Take the B6265 east out of Grassington, thru Hebden, for another 2 miles till you pass the tiny road down to Skyreholme on the right. Another few hundred yards on, past Nussey Farm and Dry Gill house, park up and look for the track going south into the moors. Go down the track called Black Hill Road for a few hundred yards till y’ reach the gate on the right. A track bends downhill to the psilocybin-rich pastures of Nussey Green. Several hundred yards on, to the right-hand side of the track, we find this and its companions. Look around!
Archaeology & History
Quick sketch of design
This medium-sized, recumbent standing-stone-shaped boulder has perhaps fifteen cup-markings on it. It’s a plain carving with others of a similar ilk in the area. First described by Stuart Feather in 1970 as one of “two cup-marked rocks” he found when ambling around; in Boughey & Vickerman’s (2003) survey they give it the wrong grid reference, though describe it correctly as a “long flat rock of irregular outline (with) fourteen to sixteen cups.” A cluster of other carvings are nearby, though some have been destroyed through mining operations.
References:
Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS: Wakefield 2003.
Feather, Stuart, “Appletreewick, W.R.,” in Yorkshire Archaeological Register, 1969, Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, part 168, 1970.
The great Yorkshire historian Harry Speight (1892) gave the directions for this place, which I’ve not located. On his walk down the southern side off Whernside, he told us to “follow the road which runs between Gunnerfleet and the white house at Winterscales, going under the long viaduct and round by Batty Wife Hole onto the main road at Ribblehead….” About 100 yards or so down the road, look over the walling into the field on the left-hand side. It’s there…..somewhere!
Archaeology & History
In an area that is pretty rich in prehistoric sites, one of our great Yorkshire antiquarians, Harry Speight (1892) seems to have described a site which our archaeologists have yet to get round to finding. He told that,
“nearer the wall there are indications of a rude, double circle, artificially formed of these dark weathered grits. The inner circle is about 20 yards in diameter and the outer one forms a narrow aisle surrounding it, with an outlet to the north; but some of the stones have been removed, probably to build and repair the adjoining fences. The situation is open and commands the country on all sides between the lofty moors and summits that hem in the dale-head. On the opposite side of the road are the remains of a couple of large cairns. They are presumably Danish. One was opened about a century ago (c.1790), and found to cover a rude stone coffin containing an entire human skeleton. The other large pile does not ever appear to have been examined. It is more than probable that many a furious battel has been waged here, as the possession of this prominent ridge, which dominates so many particular outlets, must have been of capital importance to every hostile tribe.”
Although the Victorian christian beliefs of ‘rudeness’ in everything and rampant hostile tribes, has long since subsided in the view of our ancestors. This area described by Speight does sound like an old burial ground. But from which age – and where now are the sites he described?
References:
Speight, Harry, The Craven and Northwest Yorkshire Highlands, Elliot Stock: London 1892.
Take the same directions as if you’re visiting the multiple-ringed Agra Woods petroglyph (West Agra 8). From just below here, keep to the woodland side, and follow the line of tall drystone walling along to the east for a hundred yards or more, keeping your eyes peeled for the stone in question, just in front of a nice oak tree. You can’t really miss it!
Archaeology & History
Not too far away from the scattered cluster of West Agra’s cup-and-ring stones, can be found this very bulky six foot tall standing stone, near the edge of the old walling on the inner-side of the Agra Woods. It was rediscovered by Paul Hornby on a Northern Antiquarian outing in May 2011, who told it to be “quite a massive thing!” (I’ve yet to visit the site so can’t give my personal impressions of the site)
ON the A59 Harrogate to Skipton road, right on top where it crosses the barren moors, get to the parking spot right near where the road levels out at the highest point (2-300 yards past the turning to the derelict Dovestones Quarry). From here, go thru the gate onto the moor for about 100 yard. Then turn straight east (left) for another few hundred yards till y’ reach the spot marked as Gill Head Peat Moor on the OS-map. This small standing stone (right) is where you need to start – the other remains continue east of here.
Archaeology & History
Richard’s original photo, with walling clearly visible
The discovery of this site began in April 2005, when rock art student Richard Stroud and I were exploring the moors here and he called our attention to what seemed like a singular upright standing stone, some 3 feet high, with a debatable cup-marking on top, standing amidst a scatter of smaller stones running north and south from here, implying that the stone may have been a part of some much denuded walling from our ancient past. But we weren’t sure—and simply noted its location (at SE 13378 54924) and carried on our way. But in revisiting this site after looking at some old archaeology papers, Paul Hornby and I chanced to find a lot more on the burnt heathland running east of here.
The upright stone found by Mr Stroud is certainly part of some ancient walling, but it is much denuded and falls back into the peat after only a short distance. A short distance west of this stone is a small cairn which seems of more recent origin; but due east, along the flat plain on the moorland itself, the burnt heathland showed a scattering of extensive human remains, comprising mainly of walling, hut circles and possible cairns—lots of it!
One issue we have to contend with on this moorland is the evidence of considerable peat-cutting in places, which was being done on a large scale into the Victorian period. Scatterings of medieval work are also found across this moor, in places directly interfering with little-known Bronze Age monuments in the middle of the remote uplands. There is no doubt that some of these medieval and later workings have destroyed some of the uncatalogued prehistoric archaeological remains on this moor. But thankfully, on the ridge running west to east along Gill Head to above the source of the Black Dike, scattered remains of human habitation and activity are still in evidence. The only problem with what we’ve found, is the date…
Two rows of straight walling, with stone scatter all roundAnother overgrown curve of walling
In 1960, Mr J. Davies first mentioned finding good evidence of flint-workings at a site close by; then described his discoveries in greater detail in the Yorkshire Archaeological Journal (1963) a few years later — but contended that the remains were of mesolithic origin. A few years earlier, Mr D. Walker described a similar mesolithic “microlith site” a bit further north at Stump Cross. Earlier still, Eric Cowling (1946) and others had made similar finds on these and adjacent moors. Yet all of them missed this scatter of habitation sites, perched near the edge of the ridge running east-west atop of the ridge above the A59 road. It’s quite extensive and, from the state of the walled remains, seems very early, probably neolithic in origin.
A number of small hut circles, 2-3 yards across, are scattered amidst the heather, with lines of walling—some straight, some not—broken here and there by people who came to gather their peat for fuel. The walling and hut circle remains are very low to the ground, having themselves been robbed for stone it would seem. The area initially appeared to be little more than a mass of stones scattered across the Earth (and much of it is), but amidst this are very clear lines of walls and circles, although they proved difficult to photograph because of the excessive growth of Calluna vulgaris.
Curious man-made structure in dried peat-bog
A couple of hundred yards south there are remains of one of the many dried black peat-bogs—with one large section that has been tampered with by humans at some point in the ancient past. Over one section of it there has been built a small stone path, or possible fish-trap; plus elsewhere is a most curious rectangular walled structure (right) obviously made by people a long time ago. Also amidst this dried peat-bog are the truly ancient remains of prehistoric tree-roots emerging from the Earth, a few thousand years old at least – and perhaps the last remnants of the ancient forests that once covered these moors.
How far back in time do all these walled remains take us? Iron Age? Bronze Age? Or much much further…? Excavations anyone!?
References:
Cowling, Eric T., Rombald’s Way, William Walker: Otley 1946.
Davies, J., “A Mesolithic Workshop in Upper Wharfedale,” in Bradford’s Cartwright Hall Archaeology Group Bulletin, 5:1, 1960.
Davies, J., “A Mesolithic Site on Blubberhouses Moor, Wharfedale,” in Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, part 161 (volume 41), 1963.
Walker, D., “A Site at Stump Cross, near Grassington, Yorkshire, and the Age of the Pennine Microlith Industry,” in Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, volume 22, 1956.
Stone Circles (destroyed): OS Grid Reference – SE 170 810
Archaeology & History
I was hoping to get a Northern Antiquarian team to explore this arena before moving to Scotland, as I lived in hope that we might uncover some remains of an important cluster of megalithic rings in this quiet North Yorkshire area — but we didn’t manage to get here. So this short profile is one based purely on texts.
A mile east of the standing stone and impressive cup-and-ring carvings of West Agra, was once to be found several stone circles — according to John Fisher (1865), who told us about them in his magnum opus on the history of the region. Not to be confused with the giant Druid’s Temple a couple of miles south, Fisher was contextualizing them with the “huge circles of upright stones” which our great heathen ancestors built. Although he made some mistakes trying to link the local place-names with these stone circles (a common pastime of Victorian writers), his remarks still make interesting reading. He told that,
“In this parish there are places which fully answer to this description, as well in situation and appearance, as in the names which they still bear. I refer more especially to Healey-Baals, Beldin Gill, and Baal Hill, which latter place is situate either upon or near to the range of hills known by the name of Healey-Baals. The very name of Baal-Hill, without reference to its appearance or locality, indicates that the place is a hill dedicated to the worship of the heathen god Baal; and the name Healey-Baals, according to the interpretation which I put upon these words, is, if possible, still more conclusive of the matter. I take it that the name of Healey is derived from Heil, holy or sacred, and ley, land consisting of fallow-ground, pastures, or meadows. If, therefore, I am right in my interpretation of the name of Healey, then Healey-Baals means simply land sacred to Baal. This supposition is strengthened by the circumstance of circles of upright stones having recently existed near to the place, and from ancient relics which have been found within the parish, and at but a short distance from Healey and Healey-Baals, which are supposed to have been used in the mystical rites of the Druids or priests of Britain, for at least antiquaries can assign no other use to them…”
There are very few other references I can find that tell of these lost stone circles. Edmund Bogg (1906) mentioned them briefly, saying that between Fearby and the hamlet of Healey a mile west, “there were formerly circles of upright stones and other relics suggestive of druidical origin.” But there’s little more.
In exploring the local field-names we find that three of them here carried the name “Standing Stones” – which seems to tell us where once we could find these old stones. It may be possible that some of the stones were removed into the hedgerows at the sides of the fields.
Folklore
Fisher told of the local tradition of quarterly fire ceremonies close by, which he thought may have related to religious practices at the stone circles, telling:
“There are traditions, too, which have been handed down to us, to the effect that the heathen custom of making feasts and Baal-fires (which although unknown to the persons making them, were in truth so made in honour of Baal) have been continued until very recent times in this district — and especially in Nidderdale — the remembrance of which is transmitted to us in the annual feast which is still held at Healey.”
References:
Bogg, Edmund, Richmondshire and the Vale of Mowbray, James Miles: Leeds 1906.
Cunliffe-Lister, Susan, Days of Yore, privately printed: Bath 1978.
Fisher, John, The History and Antiquities of Masham and Mashamshire, Simpkin Marshall: London 1865.
Smith, A.H., The Place-Names of the North Riding of Yorkshire, Cambridge University Press 1928.
From Threshfield, go up Skirethorns Lane for about 1/2 mile, where the lane takes a sharp right. Continue uphill for nearly 2 miles to a metal gate. Go through the gate into the fields on your left where you’ll see this pair of curious standing stones ahead of you (if you keep walking uphill in the same direction, you’ll reach the impressive Hammond Close enclosure above you).
Archaeology & History
There seem to be no references in either archaeology or geology texts about this site which, when you approach it and consider the prevalence of other prehistoric sites all round you, strongly suggests that they are either archetypal standing stones, or the remains of a collapsed cairn, with the surrounding mound removed. This is certainly the case at the Druid’s Altar or Bordley Circle visible a few hundred yards west of here, on the same grassland plain.
The stones alone, looking north
As you can see in the photos, the stones here are 4 feet tall and stand in isolation from the excess of neighbouring settlements and enclosures. A scatter of small stones—perhaps packing stones, perhaps the remains of cairn-spoil—is evident at the foot of the stones. It was initially thought that the uprights here could have been the remains of enclosure or settlement walling, as we find an excess of such remains on the hills here, but this isn’t the case. Other unrecorded prehistoric remains scatter this part of the countryside.
From Settle, take the same direction as if you’re visiting the giant Apronful of Stones cairn. Walk past it, keeping to the walling for 350 yards (319m) until you reach the gate on your right. Go through this and walk along the grassy footpath ahead of you for 75 yards (68.5m) and there, right by your left-hand side, you’ll see this low grassy circular embanked monument, or cairn circle.
Archaeology & History
This gorgeous, little-known cairn circle, hiding almost unseen beside the ancient grassy pathway that leads down to the haunted Borrins Wood, sits innocently, forgotten by those who would claim its importance. When this overgrown ring of stones was first built, the trees of Borrins Wood grew around the sacred court of this monument, watching rites committed to the ancestors, annually no doubt at the very least, under guidance of the Moon. But now such ways have been swept from the memory of those living, into worlds made-up of artifacts, linear time and dualist ideals, and our thoughts when brought here are encloaked by beliefs not worthy of such a place. Like many other small rings of stone, this was important for the rites of the dead. For here we can see a small stone-lined cist (grave) near the middle still growing from the Earth, with the small outer ring encircling the place of rites. It was obviously of ‘religious’ importance to those who lived here, probably even centuries after initial construction.
Embankment and central ‘grave’Central & southern section of the ring
Similar in size and structure to the Roms Law Circle on Burley Moor, this site on the hills above Giggleswick seems to be Bronze Age in nature. From outer-edge to outer-edge the rough circular monument measures approximately 14½ yards (13m) north-south, by 15½ yards (14m) east-west, with an outer circumference of about 49 yards (43m). The edges of the ring, as you can see in the photos, is made up of an embankment of thousands of small stones and rubble, measuring between 1-2 feet high and between 2-3 yards across. The old cist in the middle of the ring—about 1 yard by 2 yards—has been dug into at some time in the past and a small mound of stones surround this central grave. The entire monument is very much overgrown, but still appears to be in relatively good condition. A new excavation of this and nearby prehistoric monuments would prove worthwhile.
The ruined circle has a tranquil spirit, enclosed within a rich green panoramic landscape, enhanced with the breaking of old limestone and gnarled hawthorns. Other prehistoric cairns can be found nearby and the remains of a previously unrecorded prehistoric enclosure stands out on a small rise 164 yards (150m) southeast. We’ve found other unrecorded prehistoric remains in this arena which will be added to TNA, as and when…
References:
Speight, Harry, The Craven and Northwest Yorkshire Highlands, Elliott Stock: London 1892.
Takes a bitta finding unless you’ve got a GPS system, or someone like me to show you where it is! The best way’s probably via the Askwith Moor Road car park, up the road 160 yards till you hit the straight line cut into the moor on your right, where the landscape’s been damaged.* Walk along this for less than 100 yards, then walk right, through the heather and onto the singular tree roughly 200 yards away. From here, walk 75 yards (strides) north from the tree. You’re damn close!
Archaeology & History
About 20 feet from a line of ancient walling in an area pretty rich in prehistoric sites, is this medium-sized stone with a lovely cup-and-ring design. The carving was first recorded by fellow antiquarian, Eric Cowling (1937), in his short survey of other carved stones in the area. He called this ‘carving no.7’ and described it, thus:
“In the central area of Snowden Carr is a barrow group, which occupies a slight ridge running from the edge of the bog to the east, almost to the moor road on the west. The ridge is almost devoid of vegetation except at the higher end. Here, on a heather-covered boulder, is marking no.7. The cups are smaller than usual, and only one ring completely surrounds a cup. The lines linking the cups are only lightly incised, and the whole marking has a delicate appearance.”
Old photo of the carvingCowling’s 1937 drawing
I first visited this stone in the 1980s with fellow rock art student and author, Graeme Chappell, and for some reason it has always impressed me (I recall Graeme laughing whilst I made joyous noises and stroked the rock, reverentially!). Cowling’s description of the stone as ‘delicate’ is appealing, as the stone and its design has a nurturing aspect to it, female in nature. (forgive me — but many of these stones tend to capture me in such ways!) The stone was described more clinically in Boughey & Vickerman’s (2003) more recent survey as follows:
“Fairly large, flat, smooth grit rock with crack. Up to seventeen possible cups, one with complete ring, one with partial ring, one with possible ring; connecting groove.”
Doesn’t quite capture the feel of the place, which I’m sure they’d admit. The next time I’m up here, I’ll get some better photos of the carving.
References:
Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS 2003.
Cowling, E.T., ‘A Classification of West Yorkshire Cup and Ring Stones,’ in Yorkshire Archaeological Journal 1940.
Cowling, E.T., Rombald’s Way: A Prehistory of Mid-Wharfedale, William Walker: Otley 1946.
Cowling, E.T. & Hartley, C.A., ‘Cup and Ring Markings to the North of Otley,’ in Yorkshire Archaeological Journal 33, 1937.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Huge thanks to one of my fine ladies, Inmaculada Ibanez-Sanchez, for the drawing! Cheers Inma!
* A pipeline was laid across the moor here, and subsequent work (I presume by the same company) was done again in early 2011, cutting through and damaging several prehistoric monuments and destroying at least one prehistoric cairn. An archaeological survey of the region should have been done before any work proceeded here, but I’m unaware of any such excavations, or archaeological reports preceding or concurrent to the ecological and historical damage performed.
On the A65 road from Skipton to Gargrave, just at the eastern end of Gargrave, take the small Eshton Road running north over the canal. Go through Eshton itself, making sure you bear right at the small road a few hundred yards past the old village. Keep your eyes peeled a few hundred yards down as you hit the river bridge and stop here. Just 50 yards before this is a parking spot where some Water Board building stands. Walk back up the road barely 20 yards and you’ll see, right by the roadside, a small clear pool on your left, encircled by trees. Go through the little stile here and you’re right by the water’s side!
Archaeology & History
This is actually a listed monument (unusual for wells up North!), just off the roadside between Nappa Bridge and Eshton Hall. Two or three old stone heads (deemed to be ‘Celtic’ in age and origin, though I had my doubts) have recently been stolen from this holy pool close to where the water emerges from the ground, just beneath the surface. You can see where the water bubbles up strongly from the Earth when you visit here, forming the small pool in front of it, around which at certain times of year people still attach ‘memaws’ (an old word for ritual ‘offerings’) on the small shrubs. If you drink from here, just where the water bubbles up (careful not to fall in!), it’s freezing — but tastes absolutely gorgeous! And better than any tap-water you’ll ever drink!
Mentioned briefly in Mr Hope’s (1893) fine early survey; the earliest description of this site in relation to the mythic ‘Helen’ dates from 1429, where T.D. Whitaker (1878) described the dedication to an adjacent chapel, long gone. Whitaker’s wrote:
“…One of the most copious springs in the kingdom, St. Helen’s Well fills at its source a circular basin twenty feet in circumference, from the whole bottom of which it boils up without any visible augmentation in the wettest seasons, or diminution in the driest. In hot weather the exhalations from its surface are very conspicuous. But the most remarkable circumstance about this spring is that, with no petrifying quality in its own basin, after a course of about two hundred yards over a common pebbly channel, during which it receives no visible accession from any other source, it petrifies strongly where it is precipitated down a steep descent into the brook. To this well anciently belonged a chapel, with the same dedication; for in the year 1429, a commission relating to the manor of Flasby sat “in capella beate Elene de Essheton; and on the opposite side of the road to the spring is a close called the Chapel Field. This was probably not unendowed, for I met with certain lands in Areton, anciently called Seynt Helen Lands.”
When the old countryman Halliwell Sutcliffe (1939) talked of this healing spring, his tone was more in keeping with the ways of local folk. Sutcliffe loved the hills and dales and old places to such an extent that they were a part of his very bones. And this comes through when he mentions this site. Telling where to find the waters, he continued:
“Its sanctuary is guarded by a low mossy wall. Neglected for years out of mind, it retains still clear traces of what it was in older times. An unfailing spring comes softly up among stones carved with heart-whole joy in chiselling. Scattered now, these stones were once in orderly array about what is not a well, in the usual sense, but rather a wide rock-pool, deep here and shallow there, with little trees that murmur in the breeze above. Give yourself to this place, frankly and with the simplicity is asks. It does not preach or scold, or rustle with the threat of unguessed ambushes among the grassy margin. Out of its inmost heart it gives you all it knows of life.”
Old well in the field
In the field across the road where the chapel was said to have been, we find another stone-lined fresh-water well bubbling from the ground into a stone trough (at grid-ref SD 93118 56958). The waters here are also good and refreshing. But whether this fine water source had any tales told of it, or curative properties (it will have done), history has sadly betrayed its voice.
Folklore
The waters here have long been reputed as medicinal. R.C. Hope (1893) said “this well was a certain cure for sore and weak eyes.” Whitaker and others told there to be hangings of rags and other offerings (known in Yorkshire as ‘memaws’). Sutcliffe described,
“The pilgrims coming with their sores, of body and soul… The Well heard tales that were foul with infamies of the world beyond its sanctuary. Men came with blood-guilt on their hands, and in their souls a blackness and a terror. Women knelt here in bleak extremity of shame. The Well heard all, and from its own unsullied depths sent up the waters of great healing. And the little chant of victory began to stir about the pilgrims’ hearts…and afterwards the chant gained in volume. It seemed to them that they were marching side by side with countless, lusty warriors who aforetime had battled for the foothold up the hills. And, after that, a peace unbelievable, and the quiet music of Helen’s Well, as her waters ran to bless the farmward lands below. All this is there for you to understand today, if you will let the Well explain the richness of her heritage, the abiding mystery of her power to solace and to heal.”
And so it is with many old springs… The rite of memaws enacted at St. Helen’s Well is a truly archaic one: whereby a person bringing a cloth or stone or coin — using basic principles of sympathetic magick — asks the spirit of the waters to cleanse them of their illness and pass it to the rags that are tied to the adjacent tree; or perhaps some wish, or desire, or fortune, be given in exchange for a coin or something if personal value. The waters must then be drunk, or immerse yourself into the freezing pool; and if the person leaving such offerings is truly sincere in their requests, the spirit of the water may indeed act for the benefit of those concerned.
Such memaws at St. Helen’s Well are still left by local people and, unfortunately, some of those idiotic plastic pagans, who actually visit here and tie pieces of artificial material to the hawthorn and other trees, which actually pollutes the Earth and kills the spirit here. Whilst the intent may be good, please, if you’re gonna leave offerings here, make sure that the rags you leave are totally biodegradable. The magical effectiveness of your intent is almost worthless if the material left is toxic to the environment and will certainly have a wholly negative effect on the spirit of the placehere. Please consider this to ensure the sacred nature of this site.
…to be continued…
References:
Hope, Robert Charles, Legendary Lore of the Holy Wells of England, Elliott Stock: London 1893.
Smith, A.H., The Place-Names of the West Riding of Yorkshire– volume 6, Cambridge University Press 1961.
Sutcliffe, Halliwell, The Striding Dales, Frederick Warne: London 1939.
Whelan, Edna, The Magic and Mystery of Holy Wells, Capall Bann: Chieveley 2001.
Whelan, Edna & Taylor, Ian, Yorkshire Holy Wells and Sacred Springs, Northern Lights: Dunnington 1989.
Whitaker, T.D., The History and Antiquities of the Deanery of Craven, Joseph Dodgson: Leeds 1878.
Follow the same directions as if you’re going to the excellent Morphing Stone cup-and-ring carving. From the carving, look up the field to the where the dirt-track is and, by the closest gate with a tree near it, walk straight towards it. Roughly halfway between the Morphing Stone and the gate you’ll find — eventually — the small stone in the photo with well-defined cups on it. You might need to wander back and forth until you find it, as there’s many rocks to check out here!
Archaeology & History
Possible cup-marked rock
This small cup-marked stone was rediscovered by Danny Tiernan in the late afternoon of Thursday, August 18, 2011, just as the heavens opened and the rains poured down! With at least one well-defined cup-mark and another two near the edge of the stone where the grasses had grown, this stone probably needs another look at it, as there may be more beneath the surface, much like when we first found at Morphing Stone.
Danny also found and photographed another larger boulder, a bit further up the field closer to the fence, where what may be a single cup-mark is clearly seen living on top of the rock. It’s one of those dodgy English Heritage ones though, so I’ll let those ‘qualified’ chaps check this one out and give it their expertise! It could well be another unrecorded cup-marked stone though…
