Tag: legends

Thor’s Stone, Thurstaston, Cheshire

megalithix

Legendary Rock:  OS Grid Reference – SJ 24474 84933

Also Known as:

  1. Thor’s Rocks

Archaeology & History

Thor’s Rock (after J.Picton)

On Thurstaston Common a 298 foot high hill has a large red sandstone outcrop, on the landward side, known as Thor’s Stone. One large rectangular block of stone that is 50 feet in length, 30 feet wide by 25 foot high has been eroded over thousands of years. Described by J.A. Picton in 1877 as “the Great Stone of Thor,” the village itself seemed to have gained its name from this prominent mass of rocks.  It was described first of all in the Domesday book, as Turstanetone, and both village and rocks have been written as variants on the original ever since.  The place-names writers Mills & Room (1998) ascribe the name to being a “farmstead or village of a man called Thorstein”; but it’s just as likely to derive from “a farmstead of/at Thor’s Stone.” (Harrison 1898)  As early landscape features were traditionally equated with animistic and mythic lore, the Viking god Thor is more probable than some unlikely chap called Thorstein.

More than 100 miles southeast of here, we find another Thor Stone in the village of Taston, showing similar megalithic etymology.

Folklore

Local folklore tells that the rock is named after the Norse god Thor – he who causes thunder and lightning.  Viking settlers from Thingwell apparently settled here in the 10th century AD and, according to legend, these settlers used the stone as a pagan altar with blood sacrifices taking place here.  A creation myth of the site tells that Thor tossed the large stone here in anger; and yet another says that the stone was raised here to commemorate the battle of Brunanburh in 937 AD.  In modern more times, Morris dancers meet here and enact their rites on Mayday mornings.

The outcrop has been eroded away over thousands of years by the weather, post glacial erosion and even quarrying, leaving strange shapes, features and projections in the soft sandstone. There is much recent graffiti to be seen all over the rock, especially on the summit and sides including one set of graffiti carved by Professor Taylor in 1879.  There used to be a “fairy well” near the stone but this disappeared long ago.  Children took flowers to the well to decorate it, while adults visited it to receive a cure for various ailments of the body.  At nearby Thurstaston Hall, Christina Hole (1937) reported there lived the ghost of a troubled woman.

References:

  1. Harrison, Henry, The Place-Names of Liverpool, Elliot Stock: London 1898.
  2. Hole, Christina, Traditions and Customs of Cheshire, Williams & Norgate: 1937.
  3. Mills, A.D. & Room, Adrian, A Dictionary of English Place-Names, Oxford University Press 1998.

© Ray Spencer, The Northern Antiquarian


Old Wife Ridge, Heyshaw Moor, Dacre, North Yorkshire

megalithix

Sacred Hill:  OS Grid Reference – SE 159 626

Getting Here

Long worn stone on Old Wife Ridge

From the bottom of Pateley Bridge, just out of town take the left turn to Bewerley and go through the village; or from Glasshouses follow the road over the River Nidd and round.  Both ways take you to meet the steep and winding Nought Bank Road, which you should follow all the way to the top of the moorland hill.  You can just park up by the footpath taking you east.  Then cross the road and walk west on the dirt-track to Rowan Tree Crags.  100 yards along, the gentle sloping moor on your left is the Old Wife’s Ridge.

Archaeology & History

The academic history of this moorland is poor, save occasional notes about lead mining and quarrying (Jennings 1967).  Speight (1894) describes the finding of large pieces of lead-worked Roman inscriptions nearby that were found in January 1735 — one of which had the letters ‘BRIG’ cut into it, thought to be a referral to the land or deity, Brigantia.  Examples of prehistoric rock art occur at nearby Guisecliff Woods, due east, but there are no specific notices about the archaeology of this hillside.

Long overgrown stone at Old Wife Ridge

When we visited the place yesterday, much of the heather had been burned (the previous year) and we found two stones which looked suspiciously as if they had stood upright in the past, and may have had played some part in the naming and myth of the Old Wife on this part of the moors.  I can find no other records of any remains here.

Folklore

References to the Old Wife scatter our northern lands and invariably refer to an aspect of the heathen Earth Mother of our peasant ancestors, particularly in Her aspects of winter and early spring.  In Scotland and Ireland She was commonly known as the cailleach.  Sadly I can find no extant lore relating to Her mythic aspects in the landscape on these hills.  A field-name to the south, Nanny Black Hill, may have related to the Old Wife.

References:

  1. Jennings, Bernard (ed.), A History of Nidderdale, Advertiser Press: Huddersfield 1967.
  2. o’ Crualaoich, Gearoid, The Book of the Cailleach, Cork University Press 2003.
  3. Speight, Harry, Nidderdale, Elliot Stock: London 1894.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Nussey Green (404), Appletreewick, North Yorkshire

megalithix

Cup-Marked Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SE 0739 6254

Getting Here

Nussey Green CR404 (after ‘QDanT’)

Park at Stump Cross Caverns on the B6265 road, then walk down the road for 200 yards till you reach the track on your left running over the fields in the direction towards Simon’s Seat.  Walk on the track for about 600 yards until there’s a change of direction in the adjacent walling and then watch out for the dirt-track on your right, curving towards the small valley (if you hit the Skyreholme Wall carving (413), you’ve gone 100 yards past the turn-off). Go on here until you see the overgrown track on your left into a small disused quarry, and head right, down the grassy slope, checking out the few stones ion front of you 20 yards down.  You’re damn close!

Archaeology & History

Carving no.404 (after Boughey & Vickerman)

A simplistic carving that was first described by fellow antiquarian Stuart Feather (1964), this is one of at least four cup-marked stones in a small group here, above the valley of Skyreholme Beck — better known at this part of the valley as the Troller’s Ghyll, haunt of various heathen lore.  Although some of the carving has now been covered by the growing Earth, you can still see the majority of the design.

It is a flat, roughly triangular stone described by rock art students Boughey & Vickerman (2003) and having 13 cup-markings on it.  To get a full look at the entire carving, you may have to roll a bit of the turf away from one side of the rock.

Folklore

Although we have no lore relating to this specific carving, the small valley over which this carving looks was long known as the abode of the legendary bharguests, or black dogs: underworld creatures of earlier heathen myths.  Faerie lore can also be found a short distance further up the same stream.

References:

  1. Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS: Wakefield 2003.
  2. Feather, Stuart, “Yorkshire Archaeological Register 1963: Appletreewick, W.R.,” in Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, volume 41, 1964.

Links:

  1. Nussey Green Rock Art – more notes & images

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


St Winefride’s Well, Holywell, Flintshire

sunbright57

Holy Well:  OS Grid Reference – SJ 1851 7627

Also Known as:

  1. Ffynnon Gwenfrewi
  2. St. Winifred’s Well

Getting Here

St.Winifred’s Well

From the Chester ring road head into north Wales along the coast road (A548) from Connah’s Quay for about 13 miles taking you through Flint. After 12 miles turn left into Holywell town (Treffynnon). At the western end of the town go down the Greenfield-Mostyn road back towards the A584 taking you down a hill.  After 500 hundred yards you arrive at the holy well/shrine and pilgrimage centre on the right-hand side; there is parking on the opposite side of the road. There is a small entrance fee, but as well as the famous healing well and bathing pool, they have a gift shop, toilet facilities and a late medieval/Gothic two-storey structure that is built over the polygonal, vaulted well chamber, whilst at the side (at the corner of the hill) stands another Gothic chapel from 1500.

History and Legend

According to the well known legend, a young Welsh girl called Winefride or Gwenfrewi, was the daughter of patrician parents, Thenith (Thewyth) and Gwenlo, who lived at Bryn-y-Castell (Treffynnon) at the beginning of the 7th century AD.  She was a very religious girl who was known for her kindness and charities to people in the area that was then called Tegeingl (after the Decengle tribe).  Winefride grew up to be a very beautiful young woman which troubled her because she had no wish to marry, only to live a life of chastity and serve God as only she knew how.

St. Winefrides Well 1742

One day a local chieftain from Hawarden (Penarlag) called Caradoc ap Alyn came hunting in the area. He became very thirsty so stopped off at the house where Winefride lived with her parents.  However, on this particular day her parents were attending the local church where St Beuno, her uncle, was conducting a service.  Prince Caradoc soon began to seduce her so she ran to the church but with the prince in hot pursuit.  When he caught up with poor Winefride, she again resisted him so he took his sword and beheaded her.  Her severed head fell to the ground and rolled down a hill and where it came to rest a spring of water gushed forth from the ground.  Her parents and uncle came rushing out of the church at which point St Beuno cursed the evil prince, who was calmly wiping blood from his sword, causing him to sink into the ground — never to be seen again.  St. Beuno then placed the severed head back into place, restoring Winifred to life again but leaving her with a thin scar round her neck.

Later, Winifred was entrusted for her education to St Beuno whom sent her to various holy men including St. Elerius at Gwytherin near Llanwrst.  Here she became abbess of a convent that had been founded by Elerius, with his mother St. Theonia as first abbess; and it was here for the next 40 years that Winifred lived out her life.  She was said to have died at Gwytherin in either 65o or 670 AD.  Her body was first interred in the churchyard there, however in 1138 her relics were transferred to Shrewsbury Abbey.  Sadly however, her shrine there was destroyed in the 16th century and now only a few relics remain with a finger-bone being housed at a convent in Holywell.

Mythology and Folklore

St. Winefrides Well 1750

The holy well and shrine of St. Winifred at Holywell became a place of pilgrimage during the middle-ages and many miracles of healing were wrought there.  The sick were cured of infirmities of the legs and body; crutches were left at the well and many were cured of leprosy, eye complaints, loss of hearing, being not able to bear a child, mental illness, palsy and lung disorders etc.  During the Reformation the holy well suffered much, but from the 17th century onwards pilgrims were returning to the holy place and, more recently it has become the Welsh Lourdes and still pilgrims come in droves from all over Wales and beyond.  The vaulted Gothic structure covering the well shrine is richly carved with bosses depicting various characters including St Beuno, Earl Stanley, Lady Margaret Beaufort, biblical characters, animals and an abbot of Basingwerk abbey, but there is also much recent graffiti too.  A tall statue of St Winefride looks down over the well while candles burn all around.  In the larger bathing pool outside, a stone lies at one side — this is claimed to be where St. Beuno sat whilst teaching his young niece.  Red stains on stones at the front of the well-basin were long taken to be the martyr’s bloodstains, but now these are thought to be iron oxide pigmentation on the lichens.  Today the people still come either to bathe in the special pool, throw coins in the well, or fill bottles with holy water from a tap on the wall.  Faith in miracles of healing is still much in evidence here and may it continue to be for many years to come.  Everyone is welcome here, you don’t have to be a Roman Catholic!

References:

  1. UneXplained - LiebreichBord, Janet & Colin, Sacred Waters, Paladin: London 1986.
  2. David, Christopher, Saint Winefride’s Well  – A History and Guide, Gomer Press: Llandysul 2002.
  3. Edwards-Charles, Thomas, Saint Winefride and Her Well – The Historical Background, Holywell 1962.
  4. Heath, Sidney, In the Steps of the Pilgrims, Rich & Cowan: London 1950.
  5. Jones, Francis, The Holy Wells of Wales, University of Wales Press: Cardiff 1992.
  6. Liebreich, Karen, UneXplained: Spine-tingling tales from Real Places in Great Britain and Ireland, Kindle 2012.
  7. Simcock, Richard, North Clwyd At Random, Countryside Publications Ltd: Chorley 1986.
  8. Spencer, Ray, A Guide to the Saints of Wales and the West Country, Llanerch: Felinfach 1991.

Copyright © Ray Spencer 2011


Newtyle, Dunkeld, Perthshire

megalithix

Standing Stones:  OS Grid Reference – NO 04489 41057

Also Known as:

  1. Doo’s Nest
  2. Druid’s Stones
  3. New Tyle

Getting Here

Newtyle’s standing stones

From Dunkeld travel southeast on the A984 road to Caputh and after about 1½ miles, set back a few yards from the road amidst the trees below the Newtyle Quarries (whose mass of slate and loose rocks cover the slopes), you’ll see these two large monoliths.  There’s nowhere to park here, but there’s a small road a coupla hundred yards before the stones aswell as a space to park on the verge by the side of the road a few hundred yards after them.  Take your pick!

Archaeology & History

When we visited these two tall standing stones a few weeks ago, guerilla archaeologist Hornby and I were a little perplexed at the state of these stones, wondering whether they were a product of the fella’s who dug the quarries above here, or whether they were truly ancient.  It seems the latter is the consensus opinion!

They were described by the great Fred Coles (1908) in one of his lengthy essays on the megaliths of Perthshire, where he thought the two stones here were all that remained of a stone circle that once stood on the flat, above the River Tay, but whose other stones “were destroyed in the making of the road” which runs right past here.  Not so sure misself!  He told that,

“An old cart-track runs up between the stones, leading from the main road…up to the quarry. The mean axis of the two stones runs N 13° W and S 13° E (true), and although their broader faces do not point towards the centre of a circle on the west, it is certainly much more probable that the other stones were on this side, the lower and flatter ground, than on the east, where the ground slopes and is more broken and rough.

“Both stones are of the common quartzose schist, but they differ considerably in shape.  A is 6 feet 7 inches high at the north corner, but only 4 feet 10 inches at the south, and its vertical height at the east is only 3 feet.  The basal girth is 13 feet 3 inches, and in the middle 15 feet 9 inches.  The broad east face measures 5 feet.  Stone B is level-topped and 5 feet in height; it has a basal girth of 12 feet 4 inches, and at the middle of 11 feet 8 inches.  Its two broad faces are of the same breadth.”

Little else was said of the two stones for many years and, to my knowledge, no real excavation has been undertaken here.  But when Alexander Thom (1990) visited the site he found that,

“This two stone alignment showed the midsummer setting sun.  The south stone may possibly, by itself, have shown the setting Moon at major standstill.”

Aubrey Burl’s description of the stones was succinct and echoed much of what Coles had said decades earlier, telling:

“Two very large stones stand only 9 feet (2.7m) apart in an unusually closed-in environment for a Perthshire pair.  The ground rises very steeply to the east.  To the west the stones overlook the valley of the River Tay.

“Both are of local quartzoze schist and are ‘playing-card’ in shape.  As usual it is the westernmost stone that is taller, 7ft 2in (2.2m) in height.  Its peak tapers almost to a point.  Conversely, its partner is flat-topped and only 4ft 9in (1.5m) high.  The pairing of such dissimilarly shaped stones has led to the interpretation of them as male and female personifications.”

Alex Thom’s groundplan
Back of the smaller stone

Burl’s latter remark thoughtfully recognises that such animistic qualities are found in many other cultures in the world and this ingredient was also an integral part of early peasant notions in Britain; therefore such ingredients are necessities to help us understand the nature and function of megalithic sites.  We must be cautious however, not to fall into the increasingly flawed modern pagan notion of such male and female ‘polarizations’, nor the politically-correct sexist school of goddess ‘worship’ and impose such delusions upon our ancestors, whose worldviews had little relationship with the modern pagan goddess fallacies, beloved of modern Press, TV shows and pantomime festival displays.

Folklore

In Elizabeth Stewart’s history of Dunkeld, she narrates the tale told by an earlier historian who told that,

“these two upright stones at the Doo’s Nest, but says they are supposed to mark the graves of two Danish warriors returning from the invasion of Dunkeld.”

References:

Burl, Aubrey, From Carnac to Callanish, Yale University Press 1993.
Coles, Fred, “Report on Stone Circles Surveyed in Perthshire – Northeastern Section,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 42, 1908.
Stewart, Elizabeth, Dunkeld – An Ancient City, Munro Press: Perth 1926.
Thom, A., Thom, A.S. & Burl, Aubrey, Stone Rows and Standing Stones – 2 volumes, BAR: Oxford 1990.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Maen Achwyfan, Whitford, Flintshire

sunbright57

Cross: OS Grid Refence – SJ 129 788

Also Known as:

  1. The Stone of Lamentation
  2. St Cwyfan’s Stone

Getting Here

Maen Achwyfan Cross (after J.O. Westwood)

Go north on the A5026 from the town of Holywell for about 3 miles; at the hamlet of Lloc take the turning first right towards Trelogan village for another mile – the ancient cross stands in the corner of a field at the junction of 3 roads at the turning from Whitford to Trelogan, halfway between Whitford and Sarn. The cross can also be reached via Pantasaph from the A55.

History

The cross probably dates from 1000 AD and is said to be the tallest wheel-headed cross in Wales, standing at 11 feet 3′ in height. The metal fence surrounding the cross spoils the monument quite a bit, but it is there for security reasons.  It is richly decorated on all sides and on the cross-head. Much of the decoration is Celtic in origin, but there are also Viking influences here, probably Northumbrian. On the south face there is a human figure standing on a serpent that has associations with the Norse god Odin; also a three-legged horse that may also be connected to Odin. The north-west face has Celtic pattern-work in the form of the letter “X” and below that another figure (naked) holding a spear. The north-east face is rather eroded, but there is some Celtic-style decoration. There is more knotwork and chainwork elsewhere on the cross with other animal figures.  The wheel-head has a distinctive central boss and a four star-shaped cross radiating from the boss.

Folklore and Legend

The cross is also called ‘The Stone of Lamentation’ because penances were carried out at the cross in the Middle Ages. This act would have concluded with weeping and the ‘act of contrition’ by pilgrims visiting the site whilst making their way between St Winifred’s Well and St David’s.  Legend says that St Cwyfan, a local 7th century Celtic saint preached on this site and set-up the cross – hence the name, Maen Achwyfan.  One local legend tells us that Queen Boudica fought her last battle against the Romans close by in the fields called ‘Cydio ar Leni’ or ‘The fields of the seizing legions’.  During the Middle Ages the monks of Basingwerk Abbey preached at the cross and also set up a chapel for pilgrims just to the south at Whitford.

References:

  1. Allen, J. Romilly, “Celtic Crosses of Wales”, in Archaeologia Cambrensis, 1899.
  2. Owen, Rev. Elias, Old Stone Crosses of the Vale of Clwyd and Neighbouring Parishes, Bernard Quaritch: London & Oswestry 1886.
  3. Sharkey, John, Celtic High Crosses of Wales, Carreg Gwalch: Llanrwst 1998.
  4. Westwood, J.O., Lapidarium Walliæ – The Early Incised and Sculptured Stones of Wales, Oxford University Press 1879.

Copyright © Ray Spencer 2011


Great Stone of Fourstones, Lowgill, North Yorkshire

megalithix

Legendary Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SD 66972 66292

Also Known as:

  1. Big Stone
  2. Four Stones

Getting Here

The Great Stone of Fourstones

From near the middle of the large village (or small town!) of High Bentham, go down Station Road, over the river — where the road becomes known as Thickrash Brow! — and keep going for about a mile.  The landscape opens up into the hills and there, on the left-hand side of the road, is a car-parking spot with a footpath taking you straight up to the large boulder a 100 yards on: that’s our Great Stone!  You can’t really miss it.

Archaeology & History

Great Stone on 1847 map

A meeting place of local tribes in more ancient days, the moorland plain upon which the Great Stone sits, beckons to a vast landscape on all quarters (north, south, east and west) calling the elders from their lands for annual rites and decisions to befit the health of the land and the people.  The stone rests on the ancient boundary of Yorkshire and Lancashire, just on the Yorkshire side, and was visited annually in more later centuries during the beating of the bounds, to define the edges of the local township.

Graffiti & cup-marks on the top

First described in a Yorkshire inquisition account from 1307, this Big Stone was visited by Harry Speight (1892) who described it as measuring 30 feet round and 12 feet high.  I came here for the first time in the 1980s when I was hitch-hiking into the Scottish mountains, but a good old “local” (from the Yorkshire side) took a detour to show me the place!  Once here, I climbed up the very worn “steps” which were carved into the side of the boulder several centuries back and it didn’t surprise me to find a number of cup-markings (no discernible rings) on its top surface.  When I came here again with Michala Potts and Paul Hornby yesterday, I couldn’t believe how many people had carved their names on top of the Great Stone in the intervening years — it’s almost covered in modern graffiti and the old cup-markings were much harder to see.  Taylor (1906) mentions them briefly in his holy wells survey, saying how,

“This great boulder is ascended on its eastern side by fourteen steps, and on the top are two circular holes about two inches deep and two inches in diameter.”

There used to be three others boulders very close to this one (hence its title), making a natural stone circle, but they were “broken up for sharpening scythes” a couple of hundred years back.  A much wider archaeological survey of this region is long overdue.

Folklore

Great Stone, looking east

Harry Speight (1892) told how the (original) Four Stones were the creation of our old friend the Devil, long ago, who dropped them in one his many megalithic travels across our land. The stones were also the meeting place of ancient councils, from the tribes either side of the Yorkshire-Lancashire border. Their presence here also had mythic relationship with the Queen of the Fairies Chair, about a mile southeast, along the same boundary line.

Weird how folklore changes. Whilst old Mr Speight told how the devil created the once great four stones that were here, many years later Jessica Lofthouse (1976) told how the three missing stones – which had been here “since the world began” – were actually taken from here by Old Nick. Carrying them over the land,

“His load he dropped on Casterton Fell, where the rocks he discarded, the Devil’s Apronful, are still lying around. He selected the most suitable, dressed them and carried them in panniers down to the (River) Lune”

— and built the legendary Devil’s Bridge at Kirkby Lonsdale – which itself has strange tales to tell.  Another creation myth about the Great Stone is told on the plaque near the stone, alongside the footpath, which tells:

“Legend has it that it is a small part of the debris hurled by the giant Finn McCool across the Irish Sea in a fit of anger.”

It’s very obvious that a lotta mythic landscape material has been neglected and overlooked around this site.  Something we need to remedy, if we can, in the coming years…

References:

  1. Lofthouse, J., North Country Folklore, Hale: London 1976.
  2. Speight, Harry, The Craven and Northwest Yorkshire Highlands, Elliott Stock: London 1892.
  3. Taylor, Henry, The Ancient Crosses and Holy Wells of Lancashire, Sherratt & Hughes: Manchester 1906.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian 


Grimeford Cross, Adlington, Lancashire

megalithix

Cross:  OS Grid Reference – SD 6200 1284

Also Known as:

  1. Headless Cross

Archaeology & History

Within the Harris Museum, Preston can be found the Upper section of a pre-Conquest stone ‘cross’. Though much damaged on three of its sides the main face displays the upper section of a horned-helmeted figure holding a sword before it. The spreading horns suggest an important figure from the Viking period in Lancashire (c.900). This large and important piece of sculpture was found during the construction of Rivington reservoir on the River Yarrow near the village of Grimeford, Anderton in the 19th century.

Also found at that time during the reservoir construction was the lower section of a ‘cross’ shaft. This shaft is decorated on all four sides with carvings which include: the figure of a man from the waist down; a trellis filled with geometrical ornamentation of horizontal and vertical straight lines repeated to form a band known as a fret; a modified version of T-fret; and a combination of vine scroll and frets. The top of the shaft serves as the base for what is possibly a post medieval sundial base which has been adapted for use as a direction stone with directions to “Preston, Wiggan, Boulton, and Blagburn” (spelled as on the stone) being carved on the sides.  I would suggest that the two fragments are parts of the same monolith and may even depict the Viking Gunnolf (the latter being my own fancy).  This headless ‘cross’ is sited at the junction on the old road near the Millstone pub in Anderton and Grimeford Lane on the way to Rivington (SD 618 130). The stone is known as the ‘Grimeford Headless Cross’ or more locally as the ‘Headless Boggart’.

Folklore

Legend has it that there used to be a chapel near the junction and a tunnel running to a nearby farm on a hill. In the 16th century shortly before troops came to destroy the chapel, a priest hid in the tunnel and became trapped underground. His body was never found. Many people are said to have seen a ghost at the Headless Cross.

Addenda

To complement John’s entry, here are Mr Taylor’s notes written more than a hundred years ago in his Ancient Crosses and Holy Wells (1906), where he told:

“The HEADLESS CROSS — These words appear on the ordnance maps at a hilly spot in the extreme south-eastern corner of the hundred, five hundred feet above sea level, and distant one mile from the village of Adlington and about the same distance north from Blackrod.  Both villages have histories going back into the far past… A ‘Windy Harbour’, near the cross, sufficiently indicates the breezy nature of the situation.  The well and the ancient stocks are shown in close proximity to the cross.  The remains of the stocks are still in existence.

“Respecting the Headless Cross and others in this locality, Mr J.W. Crompton of Rivington Hall, writes (February, 1899):

“‘In reply to your note, I never heard of any cross, ancient or modern, in Rivington proper.  There was a tenement known as Butter Cross. Possibly some ancient cross may have existed there, but I know of no record to it.  There used to be a Headless Cross in Anderton, but old Mr Ridgeway, of Ridgemont, removed it many years ago, when he had sporting rights rented in that township, and I believe and old road surveyor broke up a cross in Anglezark to repair his roads early in this century: his name was Gerrard.  Crosses seem to have been specially erected to warn people of dangerous moors they were about to cross, and as a call to prayer in this part of the country, they were frequent.’

“…The subjoined deed is printed in the Chartulary of Cockersand Abbey, circa 1184-1190:

‘Grant in frankalmoign from Ranulf Gogard and his heirs to God [and the canons of Cockersand] for the health of the souls of his mother and his wife Edith, of all the land from Fulford to the path which crosses Rascahay Brook, between Heath Charnock and Adlington, as it was marked out by the crosses and marks of the said canons; with comon right of Charnock, in wood and plain, feeding grounds and mast in all other liberties.'”

References:

  1. Taylor, Henry, The Ancient Crosses and Holy Wells of Lancashire, Sherratt & Hughes: Manchester 1906.

© John Dixon, 2010


Lilla Cross, Fylingdales Moor, North Yorkshire

megalithix

Cross:  OS Grid Reference – SE 88923 98686

Also Known as:

  1. Lilla’s Cross

Getting Here

Lilla Cross is situated on Fylingdales Moor, north Yorkshire, between Pickering and Whitby at the junction of two major moorland footpaths. It is located close to the Fylingdales Ballistic Missile Early Warning Station – which resemble giant golf balls on the horizon.

Archaeology & History

Woodwark’s 1930s photo of Lilla Cross

The ancient cross is 10 foot high and free-standing but it sits upon what is probably a ruined Bronze-Age bowl barrow called Lilla Howe; the recumbent stones that lie around the base of the cross may form part of that. It is a sturdy, stocky cross that has some letters carved onto it, one in particular being a large letter “C” possibly meaning Christos (Christ) and with that a small thin cross; there are a few other faint letters but these are difficult to decipher now. A plaque on a nearby stone gives information about the cross. I think Lilla Cross was used as a sort of Medieval milestone or way-marker – hence the lettering on the cross.

In 1952 the cross was moved to Sil Howe near Goathland but 10 years later in 1962 it was returned to its original site on top of Lilla Howe. In the 1920s excavations on the barrow revealed some artefacts of jewellery, but no remains of Edwin’s trusty chief minister were found; the jewellery was, in fact, said to date from the mid 9th century. Lilla Cross has been referred to by historians as the oldest christian cross on the north York Moors.

Folklore

Lilla Cross on 1854 Map

According to the legend, in AD 625 or 626 King Edwin of Northumbria was travelling with his entourage across the moors, but an assassin had been dispatched by the king of the west Saxons to kill Edwin. The assassin lunged forward with his poison tipped sword, but Lilla his chief minister at the king’s court, leapt in between his sovereign and the swordsman. Poor Lilla took the full thrust of the sword and died on the spot thus saving the king from being murdered. King Edwin, who was greatly impressed by this selfless act of devotion, ordered that Lilla being a newly converted christian be buried here in a christian way though he asked that a number of articles be placed with the body including gold and silver. The king then had a cross erected in memory at the spot where Lilla died. But it seems likely that the cross dates from the 10th century, though there may have been an earlier Saxon cross here.

References:

  1. Ogilvie, Elizabeth & Sleightholme, Audrey, An Illustrated Guide to the Crosses on the North Yorkshire Moors, Village Green Press: Thorganby 1994.
  2. White, Stanhope, Standing Stones and Earthworks on the North Yorkshire Moors, Fretwell & Cox: Keighley 1987.
  3. Woodwark, T.H., The Crosses on the North York Moors, Whitby Literary & Philosophical Society 1934.

© Ray Spencer, 2011 


Nafferton Slack, Driffield, East Yorkshire

megalithix

Standing Stone (destroyed):  OS Grid Reference – TA 040 587

Archaeology & History

Information on this stone is sparse and the grid-reference cited is a close approximation of its precise location.  And were it not for the records of Victorian folklorists, its existence may have been completely lost.  The first reference I’ve found of it is in Nicholson’s East Yorkshire (1890) survey, but I am hoping that someone, somewhere, made archaeological notes of the site (am I hoping for too much here…?)  The stone appears to have stood upon, or was very close to, the local boundary line between Nafferton and Driffield—which means there could be a record of it in any perambulation accounts of the region.

Folklore

John Nicholson (1890) told us the following intriguing bitta folklore about this stone, saying:

“About half way down the hill forming the eastern slope of Nafferton Slack, by the roadside, to prevent waggons leaving the roadway, stood a large stone, which was believed to have wonderful powers.  At night, at certain seasons, it glowed like fire, sometimes it seemed but the portal of a well-lighted hall; and one old stone-breaker declared he had heard wonderful music issuing therefrom, the like of which he had never heard before; while on one occasion he had seen troops of gaily-dressed elfins repairing thither, some on foot and some on carriages, and they all went into this mysterious hall.  The old man is dead, the stone is gone, and the fairies have departed.”

Some twenty years later, Mrs Gutch repeated the story, but added no further details.  One wonders whether the information about a fairy hall implied the former existence of a mound or tumulus next to the old stone (a few hundred yards south, just off the same boundary line, we find the remains of the curiously named tumulus of Cheesecake Hill).  Any further info would be most welcome…

References:

  1. Gutch, Mrs E., Examples of Printed Folk-lore Concerning the East Riding of Yorkshire, David Nutt: London 1912.
  2. Nicholson, Folk-lore of East Yorkshire, Simpkin Marshall: London 1890.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian