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.
From Askwith village go up the Moor Lane and at the crossroads go straight across (Snowden Moor is across left). Go down and along Snowden Carr Road until the road levels out and, watch carefully, about 500 yards on from the crossroads on your left you’ll see a small crag of rocks in the fields above. Stop and go through the gate walking up the field and as you near the top you’ll see a gate across to your left that leads onto the moor. Go through this and on the path which veers up to the right up to the Tree of Life Stone. About 20 yards along, keep your eyes peeled just off-path, to the left, where a small rounded stone hides at the edge.
Archaeology & History
This was one of a number of cup-markings that Graeme Chappell and I came across in the early 1990s, though it didn’t receive any literary attention until included in Boughey & Vickerman’s (2003) survey. It’s only a small fella, consisting of just six or seven cups on its upper rounded surface — though what may be a carved line runs round the southern side of the stone. It seems to have been associated with a small cairn close by (a common feature on these moors) and adjacent prehistoric settlement walling. In Boughey & Vickerman’s text, they gave the following notes:
“Small rock with rounded surface at ground level, near scattered cairn. Seven or eight cups, possible grooves at edge.”
Drawing of the stone (Boughey & Vickerman)
[You’ll notice in the photo above that the local phantom painter had been here again, artistically highlighting the cup-marks. The photos we took were done earlier this year, when the paint (or whatever it is) was first noted. It had not been painted-in the previous autumn. But most notably is the fact that this carved stone has never previously appeared on the internet (until today) and the only other reference to it is in the standard Boughey & Vickerman text. This would indicate that whoever it is that’s painting the carvings up and down mid-Wharfedale possesses a copy of that text, aswell as being relatively new to the subject of rock art.]
References:
Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS 2003.
A couple of miles west of the Hutton Moor henge we find the faint remans of another large prehistoric ritual site, soon to fade from existence. Although the local farmer was aware of the existence of this ‘earth circle’ in his fields in the 1940s, the place wasn’t officially catalogued until Prof. J.K. St. Joseph noticed it following an aerial survey of the region in 1951 (from whence the aerial photo comes). Today sadly, much of the site has succumbed to the ravages of excessive agricultural activity and is all but destroyed. Faint traces of it can be seen at ground level when the crops are down, but most of it’s gone. Even when first discovered, the remains were sparse, as the photo (below) shows.
Early aerial photo of Nunwick hengeMr Dymond’s early ground- plan (from YAJ, 1963)
Neolithic in origin, the site was excavated in 1961 by D.P. Dymond who explored a portion of the bank and ditch and stripped a small internal section. His findings showed it to be structurally similar to the other henges in the area and of considerable size. Measuring 690 feet across, the henge spread across two fields and was bisected by a hedge and farm track. When Dymond first explored the henge he reported how the surrounding bank was between 1-3 feet high and had been spread to a width of 120 feet; the ditch was just a couple of feet deep; and the original ‘entrances’ north and south of the ring were still just visible as “slight depressions in the bank.”
The Nunwick henge was classed as a Class II henge (after Atkinson). Five feet smaller than the Thornborough (south) Henge, its entrances are close to north-south. The River Ure is less than half-a-mile from the site and the presence of other streams close by further emphasizes water as a potentially relevant ingredient. This element seems to have had some factor in the structure of the henge as there were many water-worn stones found in the embankment, which probably came from the nearby river. However, like many henges, very few remains were discovered upon excavation here, as Mr Dymond’s (1963) account tells:
“The 1961 Excavation was restricted to a single long section through the northwest side of the circle, to examine the structural details of the bank and ditch, and to confirm the apparent absence of an outer ditch.
“A small area, 22ft square, was stripped inside the ditch to test for pits or postholes, but nothing was found in the sandy silt which covers the gravel deposits. Air-photographs gave no indication of a former presence of standing features within the enclosure.
“The ditch was found to be 45ft wide and 5ft 10in deep, with a wide, shallow profile. Allowing for the destruction by ploughing of the upper edges of the ditch, the orignal dimensions of the ditch were undoubtedly greater. The edges of the ditch were not easy to see in excavation, as the fill was similar to the natural gravel subsoil and some slumping had occurred on the loose gravel faces. The ditch had apparently silted slowly with material washed in from both sides. At an early stage in the silting, when the accumulation was about 1ft, there had been occupation in a limited area, revealed by a circular patch of burnt material, 10ft in diameter, which contained many split pot-boilers reddened by fire.
“Between the ditch and bank there was originally a berm of 30ft. On the surface, this is not visible as the bank shades imperceptibly into the ditch. The bank was originally about 60ft wide, but is now considerably spread on both sides. In the 1961 section the bank survived only 18in high; this was sufficient, however, to show clear traces of tip-lines and the interleaving of loads. The lowest two inches of bank material consist partly of turf… Under the bank, the original turf-line was visible as a purple-black line, 1-3in thick, with traces of a weakly developed iron-pan. In the original composition on the bank there were many water-worn stones (3-9in across), now in the outer spread and in the bottom of the ditch; on the northern side of the circle where the bank is best preserved there are large quantities of these stones on the plough soil. Quarried from the bottom of the ditch, where the aggregate of the gravels was much larger, these stones were probably on the top of the bank.
“Two square were dug outside the bank, on the line of the section to text for an outer ditch. This confirmed the evidence of air-photographs that no such ditch existed. Of the six henges in the Ripon area, Nunwick is therefore the only one without two ditches.
“No dating evidence was found in the 1961 excavation. Three worked flints however, were picked up from the plough soil of the southwestern field near the henge. They consist of two waste flakes and a small flake scraper of opaque brown flint.”
Archaeologists and ley hunters alike have described how the Nunwick Henge aligns with the three prominent Thornborough Henges to the north. Significant…?
References:
Dymond, D.P., “The Henge Monument at Nunwick, near Ripon – 1961 Excavation,” in Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, part 161 (volume 41), 1963.
Wainwright, Geoffrey J., “A Review of Henge Monuments in the Light of Recent Research,” in Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, volume 35, 1969.
Get yourself to the impressive multi-ringed Greystone Allotment carving, then walk to the copse of trees close by and bear left, following the edge of the fence along and following it when it turns down at right-angles, until you hit the bottom corner of the trees, where a path cuts in front of you. From the bottom corner of the trees walk 25-30 yards diagonally away from the trees. It’s under your nose somewhere damn close!
Archaeology & History
This is another archetypal cup-and-ring stone, similar in size and design to the recently discovered Slade (02) carving on Blubberhouses Moor, just over 4 miles (6.5 km) northwest (followers of Alexander Thom’s megalithic inch theory might be interested in assessing the measure of these two). It is one of number clustered in and around this small grass ‘moorland’ region, where a number of carvings perished in the 19th century. Thankfully this one survived. Boughey & Vickerman’s (2003) brief notes on the stone tell:
“Small, rough grit rough of regular oblong shape set very low in turf. Two cups, each with a ring, and connected by a groove.”
On a recent visit to see this carving, Danny Tiernan, Paul Hornby, James Elkington and I were unable to locate it. The carving may well have been destroyed, or moved. If anyone is aware of what has happened to this petroglyph, please let us know. We will be contacting the local authorities to see if any explanation is forthcoming from them.
References:
Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, West Yorkshire Archaeology Service 2003.
From the bottom of Pateley Bridge, just out of town take the left turn to Bewerley and go through the village; or from Glasshouses follow the road over the River Nidd and round. Both ways take you to meet the steep and winding Nought Bank Road, which you should follow all the way to the top of the moorland hill. You can just park up by the footpath taking you east. Then cross the road and walk west on the dirt-track to Rowan Tree Crags. 100 yards along, the gentle sloping moor on your left is the Old Wife’s Ridge.
Archaeology & History
The academic history of this moorland is poor, save occasional notes about lead mining and quarrying (Jennings 1967). Speight (1894) describes the finding of large pieces of lead-worked Roman inscriptions nearby that were found in January 1735 — one of which had the letters ‘BRIG’ cut into it, thought to be a referral to the land or deity, Brigantia. Examples of prehistoric rock art occur at nearby Guisecliff Woods, due east, but there are no specific notices about the archaeology of this hillside.
Long overgrown stone at Old Wife Ridge
When we visited the place yesterday, much of the heather had been burned (the previous year) and we found two stones which looked suspiciously as if they had stood upright in the past, and may have had played some part in the naming and myth of the Old Wife on this part of the moors. I can find no other records of any remains here.
Folklore
References to the Old Wife scatter our northern lands and invariably refer to an aspect of the heathen Earth Mother of our peasant ancestors, particularly in Her aspects of winter and early spring. In Scotland and Ireland She was commonly known as the cailleach. Sadly I can find no extant lore relating to Her mythic aspects in the landscape on these hills. A field-name to the south, Nanny Black Hill, may have related to the Old Wife.
References:
Jennings, Bernard (ed.), A History of Nidderdale, Advertiser Press: Huddersfield 1967.
o’ Crualaoich, Gearoid, The Book of the Cailleach, Cork University Press 2003.
Speight, Harry, Nidderdale, Elliot Stock: London 1894.
Park at Stump Cross Caverns on the B6265 road, then walk down the road for 200 yards till you reach the track on your left running over the fields in the direction towards Simon’s Seat. Walk on the track for about 600 yards until there’s a change of direction in the adjacent walling and then watch out for the dirt-track on your right, curving towards the small valley (if you hit the Skyreholme Wall carving (413), you’ve gone 100 yards past the turn-off). Go on here until you see the overgrown track on your left into a small disused quarry, and head right, down the grassy slope, checking out the few stones ion front of you 20 yards down. You’re damn close!
Archaeology & History
Carving no.404 (after Boughey & Vickerman)
A simplistic carving that was first described by fellow antiquarian Stuart Feather (1964), this is one of at least four cup-marked stones in a small group here, above the valley of Skyreholme Beck — better known at this part of the valley as the Troller’s Ghyll, haunt of various heathen lore. Although some of the carving has now been covered by the growing Earth, you can still see the majority of the design.
It is a flat, roughly triangular stone described by rock art students Boughey & Vickerman (2003) and having 13 cup-markings on it. To get a full look at the entire carving, you may have to roll a bit of the turf away from one side of the rock.
Folklore
Although we have no lore relating to this specific carving, the small valley over which this carving looks was long known as the abode of the legendary bharguests, or black dogs: underworld creatures of earlier heathen myths. Faerie lore can also be found a short distance further up the same stream.
References:
Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS: Wakefield 2003.
Cowling’s 1946 ground-plan of a portion of the settlement
From Blubberhouses church by the crossroads, walk up the slope (south) as if you’re going to Askwith, for 100 yards or so, taking the track and footpath past the Manor House and onto the moor. Once you hit the moorland proper, take the footpath that bears left going down into heather and keep going till you hit the dead straight Roman Road path running west onto Blubberhouses Moor. Go on here for nearly a mile until you hit the valley stream with its Eagle Stone down on your left. Walk downstream, past the Eagle Stone, and cross over 100 yards down until you’re back on the level ground with the scatter of bracken and heather. You’re here!
Archaeology & History
On the other side of the stream a short distance southeast of the large cup-marked Eagle Stone is a curious site, first described by Eric Cowling (1946) as “a series of enclosures of varying size and roughly circular shape” which he ascribed as a Bronze Age settlement. Certainly we have a rather extensive scattered group of walled structures just as he described, but not all of the walling here seems typical of local Bronze Age constructions. Cowling suggested the remains to be “useful for protection, herding and for shelter,” though admitted archaeological excavation would be the best way to ascertain their specific nature. Such undertakings have yet to be done — and I wouldn’t hold your breath either.
Large section of wallingWalls of large circular structure
Although he described some of the walls here as nearly four-feet tall, when Graeme Chappell and I first ventured here in the winter of 1990, the walling wasn’t quite as high. There are a number of individual tall stones sat in the walls that stand three-feet tall, with some that have been cut and dressed in more historic times. Who did this and when is unknown. However, if we visited this place when all the vegetation has been cut and burnt back at the end of winter and early months of Spring — a fact not lost on Cowling when he first found this place — we would gain a much clearer picture of things here.
Some sections of lower walling above the streamside appear to be prehistoric in nature, but many other parts of the walled structures across this flatland plain have a much later look and feel about them, illustrating that the site may have been used well into post-medieval periods. This seems increasingly obvious where we find a number of the stones cut at sharp angles, with some having distinctive quarried grooves in them. However, I can find no historical records to verify this at present.
Hut circle remainsMedieval cut upright stone?
If we walk up the slight slope westwards however (before bracken and heath grow) there are more distinct prehistoric remains in the form of typical hut circles with low walls emerging from deep peatlands — although even these have been cut in one or two places by metal tools. My view of this little-known but large settlement arena is that we’re looking at a site initially built in the Bronze Age period, continuing to be used by local tribespeople throughout the Iron Age and, as the cut stones clearly show, was a village that was certainly made use of in the last millenium. But until someone comes along here and gives the site the attention it deserves, we’re not gonna know…
On the southern fringe of the copious walled structures we also find a very curious medicinal chalybeate spring that may have been of some importance to those who once lived hereby. A ‘standing stone’ and prehistoric cairn can also be seen close by.
References:
Cowling, E.T., Rombald’s Way: A Prehistory of Mid-Wharfedale, William Walker: Otley 1946.
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:
Crawford, O.G.S., The Eye Goddess, Phoenix House: London 1957.
Gimbutas, Marija, The Language of the Goddess, Harper Collins: New York 1989.
Harvey, Graham (ed.), Indigenous Religions, Cassell: London 2000.
From Blubberhouses church by the crossroads, walk up the slope (south) as if you’re going to Askwith, for 100 yards or so, taking the track and footpath past the Manor House and onto the moor. Once you hit the moorland proper, take the footpath that bears left going down into heather and keep going till you hit the dead straight Roman Road path running west onto Blubberhouses Moor. Go on here for nearly a mile until you hit the stream and nearby Eagle Stone boulder. Walk upstream from here, on its eastern (right-hand) side for 100 yards, then walk up onto the level moor, scattered with rushes. Keep up here, heading towards the upright cairn open the skyline to the north. Once here, walk 80 yards (73m) WNW and you’ll note a number of flat stones embedded in the heather around you. You’re damn close!
Archaeology & History
Off-path and takes some finding and will all-but disappear when the heather grows back, so this one’s probably only for the purists amongst you. But I like it anyway! This is one of at least seven newly-discovered cup-marked stones hereby, including the nearby ‘Owl Stone’ with it’s big eyes! There are just two cup-marks on the flat surface: one an archetypal large cup 3 inches across and a half-inch deep; the other, a small faint cup less than 2 inches wide and very shallow which is easily missed if you pay little attention. On the photo here, the fainter cup is slightly above right of the centre. The carving appears to be on the far eastern edges of the Slade Cairnfield. Other undiscovered remains are likely to be found here.
Follow the directions to reach the Lippersley Pike cup-marked stone, then keep walking westwards, but go up the slope immediately on your right (north) and walk upwards along the path to the notable stone structure at the top-end of the ridge a coupla hundred yards ahead. Once there, you’re standing on it!
Archaeology & History
Lippersley Pike & shooter’s butt
A little known site with some excellent 360° views all round, reaching as far west as Pendle Hill, north past Simon’s Seat, and east onto the far reaches of the North York Moors. The landscape here is truly superb! And humans have been here since, it would seem, mesolithic periods at least, if Cowling’s finds are owt to go by! For although he described the much denuded tomb that we can still see under the herbage and recently-built shelter, there was also, “on the northern slope…a small occupation immediately below the summit on the northern side.” We found remains of it on our visit here the other day. But of the tomb itself — which Mr Cowling thought was neolithic in age — he wrote:
“The highest point of Lippersley Pike, on Denton Moor, is crowned by a stone cairn 1083 feet above sea level, and overlooks, on the northern side, a small site which appears to have been occupied by the ‘Broad Blade’ people, for there occur several pieces of patinated flint, along with scrapers and worked blades.”
Aerial view of Lippersley Pike
Cowling then describes a number of flints and other prehistoric working utensils that he found all round here. The remains of the cairn measure some 25 feet east-west and 23 feet north-south. There has been no excavation here, although the fella’s who dug out much of the stone to build the shooter’s butt on its top may have found summat, but have kept it quiet!
The cairn is an ancient marker along the boundary line marking the townships of Denton and Great Timble and was visited in perambulation walks in previous centuries. Grainge (1871) describes the extensive perambulation in his Knaresborough Forest work. ‘Lippersley’ itself first appears in records from 1576, although A.H. Smith (1963:5) does not suggest an etymology. The place is worth visiting as a good starting point to explore the other little-known prehistoric remains on these moors, including the Crow Well settlement, the Heligar Pike tomb, etc, etc.
References:
Cowling, E.T., Rombald’s Way: A Prehistory of Mid-Wharfedale, William Walker: Otley 1946.
Grainge, William, The History and Topography of Harrogate and the Forest of Knaresborough, John Russell Smith: London 1871.
Grainge, William, The History and Topography of the Townships of Little Timble, Great Timble and the Hamlet of Snowden, William Walker: Otley 1895.
Smith, A.H., The Place-Names of the West Riding of Yorkshire – volume 5, Cambridge University Press 1963.
