Along with the nearby Attack Well and Balk Well, this was one of three water supplies for the people of Middle Gate between Hightown and Liversdge in the 19th century. Found near the bottom of the old track known as Tanhouse Lane, its waters emerged at the base of some Victorian walling that’s built into the hillside, above which are the decayed remains of what seems to be an old hawthorn tree, whose roots obviously reached down to the stone trough, giving the place its name. Its waters have long since dried up and fallen back to Earth. Although it is shown on the 1908 OS-map of the region, I can find no virtues ascribed to the well nor any local history notes.
Acknowledgements: Huge thanks to the great Gary Ferner, for help in locating the site and the day’s venture!
On the north side of Cookridge, find Smithy Lane and go to the western-end, where it meets up with a dirt-track. Walk straight along here by the side of the cricket-pitch and then take the first turn left where you walk along the other edge of the cricket pitch. About 150 yards along, the track hits the woods; keep along here for about another 200 yards where you’ll find a small footpath on your left goes into the woods. Once you’re in in the trees, walk to your right, following the wall, for about 50 yards where you’ll see a large flat stone by the holly trees. That’s it!
Archaeology & History
Rediscovered by the Leeds historian Don Cole in the 1940s, this complex multi-period carving etched onto a flattened rock surface is an unusual outlier from the Rombalds Moor complex several miles to the west. At its heart, around the semi-natural deep “cups” near the middle of the southern side of the stone, is the oldest part of the carving comprising a very faint incomplete triple-ring design which, as we move around it, almost has the look of a Newgrange-lozenge form to it. But I’m unsure…
Very faint incomplete triple-ring at top-middleWaves & cups and rings
More obvious (apart from the deep “cups”), and the first thing you notice as you approach the stone, are the later and much more well-defined elements on the east side of the stone: a curious wave-form writhes from the edge of the rock across its smooth surface, beneath which we find a cup-and-ring and a number of single cup-marks, some enclosed inside a rounded box, with others sat between the curved carved line and the stone’s edge. The “rounded box” with its three cups at first seems to be on its own, but as the light changes you’ll notice a much fainter (possibly older) rectangular box attached to it; no cups are visible inside this.
A hundred yards due south in the same woodland you’ll find the Gab Woods (2) carving.
One interesting feature is the name of the woodland in which the stone resides. In Thomas Wright’s massive dialect work, Gab is a northern dialect word meaning “to talk”, or “idle chatter” (and variants thereof); this is echoed in Blakeborough’s (1911) Yorkshire survey; and Wilkinson’s (1924) local study tells simply it to be “idle talk…able to talk glibly and with much plausibility—a Town Hall Square orator for instance.” This makes the place as something akin to being “the woodland that talks”, “the chattering woods” or “the talking woodland”, etc. You can make up your own mind as to what this might mean… *
References:
Blakeborough, Richard, Wit, Character, Folklore and Customs of the North Riding of Yorkshire, W. Rapp: Saltburn 1911.
Wright, Joseph, English Dialect Dictionary – volume 2, Henry Frowde: London 1900.
Acknowledgements: Huge thanks must go to Peter Murphy for recovering this impressive carving from beneath the carpet of soil and vegetation, and so enabling it to be seen by others once more. Also big thanks to the usual culprit of James Elkington, as well as Sarah Walker and Sarah Jackson.
* a Scottish dialect variant of gab relates to the mouth, tongue, taste.
Roughly halfway between Bettyhill and Tongue on the A836 road, keep your eyes peeled for the sign to Skerray (4 miles) and travel down that road. About 1¾ mile on, take the tiny lane on your left up the slope for 0.6 miles (1km), and just before the sharp bend in the road (across a small bridge) there’s a gate on your left. Go thru here and follow the tiny path alongside the burn (stream) westwards for half-a-mile until where the waters become a bog within a wide oval bowl in the landscape. At the far-side you’ll see two large boulders sat above this watery bowl. That’s where you need to be!
Archaeology & History
The big fella of the two
This is carving “number one” of two great incised boulders that are sat upon a natural ridge overlooking a dried-up lochan. An impressive spot that give a thoroughly distinct impression of altar stones above the sunken waters, from whence rites and proclamations were performed. It has that look and feel about it—and any animist would tell you the same. My hardcore dreams aside though…
This profile is for the larger of the two boulders that live here (Allt Thorrisdail 2 is here). It has very curious petroglyphic attributes—much like its compatriot—unlike many of those in these northern lands. The pair of them seem to have been described for the first time in Hew Morrison’s (1883) fine meanderings through the mythic history of the region. He told that,
“About a mile distant (from Torrisdale) two large cup marked boulders lie on the slope of a hill. The marks are disposed in groups of one large and nine smaller cups. On the larger boulder there are two of these groups and seven separate marks.”
There are slightly more than that, and this was pointed out when the Royal Commission (1911) lads came to see it:
“The largest boulder, that situated furthest west, is about 8 feet high and 14 feet in length. On its south side, chiefly on the flat and less abrupt face of the stone, are groups of cup-marks of from 2in to 3in in diameter, the deepest being about 1in in depth, while a number are now almost obliterated. The extent of the markings is not very definite, but there appear to be two groups containing about twelve cup-marks each.”
Another chorus of cupsLichen-dappled cupmarks
But this only tells of half the stone’s symbolic story. For on the vertical northern face of the rock, from just above ground-level, we have a distinct almost straight line of many cup-marks, going up diagonally, at an angle of about 35º. I took a number of photos of this aspect of the stone, but the covering of lichens didn’t highlight them clearly at all. When you’re stood looking at them they stand out like a sore thumb!
I have to be honest and say that I bloody well love this site! You have to paint the entire environment in the right light, as it was when the stone was first carved, surrounded by the scattered woodland of birch, pines and rowan all across where now we have stunning barren moorlands. Tis a ritual place indeed – without any shadow of doubt!
References:
Mercer, R.J., Archaeological Field Survey in Northern Scotland 1976-1979, University of Edinburgh 1980.
Royal Commission on Ancient & Historical Monuments, Scotland, Second Report and Inventory of Monuments and Constructions in the County of Sutherland. HMSO: Edinburgh 1911.
Acknowledgements: Huge thanks to Sarah MacLean for her company and landscape knowledge in visiting this and other nearby antiquarian remains. And to Aisha Domleo, for getting me into this neck o’ the woods.
In times gone by there was a singular St.Giles’ Well in the old village of Lightcliffe, but the only reference we have of it is from one of James Parker’s works (1904) where, in his description of St. Giles’ House, he tells, “It derives its name from an ancient well, called ‘St. Giles’ Well,’ which once existed near to the house, and was dedicated to St. Giles”: an 8th century Greek prince who left everything to become a hermit. He lived on wild herbs and developed the ability to cure rheumatism (perhaps a curative aspect of the well), cripples and help beggars. He is the patron saint of woodlands and his symbol is the arrow gained after he healed a wounded doe shot by one (the mass of Robin Hood folklore in this area may have something to do with this symbolism). His date is September 1.
A.H. Smith (1963) cites the “local tradition that it is named from a well dedicated to St. Giles,” but thinks this attribution to be an unlikely one. As can be seen on the accompanying map, a great number of wells are in this area, none of them named, with one just below the said Giles House.
References:
Parker, James, Illustrated History from Hipperholme to Tong, Percy Lund: Bradford 1904.
Smith, A.H., The Place-Names of the West Riding of Yorkshire – volume 3, Cambridge University Press 1961.
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.
From Holymoorside, take the long straight Loads Road running west out of the town into Longside Road. ¾-mile along, past Home View and just before Well Lane (on the right), there’s a public footpath sign pointing into the fields on your left. Walk dead straight, dead south along the wallside for 450 yards, then walk straight left again along the other wall until you reach the tiny bit of moorland less than 150 yards away. The carved rock is just on the other side of the stile at the edge of the old walling. You’ll find it.
Archaeology & History
Rediscovered sometime in 2002, this would seem to be an isolated cup-and-ring stone. It was first mentioned in John Barnatt’s (2003) short gazetteer of Peakland petroglyphs, where he wrote,
“This irregularly-shaped small boulder was identified recently lying amongst post-medieval field clearance adjacent to a field corner and footpath… Its upper parts ar covered with 40-46 cupmarks. On the exposed irregular top they are badly worn and sometimes uncertainly identified. In one instance a cup is partly encircled by a worn ring, while a second partial ring nearby may be fortuituous. On a ledge near one edge of the boulder preservation is better and the cups are clearly defined and densely arranged.”
The stone looks as if it’s been moved into its present location, obviously for use in the walling. It’s original position would have been somewhere close by, but we know not where that might be.
References:
Barnatt, John & Robinson, F., “Prehistoric Rock Art in Ashover School and Further New Discoveries Elsewhere in the Peak District,” in Derbyshire Archaeological Journal, 123, 2003.
Holy Well (lost): OS Grid Reference – NH 6072 8954
Archaeology & History
Site shown on 1879 map
First highlighted on the 1879 Ordnance Survey map, information on this site is sparse, save for those reliable Statistical Accounts and Name Books, which simply give us its location. The only context that our Old Statistical lads gave us was its relationship and proximity to a castle, “the most ancient residence” of the Clan Ross Highland Chiefs which could “be seen in a beautiful field between the church and the sea side.” At the end of this field is “a steep bank, hanging over the sea at high water called the ‘Bank of the Gate’, and at the bottom there is a spring of excellent water, called the Lady’s Well.”
The water’s dedication to Our Lady was obviously grafted onto it by those in the church above, glossing over, no doubt, earlier dedications by local people, whose practices seem to have been lost. The site was included in the regional Name Book of the Ordnance Survey doods who, it seems, merely copied the notes about the place from the old Statistical Account. In what seems to have been their last visit, no trace of the well was evident. They concluded it “was under water at time of visit.”
It would be good to hear from local folk if this sacred site can still be found at the tree-line just above the sea, or whether Nature has taken it away from Her animals.
Acknowledgements: Big thanks for use of the early edition OS-map in this site profile, Reproduced with the kind permission of the National Library of Scotland.
Make a day out of this one, visiting several old places on the way. From Comrie take the B827 road to Braco, turning right at the tiny Glen Artney road a half-mile along (easy to miss). 3 miles along, pass the derelict Dalness cottage, you can follow the directions to get to the Mailer Fuar (2) cup-and-ring stone; and from here go up the field past the Mailer Fuar (1) carving, through the gate and follow the fence to your right. Keep going till your reach the Allt na Drochaide cup-and-ring stone. From here you’re heading (south) towards the rounded crags of Cnoc Brannan. It’s boggy as fuck in parts so cautiously zigzag through this section up towards the small grassy rise about 350 yards from the cup-and-ring stone. You’ll find it!
Archaeology & History
From the old stone, gazing S
On one of the gentle rises below the northern slope of Cnoc Brannan we find this sturdy old fella, 3-4 feet tall (I didn’t measure it), looking across the stunning landscapes north, east and west along Glen Artney. Not previously recorded and seemingly isolated from other prehistoric remains, he looks all alone at first sight, but laid down in the grassy rushes (Juncus conglomeratus) to his side, is a slender seven-foot long stone which may have stood upright in the not-too-distant past, giving us another double stone setting in this area (at least two others existed in this area—the closest being at Craggish, 3.7 miles northeast). I have little doubt that other undiscovered prehistoric remains are hiding in the area. (there are a number of single cup-marked stones in the locale, although I tend to leave such examples off the catalogues as they can be somewhat dubious [and many are]. I mention this just in case any rock art students want to forage the area.)
Numerous ways to get here, it’s probably the easiest (direction wise) to reach here starting from Dick Hudson’s public house on the southern road surrounding Rombalds Moor. From the pub, 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. A small parking spot is on the left-side of the road. From here, go through the gate and up the footpath (north) for about 200 yards then turn right and go up the field towards the wall where, about 20 yards before it, you’ll see find the stone in question.
Archaeology & History
This long earthfast stone has two distinct cup-markings: one near its northern upper end, and the other near the lower southern end, as highlighted on the above photo. (forgive the poor image, but we took it when the sun was pretty high in the sky) It seems as if there are two or three other very faint cup-marks on the upper end of the stone, close to the most distinct one, but none of our photos show them with any clarity.
Acknowledgements: Huge thanks to Sarah Walker and Thomas Cleland for help with location and imagery for this stone.
From Comrie take the B827 road to Braco, passing the large Roman Stone monolith, turning right at the tiny Glen Artney road a half-mile along (easy to miss). 3 miles on, pass the derelict Dalness cottage, you can follow the directions to get to the Mailer Fuar (2) cup-and-ring stone; and from here go up the field past the Mailer Fuar (1) carving, through the gate and follow the fence to your right, then drop down into the great boggy reeds, over the burn and up as if you’re heading to the rounded hill of Cnoc Brannan. On a grassy knoll a hundred yards or so up the slope, you’ll see a rock or two. It’s thereby!
Archaeology & History
The stone in its setting
I came across this petroglyph not too long ago on the same day I found the Cnoc Brannan standing stone a little further up the slope from here. Covered in cup-markings over all except the northeastern portion of its surface, a faint ring seems to be around one of them on its northern side. Of the twenty-two cups on the stone, the majority of them, as the photos show, are clustered alongside a curved natural scar that runs across the topmost section of the rock. There are less pronounced faded cups on the more northern and western portions of the rock, with what looks like one on its near-vertical southern face. Despite its lack of complexity, it has an impressive feel to it.
Main cluster of cups
The home of this carving in its natural setting is what stands out when you’re up here and is certainly what gives it that vibe! The wooded greenery of Glen Artney stretches ahead of you to the east and west, with the craggish mountains of Beinn Dearg, Halton and their compatriots drawing you to the northern side. Tis a gorgeous arena indeed! So, if you’re going to visit its near neighbors at Mailer Fuar a half-mile below, stick this one on your itinerary and, if you’re the roving type, get your feet wet and look around for some more of them. There’ll be others, as yet unknown, hiding away nearby…
From Comrie take the B827 road to Braco and less than a mile out of town take the tiny Glen Artney road on your right. Past the derelict Dalness cottage 3 miles on, a half-mile further, there’s a gated road veering downhill on your right. Park in the small parking-spot at the left. Walk along 100 yards to the gate on your left and walk up the old path which bends back on itself before leveling out. As it does so, just where the Mailer Fuar (2) carving lives, head uphill to the derelict house and, before reaching the fence, check out the several isolated stones on your right. You’ll find it!
Archaeology & History
Several faint cupmarks
This is nowt special to look at and, as I always tend to say with carvings such as this, it’s probably only gonna be of interest to the petroglyphic puritans amongst you. It was described by George Currie (2006) as possessing just one cup-mark, but there are in fact at least three of them on this sloping rock face, possibly four. One of them may—may—have a half-ring around it, but this is very hard to see and might be little more than a trick of the light and just a forlorn hope of something better… It’s worth a brief look before you venture further uphill to the much more impressive Allt na Drochaide carving.
