You can take the same directions to get here is you follow the route for the Hawksworth Spring (01) carving, or take this alternative route. Take the standard road from Guiseley along Hawksworth Road. When you reach the first row of old houses in the village, a couple of hundred yards on you reach the village school and, shortly after the footpath is sign-posted. Walk left (downhill) through the field for half-a-mile until you reach the woods. 100 yards into the into the trees, walk to your right and follow the line of walling straight for 400 yards, then veering right up the slope and it then slowly bends round, keeping to the wallside all along. It then starts heading back downhill. As it does so, 10 yards from the wall into the woods you’ll see the broken triangular rock of the Hawksworth Spring (01) carving. Walk another 10 yards where the large holly bushes are and you’ll see the large sloping stone in front of you.
Archaeology & History
This carving is similar in nature to its companion 10 yards away, inasmuch as each of them possess two small arcs of cup-marks almost in the same format, very close together, one above the other near the top of the stone. It’s possible that the mythic nature/function of this particular element of arcs is the same on each stone—although fuck knows what it might be!
Clear line & faint line of arcsClear arc of cups
Below this double arc (only one of which is clearly visible in the photos) we see a scatter of other cup-marks—perhaps six, perhaps seven—one of which appears to have a very faint incomplete ring round it. When Liz Sykes and I visited the place, the light of day and the shadows across the rock didn’t help to convince us one way or the other, so we await news from other visitors who get better light conditions to tell us whether our hopeful eyes were deceiving us or not. There are a number of other marks on its surface, but these are much more recent and very obviously cut, or rather scratched, by metal artifacts with no bearing on the prehistoric design.
References:
Boughey, K.J.S. and Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock of the West Riding (Supplement), Shipley 2018.
Acknowledgements: Huge thanks to Liz Sykes for her renowned cleaning skills!
Healing Well (destroyed): OS Grid Reference – TQ 318 703
Archaeology & History
This was one of several so-called mineral springs in and around the Norwood area, but seemingly the least well-known—certainly in literary terms. Whatever renown it may once have had was overwhelmed by the relative proximity of the much more famous curative waters of the Beulah Spa, a few hundred yards to the southeast. It was mentioned, albeit briefly and already in the past tense, in John Anderson’s (1898) survey, when he told that “There used to be (a) mineral well at Biggin Hill. It is marked on the Croydon Inclosure Map” of 1800 and shown as a “Spring”, north of Biggens Farm. It seems that it had only just been destroyed when Anderson wrote about it, as the research of Alfie Foord (1910) showed. His inquiries found that,
“There used to be another mineral well about half a mile to the north-west of Beulah Spa, at Biggin Hill, the water from which gushed up at the rate of seven gallons a minute. In 1898 it was closed. The subjoined analysis of water from a well, which is at White Lodge, Biggin Hill, formerly the residence of Mr. H. Wilson Holman, was kindly supplied by him to the writer in 1907. This well, he says, undoubtedly taps the same spring that used to come out at the bottom of Biggin Hill, and which was blocked by the sanitary authorities in 1898. The site of the spring was beyond the small tenement houses at the bottom of the hill, and there is still some masonry in existence—the end of the culvert where the water used to run out into a pond. The reason of its being blocked was that it is alleged to have poisoned some domestic animal.”
References:
Anderson, John C., The Great North Wood, Blades: London 1898.
Foord, Alfred Stanley, Springs, Streams and Spas of London: History and Association, T. Fisher Unwin: London 1910.
Gover, J.E.B., Mawer, A. & Stenton, F.M., The Place-Names of Surrey, Cambridge University Press 1934.
Holy Well (destroyed): OS Grid reference – SX 3285 8477
Archaeology & History
Site of well on 1884 map
Very little is known about this holy well on the north-western side of town that was apparently destroyed sometime in the 19th century; for when the Ordnance Survey lads visited here in 1882, they found no running water but only the location of where it had been and they indicated this on their 1884 map of the area, marked as “Site of.”
It was first mentioned in a short topographical notice in 1582, which told that the “Magden Well in the Quarrie Haye”—along with another well—was “found to be in decay.” (Peter 1885) Then, when the Ordnance Survey lads resurveyed the area again in 1951, once more they could find no trace of it.
References:
Peter, Richard, The Histories of Launceston and Dunheved, W. Brendon: Plymouth 1885.
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.
Highlighted on the 1882 OS-map several hundred yards north of St. Michael’s church, this site seems to have fallen back to Earth as no remains of it have been found in recent visits. It was described in Charles Henderson’s (1914) notes as the “holy well at Barton Farm”, and was visited by J. Meyrick (1982) in April of 1980, who told that it could be found by taking “the track immediately east of Lawhitton church which runs through the farm of Mr Lancaster… After going through the yard proceed ¼ mile down track to the valley where you reach a stream and the Well is on the right.” It was sought after by Cheryl Straffon (1998) but following her visit to find the Well she told that “there was nothing now to see except a kind of natural basin by the small bridge.”
References:
Henderson, Charles, Notebooks of Parochial Antiquities, Unpublished MS 1914.
Meyrick, J., A Pilgrims Guide to the Holy Wells of Cornwall, Falmouth 1982.
Straffon, Cheryl, Fentynyow Kernow: In Search of Cornwall’s Holy Wells, Meyn Mamvro: Penzance 1998.
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.
Cup-Marked Stone (lost): OS Grid reference – NN 918 524
Archaeology & History
On the hillside a short distance (probably) south of old Balnabeggan farmhouse, up against some walling at the edge of some natural birch wood, could once be seen—some fifty or sixty years ago—a large, ornately inscribed, quartz-enriched cup-marked stone. And, although seemingly lost, it shouldn’t be too hard to uncover with a little bit of bimbling and dedication. It was described in some considerable detail in John Dixon’s (1922) survey of the Strathtay petroglyphs as being,
Balnabeggan stone, c.19201921 sketch of the stone
“roughly hexagonal in shape, but one side is partly hidden by an old dry-stone wall built above it. The greatest width is 7 feet, whilst a diameter at right angles measures 6 feet. The thickness or depth of the stone is at least 2 feet, but it may be more underneath, as the stone stands in a wet place in which it may have settled down.
“On the upper surface of the stone are fifty-nine cups of various sizes, the largest measuring 2½ inches in diameter, and from 1 inch to ½ inch, or less, in depth. A special feature is that four equidistant cups (three in a row and the fourth at a right angle to the centre of the row) are connected by grooves slightly less broad and deep than the cups. Three pairs of cups are also similarly connected. The cups connected as described are discernible, but the group of four cups on the low left side of the stone does not appear in the photograph to have its fourth cup (the lowest) connected, as it really is, with the central cup of the group.”
Mr Dixon’s additional clue as to its whereabouts is that it’s “about 500 feet above sea level.” So what, pray, has become of it…?
References:
Dixon, John H., “Cup-Marked Stones in Strathtay, Perthshire,” in Proceedings Society Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 56, 1922.
Kennedy, James, Folklore and Reminiscences of Strathtay and Grandtully, Munro Press: Perth 1927.
Cup-Marked Stone (lost): OS Grid reference – NN 8866 5320
Also Known as:
Sunday Well
Tobar an Donich
Archaeology & History
Tobairandonaich stone, c.1920
Located some 30 yards south of a holy well known (in English language) as the Sunday Well, this carving was rediscovered shortly before John Dixon (1922) wrote his survey of petroglyphs in the Strathtay region. It would seem to have been a large “portable” cup-marked stone that had been placed, face-downward, into an old doorstep at the stable at Easter Tobairandonaich and forgotten about, long long ago. Then, at the beginning of the 20th century when the people living here had to clear a drain beneath the stable, the stone was moved and the cup-markings were noticed. The carving was a pretty simplistic design, as you can see, which was described by Mr Dixon as follows:
“The stone…has nineteen cups all on the same face. The largest cup is 3¾ inches in diameter and 2 inches deep. The next largest has the same diameter, but is 1½ inch deep. Other five of the cups are very nearly the same size. The smallest cup is 1¾ inch in diameter and ½ inch deep, but weathering has effected much towards almost obliterating some of the smaller cups. The stone is of whinstone with slight veins of quartz. It is oval in form and varies in thickness from 2½ inches to 4 inches. Its greatest diameter is 3 feet 2 inches, and its least diameter 2 feet 8 inches.”
Tom MacLaren’s 1921 sketch
The stone would seem to have disappeared as no one has seen it for fifty years or more. It may (hopefully) be in one of the walls, or perhaps buried somewhere under the soil. Or maybe, tragically, some fuckwit has destroyed it. Twouldst be good to find out one way or the other. The photograph above, taken by Mr Dixon sometime around 1920, is the only thing that remains of the carving.
In this small part of Strathtay we are fortunate in finding a cluster of petroglyphs with folklore about them relating to our faerie and witch folk. Some larger man-made stone “bowls” in the area were also used as “praying stones.” I have little doubt that the people who originally used this carving as a doorstep were fully aware of the cup-marks—and I’d suggest that they even put it here on purpose, probably as a form of protection from the fairies who might have stolen or caused sickness to the horses.
References:
Dixon, John H., “Cup-Marked Stones in Strathtay, Perthshire,” in Proceedings Society Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 56, 1922.
Kennedy, James, Folklore and Reminiscences of Strathtay and Grandtully, Munro Press: Perth 1927.
Yellowlees, Walter, Cupmarked Stones in Strathtay, Scotland Magazine: Edinburgh 2004.
Take the A822 road to the northeast of Crieff and head 4-5 miles along until you enter the Sma’ Glen. You go past Ossian’s Stone and after crossing the river past the Newton Bridge enclosure, the road starts to go uphill. Nearly 2 miles up, the road levels out and at the left-side of the road is a small thin car-parking spot. Keep your eyes peeled out for it! From here, walk back down the road for nearly 250 yards until your reach a gate into the fields on your right. By now you should already be able to see the stone in the field, barely 100 yards away to the southwest.
Archaeology & History
The old stone, looking N
Standing within the impressive landscape of the Perthshire mountains, this 4-foot-tall monolith is a seemingly solitary fella, sliced almost straight down one side—like so many of its regional compatriots—not far from the edge of General Wade’s military road. Not much more can be said of the old thing. The petroglyphic cluster of Corrymuckloch begins less than half-a-mile to the north; and, in all likelihood, other prehistoric sites will exist close by that aren’t yet in the archaeological registers…
Acknowledgments: Thanks to my long-suffering daughter Naomi, for taking me up for a quick break to see this old stone…
Tumulus (destroyed): OS Grid Reference – TQ 861 862
Archaeology & History
Somewhere beneath the modern housing estate immediately east of Chalkwell Park was once a large prehistoric burial mound. It was included in Wymer & Brown’s (1995) archaeological gazetteer (albeit at the wrong spot) without comment, but their reference led me to an early description of the place by Philip Benton (1867) whose description gave us the best info we have of the place. He wrote:
“To the east of the present mansion, at the north-west comer of a field called Fishponds, is a tumulus or mound, probably Celtic. This was first opened about thirty years ago, when bones, a few coins, and a piece of chain were discovered. Since which period about eight feet of earth has been removed from the summit, when more bones were found, but as they were not inspected by any one competent to give an opinion, it is impossible to say whether they were those of man or beast. The mound is still about four feet above the surrounding soil, and would probably repay further search.”
Wymer and Brown listed the site as being an “early Bronze Age” monument.
References:
Benton, Philip, The History of Rochford Hundred – volume 2, Harrington: Rochford 1867.
Wymer, J.J. & Brown, N.R., Excavations at North Shoebury, East Anglian Archaeology: Chelmsford 1995.
Holy Well (destroyed): OS Grid reference – TQ 3337 8245
Archaeology & History
Holywell Lane on 1877 map
First described at the beginning of the 12th century as “fons qui dicitur Haliwelle“, these sacred waters were thereafter described in a variety of documents before eventually, in 1382, giving its name to the road on which it was found. When the topographer John Stow (1603) described the well—along with those of St. Clement’s and Clerken Well—it was once “sweet, wholesome, and clear” and “frequented by scholars and youths of the city in the summer evenings.” However, in his day it was already in decline, as he told that the “Holy well is much decayed and spoiled, with filthiness purposely laid there, for the heightening of the ground for garden plots.”
The history of the site was mentioned in John Noorthouck’s (1773) survey, where he told us:
“In the parish are two prebends, and part of a third, belonging to St Paul’s cathedral, in the city of London: The first dominated by Eald-Street, or Old Street, received that appellation from the Saxons being part of the Roman military way: the second, which had been a separate village for many years, by the name of Hochestone, vulgarly Hoxton, likewise itself to be of a Saxon origin: the third called Haliwell, had its name from a vicinal fountain, which, for the salubrity of its water, had the epithet Holy conferred on it.
In King John’s Court, Holywell-lane, are to be found the ruins of the priory of St. John Baptist, of Benedictine nuns, founded by Robert the son of Gelranni, prependary of Haliwell, and confirmed by charter of Richard I in the year1189. It was rebuilt in the reign of Henry VII by Sir Thomas Lovell, knight of the garter; who was there buried: and the following ditty was in consequence painted in most of the windows.
“All the nuns of Holywell,
“Pray for the soul of Thomas Lovell.”
The complete demise of the well occurred in the early part of the 19th century and efforts to locate its original position have proved troublesome. Indeed, the modern Holywell Lane would seem to be little more than an approximation of its whereabouts. It was an issue explored at some length in the great A.S. Foord’s (1910) magnum opus, who wrote:
“In recent times efforts have been made to locate the well, and some of the results communicated to Notes and Queries. A Mr. R. Clark drew attention, through the medium of that publication, to an article in The Builder of September 19, 1896, which states that ”the ancient holy well should be looked for in the area between Bateman’s Row and New Inn Yard and behind the Board School in Curtain Road, that is to say, west of New Inn Street.” This is all very circumstantial, but the writer bases his statement on the survey by Peter Chassereau, taken in 1745, in which the supposed position of the well is marked by a cross and the words “Ye well from which the liberty derives its name.” It should be borne in mind however that, as pointed out by Colonel W. F. Prideaux, Chassereau did not make his survey till more than two hundred years had elapsed from the date of the dissolution of the Nunnery (1539); the position of the well could therefore have been only a matter of tradition. Another contributor to Notes and Queries (8th Series, May 22, 1897), quotes an article in the Journal of the Royal Institute of British Architects (vol. iv., 3rd series, p. 237), by Mr. E. W. Hudson, who says that the well of the priory was situate on the south side of what is known as Bateman’s Row, but was formerly (before 1799) called Cash’s Alley, near Curtain Road. This agrees substantially with Mr. Clark’s statement. Mr. Lovegrove, writing in 1904, says: “The well itself is to be found in a marble-mason’s yard in Bateman’s Row, but is covered over.” The same writer notes that of the Nunnery buildings only a piece of stone wall about 50 feet long, in a timber yard at 186, High Street, Shoreditch, is now left.”
References:
Foord, Alfred Stanley, Springs, Streams and Spas of London: History and Association, T. Fisher Unwin: London 1910.
Gover, J.E.B., Mawer, Allen & Stenton, F.M., The Place-Names of Middlesex, Cambridge University Press 1942.
Lovegrove, G.H., “Holywell Priory, Shoreditch,” in Home Counties, volume 6, 1904.
Mills, A.D., A Dictionary of London Place-Names, Oxford University Press 2001.
Noorthouck, John, A New History of London, Including Westminster and Southwark, R. Baldwin: London 1773.
Stow, John, A Survey of London, John Windet: London 1603.
Sunderland, Septimus, Old London Spas, Baths and Wells, John Bale: London 1915.
Wood, Alexander, Ecclesiastical Antiquities of London, Burns & Oates: London 1874.
Through Baildon town centre, take the road onto Baildon Moor, but instead of turning left up to Baildon Hill, keep straight on the Hawksworth road and 100 yards along you’ll see a car-park is on the right-hand side, just before you start going downhill. From here, walk down the road a couple of hundred yards until you see the footpath (keep your eyes peeled!) turning right towards The Whitehouse, and from there take the footpath dead straight down to the woods below. Cross the stream, turn right, then immediately left uphill by the wall-side. Shortly before reaching the top you’ll see a large triangular sloping slab of rock with a tree at its top. That’s it! Alternatively you can come via Hawksworth village by following the directions to the Hawksworth Spring (02) carving, which is just 10 yards east of this one. Easy!
Archaeology & History
Sketch of carving (after Hedges 1986)Note the faint cup, top-right
This minimalist design is best seen from above the adjacent rock which, in times gone by, was attached to this very same stone. The main aspect of the carving are the two short rows of three cups, running almost alongside each other, in a likeness which my compatriot Liz Sykes said “was like some animal footprints.” It’s not a bad description to be honest (this same motif is found on a companion petroglyph just a few yards to the east: the Hawksworth Spring [2] stone). If you follow the direction of the “animal tracks” to the western end of the stone, you’ll see another isolated cup with a faint incomplete ring around it. You can just make it out on the photo to the right. Another single cup-mark seems apparent two-thirds the way down the stone.
References:
Hedges, John (ed.), The Carved Rocks on Rombalds Moor, WYMCC: Wakefield 1986.
Acknowledgements: Huge thanks to Liz Sykes for her renowned cleaning skills!
