This carving is one in a cluster of at least 17 previously unrecorded petroglyphs, uncovered nearly two years ago on a Northern Antiquarian bimble on the northern edge of Rombald’s Moor. The carvings were found as a bi-product of uncovering a previously undiscovered cairn circle, close to the Twelve Apostles stone circle. In assessing and exploring the newly-found circle, it was noticed that a small opening in the near horizon highlighted a rise in the landscape barely a mile away. This ‘opening’ in the land was not visible if you walked 25 yards either side of the cairn circle – but was very notable at the circle itself.
“We need to have a look at that site,” I said. “It’s position looks to have been relevant to this circle.” (or words to that effect) And a couple of weeks later we met up and walked to the place in question.
Fraggle Rock carving, looking westFraggle Rock carving, looking south
Within five minutes we came across a couple of previously unrecorded cup-marked stones, of simple design, right in line with the cairn circle. As we walked around this spot, then headed back in the direction of the circle, a cluster of small stones were noticed on the slope. One had what looked like a single cup-marking near its edge, but the rest of the rock was completely covered in vegetation. Paul Hornby and Michala Potts had, by now, already found several other previously unrecorded cup-marked stones close by; but as I carefully rolled back the vegetation at the edge of this particular rock, cups-and-rings and carved lines seemed to be covering most of its surface. It was a good one!
Face on the Fraggle Rock
We called it the Fraggle Rock after noticing that when you look at the stone from one end, the two main cup-and-rings are likes two large eyes carved above a large natural down-turning ‘mouth’ feature, similar to some of the creatures’ faces on the muppets or the similar kid’s TV show, Fraggle Rock! (sad aren’t we!?) The photo here shows you what we mean.
The primary design consists of at least 3 cup-and-rings, 2 partial cup-and-rings, 28 cups and several carved lines along which some cup-markings are linked to others. The most notable of the carved lines is the longest (barely visible in the photos), running from a single cup-mark at the southernmost rounded end of the stone, almost straight and parallel with a natural ridge or dip along the rock, until it meets the largest of the cup-and-rings (one of the eyes on the Fraggle’s face!). Don’t ask me why, but for some reason this long faint line seemed the most perplexing element of the carving.
Eastern edge, with cups at ground level
Most of the design is carved on the upper face of the stone, but a small part of the rock dips into the ground on its eastern side and a small group of cups and a single carved line, in a very good state of preservation, are etched right at the edge of the stone. Unusual. Another faint cup-and-ring is 10 yards south; and a fascinating cup-and-lines stone, with at least four long carved ridges running like hair from the top of the stone into the Earth, is 20 yards west of this.
One of the first photos, just as the mud had been cleared
This carved stone was rediscovered by Michala Potts on the rainy afternoon of August 26, 2011, on a Northern Antiquarian excursion to explore some of the cup-and-rings on Ilkley Moor. The entire stone was totally covered in soil and leaves, and Michala spent some considerable time carefully clearing the dead vegetation to unveil the carvings beneath.
Close-up of cups & scars
This carving has at least 12 cup-marks on its slightly inclined surface, with several artificial carved lines and some that are obviously geophysical in origin. (we really could do with a geologist with a cup-and-ring fetish to accompany us on some of our outings!) But the main feature of this carving — as the photos here illustrate — appears to be the natural crack that runs up through the middle of the stone, either side of which have been etched a number of cup-markings attached by small lines or ‘branches’, giving the distinct impression of a tree. Whether this was a deliberate artistic feature (a tree), or just another Rorscharch response to non-linear systems on our behalf (more probable), we’ll never know. On the moors northeast of here on the other side of the Wharfe valley, the Tree of Life Stone acquired a similar association due to its design; but this Ilkley design, sadly, aint quite as good as the one on Askwith Moor.
Tree Stone, showing modern industrial scars
There are some puzzles on this stone aswell. Other lines scar the rock which are definitely man-made, but they are of a different nature and age. The marks have been scarred by more modern metal tools, or were caused by heavy metal machinery that have rested on the rock at some time in the not-too-distant past. You can see the curved deep scratches in the photo here to the right. It seems likely that when the modern houses were built straight across and above here, this cup-marking was damaged by the workers — although they didn’t know it was here as the stone had not been catalogued by the Ilkley archaeologists. But there’s also another peculiar feature on this stone. Someone a century or two ago also carved other fainter features into the stone, seemingly lettering, on the northeast edge of the rock. They can be seen faintly on the second photo, above.
The other basic cup-marked stones were found 2 and 5 yards north and northeast of this carving. We know from other evidence found that the carvings here were related to a prehistoric enclosure, but there also seemed the distinct possibility that they had some association with a previously undiscovered tomb. A number of carvings in this region have direct associations with cairns or tombs of one form or another, so this is not unusual.
Dead easy to find. Get into the centre of the lovely little town centre of Kincardine, down High Street, and there upon its steps at the roadside, you can’t miss the it!
Archaeology & History
A few days ago when I came to have a look at this old cross (17th century according to the Royal Commission) it was surrounded by protective railings while some work was being done in the town centre. Thankfully it was a glorious bright day and allowed for some good photos!
It is a typical mercat cross, as Mair (1988) called them: a stone pillar, mounted on steps, with some sort of crowning edifice on top. The monument was described in the Royal Commission (1933) report of the region, where they wrote:
“The market cross stands at the southern end of High Street and consists of an octagonal shaft with moulded base and capital, placed on a rise of six octagonal steps, having a spread of 14½ feet. Above the square abacus is a stone sculptured with the arms of the Earls of Kincardine on the one side and a thistle ornament on the other. The arms are: Quarterly, 1st and 4th, a lion rampart; 2nd and 3rd, a saltire and chief. The shield is flanked by two men in armour as supporters, is surmounted by a coronet and helm, mantled and wreathed, and has for crest a naked arm, flexed, issuing out of a cloud and holding a man’s heart. The cross must be later than 26 December, 1647, when the Earldom was created.”
References:
Beveridge, David, Culross and Tulliallan: Its History and Antiquities – 2 volumes, William Blackwood: Edinburgh 1885.
Mair, Craig, Mercat Cross and Tolbooth, John Donald: Edinburgh 1988.
Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments, Scotland, Inventory of Monuments and Constructions in the Counties of Fife, Kinross and Clackmannan, HMSO: Edinburgh 1933.
Small, John W., Scottish Market Crosses, Eneas Mackay: Stirling 1900.
Similar in size and appearance to one of the cup-marked Tuilyies standing stones in Fife, Scotland, it was our old ley-hunter, Alfred Watkins, who described this stone in his Ley Hunter’s Manual (1927), along with giving us the old photograph taken by one of his mates here, which also showed the cup-and-ring carvings near the base of the stone. Are they still visible? (I’ve not been here, hence mi ignorance!) Watkins thought the cup-markings at the bottom represented some of the local leys—but unfortunately they don’t.
Folklore
Legend says that the deep grooves running down the stone were made by men sharpening arrow-heads on it (like a whetstone). There was also the usual christian Victorian fable that the stone was used by the druids and that the grooves on the stone were where the blood of their human sacrifices was channelled to the ground! The stone was also said to have some relationship with the nearby Calder Stones (which seems probable).
References:
Cowell, Ron, The Calderstones – A Prehistoric Tomb in Liverpool, Merseyside Archaeological Trust 1984.
Watkins, Alfred, The Ley Hunter’s Manual, London 1927.
Go west out of Dunfermline on the A994 till you hit the Torryburn roundabout, taking the A985 Kincardine road. Barely a half-mile along, stop at the first parking layby at the roadside – and there, over the barbed wire fence, you’ll see your standing stones right in front of you.
Archaeology & History
The Tuilyies standing stones
Overlooking the northern shores of the Firth of Forth is this fascinating group of standing stones which, old lore told, was once an old stone circle. You can see what they meant. The Tuilyies consists of a small group of three stones, between 3 and 7 feet tall, arranged in the form of a scalene triangle; and about 20 yards away stands the more impressive outlying 8 foot tall upright stone, somewhat akin to a petrified ancestor, with both natural and man-made cup-markings on at least two sides of its slim body. This outlying stone is of a very different character to that of its close neighbours—and a different type of stone as well—and is very similar in both size and appearance to the Robin Hood Stone at Allerton, near Liverpool. Curious…
The east-facing cup-marked Tuilyies stoneNatural ridges on its west-face
Whether the stones here were part of a stone circle we don’t know for sure. It was suggested as such in 1793 and Aubrey Burl (2000) includes them in his primary survey, but we have little evidence to prove as such nowadays. The parish of Torryburn not only had to contend with industrial agriculture knocking down any stones that may once have stood here, but in the 17th century the village also had to tolerate the psychiatric delusions of one reverend Allan Logan: one of the many deranged priests who saw witchcraft and demons in everything natural or animistic, persecuting local people for their old traditions, herbalism and peasant-lore. (Beveridge 1885; Cunningham 1902; Webster 1820, etc) These old stones were unlikely not to have received his depraved attention. But thankfully, some remain standing…
The Tuilyies seem to have been described first of all in the 1793 Old Statistical Account of Scotland—and in that narrative we find one of the earliest descriptions of cup-markings. It told that,
“In a pretty extensive plain field NE of the village of Torryburn, there is a flat stone, raised upon one end, of a shape nearly oblong and measuring, from the surface to the top, about 8 feet, and about 4½ in breadth, Round the edge of it there is a deep circle, and on each of the sides a number of ridges, all of which wear the appearance of art and antiquity. At about 18 or 20 paces from this stone, there is a number of smaller ones, which, from their present position, seemed to have formed part of a circle.”
Many years were to pass before these old stones heard from the men of words again. This time it was the renaissance of cup-and-ring designs that brought them back to light, when Sir James Simpson (1866), in his massive precursory essay to British Archaic Sculpturings (1867) talked about them:
“The stone at Torrie, Fifeshire…is a flattened sandstone flag, deeply guttered in longitudinal lines, and presenting cup- markings on its eastern side. It has been attempted to be made “a holed stone,” like (the) this block at Ballymeanoch (Argyll), but the artificially splayed perforations from the opposite sides do not meet in the middle. About fifty paces from it are the remains of a small circle of stones.”
The triangle of standing stones
Unusually, J. Romilly Allen only mentioned the stones in passing, simply repeating Simpson’s earlier words. Even local historians gave the site scant attention. In David Beveridge’s (1885) magnum opus he gave only a brief mention of the stones; and A.S. Cunningham (1902) did likewise. Thankfully after a visit to the stones by the Royal Commission lads in May 1925, a more detailed description was given. They wrote:
“The site of the cup-marked standing stone…is a plateau, 150 feet above sea level, in a field on Torrie Estate about half a mile to the northeast of the village of Torryburn, and on the north side of the drive to Torrie House. At a distance of 60 feet from it are three huge boulders, and the four are said to be the remains of a circle, although that idea is not borne out by their present disposition.
“The cup-marked stone rises to a height of 8 feet above the ground and has its narrow faces to the north-east and south-west. It is of irregular form, narrowing somewhat at 7 inches from the base, expanding outwards at the middle, and contracting again to a roughly convex top. On the east face the lower portion is covered with cup-marks. which vary from 1½ to 5 inches in diameter and from 1½ to 2 inches in depth. At a height of 6 feet from ground level, in the south-west angle of the stone, is a cavity 7 inches in depth, while there is a similar cavity of like depth opposite to it on the west face. The stone is also marked on the east and west faces, as well as on the top and down the narrow sides, with a series of perpendicular grooves of varying depth, but all these channels are due to weathering. Its measurements are: north face, 1 foot 3 inches; south face, 1 foot 4 inches; east face, 4 feet 4 inches; west face, 4 feet 3 inches; girth at base, 10 feet 8 inches; at 7 inches up, 8 feet 10 inches; at middle, 10 feet 5 inches.
“The three other boulders are set in the form of a triangle immediately to the south of this cup-marked stone, at intervals of 12, 15 and 16 feet apart. One has evidently fallen from an upright position and now lies with its major axis north and south. None of the three shows any markings. They are of whinstone, while the cup-marked standing stone is of grey sandstone.”
But as for the lack of cup-markings on the outlying smaller stones, when Ron Morris (1973) examined the site in the ’70s, he found what seemed to be some cup-marks on the largest of the group of three stones, as shown in the photos. On this he reported,
“25yds S of the well-known cup-marked standing stone are 3 large boulders. The W of these, measuring 7′ x 4½’ x 3½’ high, bears on its slightly W-sloping top surface 7 cups cup to 2″ diameter and ½” deep.”
When I visited the site the other day, these were difficult to see—cos as the photos here show, Nature gave us a bittova dark grey day and such carvings are notoriously temperamental when weather conditions aren’t to the stone’s liking!
Folklore
The Old Statistical Account of 1793 told that the stones were supposed to have “been the scene of a battle in some former period, and these stones…mark the graves of some of the chiefs, who had fallen in the engagement.” The lore was echoed in David Beveridge’s (1885) huge local history work, where he informed the reader that many standing stones along the Forth,
“are all connected with the Danish incursions. One specially may be mentioned, standing near Torryburn, the parish adjoining Culross, in a field which is still known by the name of the Tuilzie, or Battle Park.”
Morris, Ronald W.B., “Torryburn, Torry – Cup-Marked Rock’, in Discovery & Excavation in Scotland, 1973.
Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments, Scotland, Inventory of Monuments and Constructions in the Counties of Fife, Kinross and Clackmannan, HMSO: Edinburgh 1933.
Simpson, James, Archaic Sculpturings of Cups, Circles, etc., Upon Stones and Rocks in Scotland, England and other Countries, Edmonston & Douglas: Edinburgh 1867.
Webster, David, A Collection of Rare and Curious Tracts on Witchcraft and Second Sight, D. Webster: Edinburgh 1820.
This lovely standing stone can be a pain-in-the arse to get to! Unless you wanna clamber over the excess of increasingly stupid deer fences that are appearing all over the place (old locals aint happy), follow the directions to the Tir Artair cup-marking, then walk across to the fencing and follow it all the way down into the fields until you reach the stream on your right, running in front of the fenced woodland. There’s a large gate here into the trees. Go thru it. In front of you is some overgrown walling into the trees: follow this along, slowly, keeping your eyes peeled for the upright stone about 100 yards in. Good luck!
Archaeology & History
The old mossy stone
In this “land of Arthur”—as the place-name means—we find this beautiful moss and lichen-encrusted standing stone, living alone in remains of mainly birch woodland. It stands less than 5 feet tall, just in front of some old walling encircling one of the many rounded knolls in this area. The stone may have had some megalithic partners in bygone days, as we find, about 25 yards away sleeping amidst overgrown vegetation beside an old oak, a couple of other old stones laid on the ground that seem to have been placed here by human hands. Their antiquarian nature is unknown.
References:
Gillies, William A., In Famed Breadalbane, Munro Press: Perth 1938.
Take the A827 road out of Killin to Fearnan and Kenmore. A mile or so out, go past the entrance to the Finlarig Power Station for another 2-300 yards, keeping your eyes peeled for the small track on your right. Go down here. 100 yards down the track bends, then another 50 yards it bends again. Just here there’s a small clump of trees, right by the bend. You’re looking for the large flat rock therein!
Archaeology & History
Close-up of the cup-marking
Although listed by the lads at Canmore, I can find no previous literary reference to this stone — which is a simple thing to be honest: probably of little value to anyone who aint a petroglyph fanatic! The large flat rock has a single large cup-marking on its northern edge, 3 inches across and nearly an inch deep. If you’re gonna visit here, you may as well check out the standing stone further down, in the trees on your right.
Follow the directions as if you’re visiting the other Corrycharmaig carvings, but as you cross the bridge over the River Lochay, turn immediately left and follow the edge of the river down the field till you reach the fence. Go over here, but then head up the slope away from the river, over another fence up the small grassy hill ahead of you. As you near the very top of the hill, you’ll find the stone in question.
Archaeology & History
Small overgrown cairn 10 yards away
Found near to the famous Stag Cottage and Duncroisk carvings, this previously unknown example is found on a small rounded female stone, barely 2 feet by 2 feet across. The most notable feature is the large cup-marking, 2-3 inches wide and half-and-inch deep. When I first found the stone, twas a cloudy grey day and I wasn’t sure whether a small carved arc along one edge of the cup continued into a semi-circle — but as the photo here shows, the cup-mark seems to have a large faint ring going about three-quarters of the way round it. Hopefully I’ll get some better images of the stone when I visit again in the coming weeks.
The stone gave the impression that it belonged in a cairn of sorts, but a brief rummage in the grasses immediately around the rock showed nothing. However, barely 10 yards down the grassy slope there was a small overgrown cairn — though it didn’t seem to have that prehistoric pedigree about it. This carving is one in a group of at least four others—including Corrycharmaig East 3—not previously catalogued. It’s likely that more remain undiscovered on the many other rocks nearby.
Whether you’re coming here from Wrose or Eccleshill, go along Wrose Road and turn down Livingstone Road at the traffic lights. Down here, when the road splits, head to your right until you meet with those stupid road-block marks (where you can only get one car through). Just here, walk down the slope and path on your right, and before you hit the bottom of the slope, walk down the small valley for about 20 yards until you see the small stream appear from beneath some overgrown man-made stone lintels. That’s it!
Archaeology & History
When I was a kid I used to play down this tiny valley when the waters here still had small fish swimming away (we used to call them ‘tiddlers’). The fish seem to have gone, but there are still waterboatmen on the surface, indicating that we still have fresh water here – and on my most recent visit, I cautiously tasted the waters and found them OK (the prevalence of broken bottles and beer cans from locals doesn’t inspire you to drink here though).
Initially located on the local boundary line between Eccleshill and Wrose, the waters used to be found running into a trough about 100 yards further up the small valley, but this has been lost and housing now covers its original site. You can see how the stream has cut the valley further upstream, but now it bubbles up from beneath the rocks shown in the photo. Bradford historian Robert Allen (1927) described the site in his survey as originally being between North Spring and South Spring Wood.
Although the name Sweet Willy Well remains a mystery, one of its other titles — the Lin Well — relates to the presence of linnets that used to be found in great numbers here. The ‘Sugar Stream’ name is one we knew it as locally as children, due to the once sweet taste of the waters. It is likely to have had medicinal properties, but these have been forgotten. No archaeological survey has ever been done of this site.
References:
Allen, Robert C. (ed.), The History Of Bolton In Bradford-Dale; with Notes on Bradford, Eccleshill, Idle, Undercliffe, Feather Bros: Bradford 1927.
Tumulus (destroyed): OS Grid Reference – TM 0628 2022
Archaeology & History
Alresford Hill urn
In a region well known for the finding of early British remains (Belloc 1905), another prehistoric burial mound was destroyed in the Essex landscape simply due to ignorance and neglect. Thankfully once more we have local antiquarians and an astute schoolgirl for discovering and preserving a record of this site, otherwise we’d have no record of the place at all! Described in M.R. Hull’s (1946) article on some of the Bronze Age relics of the area, he told how a well-preserved urn in the edge of the tumulus,
“was found in June 1942 by a schoolgirl, Miss Anne Pilkington, on the top of the hill overlooking Alresford Creek and the Colne Estuary, about 70 yards northwest of Bench Mark 74.8 and 560 yards slightly west of south from Alresford church, west of the road to the creek and south of the lane running west along the north side of the field. This is the northern limit of a huge gravel-pit. She noticed the vessel standing upright in the side of the pit and recovered it. Nothing else was noticed…
“Afterwards the diary of our late Fellow, Mr P.G. Laver came into my hands and I find under the date 8th July, 1922, that he noticed, when motoring past the site, ‘a definite tumulus, but much ploughed down, now barely 18ins above the field level. It is close to the road through the field, the centre being roughly 20 yards S of the road and about 200 yards from the road to the ford.’ The sketch-plan leaves no doubt on the identity of the site.”
Annoyingly though, Mr Hull didn’t think it worthwhile to reproduce this alleged sketch-map. He did however give us a good description of the urn and its position in the ground, saying,
“The vessel is stated to have been about 5ft below the surface when found, but I am not certain whether the top-soil had been removed or not. The clay is fine, burnt light red, but black within, and the whole body is covered with horizontal lines impressed in exactly the same way as (those on the Flag Inn urn), but much less clearly. The base is slightly hollowed beneath and is not far from having a foot-ring.”
Folklore
Mr Hull (1946) also made an interesting comment on the views of local people about the site where Anne had found this urn, reminding me of what Highland and hill folk would have put down to faerie-lore, though no such memory was noted. He told:
“On enquiry I learnt that no one had observed a mound at the spot, but that it had been observed that exactly there the corn, when the field was cultivated, grew taller and greener in a large round patch”!
References:
Belloc, Hilaire, The Old Road, Archibald Constable: London 1905.
Hull, M.R., “Five Bronze Age Beakers from North-East Essex,” in Antiquaries Journal, volume 26, Jan-April 1946.
