Take the single-track country lane between Farnhill and Low Bradley until you reach Hamblethorpe farmhouse. Where the birch woodland is on the slope going uphill, the field on the other side of the road, protected by walling, is where the stones are, just south of the farmhouse. There’s nowhere to park any car hereabouts, so it’s best walking here.
Archaeology & History
It seems that nothing has previously been written of this place. Hidden away at the top of the field we find two curious-looking standing stones: one nearly six-feet tall, and its companion about four-feet. They’re near the bottom of the slope from the giant Round Cairn and Long Cairn tombs of Low Bradley Moor, several hundred yards to the east— and were it not for the fact that they have a distinctive Castlerigg-like appearance about them, perhaps I wouldn’t have given them a second chance. Curious earthworks are in the same field, to which written records also appear silent. Tis a lovely little spot…
Stone Circle (destroyed): OS Grid Reference – NJ 2691 5985
Also Known as:
Haerstanes
Harestones
Archaeology & History
Haer Stanes on the 1871 map
This site had already passed into memory when the Ordnance Survey lads visited the area in 1870, but at least they included it on their early survey. Fred Coles (1906) described this site in his essay on the megaliths of Banffshire, where once could be found perhaps five stone circles close to each other – but all are now gone! Bloody disgraceful really. When Coles explored here, although the site was still shown on maps, little could be seen of the place.
“On the farm,” he wrote, “we heard long-handed-down tradition of the Circle, and the site was, rather vaguely, pointed out.” But there was nothing there. He described one reference to the place written by a Mr James Morrison, who said, “We have remains of two so-called Druid Circles, and during the last half-century three others have been swept away. One of these was in horse-shoe form and was called the Haer Stanes.” The same writer later says, “These stones were unfortunately found to lie in the line of a road then formed (1830) and were ignominiously tumbled down the slope on which for ages they had rested, and buried in a gravel pit by the side of the road.”
References:
Cole, Fred, ‘Report on Stone Circles Surveyed in the North-East of Scotland…’, in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 40, Edinburgh 1906.
Stone Circle (destroyed): OS Grid Reference – TG 524 035
Archaeology & History
Several local history records describe there being a circle of ten standing stones in a field called ‘Stone-field’ or ‘Stone-piece’ – now covered by a housing estate at Gorleston-on-Sea, south of Yarmouth. In 1875, C. J. Palmer said that,
“there is a tradition that the Druids had a temple at Gorleston, some remains of which existed down to a comparatively recent period. It is supposed to have stood on a field next to the road to Lowestoft, upon what is called Great Stone Close; and it has been asserted that some huge stones remained standing until 1768, when they were destroyed by digging round their base and dragging them down by ropes. There are also two fields called Further Stone Close and Middle Stone Close, so that it is possible the Druidical circle, if it ever existed, may have had a wide extent”.
A painting of the site was reported to have been viewed by members of the Norfolk & Norwich Archaeological Society in 1888, but I’ve been unable to find out where this has gone. Anyone out there got a copy? Or know where it hangs? An image of this lost stone circle would be hugely welcome!
References:
Burgess, Michael W., The Standing Stones of Norfolk and Suffolk, ESNA 1: Lowestoft 1978.
Palmer, C.J., The Perlustration of Great Yarmouth – volume 3, George Nall: Gt Yarmouth 1875.
The best way to get here it is to head from the Cow and Calf Hotel up the hillside to where the great rock is sticking out (the Pancake Stone). From here, head straight onto the moor toward the Idol Stone — close to the Idol Rock which you can see 400 yards south in front of you. From here, follow the footpath up the hill before you and keep on the path towards Lanshaw Lass. About 100 yards on, turn straight west into the heather and keep your eye towards the south. About 250 yards on, about 100 yards away from the Green Crag Top cup-marked boulder, you’ll see it!
Archaeology & History
One of very few solitary standing stones on Ilkley Moor, and one which I relocated after The Old Stones of Elmet (2001) had gone to press — which was a great pity. Nearly four feet tall, this is a good chunky monolith which stands close to being on line with the summer solstice alignment from the nearby Twelve Apostles stone circle. (I was gonna call it the Summer Stone, but thought better of it!)
There’s another recumbent stone, more than five feet tall when erected, 200 yards northwest of here. (This is also very close to being in line with with our chunky monolith, plus the Twelve Apostles. Anyone out there with a GPS who can check if this possible alignment is the last remnant of a summer solstice stone row? It probably isn’t, but it’d be good to find out.) On the same moorland level, heading back down, when the heather’s burnt back you’ll find a number of prehistoric tombs along the edge of the ridge. These don’t appear to be in the archaeological registers.
Stone Circle (destroyed): OS Grid Reference – NT 774 292
Also known as:
Five Stones
The Tryst
Archaeology & History
Less than a mile northwest of the hillfort on Linton Hill, modern OS-maps show the field-name of ‘Five Stone Field’ which is where, in bygone years, another important stone circle once stood. Today unfortunately, not a single stone remains. As the Scottish Royal Commission (1956) lads told:
“About a mile NE of Frogden, on the N side of the road between Frogden and Greenlees, there were formerly five or six upright stones forming a circle, ‘about the size of a cock-pit’ (1792 Statistical Account). This circle, which was adopted as a rendezvous by Border raiders in the Middle Ages and became known as The Tryst, has long since disappeared, but its approximate site is indicated on the OS map by the name Five…Stone Field.”
Folklore
One of many stone circles used as an old moot, or gathering spot. This was described in one of the many footnotes to Sir Walter Scott’s (1802) Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, in which he told:
“At Linton, in Roxburghshire, there is a circle of stones surrounding a smooth plot of turf, called the Tryst, or place of appointment, which tradition avers to have been the rendezvous of the neighbouring warriors. The name of the leader was cut in the turf, and the arrangement of the letters announced to his followers the course which he had taken.”
This tradition was echoed around the same period in Robert Forsyth’s (1805) massive work on the history of Scottish life and landscape, saying:
“In different parishes, such as Moorbattle, Linton, and others, are to be found what are called tryst stanes. These are great stones commonly situated on high grounds. They are placed perpendicularly in rows, not unfrequently in a circular direction. It is said, as also the name imports, that in times of hostility they marked the places of resort for the borderers when they were assembling for any expedition of importance.”
References:
Burl, Aubrey, The Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany, Yale University Press 2000.
Forsyth, Robert, The Beauties of Scotland – volume 2, Thomas Bonar: Edinburgh 1805.
Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, Roxburghshire – volume 1, HMSO: Edinburgh 1956.
Scott, Walter, Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, James Ballantyne: Kelso 1802.
A half-mile south of the superb Brimham Rocks complex, take the straight road south until you hit the second farmhouse (and accompanying caravans). Go up the public footpath past Highfield Farm and just check with the landowner’s permission to wander his land if you want to see the stone. They’re OK about it if you ask. The lady there is very amiable and will tell you what’s what, giving directions right to it, telling us it was off the footpath in the middle of one of his fields.
Archaeology & History
Archaeology texts are, once more, silent about this stone (and other monuments in the region), making you wonder just what the hell some of them are paid for! The stone appears to have given its name to the land upon which it stands which, as the locals tell, “has always been known as standing stone hill.” And no wonder — it’s a bloody decent standing stone! On its northern face we find well-eroded lines running down the stone, similar to the weathering found on the Devil’s Arrows a few miles to the east.
Standing Stone Hill stoneLooking south
Although just over 6-feet tall, this is a solid bulky old fella. But the spot he presently occupies isn’t his original standing place. He was found knocked over and lying on the ground in the middle of the 20th century, slightly out of position. But he was thankfully stood back upright by the local land-owners sometime in the 1960s, where he’s been stood ever since. It must have been one helluva job! And making it more difficult was the intriguing geological nature of the Earth right beneath this field. As the lady who now own the land told us,
“When the fields were tilled we found that all of them were easy to turn over, except the one with the stone in it! There’s virtually no soil of any depth to write home about,” she said. “It stands on only a few inches of soil and then you hit solid rock right underneath it. All the other fields are OK – but this one’s the odd one out.”
And before the fields were farmed, just over a hundred years ago, all this land was covered in moorland heather. Then the land was enclosed, the Earth’s heathland stripped out of existence and turned over to agriculture. But thankfully the standing stone was left here. It makes you wonder what else was destroyed when the moorlands were industrialised…
The stone does get a brief mention in Boughey & Vickerman’s (2003) Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, where they mention there being “three possible cups in (a) line on one side” of the standing stone, but these are little more than Nature’s handiwork and nowt else. There are a couple of other cup-and-rings nearby which are the real thing – but the ‘cups’ on this stone aint man-made.
Once to be seen on the highest point of the island, this impressive 9-foot tall standing stone is thought to have been removed during construction of the old lighthouse around 1833. First described by a traveller here in 1784, it was mentioned just once again during survey work in 1829. The monolith appears to have recorded the midwinter sunset.
References:
Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, Argyll – volume 2: Lorn, HMSO: Edinburgh 1975.
An old stone-lined burial cist could once be seen in this locale: reported in 1953 to have been “discovered in the southwest corner of a field south of Druimyeonbeg farmhouse.” When it was uncovered by the farmer, the covering capstone was missing. Any relics that may have been there were destroyed and there’s now no trace of anything.
References:
Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, Argyll – Volume 1: Kintyre, Glasgow 1971.
From the north-end of Loch Tay at Kenmore, follow the road (A827) round down the lochside, through the village of Fearnan and then another 4 miles down. If you park up at the pub at Lawers, walk back up the road for ½-mile, keeping your eyes peeled up the slope on the left where you’ll see the circle visible from the road.
Archaeology & History
Much has been said of this fine old place – also known as Lawer’s Mill – which seems to have been first described by Thomas Pennant in his rambling Tour in Scotland (1772). The local writer William A. Gillies (1938) told that after
“a recent examination of the ground around the circle…suggests that at one time there was an outer circle of stones concentric with the existing one. Most of the stones were removed in order to make more of the field available for cultivation, but there are still large stones buried within a few inches of the surface.”
Folklore
In J. McDiarmid’s Folklore of Breadalbane (1910) he tells of a man from Killin who, on passing by this old circle, heard haunting fairy music. Being inquisitive, he walked up to see what was going on and walked into the circle where the little people were playing. He was obviously lucky and the faerie-folk enjoyed his company, for when he left he was given the gift of a strong, fast, white steed.
Solar folklore may be…?
References:
Gillies, William A., In Famed Breadalbane, Munro Press: Perth 1938.
From Keighley town centre, head north towards Cliffe Castle, but turn left beforehand and along Hollins Lane. Go past Hollins Hall for a few hundred yards and then through the gate on your left, then straight up the steep hill to the small woodland at the top. On the OS-map it’s shown as ‘Great Snowden.’ You’re here!
Archaeology & History
A standing stone found recently by Lindsay Lockwood to the west of Keighley, albeit on supposedly private—ahem!—land (a number of old locals tell you, quite rightly, to ignore this selfishness; but be careful of the land-owners here, who can be quite miserable). Tis less than four-feet tall but with a very noticeable female genital carving on its top western face. This carving however, is perhaps 200 years old at the very most. It’s in a quite beautiful setting aswell…
The Yoni or Cunt Stone, UtleyBuddhist scholar Steve Hart fondling the stone
What may be the remains of an old hut circle, or an old drained-out pond (a big difference, I know!), can be found about 100 yards northwest, and one – possibly two – ‘cairns’ can also be found in the scattered trees immediately to the northeast. An old ‘druid’s bowl’ (natural cup-marking into which rain-water collects) can also be seen on an adjacent earthfast boulder. Some folk might wanna allege a bullaun, but it’d be pushing it a bit I think. More recent walling and what appears to be stonework from more recent centuries (medieval) appears evident close by. Whilst below the hill we have the recently discovered Dragon Stone cup-and-ring carving just a few hundred yards away.
The setting is not unlike the beautiful little standing stone of Tirai on the slopes of Glen Lochay, where amidst the recently deserted village the short squat standing stone is found. You get the same sorta feeling of more recent going-on with this site aswell.
The carved ‘cunt’ gives an even more intriguing thought as to what the stone was used for, around Beltane perhaps, by folk like misself and other straightforward doods!
I wasn’t sure exactly what to call the stone after Lindsay had found it. However, due to the carved minge near the top, it seemed right to give the stone a name relative to the carving — and as we have a Devil’s Cunt in the Netherlands, I opted to call it something similar.* Although ‘cunt’ is an old European word for ladies’ lovely parts, the word ‘Yoni’ is an eastern title, which has become very acceptable in Western parlance. In recent years there has emerged a distinct aversion to using our own, old word for female genitals (indicating how detached people have become from even their own roots).
* of the name ‘cunt stone’: the word cunt itself, as explored eloquently in the fine study by Peter Fryer, Mrs Grundy: Studies in English Prudery (Corgi: London 1965), was the acceptable term for ladies’ genitals in the days when this carving was evidently done, so thought it a most applicable title.
