Ilkley

Silver Well, Ilkley Moor, West Yorkshire

11/10/202612/10/2026 megalithix

Sacred Well (covered): OS Grid Reference – SE 10425 46701

Archaeology & History

Highlighted on the earliest of the Ordnance Survey maps, this spring of water supplied the old cottage here for many a year. Nowadays it has been covered—and has been like that for upwards of fifty years—although it was said to be in constant flow by those who lived here in earlier times. When the Yorkshire holy wells writer Edna Whelan (1989) came here in the 1980s, the running water could still be heard beneath a pile of large stones that covered its source. Today, stone slabs cover it over—but the water is still running below. It had a reputation of never running dry, even in droughts. I spoke with a local doctor in the late-1980s who told us that he was confident the Silver Well would always keep running and its water were fine to drink. It’s a pity the source of the spring is covered over and, surely, is a case for being exposed and open for folk to use once again…

In Collyer & Turner’s (1885) magnum opus on Ilkley, they thought the Silver Well “was probably a holy well” —and it probably was something along those lines, depending on how precisely we define the word ‘holy’. The notion that it may have been a place where, in earlier times, silver coins and other offerings were given to the spirit of the well in exhange for good health and fortune (as is found at springs and wells all over the world) was given a boost when, in the 1960s, a short distance east of Silver Well, was found a clutter of very old silver coins dating from the periods of Kings Edward I and II (13th and 14th Century). The coins were donated to the British Museum where, I presume, they still live. But they may have either come from this well, or were being deposited here. We’ll probably never know for sure. A number of other Silver Wells in Britain possess so-called holy associations.

References:

Collyer, Robert & Turner, J.H., Ilkley: Ancient and Modern, William Walker: Otley 1885.
Whelan, Edna & Taylor, Ian, Yorkshire Holy Wells and Sacred Springs, Northern Lights: Dunnington 1989.

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.

Silver Well (1), Ilkley Moor, West Yorkshire

06/10/202610/10/2026 megalithix

Cup-Marked Stone: OS Grid Reference – SE 10252 46583

Also Known as:

Carving no.60 (Hedges)
Carving no.225 (Boughey & Vickerman)

Getting Here

From Ilkley central, go up Wells Road and, several hundred yards past the cattle-grid, keep your eyes peeled and turn left up the small moorland road for a half-mile and park-up at the start of the track to Silver Well cottage. Walk along here and, on the way, you may as well pass the cup-and-ring marked Weary Hill Stone, and the other Silver Well carvings further west through the heather. From the Silver Well (3) cup-marked stone, follow the walling uphill for nearly 100 yards until your reach the small gate. Go through it and stick to the footpath for 200 yards and then keep your eyes peeled for a large wonky ovoid stone less than 20 yards to your right. It’s a big thing, so you’ll find it easily enough.

Archaeology & History

Although this is primarily a cup-marked stone (a faint ring is possible around one of them), it’s a good design. It does it for me anyway! Sitting on a ridge at the top of a slope overlooking the Wharfe valley, from here the landscape opens up for many miles ahead of us looking mainly to the north, although the horizons both east and west also call our attention as the rising and setting sun would speak around the equinoxes. But it’s the airt of north which mainly calls from here. A scatter of cups splatter the rock surface, all of them on one half of the stone acting out in usual disorderly conduct apart from one spot where there are three deep cups in a line: this is the most notable part of the carving. At the top (southern) nose of the stone is a triangle of them and they then becoming increasingly disordered as you move along the stone. There are seemingly twenty of them altogether (perhaps more) with one of them having a short groove oozing out of it which can be difficult to see when the light isn’t quite right.

It was first described in Hedges (1986) survey, where he told it to be a “large flat rock in bracken with sixteen clear cups, four other possible cups, grooves and one basin”—although at the same time somehow, erroneously, he thought the carving may have been uncovered by Stuart Feather in 1970, confusing this stone with two more complex petroglyphs 300 yards to the west of here. Give it your attention when you’re walking on this ridge, before walking to the two others 300 yards to the west. It’s certainly worth looking at.

References:

Allen, J. Romilly, “Notice of Sculptured Rocks near Ilkley,” in Journal of the British Archaeological Association, volume 38, 1882.
Anonymous, Walks Around Cup and Ring Stones, ITIC: Bradford n.d. (1995)
Boughey, K.J.S. & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS: Leeds 2003.
Hedges, John (ed.), The Carved Rocks of Rombald’s Moor, WYMCC: Wakefield 1986.
Morris, Ronald W.B., “The Prehistoric Rock Art of Great Britain: A Survey of All Sites Bearing Motifs more Complex than Simple Cup-marks,” in Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, volume 55, 1989.

Acknowledgements: Big thanks to the petroglyphic hands of Graeme Chappell and Tom Cleland for the work at this stone. Huge thanks for use of the Ordnance Survey map in this site profile, reproduced with the kind permission of the National Library of Scotland.

Silver Well (2), Ilkley Moor, West Yorkshire

05/10/202605/10/2026 megalithix

Cup-Marked Stone: OS Grid Reference – SE 10496 46625

Also Known as:

Carving no.70 (Hedges)
Carving no.240 (Boughey & Vickerman)

Getting Here

Go up Wells Road out of Ilkley central, up and across the cattle-grid and, one-third of a mile (0.5km) past the grid, keep your eyes peeled for the small road on your left. Go up here for literally half-a-mile and park at the roadside. From here you’ll see the straight track leading to the Silver Well cottage in the trees. Walk 250 yards along the track (past the larger Weary Hill [3] carving on the slope just above) towards the cottage and, about fufty 100 yards before reaching the gate, walk up the slope through the heather to the small flat-faced rock that looks down at you. If you’re approaching the much larger, more notable boulder of the Silver Well (3) carving, you need to be about 20 yards east of it.

Archaeology & History

This is a simple but notable cup-marked rock. As you walk up the slope towards it, you get the impression you’re looking at the front-end of a tomb entrance of some sort—but it’s nothing of the sort (sadly). Once you reach the flat face of stone, you’ll see that its topmost section is a thin wedge of stone along which are three distinct and quite deep cup-markings. The stone was first mentioned in Hedges (1986) survey, where he also thought there may have been a fourth cup on the south-side of the stone. When I first saw photos of this, I thought it was either a modern one or just another of Nature’s carved handiwork; but when we visited it recently our opinions changed.

There’s a rock a short distance east of here with a single cup-mark on it—but it’s not really worth looking at and might not even be the real deal.

References:

Boughey, K.J.S. & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS: Leeds 2003.
Hedges, John (ed.), The Carved Rocks of Rombald’s Moor, WYMCC: Wakefield 1986.

Acknowledgements: Big thanks for help and assistance on our day’s venture to Graeme Chappell and Tom Cleland.

Silver Well (3), Ilkley Moor, West Yorkshire

04/10/202605/10/2026 megalithix

Cup-Marked Stone: OS Grid Reference – SE 10474 46635

Also Known as:

Carving no.69 (Hedges)
Carving no.238 (Boughey & Vickerman)

Getting Here

Nice ‘n easy to find this one. Take the Wells Road up out of Ilkley central, up and over the cattle-grid and, one-third of a mile (0.5km) past the grid, keep your eyes peeled fro the small road on your left. Go up here for literally half-a-mile and park at the roadside. From here you’ll see the straight track leading to the Silver Well cottage in the trees. Walk 300 yards along the track (past the larger Weary Hill [3] carving on the slope just above) towards the cottage and, about ten yards before reaching the gate, walk uphill through the heather to the notable large boulder forty yards up the slope. Y’ can’t really miss it.

Archaeology & History

On a recent visit to this cup-marked stone, good old Mother E greeted us with a dark grey sky and so the design we were hoping to catch on this large sloping stone wasn’t quite what we hoped. The wide and half-inch deep cup-marks were visible when we stooped low to look across the surface of the stone, but from above they were difficult to make out. Altogether we counted eight cups—but Boughey & Vickerman (2003) reckoned there were nine of them. Also, well-defined grooves, half-natural and half-man-made, were just above visible, but we couldn’t see them in their entirety. In John Hedges (1986) sketch of the design, the cups and wide deep grooves are clear to see.

In the event that you have a look at this petroglyph, it would be best to visit it on a clear day when the sun is low—and if you brush the surface with water it would highlight the design pretty clearly. It’s also possible that you’d see new elements on the carving as a result of your work.

One final note: when we came here recently, both Graeme Chappell and Tom Cleland related to me that the rock itself was quite a notable red colour—which was totally lost on me as I’m the colorblind dude in the bunch! But, as they both suggested, this distinct colouration was probably one of the ingredients the stone was chosen to be carved. Makes sense.

References:

Allen, J. Romilly, “Notice of Sculptured Rocks near Ilkley,” in Journal of the British Archaeological Association, volume 38, 1882.
Anonymous, Walks Around Cup and Ring Stones, ITIC: Bradford n.d. (1995)
Boughey, K.J.S. & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS: Leeds 2003.
Hedges, John (ed.), The Carved Rocks of Rombald’s Moor, WYMCC: Wakefield 1986.

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.

Weary Hill (1), Ilkley Moor, West Yorkshire

08/09/202610/09/2026 megalithix

Cup-Marked Stone: OS Grid Reference – SE 10614 46251

Also Known as:

Carving 243 (Boughey & Vickerman)

Getting Here

The best description to get here is, from Ilkley, to go up Wells Road, over the cattle grid, and about 500 yards past the cattle grid take the left turn up Keighley Road. This becomes a truly dodgy dirt-track when you hit the road to the Silver Well cottage on your right, but keep going uphill for another after a short while, but keeping walking uphill for another 500 yards till you reach a good-sized footpath on your right. Walk along here for 50-60 yards and then walk into the vegetation on your right and, just a few yards along, you’ll see a good-sized elongated stone in front of you.

Archaeology & History

This large boulder has about nine cup-marked impressions, both on its eastern topmost part and others a few feet away on a lower south-facing section of the stone. But they’re not all man-made. The cups on the top-east surface are the ones we should be paying attention to. Of the three or four that we can see, at least two of them are man-made: it’s possible that all of them have been man-affected, but without a detailed geomorphological analysis, we’ll never know for sure. The cups and dips on the other, lower section of the rock are Nature’s handiwork. That doesn’t mean they had no importance in the overall mythic nature of the carving but, as with most British petroglyphs, we may never know one way or the other.

References:

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

Hangingstones Quarry (1), Ilkley Moor, West Yorkshire

27/04/202629/04/2026 megalithix

Cup-Marked Stone: OS Grid Reference – SE 12681 46748

Also Known as:

Carving no.120 (Hedges)
Carving 278 (Boughey & Vickerman)

Getting Here

From the Cow & Calf car-park, walk towards and past the gigantic Calf rock, swerving round the fallen mass of rocks and into the trees at the back. Walk uphill to the Hanging Stones cup and ring stones, then keep heading—down the slope then back up the next one—west, for barely 100 yards until you’re on the level ground again, following the footpath alongside the heather. Barely 50 yards along, keep your eyes peeled in the heather for a low flat rock just a few yards in. Forage around and you’ll find it.

Archaeology & History

You’ll no doubt be seeing this carving after you’ve visited the impressive Hanging Stones petroglyphs 150 yards to the east. And you’ll probably be disappointed in its lack of visual grandeur when compared to its more ornate eastern neighbour. But the petroglyph fans among you should give it your attention.

When the dawn or evening daylight cuts across the rock, the design looks much better than at sun high, perhaps telling us that the message of the stone coincided with those periods of the day. The gentle folds of the stone itself morph into the carving: evening and morning light cutting subtle shadowy folds across the rock, giving it an organic texture that our aboriginal ancestors told to be a vital essence of stone itself. The two small clusters of cup-marks upon this stone become greater than their basic design when brushed with the shadows and glows of a sunset. And when our aboriginal peoples painted them in ochre and other colours, an even greater mythos emerged—but sadly it is forgotten here….

When looked at with the simplistic eyes of the archaeo-mind, this and its compatriots are little more than a number of marks on lifeless rocks. This stone for example was described in John Hedges’ (1986) survey as being just “two groups of four and five cups and grooves”—nothing more—with naught but an echo in Boughey & Vickerman’s (2003) later work. The carving has neighbours even more basic in the heather close by…

References:

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.

Green Crag Slack (356a), Ilkley Moor, West Yorkshire

23/10/202417/10/2025 megalithix

Cup-Marked Stone: OS Grid Reference – SE 13665 46014

Getting Here

From Cow & Calf Rocks, walk up the steep footpath and turn left (southeast) when it levels out on the edge of the moor. Walk 250 yards along and, where the main path veers down to the road, just keep walking along in the same direction along the footpath that runs gradually uphill until, after 650 yards (595m) you’ll eventually meet up with the footpath that runs along the moorland proper. Where these two paths meet-up, then head upwards (south) into the heather for 55 yards (50m) until you see a good-size sloping block of stone with a crack roughly down the middle. If you hit the Little Haystack Rock (a big conspicuous stone) you’ve gon too far!

Archaeology & History

This is one of the many basic cup-marked stones you’ll find scattered all over these moors possessing (as it does) only two distinct cup-marks on its more northern half, although a possible faint third one needs looking at in better light. When we were kids exploring this and other areas, single and double cup-marked stones like this seemed ten-a-penny and we’d flippantly pass them by after quick perusal, looking for more impressive designs.

The carving here seems to have been missed in the surveys of Hedges (1986) and Boughey & Vickerman (2003), despite the rock standing out quite distinctly. I can only assume that they checked it out when the skies were grey and dull, making the cup-marks difficult to see. A number of other prehistoric remains can be found close to this carving, including cairns and sections of enclosure walling.

Folklore

Tradition tells that the indigenous Britons had a battle with the Romans on the plain where this carving is found.

Giant’s Chair, Addingham High Moor, West Yorkshire

25/07/202427/03/2026 megalithix

Cup-and-Ring Stone: OS Grid Reference – SE 07450 46658

Also Known as:

Carving no.230 (Hedges)
Carving no.56 (Boughey & Vickerman)

Getting Here

The easiest way to get reach here is via the Doubler Stones, which is usually approached either from the long and winding country lanes Silsden-side (you can’t drive all the way and there are hardly any parking spots en route), or from a long walk over the moors. Taking the latter route, probably the easiest is by starting at Whetstone Gate right on the moortop, on the Ilkley-Keighley road. From here, walk west along the footpath by the wallside for more than ½-mile until you reach the West Buckstones. From here, take the footpath NW (not SW) alongside the walling for literally one mile, where a notable angular skewing of three walls appears: keep to the left and walk alongside that wall for another ⅓-mile (0.5km) then climb over the wall and head straight for the small TV mast. The Giant’s Chair’s just below it.

Archaeology & History

Back of Giant’s Chair, with Doubler Stones behind

Some time in the mid- to late-1970s, on one of our early ventures to see the legendary Doubler Stones, this great rock outcrop of the Giant’s Chair also, understandably, drew our attention. And, as young fertile teenage lads, we all but flew up onto the top of this great rocky rise with relative ease. Now, nearly fifty years later, I’m unable to climb onto its top without ropes. (sigh….) It’s not easy. Anyhow, when we were on top of this rock as kids, a number of notable cup-markings stood out to us—in no distinct order, as I recall. But on the day of our clambering visit, She was grey and overcast; as She was on the two or three other visits we made to the stone, sitting on its top, fondling the cup-marks and eating our sarnies. All that I ever noticed were the cup-markings.

A few years after my early visits here, John Hedges (1986) wrote about this “very large high rock.” He mentioneed the cup-markings, obviously, but he also mentioned some things that we’d missed, saying that here are,

“Six large shallow worn cups, one with (a) partial ring and another with possible ring. One cup on SW end.”

Sadly, I’ve never seen these rings and, these days, my ageing bones might not allow me back onto its surface to see them. (the expression, “sad bastard” comes to mind!) On a recent visit here with Sarah Walker of Silsden, neither of us could get our useless arses on top! (the photos taken here were done with me stood on top of an adjacent rock, hands held high, trying to get at least some elements of the carving—with a minor bit of success, I think) I take comfort in the fact that when Boughey & Vickerman (2003) subsequently added this carving in their enlarged inventory, that they never got to see them either, as they gave it the completely wrong grid-reference! And so, due to the ineptitude of us old folk, I await some younger and more competent explorers who can climb up on top and send us some good photos of the design, when weather and lighting conditions allow for good imagery. Are there any takers…?

References:

Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS: Wakefield 2003.
Deacon, Vivien, The Rock Art Landscapes of Rombalds Moor, West Yorkshire, ArchaeoPress: Oxford 2020.
Hedges, John (ed.), The Carved Rocks on Rombalds Moor, WYMCC: Wakefield 1986.

Acknowledgements: Big thanks to Sarah Walker for helping, albeit unsuccessfully, to scale this old rock to see the cup-and-rings on my last visit here. At least we tried…

Footsteps Stone, Ilkley, West Yorkshire

07/07/202410/07/2024 megalithix

Cup-and-Ring Stone: OS Grid Reference – SE 10382 47027

Also Known as:

Carving no.61 (Hedges 1986)
Carving no.233 (Boughey & Vickerman)

Getting Here

Take the Wells Road from Ilkley centre up towards White Wells, bending to the right as you hit the edge of the moor. Keep along the road, past the old college building with its lake and turn right up Westwood Drive. Keep going all the way up (it becomes Panorama Drive) till you hit the small woodland on your right. Where the woodland ends – stop! Walk into the trees about 10-15 yards and you’ll see the large rocks ahead of you. Brush back the vegetation and you’ll find it.

Archaeology & History

This large flat rock surface has a scattering of archetypal deep cup-markings, with other fainter marks scattered over most of its surface. It sits right next to carving no.232, with its own equally large, naturally worn basins.

It was visited in the 1870s (along with the other Panorama Stones) and subsequently illustrated in the personal sketch-pad of Mr Thorton Dale (we’re hoping to have them scanned in due course for open Creative Commons use) who showed the basic cup-marks and shaped “lines” or footsteps that give this petroglyph its name. Little more was said of it until Hedges (1986) described it in his survey, whose notes were subsequently repeated in Boughey & Vickerman’s (2003) work as being a “medium-sized flat-topped, upstanding rectangular rock. Eight cups, six deep ovals, faint circles and lines on SW end.” One of the most notable cup-and-rings can just be made out near the middle of the stone, on the left-side of one the footprints.

The depth of these incisions in this design strongly suggests that the carving was worked and reworked over many centuries, suggesting utilitarian usage of some kind, be it ceremonial or otherwise. It’s also very unusual inasmuch as elongated footstep-like cuttings are scarcities, not just in Yorkshire petroglyphs, but in prehistoric carvings across Britain. Check it out when you’re next walking up to the Swastika Stone.

References:

Bennett, Paul, The Panorama Stones, Ilkley, TNA: Yorkshire 2012.
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.

Addingham Crag (02), Ilkley Moor, West Yorkshire

07/07/202430/08/2025 megalithix

Cup-and-Ring Stone: OS Grid Reference – SE 07905 47268

Getting Here

For those who like a walk: take the route to reach the Swastika Stone and keep walking west along the Millenium Way footpath, past the Piper’s Stone carving and over the next two walls. Then, stagger down the steep hill and head for the large upright near-cuboid block of stone and, once here, walk 30 yards to your east! Alternatively, from the Silsden-side, go along Brown Bank Lane up and past Brown Bank caravan park, and at the second crossroads turn right and travel for exactly 1¼ miles (2km) along Straight Lane (from hereon there’s nowhere to park!) which runs naturally into Moorside Lane, and notice the raised gate entrance into the field on your right. Walk to the top of this field, go through the next gate and, less than 100 yards uphill (south) you’ll find the stone in question.

Archaeology & History

Rediscovered by Paul Bowers in 2011, this is another one of those petroglyphs that’s difficult to make out unless the light is falling just right across the surface of the stone. Two distinct cup-marks can be seen near the more southern-edge of the stone, one of which has a near-complete, albeit unfinished ring around it, and from this a seemingly carved line runs roughly parallel with the edge of the stone, down towards another equally distinct cup close to the southwestern edge of the rock. Most of the stone is nicely covered in a decent lichen cover, so the design’s a bit difficult to see when the light’s not right. But, if you’ve made it this far, the petroglyph 30 yards to the west will make up for any disappointment you may have!

References:

Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding Supplement, 2018.