Stone Circle (destroyed): OS Grid Reference – SD 664 655
Archaeology & History
I have found no archaeological references whatsoever to this site (though to be honest, the Lancashire archaeological fraternity are pretty poor when it comes to finding and recording sites). The place has its existence preserved in the aptly-named Ringstones Lane and the farmhouse, Ringstones.
Michala Potts found several records of the place in the 17th century, and the site is shown on the 1844 OS-map with the same name, but we have been unable to ascertain when/if any standing stones were here. The place may well have been a burial-site of some sort, as found at other Ringstone place-names in Lancashire. But we can clearly see on aerial imagery that there is a large, distinct, circular outline in the heavily ploughed fields about 100 yards north of the farm. There is what may be the remains of a second circle above this, but the outline is faint; but it appears that an enclosure of some sort, ovoid in shape and a couple of hundred feet across, was also evident in the same field where the more distinct circular outline is seen.
My favourite outline however, is a large linear mark on the ground stretching for several hundred yards running roughly north-south, starting in the field between Aikengill and Ringstones and going dead straight, bypassing the circle and crossing Ringstones Lane, where it seems to disappear and is no longer visible. The curious ‘ground line’ is roughly 100 feet across. Cursus anyone!?
Standing Stone (destroyed): OS Grid Reference – SE 15940 34211
Also known as:
Ash Stone
Pin Stone
Archaeology & History
Wart Stone on 1852 OS-map
At Bradford City’s football ground there used to be the holy well known as the Holy Ash Well, adjacent to which was this old stone (as shown on the 1852 OS map). For some reason it was uprooted and moved further up the hill around the end of the 19th century and was resurrected beside the old Belle Vue Hotel on Manningham Lane. From thereon however, I’ve not been able to trace what happened to it, and presume it’s been destroyed. It was known by local people to have had a ritual relationship with the adjacent healing well, to which people were said to visit from far and wide.
It seems to have been described first by Abraham Holroyd (1873), who told us that:
“In Manningham Lane there is a fine well, in old deeds called Hellywell, i.e., holy well, in a field now called Halliwell Ash, now a stone quarry… Near this is the ancient Pin Stone.”
The Bradford historian William Preston also made mention of the stone in one of his early surveys, where he told how local people also knew the stone as the Ash Stone, due to its proximity and ritual relationship to a great old tree.
Folklore
Also known as the Wart Stone, thanks to its ability to cure them and other skin afflictions. Intriguingly, the building which now stands on the site is said to be haunted.
As my old school-mate, Dave Pendleton (1997), said of the place and its associated well:
“Prior to 1886 the only feature of any real note in the Valley Parade environs was a holy well that emerged near the corner of the football grounds Midland Road and Bradford End stands; hence the road Holywell Ash Lane. Today the site of the well is covered by the football pitch.
Only the road name survives as a reminder of what was apparently one of the district’s foremost attractions. On Sundays and holidays people would gather to take the waters and leave pins, coins, rags and food as offerings to the spirit that resided in the waters.
Accounts suggest that the well was covered and had a great ash tree standing over it (hence ‘holy ash’). There was also a standing stone called the wart stone of unknown antiquity. The stone had a carved depression that collected water. It was believed that the water was a miraculous cure for warts. Indeed, as early as 1638 the Holy Well had been credited with healing powers.
The well suffered a decline in popularity during the late nineteenth century and its keepers resorted to importing sulphur water from Harrogate, which they sold for a half penny per cup. The well disappeared under the Valley Parade pitch during the summer of 1886 and the wart stone was moved to the top of Holywell Ash Lane – which then ran straight up to Manningham Lane. The stone was still there as late as 1911 but thereafter it seems to have disappeared into the mists of time.”
Unfortunately we have no old photos or drawings of this lost standing stone – though I imagine that some local, somewhere must be able to help us out with this one. Surely there’s summat hiding away…
References:
Bennett, Paul, The Old Stones of Elmet, Capall Bann: Milverton 2001.
In September, 1928, the old ley-hunter Alfred Watkins was out on one of his many rambles when he “saw a tall stone almost buried in the bank at this crossroads,” appropriately known as Picts Cross, about a mile south of Sellack — so he called it the ‘Picts Cross Stone.’ He also said, “It was Pricker’s and Prick’s Cross in 18th century maps, and Pig’s Cross in the 1832 Ord. Map. Now ‘pig’ is the present Welsh word for “a peak, a point, a pike.””
And a lovely pointy old stone it looks in his old photo! The monolith is in the hedgerow along the old boundary line.
References:
Watkins, Alfred, The Old Standing Crosses of Herefordshire, Simpkin Marshall: London 1930.
Standing Stone (destroyed): OS Grid Reference – TM 052 809
Folklore
This slab of sandstone apparently used to stand upright in one of the fields of Oxfootstone Farm and on its surface is supposed to be the burnt impression of a cow’s hoof-print. Legend tells that there was a fairy cow which would come into the area when times of hardship occurred. During such periods she would freely give her milk to the people, but when the drought was over she stamped down on the stone upon which she stood, burning the imprint of her hoof onto it and magically vanished back from whence she came. A variation of the tale tells of a normal cow whose milk normally supplied the local villagers. But one night a drunken man (in another tale it is a witch) milked the cow dry through a sieve, until only blood came from her udders. At this point, the cow cried out in pain and kicked the stone so hard that she left the mark of her hoof-print on it.
Another tale tells that an ox got a large thorn stuck in its foot and rampaged through the local village, eventually stamping its hoof onto the stone so hard that it left the imprint of its foot here.
Now this might sound presumptious of me — but this tale has all the hallmarks of it being an old folk-remnant telling the origin of some cup-and-ring marked stone. We find a number of cup-and-rings with creation tales similar to this. Are there any local archaeologists or enthusiasts in Norfolk who might be able to locate any remains of this possible carved stone?
References:
Burgess, Michael W., The Standing Stones of Norfolk and Suffolk, ESNA 1: Lowestoft 1978.
Dutt, W.A., The Ancient Mark-Stones of East Anglia, Flood & Sons: Lowestoft, 1926.
A bittova wander with not much to see, if truth be had. Best way here’s from the top Oakworth Road heading to the Lancashire border, right on the moor-edge. Go along the Hare Hill Edge road for a coupla miles till you hit the Pennine Way. Walk along it up onto the moor, following the dead straight walling for several hundred yards. Where the walling stops, all of a sudden, stop! (there’s a wooden post here) Now walk left (west) across the heath for less than 100 yards. You’ll find it…
Archaeology & History
Old Bess Stone, with Crow Hill on the distant skyline
I’ve found nothing of this site in archaeology records – but that’s likely down to me not looking hard enough! I’m not even sure that it’s prehistoric – but as there’s nowt written about it, and there are other sites which relate to this old stone, it’s certainly worthy of mention.
The stone lays in the grasses, some four-feet long, with a more recent 18th-19th century boundary stone laid a few feet away. It seems most likely that Old Bess had stood here much longer though. Old Bess seems to be the first in a row of at least 6 seemingly unrecognized boundary stones running northwest in a straight line up to the Wolf Stones, about half-a-mile from here. Neither the early, nor modern OS-maps show any of these stones, several of which are accompanied by earlier, more worn stones – two of which have the letters ‘C.C.’ or ‘G.C.’ carved on them.
Old Bess ‘hut circle’ (it’s there – honest!)
About 10 yards north of Old Bess are the remains of a very noticeable oval-shaped ‘hut circle’ – or something closely resembling such remains. About five yards across at the most, with stone walling making up the edge of the ring beneath the moorland grasses, an excavation here wouldn’t go amiss! Although it’s hard to see in this photo (it’s the roughly circular rise in the middle), when you’re on the moor it’s obvious. It looks and feels as if the remains were something from medieval times, or perhaps even later – but it’d be good to know for sure! The remains of an old delph 100 yards south may account for more of Old Bess and its accompanying hut circle than owt prehistoric.
From Old Bess, walk in a straight line towards the large rock outcrop of the Wolf Stones, northwest of here. After a short distance you’ll come across another large stone, cut and shaped in bygone centuries (not prehistoric though) laying in the boggy tussock grass and looking similar to Old Bess. Another 100 yards on from here, along the same straight line towards the Wolf Stones, you’ll find another cut stone of similar dimensions; and from here you’ll see another stone about the same distance again ahead of you. These would appear to be the lost medieval boundary stones which led to a boundary dispute between the counties of Yorkshire and Lancashire a few centuries ago. For those medieval historians amongst you, check ’em out: it would appear that these are the lost stones (pushed over, obviously) which led to the said dispute. How on earth no-one’s found ’em previously beggars belief!
Folklore
A little-known site with a spirit ancestor giving rise to its name. Surrounding it are tales of little people, for just above it is where the faerie lived at the Fairy Fold Dike. While a couple of hundred yards west lived an old hob (another faerie creature) who used to drink from an old well named after him, the Hob Ing Spring. Victorian lore tells of druidic folklore further up the moor by the old Wolf Stones, which is linked to Old Bess by virtue of the line of old boundary stones running from here.
There are several ways to get here, but I took the one from the road (B6265) walking up the track into Crookrise Woods. Unless you’ve got a decent OS-map with it marked on, this might take some finding to some folk as it’s tucked away on the northern edge of Crookrise Woods (which one Southerner bloke told us was private – though he was ‘allowed’ there!). It’s right on the rounded knoll at the top of the woods, beneath the prominent slopes which lead to the moor.
Archaeology & History
Our old mate and Yorkshire historian Arthur Raistrick seems to have been the first to describe this place in the Yorkshire Archaeological Register of 1964 – though the holy wells writer Edna Whelan told me she knew about the place many years back. Today hidden in woodland and mostly overgrown, Raistrick’s brief description of the place said:
“A small stone circle of six stones set symmetrically within a diameter of 26 feet. The stones vary in size from 21 to 58 inches. Surveyed 1963.”
The site has been badly affected by the erosion of time, forestry and god-knows what else. Scattered around are numerous small stones giving the impression that it may once have been a cairn-circle, more than a stone circle. Four of the six stones mentioned by Raistrick (1965) are visible, but none are impressive – and unless you’d read about the place first or found it in Mr Burl’s Stones Circles of Britain… (2000), you wouldn’t really give it the time of day.
Although sadly disappointing in its present status – completely surrounded by trees, with no view at all – it seems probable that it would have had some geomantic relationship with the hillfort-looking site of Rough Haw immediately west, and very probably the adjacent ritual site of Sharp Haw. It seems that the equinox sun would set between Rough Haw and the other small rounded hill above.
References:
Burl, Aubrey, The Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany, Yale University Press 2000.
Although destroyed, to those who wanna check the locale, from Bingley take the Eldwick road and keep going all the way up to Dick Hudson’s public house, right on the edge of the moor. From here, go left (east) on the road for less than a mile until you reach the reservoir/lake on your right. Take the dirt-track down here for 100 yards and stop! It was somewhere here!
Archaeology & History
I first went looking for this site when I was a kid (about 13 years old), but soon discovered that it had been destroyed. The first person to write about it was lucky enough to see it when it was still there. Harry Speight came here around 1890 and described,
“descending (from Pennythorn Hill) towards Faweather we enter (by permission) a field at Birch Close Farm, and here we find evidence of an extensive stone circle, some of the large unhewn stones having been built into an adjoining wall. In the next field is a rock sculpture with…cup and ring marks.”
This cup-marked stone still exists at Faweather, though has now been enclosed by a garden. The occupiers are quite friendly and are willing to let you look at the stone if you ask kindly. Anyway…..by the time Butler Wood wrote about the place in 1905, he was telling that “the finest stone circle in the Rombald’s Moor area was demolished some years ago.”
The local historian W.E. Preston, marking an old map of the region with an “X,” wrote:
“NOTE! The circle was destroyed here during construction of the Baildon Waterworks, 1892. Diameter 25 yards. It consisted of a wall of rubble with upright stones at frequent intervals.”
Subsequent descriptions of the site in 1905, 1929 and 1946, cited Weecher to be 27 yards across. My last search for any remains of this circle was in 1990 when I explored every wall in the region, hoping to find one or two of the old uprights, but they had all gone. Sadly, there appear to be no drawings or illustrations of the site either…
Folklore
This stone circle was one of at least four circles that played a part in one of the most impressive leys I have seen! Starting at the circle in Hirst Woods, Saltaire, the alignment goes north, crossing the Brackenhall circle, a few other Bronze Age sites, across the site of Weecher, and finally terminates at the Great Skirtful giant tomb a short distance north of here.
References:
Bennett, Paul, The Old Stones of Elmet, Capall Bann: Milverton 2001.
Cowling, E.T., Rombald’s Way, William Walker: Otley 1946.
Gray, Johnnie, Through Airedale from Goole to Malham, Walker & Laycock: Leeds 1891.
Raistrick, Arthur, ‘The Bronze Age in West Yorkshire,’ in YAJ 1929.
Wood, Butler, ‘Prehistoric Antiquities of the Bradford District,’ in Bradford Antiquary, 2, 1905.
From Litton Cheney go north up the White Way road until it meets the main A35 crossroad. Go across the road, then get over the fence on your right and onto the rise in the hill. These earthworks, or timber circle remains, are under your feet!
Archaeology & History
Lay-out of site by O.G.S. Crawford, 1939
Shown on modern OS-maps as an ‘earthwork’, but ascribed elsewhere as a timber circle, when Stuart & C.M. Piggott visited and surveyed this site in the 1930s, they thought it to be the remains of stone circle. Found on a prominent rise in the landscape with excellent views all round here, the Piggott’s description of the site told:
“It consists of a shallow ditch with internal bank, enclosing a somewhat oval area measuring 75 feet from north to south, and 63 feet from east to west. The ditch, which lies on the southeast, where the ground has been disturbed, does not reach a depth of more than about one foot, while the bank rises nowhere above 2.5 feet. It is possible there was an entrance on the southeast, but the bank is disturbed at this point. On the crest of the bank on the southwest are 3 almost circular depressions, some 6 feet in diameter, and placed 20 feet distant from one another along the circumference of the bank. Another similar depression is on the northeast, while yet another may have existed in the disturbed portion of the bank on the southeast.”
It was these finds which led them to suppose a ring of stones originally surmounted this small hillock, twelve in all.
Ground-plan by O.G.S. Crawford
Another site — which they called ‘Litton Cheney 2’ — was found less than 50 yards to the east of here by a Mr W.E.V. Young and the Piggotts. These remains comprised of, “a very shallow and regular ditch surrounding a circular area 47 feet in diameter. A single sarsen lies on the inner lip of the ditch on the southeast” which, they thought, may have been the solitary remains of yet another stone circle. Three other sarsen stones were found 90 feet south of here, but they were unsure whether they related to the circle or not.
Archaeological remains from here dated from 2200-1400 BC and local researcher Peter Knight (1996) thought that the sites ascribed here as megalithic rings to be correct. He also found that tumuli visible some 5 or 6 miles southeast of here, on top of Black Down Hill (where the Hardy Monument’s found), “marks out the winter solstice sunrise.” A dip in the horizon to the northwest, he claims, also marks the summer solstice sunset from here. Knight also mentions how “both Litton Cheney sites lie close to a ley line going to the Nine Stone Circle and beyond.”
References:
Knight, Peter, Ancient Stones of Dorset, Power: Ferndown 1996.
Piggott, Stuart & C.M., ‘Stone and Earth Circles in Dorset,’ in Antiquity, June 1939.
Marked on the earliest 6-inch Ordnance Survey map of this area (1875), this 4ft tall standing stone (now gone) once stood on the east bank of the River Euchar. The prehistoric cairn 400 yards to the west on the other side of the river would seem to have had some relationship with the stone, as they aligned to the equinoxes.
References:
Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, Argyll – volume 2: Lorn, HMSO: Edinburgh 1974.
Seemingly destroyed, this carved standing stone was first described in Shaw’s Tourist Guide to the Isle of Man (1877), where he says it stood by the wall of the chapel, telling how it was “one of several stones inscribed with various designs and inscriptions.”
Hope that I’m wrong, but it seems like we’ve lost some more good old cup-and-ring art…
