90m) roughly north-south, with an external circumference of about 345 yards (315m). This is a big fella! Near its centre is a well-defined ring, or ellipse, measuring approximately 20 yards (18.3m) north-south and 18 yards (17.5m) east-west.
It’s difficult to say what this might be without a site analysis, and we need the heather burning back at this site to enable a good inspection of the place! We may be looking at Denton Moor’s equivalent of the Woofa Bank Enclosure just over 4 miles (6.5km) to the south, above Ilkley, with its host of cup-and-rings and surrounding cairns. A good inspection of this site is long long overdue…
Hereabouts Cowling also found other remains dating from the neolithic period, including walling, cairns, hut circles and cup-and-ring stones. He thought that “the name Crow-well appears to be the modern equivalent of ‘the circle of the well'” — and although I doubted this in my Old Stones of Elmet, I have since come to realise the truth of his words!
