Tag: Esholt

Esholt Lane Carving, Esholt, Bradford, West Yorkshire

megalithix

Cup-Marked Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SE 1743 3975

Also Known as:

  1. Carving no.10 (Boughey & Vickerman)

Getting Here

Seemingly not visible anymore, but directions given by a Miss N. Hutchinson in the early 1960s worked for me and Dave Pendleton when we checked this out at the end of our teens.  We had to look around till we found it, based on the following directions.  The carving was found “on top of a low dry wall on Esholt Lane, Esholt…on the stretch of road from the junction of Gill Beck with the River Aire to the stone-built barn on the left-side of the road, that is, going towards Esholt.”

Archaeology & History

Esholt Lane Carving, Bradford
Esholt Lane Carving, Bradford

First described by Miss Hutchinson in a letter she sent to Sydney Jackson (1964), editor of Bradford Archaeology group newsletter.  When we first found this small carving (not far from where we grew up) we were at the end of our teens, and followed the directions cited in the Cartwright Hall Archaeology Group Bulletin (see above).  The carved design was typical of the primary arcs found in many of the Baildon Moor cup-and-ring carvings a bit further up the hill, but with two other small faint cup-markings on it.  According to Boughey & Vickerman (2003), the carving’s now been hidden in a section of walling that’s been rebuilt.  The drawing here is from one of my unpublished notebooks. (1984)

References:

  1. Bennett, Paul, Ramblings of Archaeological Remnants in West Yorkshire, unpublished: Shipley 1984.
  2. Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS 2003.
  3. Jackson, Sydney, ‘Cup-Marked Rock – Esholt Discovery,’ in Bradford Cartwright Hall Archaeology Group Bulletin, 9:4, 1964.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Hawk Stone, Shipley, West Yorkshire

megalithix

Cup-Marked Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SE 1792 4099

Getting Here

Take the road from Shipley to Guiseley, the A6038, past the turn-off to Esholt, until you get to the top of what’s locally known as Hollins Hill.  There’s a small farm-track to your leftand in the woodland here you’ll find the rocky outcrop.

Archaeology & History

Nothing has been written about this spot, but in this large wind-and-water worn rock outcrop, with its small cave, on the top part of the rock are several faint cup-markings.

Folklore

Legend tells that a man on horseback jumped from the top of here and landed safely at Low Hall, Yeadon, 2500 yards away to the east. (probably some sort of solar lore)

References:

  1. Gray, Johnnie, Through Airedale, from Goole to Malham, 1891.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian