Batty Wife Hole, Ribblehead, North Yorkshire

Ring Cairn (lost):  OS Grid Reference – SD 7622 7895

Getting Here

Old circle near Ribblehead (after Harry Speight)
Old circle near Ribblehead (after Harry Speight)

The great Yorkshire historian Harry Speight (1892) gave the directions for this place, which I’ve not located.  On his walk down the southern side off Whernside, he told us to “follow the road which runs between Gunnerfleet and the white house at Winterscales, going under the long viaduct and round by Batty Wife Hole onto the main road at Ribblehead….” About 100 yards or so down the road, look over the walling into the field on the left-hand side. It’s there…..somewhere!

Archaeology & History

In an area that is pretty rich in prehistoric sites, one of our great Yorkshire antiquarians, Harry Speight (1892) seems to have described a site which our archaeologists have yet to get round to finding.  He told that,

“nearer the wall there are indications of a rude, double circle, artificially formed of these dark weathered grits.  The inner circle is about 20 yards in diameter and the outer one forms a narrow aisle surrounding it, with an outlet to the north; but some of the stones have been removed, probably to build and repair the adjoining fences.  The situation is open and commands the country on all sides between the lofty moors and summits that hem in the dale-head.  On the opposite side of the road are the remains of a couple of large cairns.  They are presumably Danish.  One was opened about a century ago (c.1790), and found to cover a rude stone coffin containing an entire human skeleton.  The other large pile does not ever appear to have been examined. It is more than probable that many a furious battel has been waged here, as the possession of this prominent ridge, which dominates so many particular outlets, must have been of capital importance to every hostile tribe.”

Although the Victorian christian beliefs of ‘rudeness’ in everything and rampant hostile tribes, has long since subsided in the view of our ancestors.  This area described by Speight does sound like an old burial ground.  But from which age – and where now are the sites he described?

References:

  1. Speight, Harry, The Craven and Northwest Yorkshire Highlands, Elliot Stock: London 1892.

© Paul BennettThe Northern Antiquarian


Sheep Scar Circle, Giggleswick, North Yorkshire

Ring Cairn:  OS Grid Reference – SD 80519 66474

Also Known as:

  1. Borrins Top

Getting Here

Sheep Scar cairn circle, looking east

From Settle, take the same direction as if you’re visiting the giant Apronful of Stones cairn.  Walk past it, keeping to the walling for 350 yards (319m) until you reach the gate on your right.  Go through this and walk along the grassy footpath ahead of you for 75 yards (68.5m) and there, right by your left-hand side, you’ll see this low grassy circular embanked monument, or cairn circle.

Archaeology & History

This gorgeous, little-known cairn circle, hiding almost unseen beside the ancient grassy pathway that leads down to the haunted Borrins Wood, sits innocently, forgotten by those who would claim its importance.  When this overgrown ring of stones was first built, the trees of Borrins Wood grew around the sacred court of this monument, watching rites committed to the ancestors, annually no doubt at the very least, under guidance of the Moon.  But now such ways have been swept from the memory of those living, into worlds made-up of artifacts, linear time and dualist ideals, and our thoughts when brought here are encloaked by beliefs not worthy of such a place.  Like many other small rings of stone, this was important for the rites of the dead.  For here we can see a small stone-lined cist (grave) near the middle still growing from the Earth, with the small outer ring encircling the place of rites.  It was obviously of ‘religious’ importance to those who lived here, probably even centuries after initial construction.

Embankment and central ‘grave’
Central & southern section of the ring

Similar in size and structure to the Roms Law Circle on Burley Moor, this site on the hills above Giggleswick seems to be Bronze Age in nature.  From outer-edge to outer-edge the rough circular monument measures approximately 14½ yards (13m) north-south, by 15½ yards (14m) east-west, with an outer circumference of about 49 yards (43m).  The edges of the ring, as you can see in the photos, is made up of an embankment of thousands of small stones and rubble, measuring between 1-2 feet high and between 2-3 yards across.  The old cist in the middle of the ring—about 1 yard by 2 yards—has been dug into at some time in the past and a small mound of stones surround this central grave.  The entire monument is very much overgrown, but still appears to be in relatively good condition.  A new excavation of this and nearby prehistoric monuments would prove worthwhile.

The ruined circle has a tranquil spirit, enclosed within a rich green panoramic landscape, enhanced with the breaking of old limestone and gnarled hawthorns.  Other prehistoric cairns can be found nearby and the remains of a previously unrecorded prehistoric enclosure stands out on a small rise 164 yards (150m) southeast.  We’ve found other unrecorded prehistoric remains in this arena which will be added to TNA, as and when…

References:

  1. Speight, Harry, The Craven and Northwest Yorkshire Highlands, Elliott Stock: London 1892.

Links:

  1. Images & Walk to the Sheep Scar Circle and Nearby Sites

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Sheep Scar Cairn, Giggleswick, North Yorkshire

Cairn:  OS Grid Reference – SD 80678 66436

Getting Here

Paul Hornby on the old mound

Follow the same directions as if you’re visiting the Apronful of Stones giant cairn, above Giggleswick.  Walk past the giant cairn for a coupla hundred yards until you reach the large section of fallen walling, which you can clamber over and head towards the small rise of the Sheep Scar enclosure 100 yards in front of you.  Walk to the far end of this walled enclosure and look down the slope to your left, for 50-60 yards where you’ll see a small rocky mound rising above the edge of the hollow footpath.  That’s it!

Archaeology & History

This lovely old overgrown prehistoric cairn seems to one of what were once the remains of many other old tombs that scattered this grassy rocky plain, on the western ridge between Stainforth and Settle.  Although there are what seems to be the remnants of others nearby, this particular stone heap, its edges buried beneath centuries of earth, is a fine little-known specimen that deserves attention after so long a period in the sleep of ignorant moderns.  The cairn is found within an area that Harry Speight (1892) called the “Field of the Dead”, where he came across “traces and remains of human graves which carry us back to the far dim ages of unwritten history.”  Whether he saw this particular cairn rising up above the edge of the old track that winds up from Borrins in the valley below, he doesn’t say — but I’d be amazed if the diligent Speight missed it!

The overgrown cairn, looking NW
Cairn centre, with Sheep Scar enclosure above

Standing more than a yard high, when Paul Horby and I paced this old ruin, it measured 10 yards by 12 yards across — though so much loose and overgrown stone was beneath the surface that it could be much bigger.  The top of the cairn had come loose, perhaps explored by some antiquarian in times gone by, exposing a considerable mass of small rounded and misshapen rocks, typical of such constructions.  When Harry Speight found the place more than a hundred years earlier, he described the situation much as we’d found it, telling of,

“other mounds of similar and smaller dimensions within the same area, some of which have been examined, but others do not appear to have been disturbed.  Many of the barrows or ‘raises’ have at some time or other been carelessly dug into in the hope of finding valuables, and as doubtless in most cases nothing was found but rude chests or coffins, containing bones, these were tossed aside and no record of them deemed worthy of preservation.”

A situation we find still prevalent thanks to the ignorance of some archaeologists in some regions of Yorkshire to this day (despite what they tell folk).  We could see nothing of any note in our brief look at this old cairn, except that it had the usual hallmarks of prehistory in its form, probably Bronze Age.  Possible remains of other similar-sized cairns can be seen a little further up the slope on the northeastern edges of the enclosure.  The prehistoric Sheep Scar Cairn Circle and other ancient remains scatter the fields all round here; something indicated by the place-name Borrins found in the woods below the ridge, meaning simply, ‘burial place.’ (Smith 1956: 57-8)

References:

  1. Smith, A.H., English Place-Name Elements – volume 1, Cambridge University Press 1956.
  2. Speight, Harry, The Craven and Northwest Yorkshire Highlands, Elliott Stock: London 1892.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Slade Cairnfield, Blubberhouses Moor, North Yorkshire

Cairnfield:  OS Grid Reference – SE 141 543

Getting Here

One of several recently discovered small cairns

Follow the same directions to reach the recently discovered Slade-02 carving; and simply walk 30 yards southwest.  The scattered ruins of numerous small stone piles, visible only when the heather’s been burnt back, is what you need to be looking for.

Archaeology & History

First discovered on a Northern Antiquarian outing in July 2011, it’s difficult to give an accurate appraisal of this site as much of the landscape all round here is very overgrown in deep heather.   Added to this, there is evidence of more recent medieval and post-medieval industrial activity that’s intruded and/or affected the earlier prehistoric remains that are evident here.  But these factors aside, we can say with certainty that here is a previously unrecognized prehistoric cairnfield — and it may be of some considerable size.

Ruined hut or cairn circle

We have so far located at least seven individual cairns and a cairn circle in relative proximity to each other, thanks to local rangers burning back the heather.  It was the discovery of the cairns which then led to the discovery of the nearby cup-and-ring stones.  Amidst the cairn-spoils there are also distinctive lines of stone, indicative of either walling or embankments of some form or another.  Some of the stone making up this cairnfield appears to have been robbed. We also found that in walking through the deeper heather surrounding this ‘opening’ (where it had been burned away a few months previously), a number of other man-made piles of stone were evident that seemed to indicate more cairns.  There is also evidence of further lines of prehistoric walling, whose precise nature is as yet unknown. But we do know that people have been on this moorland since Mesolithic times (structural and other remains of which are still evident less than a half-mile away).

The site requires greater attention the next time the heather’s been burnt back.

References:

  1. Davies, J., “A Mesolithic Site on Blubberhouses Moor, Wharfedale,” in Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, part 161 (volume 41), 1963.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Sheep Scar Enclosure, Giggleswick, North Yorkshire

Enclosure:  OS Grid Reference – SD 80648 66374

Getting Here

Aerial view of enclosure

To reach here, follow the same directions to get to the Apronful of Stones giant cairn.  Walk on the footpath past the cairn for about 200 yards until you reach a large gap where the old walling has collapsed.  Go through this and walk across the limestone rocks, towards the small rocky hillock rising up 100 hundred yards in front to your east (not the more rounded one to the north).  That’s it!

Archaeology & History

This is a most intriguing find, and one to which I can find no other literary reference (though I aint checked Brayshaw’s Giggleswick).  An undeniably large natural hillock has been modified and added to by people at some considerable time long ago and at some considerable effort!  Measuring more than 47 yards (43m) roughly east-west, and 21 yards (19m) north-south, the most definable man-made remains here is the length of elliptical walling on the southern and western edges.  The internal circumference of the enclosure measures roughly 113 yards (103m) all round the edges.  The northern and eastern sides of the hill would appear to be mainly natural, but seem to have been modified a little — not unlike the mass of settlements and enclosures a few miles to the east, like Torlery Edge, Lantern Holes and others around Malham Moor and district.

The site needs professional assessment: first to ascertain its period (which seems Iron Age on first impression, but could be much later), and second to ascertain its nature.  On the ridges close by we find a veritable mass of archaeological remains, ranging between Bronze Age to Medieval in nature.  The giant Apronful of Stones is only 172 yards (158m) south; the Sheep Scar cairn circle 156 yards (143m) northwest; and one of the remaining Sheep Scar cairns only 58 yards (53m) away.  And hopefully when we return to the place next week (fingers crossed!), we’ll be able to get some more photos of the walling you can see that define some edges of the site…

…to be continued…

References:

  1. Brayshaw, Thomas & Robinson, Ralph M., A History of the Ancient Parish of Giggleswick, Halton & Co.: London 1932.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Feizor Thwaite, Lawkland, North Yorkshire

Ring Cairn:  OS Grid Reference – SD 79798 67473

Getting Here

Feizor Thwaite circle (after ‘QDanT’)

From Feizor village, take the dirt-track south that cuts up between the two cottages and walk onto the level.  From here, the walling bends round and a small cut runs up the slope on your left.  Go up here and onto the top, bearing left again when you reach the footpath near the top of the slope.  Walk along here until the hills open up before you and less than 100 yards along, just on the right-hand side of the path, you’ll notice the overgrown outline of a ring just by the side.  Don’t miss it (like I did!).

Archaeology & History

Danny, Paul and I visited here a few weeks back on a fine sunny day and, my attention caught by some nearby rocks that got mi nose twitching, I just about walked past the place until Danny called me back and said, “Oy – ‘ave y’ not seen this?”  Right under my nose no less!

Feizor Thwaite circle, looking northwest

The site’s a little known circular monument east of Feizor village, less than a mile northwest of the cairnfield above Stackhouse (where lives the Apronful of Stones and other prehistoric friends).  Marked on modern OS-maps as an ‘enclosure,’ the site here is in fact an overgrown cairn circle, typical in size and form of the ones found at nearby Borrins Top, Burley Moor, Askwith Moor and elsewhere in the Pennines.  Measuring (from outer edge to outer edge) 66 feet 6 inches east-west and 59 feet north-south, the remains here consist of a raised embankment of stones, encircling an inner flatter region consisting of many smaller stones beneath the overgrowth of grasses and vegetation.  Locals told me that the some of the cairns up here were explored early in the 20th century by a local man called Tot Lord, but I’m unsure whether he looked at this one.

There are a couple of other smaller circular remains on the same grassland plain, clearly visible from aerial imagery, along with other crop-marks of human activity on this part of the Feizor Thwaite landscape.  More antiquarian analysis could do with focussing here to see what can be found!

Links:

  1. Feizor Thwaite & other nearby prehistoric sites
  2. Feizor Thwaite Computer Art

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Feizor, Lawkland, North Yorkshire

Standing Stone (destroyed):  OS Grid Reference – SD 78570 67177

Archaeology & History

Feizor on 1851 map
Feizor on 1851 map

There have been no previous archaeological reference to this site (until now), which was included in early place-names records (Smith 1961) and was also highlighted on the first Ordnance Survey map of the region around 1851.  Probably as a result of the archaeological lacking, the upright stone has finally succumbed to the destructive actions of modern man. When we asked the farmer if he knew owt about any standing stone here, he said he knew “nowt abaat that.”

Feizor stone stump
and from another angle

All that can be seen today is the very small stump of stone, just visible above ground level, in the middle of the field.  It’s not easy to spot either, as the grasses grow over what’s left.  But we found the slim remnant of the stump embedded in exactly the spot marked on old and modern maps, measuring 24 inches in length and just 4 inches across at the widest, with what seemed like worn rounded edges at either end.  We were unable to ascertain the depth of the remaining stone in the ground. The stone looks simply as if it’s been snapped at the base.  We have no idea how tall this standing stone was.

If any local people know anything more about this stone, or have any old photos, we’d love to hear from you — and would obviously give due credit for any help on this matter.

References:

  1. Smith, A.H., The Place-Names of the West Riding of Yorkshire – volume 6, Cambridge University Press 1961.

Links:

  1. Feizor stone remnants & walks to nearby prehistoric sites

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian 


Eller Edge (429), Pock Stones Moor, Thruscross, North Yorkshire

Cup-Marked Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SE 0902 6150

Also Known as:

  1. Carving no.429 (Boughey & Vickerman)
Eller Edge stone 429

Getting Here

A slight walk to get here.  Follow the same directions as if you’re going to the Eller Edge 431 carving.  Once here, walk west as if you’re going into the middle of the field, keeping your eyes peeled about 20 yards along for a small-ish rounded stone with nice colours of lichen amidst the grasses.  If you’re patient, you’ll find it soon enough!

Archaeology & History

This is another simple cup-marked stone on the grassland ridge overlooking higher Wharfedale.  The carving here is a little clearer and more well-defined than that of its close neighbours, with a number of simple cups visible on its rounded surface.  We counted seven such cups on our cloudy-day visit, but Boughey & Vickerman (2003) thought there might be a little more, describing the stone simply:

from another angle
B & V’s drawing

“Small lichen-covered rough grit rock.  About eight cups and two depressions.”

A rubbing of this small stone (as practiced by English Heritage and rock art students alike) would prove useful in bringing out any other ingredients in the ancient design.  And whilst you’re in this field, have a look at the curious Spiral Stone and some of the other cup-markings close by.

References:

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

Links:

  1. Eller Edge Rock Art – more notes & images

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Heyshaw Moor (north), Dacre, North Yorkshire

Cairns:  OS Grid Reference – SE 16218 63253

Getting Here

Heyshaw cairn, looking NW

From the road between Pateley Bridge and Summerbridge, the B6165, turn down to Glasshouses, following the road through the village and round past the reservoir; then as the road bends, keep to your left and go the steep zigzaggy hill, stopping where a gravel parking space is on the right-hand side of the road, by the bend.  From here, cross the road and walk up the footpath to Yorke’s Folly.  Go over the wall and along the footpath by the wall (the Nidderdale Way) for a coupla hundred yards.  Then turn into the heather about 50 yards up from the walling.  Look around!

Archaeology & History

Heyshaw Moor cairn no.1

There’s no previous reference to this site.  It was found yesterday and is one of several such small heaps of stones (cairns) found along the flat ridge of moorland just south the hugely impressive of Guisecliff Crags on the northern edge of Heyshaw Moor.  The one illustrated here is probably the best of the several we found and may be indicative of a previously undiscovered cairnfield.  On a visit to the western side of the moors a few months ago we found another small cluster of similar cairns in very good condition, much like the one pictured here.  It would appear to be prehistoric in nature — although the existence of an old track that ran nearly 20 yards to the west may indicate its previous use as a marker cairn.  On the slopes below here (north) there are several examples of cup-and-ring stones, which tend to indicate the proximity of prehistoric graves.  This cairn could well be such marker.

We also found evidence of other early human remains on this ridge and further up the moor (walling, rectangular building, possible cairn circle), but there appears to be no literary information explaining its nature.  Further visits are needed here.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Slade Carving (02), Blubberhouses Moor, North Yorkshire

Cup-Marked Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SE 1411 5431

Also Known as:

  1. Owl Stone
  2. Sunset Stone

Getting Here

Cup-and-rings, looking NE

Same directions as the Slade 01 carving.  But once you reach the upstanding stone cairn on the rocky hill, walk 220 yards (less than 200m) WSW and look around.  You’re damn close!  If you find the large cup-marked Slade 03 carving,  walk back east about 10-20 yards and you can’t really miss it!

Archaeology & History

This is just one of at least seven previously undiscovered carvings on this section of moorland – and it’s worth looking for!  The two other names we gave it — ‘owl’ and ‘sunset’ — come from the very notable design: owl thanks to it having the appearance of large owl-like eyes, and sunset as the two cup-and-rings are etched on the western edge of the rock and, when we found it yesterday, the sun was setting (albeit to the NW) and the image prompted talks of setting suns, the land of the Dead and other such worldwide indigenous religious myths (Harvey 2000) — for without recourse to such ingredients, these carvings are vacuous archaeocentric museum pieces and nothing more.  And this carving at least deserves much more than mere cataloguing!  The internationally renowned archaeologist, O.G.S. Crawford (1957) would have entered this carving into his ‘eye’ and ‘owl’ motif, representative of goddesses or spirit-forms, as would Gimbutas. (1989)

…and from above

But this carving is archetypal, as we can see, though would appear to have no other etched features on the stone’s surface.  It is very close (if not within) the prehistoric graveyard that is plainly evident 30-40 yards south in the burnt heather and would very likely have had some mythic relationship with the dead (a symbiosis we have found in many cup-and-rings).  We plan further ventures here in the coming weeks in the hope that we can unearth other prehistoric remains.

References:

  1. Crawford, O.G.S., The Eye Goddess, Phoenix House: London 1957.
  2. Gimbutas, Marija, The Language of the Goddess, Harper Collins: New York 1989.
  3. Harvey, Graham (ed.), Indigenous Religions, Cassell: London 2000.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian