Cairnfauld Field, Lilburn, Wooler, Northumberland

Cup-and-Ring Stone (lost):  OS Grid Reference – NU 013 264

Also Known as:

  1. Cairnfold Field

Archaeology & History

In James Hardy’s (1889) essay describing new archaeological finds from the Lilburn area, he told of seeing a triple-ringed petroglyph that seems to have been cast up from one of the cairns in the adjacent field.  I can find no other reference to this.  He wrote:

“On a wall top, near a gate not far from the Cairn-fauld’s field, lies a detached stone, supposed to have come from a cairn, with three circles and a hollow central cup incised on it, which no one  seems to care for.”

Does anyone know what has become of it?  Mr Hardy also described a series of other carvings a few fields away to the east, some with quite ornate cup-and-ring designs.  These have never subsequently been seen and remain hidden.

References:

  1. Hardy, James, “Further Discoveries of Pre-Historic Graves, Urns and other Antiquities, on Lilburn Hill Farm,” in Archaeoogia Aeliana, volume 13, 1889.

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

© Paul BennettThe Northern Antiquarian

Reva Hill (8), Hawksworth, West Yorkshire

Cup-Marked Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SE 152 434

Getting Here

Naathen… I’d give you the directions of how to find this stone, but I’m not sure of its precise location.  Just get to the top of Reva Hill, on its more westerly side, and it’s somewhere on its upper slopes.  I was up here again recently and hoped to find it, but the grasses might have grown back over it.  If one of you petroglyph fans manages to locate it, please can you send me its exact grid-reference, so I can update the site profile.

Archaeology & History

This was one in a cluster of carvings that were rediscovered in 2011 and which I’ve not managed to re-locate (bad boy).  It’s very plain and simple, as you can see.  Indeed, I was lucky to even notice it, as the central photograph above shows how faint and eroded the cup-marks are in normal light.  Thankfully with a bit of water, what I initially thought may have been two cup-marks, turned into three or four of them.  So the next time you’re having a look at the Fraggle Rock carving and its companions, remember that this little fella is hiding somewhere close by…

© Paul BennettThe Northern Antiquarian

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

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

Getting Here

Carving 356a, Green Crag

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

Shallow cupmarks visible

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.

© Paul BennettThe Northern Antiquarian

Auchentorlie, Old Kilpatrick, Dumbartonshire

Cup-and-Ring Stones (lost):  OS Grid Reference – NS 444 747

Archaeology & History

A couple of interesting multiple-ringed carvings were found high up on the slopes above Bowling, not far from the Bow Linn waterfalls, near the end of the 19th century.  John Bruce (1893) told that, shortly after the discovery of the Cochno carvings,

“in the year 1889, two cup and ring marked stones were discovered in a dyke near the old farmhouse of Auchentorlie while the reservoir for the district water supply was being excavated close by.”

But since then, they seem to have disappeared.  Searches for them by the old petroglyph writer Ron Morris in the 1960s and the Royal Commission lads in the 1970s both drew a blank.  If we’re lucky, they might be hiding in a box somewhere, in the storage rooms of Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Museum.  As you can from the sketches done by W.A. Donnelly, they’re quite impressive.  The drawings give the impression that they were small portable carvings, which may suggest they were once part of a prehistoric cist or cairn, although no such site has been found in this locale.  If this isn’t the case, their small size is an oddity.

References:

  1. Bruce, John, The History of the Parish of West or Old Kilpatrick,  John Smith: Glasgow 1893.
  2. Morris, Ronald W.B. & Bailey, Douglas C., “The Cup-and-Ring Marks and Similar Sculptures of Southwestern Scotland: A Survey,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 98, 1966.
  3. Royal Commission Ancient Historical Monuments, Scotland, The Archaeological Sites and Monuments of Dumbarton District…, HMSO: Edinburgh 1978.

© Paul BennettThe Northern Antiquarian

Dumbuck Hill, Milton, Dumbarton, Dumbartonshire

Cup-Marked Stone (lost):  OS Grid Reference – NS 419 747

Archaeology & History

Very little is known of this site.  It was discovered in the 1890s by a Mr W.A. Donnelly who was responsible for some of the early drawings of the famous Cochno Stone carving (found a few miles east of here), but it seems that he made no such sketch of this particular carving—although it doesn’t sound too impressive when we compare it to some of the others in this area.  It was thankfully mentioned, albeit briefly by John Bruce (1893), who told that it was “a boulder with a large basin and a duct heading therefrom…at the foot of Dumbuck Hill.”  The carving may well have been destroyed by quarrying.

References:

  1. Bruce, John, The History of the Parish of West or Old Kilpatrick,  John Smith: Glasgow 1893.
  2. Morris, Ronald W.B. & Bailey, Douglas C., “The Cup-and-Ring Marks and Similar Sculptures of Southwestern Scotland: A Survey,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 98, 1966.
  3. Royal Commission Ancient Historical Monuments, Scotland, The Archaeological Sites and Monuments of Dumbarton District…, HMSO: Edinburgh 1978.

© Paul BennettThe Northern Antiquarian

Dunarbuck, Old Kilpatrick, Dumbartonshire

Cup-Marked Stone (lost):  OS Grid Reference – NS 449 740

Also Known as:

  1. Dunerbuck
  2. Greenland (5)

Archaeology & History

Bruce’s 1893 sketch

This small and visually trivial cup-marked stone is one of a number in this neck o’ the woods that have either been destroyed or simply lost.  This stone has the “lost” label stamped on it!  It was first described in John Bruce’s (1893) classic local history work where he told it to be “a boulder of sandstone with three cup-marks…(that) lies on the slope of the Hill of Dun, about 100 yards north of Dunerbuck  farmhouse.”  It doesn’t appear to have been seen since, as none of the classic petroglyph writers described seeing it and a search for it in Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Museum in the 1960s drew a blank.  The carving has subsequently been added to archaeological inventories with the standard, “this cup-marked boulder cannot now be located.”  It may yet be found, overgrown by grasses and mosses, just that hundred yards or so above the buildings behind Dunarbuck.  That entire area needs scanning to be honest…

References:

  1. Bruce, John, The History of the Parish of West or Old Kilpatrick,  John Smith: Glasgow 1893.
  2. Bruce, John, “Notice of Remarkable Groups of Archaic Sculpturings in Dumbartonshire and Stirlingshire,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, volume 301896.
  3. Royal Commission Ancient Historic Monuments, Scotland, The Archaeological Sites and Monuments of Dumbarton District…, HMSO: Edinburgh 1978.

© Paul BennettThe Northern Antiquarian

Eaves Crag, Baildon Moor, West Yorkshire

Cup-and-Ring Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SE 15073 40440

Also Known as:

  1. Carving no.50 (Hedges)
  2. Carving no.194 (Boughey & Vickerman)

Getting Here

Eaves Crag carving

Take the road up through Baildon village, across at the roundabout up Northgate and up onto the moor, then after a few hundred yards turn left on the Bingley Road.  About five hundred yards along, keep your eyes peeled for where the ruined reservoirs are to the left-side of the road.  Straight across the road from here (north) you’ll see the small cliffs of Eaves Crag.  Walk along the footpath that runs above the cliffs and, about 80 yards past them, keep your eyes peeled on the ground right in the middle of the path.  You can’t really miss it!

Archaeology & History

Basic cup-and half-ring

First mentioned in passing in the magnum opus of W. Paley Baildon (1913) and subsequently in one of Sidney Jackson’s (1955) series of profiles on the Baildon Moor carvings, this all but insignificant carving comprises of a simple cup-and-half-ring and another singular cup-mark a little further along the stone.  John Hedges (1986) described this carving as being a “well marked cup surrounded by horseshoe groove – also well marked.  Possible small cup and incomplete ring.”  Whilst the minimalists Boughey & Vickerman (2003) told it to be simply, “two cups, one with incomplete ring.”  A peculiarity with this design is that it might have been cut by a metal implement, perhaps in the Bronze Age, perhaps even in the Iron Age.  We might never know…

References:

  1. Baildon, W. Paley, Baildon and the Baildons – volume 1, St. Catherines: Adelphi 1913.
  2. Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS: Wakefield 2003.
  3. Hedges, John (ed.), The Carved Rocks of Rombald’s Moor, WYMCC: Wakefield 1986.
  4. Jackson, Sidney, ‘Cup and Ring Boulders of Baildon Moor,’ in Bradford’s Cartwright Hall Archaeology Group Bulletin, 1:10, 1955.

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

© Paul BennettThe Northern Antiquarian

Nut Head Wood, Steeton, West Yorkshire

Cup-and-Ring Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SE 03308 43184

Getting Here

Nut Head Wood carving

From Steeton village, go up Mill Lane, turning right and then bending up the steep Barrows Lane for a half-mile or so, where in turns into Redcar Lane.  There’s a row of old cottages on your left with a green lane track running into the fields at the back of them. Four fields along you’ll reach a long straight line of walling running uphill.  Up here, above and past the long geological stretch of quarried rocks, the land levels out and two trees sit next to each other by walling.  The carving’s beneath them.

Archaeology & History

Close-up of carving

Rediscovered in the summer of 2024 by Thomas Cleland, a deeply worn cup-mark is the primary feature of this petroglyph on the topmost section of the stone, with the remains of a faint incomplete ring around one side of it. Three or four other smaller cup-marks can be seen close to the main one.  There may be another cup-marked stone on an adjacent rock, with a lines running away from it, but we need to see that in better light or have one of the computer-tech doods to give it their attention to know for sure.

© Paul BennettThe Northern Antiquarian

Lane End, Baildon, Shipley, West Yorkshire

Cup-Marked Stone (destroyed):  OS Grid Reference – SE 152 393

Also Known as:

  1. Carving no.195

Archaeology & History

A basic cup-marked stone could once be seen up near the top of the slope behind the Bay Horse pub as you’re heading up to Baildon village.  The site would seem to have been destroyed following the demolition of buildings thereby.  A photograph of the carving was taken and it was described, albeit briefly, by Sidney Jackson (1961), who told:

“A small boulder with two cups in it was found at the junction of a narrow bye road leading to 30 Lane Ends, Baildon, with the road which runs behind the Bay Horse Inn, on 12 April (1961), by Mr Alan E. Rowe, 10 Beaufort Grove, Bolton, Bradford  and a photograph of it was taken for the Museum Reference Collection.”

Years back I contacted the Bradford Museum about this photo and they were about as helpful as a zionist in Palestine! – i.e., I never got to see it.  It would be good if someone could locate the image.

References:

  1. Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS: Wakefield 2003.
  2. Jackson, Sidney, “Cup-marked Boulders, Baildon Finds,” in Cartwright Hall Archaeology Group Bulletin, volume 6, no. 6, 1961.

© Paul BennettThe Northern Antiquarian

Snowden Carr (570a), Timble, North Yorkshire

Cup-Marked Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SE 1777 5128

Getting Here

The stone in question

From the Askwith Moor car-park (SE 1757 5067), walk along the road north for a few hundred yards until you reach the gate on your right and head through the heather to the Death’s Head carving.  From here walk in a northwesterly direction up the gentle slope for 50-60 yards and, before reaching its crown, keep your eyes peeled for a low flat stone with a curvaceous crack running roughly halfway across it.  If the heather’s deep, you might not have a cat in hell’s chance of finding it!

Archaeology & History

This carving isn’t much to look at on two levels: i) it’s a pretty simplistic design with no rings, and (ii) it’s very faint and almost impossible to see until the light is just right—except for one of the cups, which itself might be natural (there are a few like that amidst the Askwith complex).  It’s very much a carving for the purists among you, as I always say.  Nonetheless, for the record:

Crap sketch of design

Faint cups visible

The most notable element is the single “cup mark” on the more easterly section of the stone, on one side of the natural crack.  It catches your eye and is what makes you give the stone a little more attention, although I couldn’t make up my mind whether this was Nature’s handiwork or humans.  It may be a bit of both.  On the other side the crack we can see a small group of very faint eroded cup-marks — just!  What seems to be three of them cluster in a small triangle formation, but one of these may be natural (tis hard to say for sure), with another isolated cup closer to the crack, and a final one further to the outer edge of the stone.  All are very faint but stood out when the sun was low on our recent visit here.  Give it your attention when you’re next having a look at the settlement and cairnfield close by.

© Paul BennettThe Northern Antiquarian