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:
Baildon, W. Paley, Baildon and the Baildons – volume 1, St. Catherines: Adelphi 1913.
Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS: Wakefield 2003.
Hedges, John (ed.), The Carved Rocks of Rombald’s Moor, WYMCC: Wakefield 1986.
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.
Two main routes to get here: i) from Dick Hudson’s public house, head left (east) along Otley Road (passing Weecher reservoir) for 1.9 miles (3.1km) until you reach Reva reservoir where a track leads you to the waters, and there’s a small parking spot on the left-side of the road. Stop here. (ii) coming from Hawkworth and Guiseley, head west along Hawksworth Lane which runs into Goose Lane and, at the T-junction at the end, turn right and nearly 500 yards along on the left-side of the road is the same small parking spot. From here, walk uphill for nearly 150 yards and then look at the walling to your left.
Archaeology & History
Reva Cross on 1851 map
This relic can be found on the far eastern edges of Hawksworth Moor, near Guiseley, and was said by the historian Eric Cowling to have originally stood upon a large rock nearby. It has an odd history. Initially, the cross was an ancient boundary or mark stone, referred to in a 15th Century document and outlined by William Preston in 1911, that marked the limit of the southern township of Burley township. Local historian C.J.F. Atkinson asserted that this cross in fact came from Otley, although his ideas were considered somewhat “fanciful” by archaeologists and other historians.
Its present position by the roadside is relatively new as it stood, not too long ago, a short distance away in the field to the rear, as highlighted on the early OS-map of this area. E.C. Waight of the archaeology division to Ordnance Survey wrote:
“Situated at SE 1530 4297 on the western side of the gate from the road into the field containing the remains of Reva Cross is a cross base (apparently in situ) serving as a bolster stone to the wall head at the gate opening.”
He described the dimensions of the base and the remainder of the cross, both of which “are contemporary with one and other,” he told. In the 1960s, the local council moved the cross to its present position.
Tradition told that despite its religious symbolism, it was also used as a market cross in bygone times. A certain Mrs Fletcher (1960), writing to the Cartwright Hall Archaeology Group, narrated that,
“Mrs Turner Greenwood….tells me that her mother, who, if living, would be in her nineties, lived at Gaping Goose Farm on the western side of Reva Hill… Mrs Greenwood’s father.. .remembered the cross erected on this hill, and related seeing the roads black with people climbing to it from Otley and Bingley, for the market held there.”
Despite this, Sidney Jackson was somewhat sceptical of it being the site of a market. Weather conditions and the bleakness of the spot would have made this site somewhat intolerable, he thought. However, people in previous centuries were much hardier than modern people and so it’s not as unlikely as you’d initially think.
Close-up of crossSid Jackson’s sketch
A much more interesting tradition of the cross was its use in times gone by as a Plague Stone. However, this name only applied to the cross-base at the time as no cross was stood upon it; merely a natural rock laid upon the moorside with a basin cut into it. It gained this name around the time of the great plague of 1660. During the plague, food was left on this table-like rock and money in return was placed in a basin full of vinegar. This tradition may have originated at the large natural rock bowl on one of the earthfast stones near the very top of Reva Hill a short distance to the west (also a number of cup-marked stones are close by and folklore records show that some cup-marks had healing properties). One account tells that it was Sir Walter Hawksworth (of the legendary Grand Lodge of ALL England masonic lodge) who was responsible for the siting of the cross as a Plague Stone.
References:
Cowling, Eric T., Rombald’s Way, William Walker: Otley 1946.
Cowling, Eric T., ‘Letter,’ in Cartwright Hall Archaeology Group Bulletin, 5:5, May 1960.
Fletcher, Elsie, “Letter,” in Cartwright Hall Archaeology Group Bulletin, 5:5, May 1960.
Jackson, Sidney, “Ancient Crosses,” in Cartwright Hall Archaeology Group Bulletin, 1:12, 1955.
Jackson, Sidney, “Cross on Reva Hill,” in Cartwright Hall Archaeology Group Bulletin, 5:1, p.2, 1960.
Jackson, Sidney, “Reva Hill Cross Base Found,” in Cartwright Hall Archaeology Group Bulletin, 9:9, September 1964.
Jackson, Sidney, “Fresh Site for Reva Cross,” in Cartwright Hall Archaeology Group Bulletin, 11:7, July 1966.
Preston, William Easterbrook, “On an Ancient Stone Cross on Riva Hill,” in Bradford Antiquary, New Series 3, 1911.
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.
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:
Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS: Wakefield 2003.
Jackson, Sidney, “Cup-marked Boulders, Baildon Finds,” in Cartwright Hall Archaeology Group Bulletin, volume 6, no. 6, 1961.
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.
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.”
Single cup-mark (?)One of the cup-and-rings (?), top-left
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…
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.
Faint cup&ring just visible
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.
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
Cup, incomplete ring & line
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.
Get up to the Swastika Stone, then head west along the footpath towards the Piper Stone. Shortly before there, you’ll see the small cup-marked Piper’s Crag (3) carving, just by the walling. From this carving, just step a few yards down the slope and on the smooth sloping rock face is this faded carving. You’ll see it.
Archaeology & History
A larger than normal single cup-mark near the bottom slope of this rock has an incomplete ring around its east and southern edges, possibly with another broken element of it on its northern edge. It’s difficult to work out whether or not this is one of Nature’s curious markings and so needs looking at in different lights to work it out, one way or the other. It’s included in Boughey & Vickerman’s (2018) updated rock art survey, but there are a number quite natural cup-marks in that tome, so we need to exercise a little bit of caution here. However, it does seem to have a greater degree of authenticity than some of the other dubious single cup-marked stones in their book. Check it out on your way to the Piper’s Stone.
References:
Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding Supplement, 2018.
Heading up from Ilkley, follow the directions to reach the Swastika Stone, then keep walking (west) along the footpath to the small clump of trees, and keep walking past them too and keep going along the same path as if you’re heading toward the Piper’s Stone. About 200 yards before reaching it, just where the gate and boundary stone is in the old walling, there’s a small line of crags to the right of your feet and there, at the edge of the path, is the stone in question. You’ll see it (unless it’s a cloudy gray day, in which case you might struggle).
Archaeology & History
The two cup-marks
This is one of a number of cup-marked stones that you’ll find scattering this part of the moor, almost all of which are Nature’s handiwork (a few of these natural carvings have somehow found their way into Keith Boughey’s [2018] updated West Riding rock art book). I’m not 110% certain that this doesn’t have Nature’s name on it either, but it’s got a greater degree of probability to it than some of the others. It’s a simple little thing, as y’ can see, consisting of just the two cup-marks, smaller than usual, living next to each other. If it’s the real deal, we can surmise that it may have been carved by a young person back-in-the-days. In the walling just above this stone you can see the medieval boundary stone, which might—just might—have a prehistoric pedigree to it….
References:
Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding Supplement, 2018.
Follow the directions as if you’re visiting the fascinating Wondjina Stone and its companion. From here look at the large rocks on the edge of the drop a few yards away (west) and you’re looking for the flattest rectangular rock jutting out over the edge of the slope, about 15 yards from the walling. The carvings of Rivock (2) and (3) are on the adjacent rocks.
Archaeology & History
The southernmost of (at least) three cup-marked rocks on the edge of this outcrop, it isn’t a carving I’d necessarily include in my own surveys nowadays. It’s a dubious one to say the least. Nonetheless, earlier surveyors added it in their catalogues.
Lichen-covered “cups”
First mentioned in John Hedges’ (1986) survey, this large and roughly flat rectangular boulder possesses three or four questionable cups close to the edge of the stone. Boughey & Vickerman (2003) subsequently included it in their own work—copying Hedges’ notes—and told it to be a “large rock. About three cups on NW side.” Have a look at it when you visit the other more impressive Rivock carvings nearby and see what you think…
References:
Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS 2003.
Hedges, John (ed.), The Carved Rocks on 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.
Take the same directions as if you’re visiting the fascinating Wondjina Stone and its companion. From here, just a few yards to the west, are the large rocks overhanging the steep hill, several of which have cup-markings on them (including the carvings Rivock Nose [1] and [2]). This particular carving is the one closest to the wall. You can’t really miss it!
Archaeology & History
Line of 3 cups
A simplistic design that’ll only be of interest to the real geeks amongst you; but you might as well give it your attention when you’re looking at the adjacent Wondjina Stone. On its large surface, the most notable ingredients are the three large cups that run (roughly) in a straight line from the middle of the stone to its outer pointy edge. You can see them pretty clearly in the photo. Several other cup-marks can be seen on the more northwesterly side of the stone.
It was first described in John Hedges (1986) survey, whose notes were simply copied in the subsequent survey of Boughey & Vickerman (2003) where, in their traditional way, gave a very basic description, saying, “Large gritstone outcrop: 3m x 2m. Five cups towards NW edge.”
References:
Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS 2003.
Hedges, John (ed.), The Carved Rocks on 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.
