Tag: sacred sites

Finavon, Oathlaw, Angus

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Cup-and-Ring Stone (removed):  OS Grid Reference – NO 5061 5565

Archaeology & History

Finavon carving, now in Dundee Museum

Close to the western walls of the Finavon Iron Age hillfort this small (portable?) cup-and-ring stone was found at ground level in 1987.  It was probably knowingly reused in the construction of the hillfort, but whether it was just deemed as an innocuous carving thrown into the mass, or whether it held a place of importance cannot be known.

The primary design consists of a cupmark surrounded by a double-ring, with a line coming out of the central cup towards the edge of the stone.  The stone itself—measuring 12 inch by around 10 inch—has been cut from a larger piece, meaning the original design may have been larger.  It is now housed in the McManus Museum in Dundee (a damn good place, with very helpful staff).

References:

  1. Sherriff, John, “Prehistoric Rock-Carving in Angus,” in Tayside & Fife Archaeological Journal, volume 1, 1995.
  2. Zealand, A., “Fanavon (Oathlaw Parish): Cup-and-Ring Stone,” in Discovery Excavation Scotland, CSA: Edinburgh 1988.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Beauly Avenue, Downfield, Dundee, Angus

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Cup-Marked Stone (lost):  OS Grid Reference – NO 3975 3340

Also Known as:

  1. Magdalen’s Kirkton Stone

Archaeology & History

In the mid-1890s, workmen ploughing one of the fields near the steading at Magdalen’s Kirkton farm hit a large stone beneath the soil.  It turned out to be the covering stone of a prehistoric burial, or cist, that was aligned east-west.  Whilst the remains in the cist had all but turned to dust, the covering stone had a number of cupmarks on it.  It was described only briefly by R.N. Kerr (1896), who told that,

“The stone forming the lid of the cist is cup-marked.  It weighs 5 cwt., 1 qr., 21½ lbs., and its thickness varies from 9 to 12 inches.  There are 40 or more cup-markings on it, varying from 1 to 3 inches in diameter.”

It would seem that no sketches were made of this carving and I’ve been unable to find any more details about it. Help!

References:

  1. Kerr, R. N., “Notice of a Burial Cist found on the Farm of Magdalen’s, Kirkton, on the Estate of Balmuir, near Dundee,” in Proceedings Society Antiquaries, Scotland, vol. 30, 1896.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Easter Coillechat, Kilmadock, Stirlingshire

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Cairn:  OS Grid Reference – NN 68830 04347

Getting Here

The cairn, looking NW

From Doune, take the A84 road to Callander.  As you pass through the hamlet of Buchany, keep your eyes peeled a few hundred yards on as the road dips down and swerves gently right, for the road sign of Drumloist (or Moist as some locals keep amending!) which goes up to the right.  It’s a small single track road that zigs and zags slowly uphill.  After exact one mile you reach a small track on your right (there one left too).  Carefully park hereby (don’t block the gate!).  Across the road, go through the gate on your right and walk along the edge of the field until you reach the burn.  Go across it, and then across the field, through the gate and you’ll see it ahead of you.  In the tick season (summer) treat the brackens as possessed by a plague and avoid it!

Archaeology & History

Looking at its stony face

A curiously forgotten place, hidden from sight, this large rounded grass-covered mound with small upright stones around one side, seems timeless amidst the open fields.  It seems alone, but the denuded chambered tomb of Ballachraggan is just visible 1.4 miles to the northwest on the near-horizon; and there’s a hidden cairnfield just a half-mile away.  This cairn measures 18 yards (N-S) by 16 yards (E-W) and stands 7-8 feet high when you look at it from its southern side.  The top of the mound is a mix of stone and grass with a slight dip in the middle, perhaps by someone in ages past digging, albeit only slightly—perhaps scared away by the old folk buried herein.

One of the most notable aspects of this site is the complete silence.  On my last two visits hereby, a fusion of mists from the low cloud above and the breathing Earth below gave an atmosphere the likes of which lived when this tomb was first built.  On one occasion hereby, no vehicles for several hours gave the silence a curious atmosphere (those of you who like sitting in the rain with the wilderness will know what I mean).  To me this is a gorgeous site…

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Corrymuckloch (14), Amulree, Perthshire

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Cup-Marked Stone:  OS Grid Reference – NN 89253 35346

Getting Here

Looking to the SE

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 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 truly peeled for that!  Go through the gate and turn right (north), up the grassy slope.  Follow this footpath (known as General Wade’s road) straight past Corrymuckloch Farm until, about 250 yards on, the track splits.  Take the left track and nearly 500 yards along walk up the embankment on your left and look around (if you reach the gate you’ve gone too far).

Archaeology & History

Corrymuckloch (14) stone

This stone was rediscovered in July 2023 during a cursory survey of other carvings in the Corrymuckloch cluster (17 and counting!).  Most of the stone was covered in vegetation when first found, with just a single cupmark near its crown ensuring it got more attention.  Altogether there are 10 or 11 cup-marks of varying levels of erosion across the length and breadth of the rock.  The most notable one is on the northwest side of the stone, it being twice the size of the others and of much greater depth.  It may originally have been a natural depression that was enhanced when the stone was carved.  This larger cup has a smaller one attached just above it.

An intriguing find was noted all along the western edge of the rock, where upwards of a hundred small pieces of quartz—the majority of it crystal clear—were scattered between the stone edge and the soil.  This is  an ingredient that’s been noted at a number of petroglyphs in Scotland.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Corrymuckloch (2), Amulree, Perthshire

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Cup-Marked Stone:  OS Grid Reference – NN 89037 34706

Getting Here

Corrymuckloch (2) stone

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 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 truly peeled for that! Walk through the gate and along the track (west) for 300 yards until you reach the fence.  Once here, walk right (north) and go through the gate less than 50 yards away.  Less than 300 yards ahead of you you’ll see a small rock outcrop.  Get to it!

Archaeology & History

Rediscovered in July 2023, on this small rock outcrop it seems that only the lower east section has been carved, and it can be pretty difficult to see beneath the old layers of lichen that’s been painted across its surface.  Comprising of just four cup-marks close to each other on the top of the stone, there’s a possible fifth cup to be seen on its northeast length.  It’s nowt special to look at to be honest, but it’s worth checking out when you’re looking at the others in this cluster.  In truth, this is another that’s only gonna be of interest to the real geeks amongst you!

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Organn Well, Pontefract, West Yorkshire

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Healing Well (destroyed):  OS Grid Reference – SE 45 21

Archaeology & History

The waters of the once-renowned Organn Well goes down in history as being one of the first wells in Britain whose waters were used in a town pump.  Written minutes from an early council meeting described how people gathered in the market place to discuss the objective of making such a pump in the times of Queen Elizabeth 1, in 1571.  It was completed a year later and, some 450 years on, this old relic can still be seen.  The Well used to be found off Penny Lane (now Wakefield Road), some 4-500 yards to the southwest and as such it’s exact position has been difficult to locate.  But the fact that the waters were piped such a distance strongly suggests that the water supply from the Well was damn good – and most probably damn refreshing too!  The old charter told us, in that wonderfully dyslexic manner of the period,

“…that a conduit in the Markett Place with lead pipes leading to water from Organ Well to the said conduit shall bee cleansed and repayred at the charge and contribution of severall inhabitants of the Towne and espetially by those that fetch water from the same conduit. And according to the auncient custome of the said Towne, whoe shall not beare theire p’t of the chardge p’portionable to what water they from the same at the discretion of the Majo’ for the time being and his brethren shall be debarred from the benefitt of the said conduit except they shall be poore people.  And likewise that none shall receive any water from the said conduite for to brewe or steep barley w’thall at such time or times as others have need the same for meat water and water to washe w’hall, but onely at such times as there is water to spare over and besides what is convenient for meat and washing.”

More than two hundred years later the water pump was in dire need of attention, as George Fox (1827) told:

“Being in a ruinous state about the year 1810 and the supplies of water being insufficient for the public use; a clause was inserted in the act of parliament… wherein the pump, its pipes, and all other appurtenances belonging to it were vested in the power of the commissioners of the streets, who where bound to see it kept in proper repair.”

And so the water from the Organn Well continued to supply the townsfolk.

The etymology of this well—along with another of the same name near Harrogate—truly puzzled me for a long time; that was until I came across, quite by accident, records from early texts on herbalism.  As a result, it seems very likely that it derives its name from the old English ‘organe,’ which, according to Stracke (1974) and others relates to both varieties of the indigenous herb marjoram (Origanum vulgare and O.marjorana) — a grand medicinal plant that’s pretty common in northern England (I used to go out gathering it each year in my younger days).  There were obviously profuse supplies of this herb growing in and around the well and, as all good herbalists will tell you, when they grow by an old spring or well, their medicinal properties are much better than normal.  The waters and the plant obviously had a good symbiosis; or, as the old women who’d collect the waters and the herbs in days prior to the pump would have told us, “the spirits of the water here are good”…

References:

    1. Fox, George, The History of Pontefract in Yorkshire, J.Fox: Pontefract 1827.
    2. Padgett, Lorenzo, Chronicles of Old Pontefract, Oswald Homes: Pontefract 1905.
    3. Stracke, J. Richard (ed.), The Laud Herbal Glossary, Rodopi: Amsterdam 1974.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Briery Wood, Ilkley, West Yorkshire

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Cup-and-Ring Stone (lost):  OS Grid Reference – SE 0965 4797

Archaeology & History

In Ronald Morris’ (1989) gazetteer of British petroglyphs, he included this curious entry but gave no real details regarding its appearance or history.  Listed by the Royal Commission lads, it would seem to have been located immediately south of the dismantled railway where it used to cross the Addingham-Ilkley road, but no one seems to have seen it either before or since Morris’ description.  Any help regarding its whereabouts would be appreciated.

References:

  1. Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS: Wakefield 2003.
  2. Morris, Ronald W.B., “The Prehistoric Rock Art of Great Britain: A Survey of All Sites Bearing Motifs more Complex than Simple Cup-marks,” in Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, volume 55, 1989.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

St. Helen’s Well, Maybole, Ayrshire

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Holy Well (covered):  OS Grid Reference – NS 31322 13423

Archaeology & History

Site on the 1860 OS-map

In spite of this site being covered over some time in the 1950s, it is still retained on the modern Ordnance Survey maps.  It was shown on the first one in 1860, but its literary history goes back much further.  We find it described by the Minister for Maybole — one William Abercrummie — in his short 17th Century work named A Description of Carrict.  He noted several springs in Maybole township, with this one of possessing the usual hallmarks of both christian and peasant customs alike:

“Another spring there is called St. Helens well or by a curt pronuntiation St. Emus for St. Antonies well, it is about a myle and ane halfe from Mayboll on the road to Aire a litle north of Balachmont.  It is famous for the cure of unthriving children, to which at the change of the quarter especially at May-day there is a great resort of people from all quarters, and at a good distance.”

This piece was repeated in several 19th century works, including one by William Roberston (1891), who commented on the traditions themselves, saying:

“This can unquestionably be traced as a remnant of the ancient superstition that miracles were wrought at Holy Wells; which all the anathemas of the Reformed Kirk could not for a time obliterate from the minds of the common people.  The records of the Kirk-session bear witness to the prevalence of applying to Saints’ Wells for the cure of bodily infirmities on stated occasions; particularly, when the Saint or Angel was understood to ‘move the waters.’  Pins, pieces of the dress of the patient, or such small trifles, were left at the well – the remains, no doubt, of the offerings formerly made to the Clergy – and in token that the disease was transferred from the sufferer to the rags, thus offered to the Genius loci.  Numerous traces of this prevailing superstition could easily be cited.”

When the Ordnance Survey dudes wrote about the site in the Name Book in 1857, all they could tell us was that it was, “a beautiful spring of excellent water” but was said to have “no medicinal properties.”

Despite this sacred well now being covered over, there is surely a case to be made here for it to be restored back to its former glory, for all to visit and see.  Local historians, pagans and Christians alike — join forces and gerrit sorted!

References:

  1. MacKinlay, James M., Folklore of Scottish Lochs and Springs, William Hodge: Glasgow 1893.
  2. Mitchell, Arthur (ed.), Geographical Collections Relating to Scotland Made by Walter Macfarlane – volume 2, T. & A. Constable: Edinburgh 1906.
  3. Robertson, William, Historic Ayrshire; Being a Collection of Historical Works Treating of the County of Ayr, Thomson Brothers: Edinburgh 1891.
  4. Walker, J. Russel, “‘Holy Wells’ in Scotland,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, vol.17 (New Series, volume 5), 1883.

Acknowledgements:  The map accompanying this site profile is Reproduced with the kind permission of the National Library of Scotland. 

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

St. Helen’s Well, Hartlepool, Durham

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Holy Well (destroyed):  OS Grid Reference – NZ 5236 3421

Also Known as:

  1. Freemen’s Well

Archaeology & History

Highlighted on the 1861 OS-map of the area, there is a curious lack of reference to this holy well until Cuthbert Sharp wrote about it in 1816.  Records of an adjacent St. Helen’s Chapel are in plentiful supply, going all the way back to around 1200 CE—although it’s pretty obvious that a water supply would be attached to the chapel, despite its late literary account.   Sharp told us:

“This chapel is stated to have been on the warren.  According to local tradition, a church once stood near the Freemen’s or St. Helen’s Well, in the Far-well Field, where the ground at present is considerably elevated, and where many hewn stones are constantly discovered, which renders it highly probable that this was the site of the chapel in question.”

Site shown on 1861 OS map
Site on the 1862 Town plan

When Robert Surtees visited here in 1823, the well was still visible, but remains of the chapel were negligible.  On the 1862 Hartlepool Town map, it would seem that a construction—perhaps a well-house—covered the waters, although whatever it may have been seems to have been destroyed sometime in the 1880s, when the entire area was built over.  No remains of this sacred site have been seen since.

References:

  1. Cuthbert Sharp, A History of Hartlepool, Francis Humble: Durham 1816.
  2. Surtees, Robert, The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham (4 volumes), London 1816-40.

Acknowledgements:  The map accompanying this site profile is Reproduced with the kind permission of the National Library of Scotland. 

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Laighwood, Butterstone, Dunkeld, Perthshire

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Cup-Marked Stone (lost):  OS Grid Reference – NO 074 458

Archaeology & History

In J. Romilly Allen’s (1882) lengthy essay on rock art in Scotland, he mentions a singular boulder that was “found by Dr Rattray” at Laighwood, near Butterstone—but, unlike him, he gave no further details regarding its appearance or exact whereabouts.  It was included in the Royal Commission (1990) survey of the area, with no additional details.  It remains lost.  In the event that you manage to rediscover it, grab some good photos of it and stick ’em on our Facebook group. (the grid-reference to this site is an approximation)

References:

  1. Allen, J. Romilly, “Notes on some Undescribed Stones with Cup Markings in Scotland,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries Scotland, volume 16, 1882.
  2. Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, North-East Perth: An Archaeological Landscape, HMSO: Edinburgh 1990.

Acknowledgements:  Huge thanks for use of the Ordnance Survey map in this site profile, reproduced with the kind permission of the National Library of Scotland. 

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian