Cup-and-Ring Stone: OS Grid Reference – SE 11545 52017
Go up the long winding Ilkley-Langbar country moorland road. A coupla miles along there’s a sharp bend in the road, left, with a dirt-track here that takes you onto the moors. Walk up here to the shooting house just east of Black Hill in the Middleton Moor enclosure and, once there, walk up the steepish slope to the left (west). Once on the level, head to the wall and about halfway along, look around. If the heather’s long and deep you’ll be lucky to find it. Good luck!
Archaeology & History
The carving was first discovered by Richard Stroud and I in April, 2005, amidst one of several exploratory outings to records known sites and, aswell, to keep our eyes peeled in the hope that we might find some new ones! This was the first we came across; but when we found it, just one faint cup seemed noticeable on the southern edge of the small rounded stone; but after fifteen minutes of carefully rolling back the vegetation, this very well-preserved carving was eventually unveiled before us. It’s in quite excellent condition! The most notable part of the design are the two deep cup-markings, with the topmost cup looking half-surrounded by smaller cups on its southern edge.
There is also a well-preserved, though overgrown burial cairn (probably for one person) just a few yards west of this stone. This is just about impossible to see unless the heather’s been burnt back.
© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian
