Tag: Ickornshaw

Old Lane Carving, Cowling, North Yorkshire

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Cup-and-Ring Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SD 97300 42625

Getting Here

Old Lane Cup-and-Ring, Cowling

Old Lane Cup-and-Ring

This Stone is situated on Old Lane, Cowling, North Yorkshire. To get here coming from Crosshills, you come straight through the village and past the shops.  About 250 yards after the shops you will come to a sharp left hand bend, and once you have gone round this corner you will see a sign pointing to Oakworth (Old Lane).  You need to turn left here (up by the cemetery) and continue for about half a mile up that lane until you come to a sharp left-hand bend. Once you have gone round that left-hand bend you will see a driveway on the right, the stone is situated opposite, in the gateway.  Hope you can find it and enjoy it like I do every time I pass it.

Archaeology & History

...and from another angle

…and from another angle

I’ve driven past this stone many times, almost every day and never previously noticed any markings.  Then, one particular day, the weather was a bit miserable but the lighting was just right to illuminate this little gem.  Was this lump of rock a standing stone, or have modern day folk took advantage and moved it here to be used as a gatepost? I don’t think we ever will know.

(Editor’s Note – When Chris first informed us of this carving, I wondered whether or not it had anything to do with a cup-and-ring found on a gatepost in the 1950s or ’60s by Stuart Feather or Sidney Jackson, but this was not the case.  This petroglyph therefore, is yet another one that our users have discovered and it has to be classified as a new find. Keep up the good work sir!  PB)

© Chris Swales, The Northern Antiquarian


Winter Hill Stone, Cowling, North Yorkshire

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Cup-Marked Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SD 98288 41976

Getting Here

Winter Hill Stone, looking NW

The easiest way to get here if you’re coming for the first time is via the A6068 Glusburn to Cowling road. On the south side of Cowling, take the small road Old Lane, uphill on the east side of the road (very easily missed – keep your eyes peeled!) and keep going up until the road just about levels out, where there’s a muddy parking spot on your left (the giant Wainman’s pinnacle is down the path from here).  Cross over the road and head up towards the giant Hitching Stone. When you reach the first fence, cross over it and follow it into the boggy heathlands to your right (west-ish).  Head into the tribbly grass and keep walking for 3-400 yards till you see the large rock growing out of the Earth.

Archaeology & History

Cup-markings near ground-level
Looking from above

Not far from the legendary Hitching Stone is this curiously-shaped boulder sitting peacefully and alone in its landscape.  It is in fact a large cup-marked boulder, previously unrecorded until being described in The Old Stones of Elmet.  On top of the stone it seems that there are no definite man-made cup-markings, but there are a number of seemingly natural ones (although some could have been etched thousands of years ago and have just eroded well); instead the real cup-markings are found curiously etched at the base of this large rock, just above ground-level.

Hitching Stone on horizon

As can be seen in the photos, on its lower south-facing edge there are around 20 well-defined cups that clearly stand out.  No other cup-marked stones appear to be nearby (surely there’s a few more kicking about in the area…?).

An earlier assertion I made (2001) about the nearby Hitching Stone aligning with the winter solstice sunrise from here was recently put to bed following the morning observations of myself and Dave Hazell on December 21st, 2010, when — as can be seen in the photo here — the midwinter sun emerges from the land a few degrees of arc further southeast than expected.  However, I aint checked what the alignment here would have been when the cup-markings were first etched here, around 5000 years ago perhaps…  Would any of you archaeo-astronomers out there know about this?

References:

  1. Bennett, P., The Old Stones of Elmet, Capall Bann: Milverton 2001.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian