Tag: symbolism

Piper’s Crag (3), Ilkley Moor, West Yorkshire

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Cup-Marked Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SE 08673 47062

Getting Here

“X” marks the spot!

Heading up from Ilkley, follow the directions to reach the Swastika Stone, then keep walking (west) along the footpath to the small clump of trees, and keep walking past them too and keep going along the same path as if you’re heading toward the Piper’s Stone.   About 200 yards before reaching it, just where the gate and boundary stone is in the old walling, there’s a small line of crags to the right of your feet and there, at the edge of the path, is the stone in question.  You’ll see it (unless it’s a cloudy gray day, in which case you might struggle).

Archaeology & History

The two cup-marks

This is one of a number of cup-marked stones that you’ll find scattering this part of the moor, almost all of which are Nature’s handiwork (a few of these natural carvings have somehow found their way into Keith Boughey’s [2018] updated West Riding rock art book).  I’m not 110% certain that this doesn’t have Nature’s name on it either, but it’s got a greater degree of probability to it than some of the others.  It’s a simple little thing, as y’ can see, consisting of just the two cup-marks, smaller than usual, living next to each other.  If it’s the real deal, we can surmise that it may have been carved by a young person back-in-the-days.  In the walling just above this stone you can see the medieval boundary stone, which might—just might—have a prehistoric pedigree to it….

References:

  1. Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding Supplement, 2018.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Connachan, Crieff, Perthshire

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Cairn:  OS Grid Reference – NN 88098 27498

Getting Here

The stones mark the cairn

A couple of miles east of Crieff, take the A822 road from the Gilmerton junction and head up towards the Sma’ Glen.  After literally 1¾ miles (2.8km), on the right-side of the road, you can park-up right opposite the dirt-track that leads up to Connachan Farm a half-mile away.  Walking up and then past the farm, go past the Connachan (2) petroglyph, keeping on the same track uphill and just past the (Connachan 4) carving the land levels out where the track curves.  From here, walk to your right, into the grasses, and about 90 yards along you’ll see a small rise in the ground with two or three fallen stones in the middle.

Archaeology & History

The cairn, looking N

There’s nothing truly notable about this much-overgrown cairn and you could very easily walk past it without noticing it was even there!  Much of its original mass has been removed and, no doubt, its stones reused in the old walling a few yards to the north (a long section of that walling appears to have a prehistoric provenance). It measures roughly 10 yards across and its outer edges are clearly visible as a raised grass-covered mound all round, just one or two feet high at the most.  Obviously it was much larger when first built, but all that we see now are its final ruins, four or five thousand years after its birth…  The one thing of great note here is the view: you’re looking from east to south to west across an awesome landscape for many many miles.  Check it out!

References:

  1. Stewart, Margaret E.C., “Connachan, Crieff – Cup Marks and Hut Circle,” in Discovery & Excavation, Scotland, 1967.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Barry Hill, Alyth, Perthshire

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Cup-Marked Stone (lost):  OS Grid Reference – NO 262 503

Archaeology & History

In an excursion to the Iron Age Hillfort on Barry Hill in the early 1960s by some members of the Perthshire Society of Natural Science, near the very top on its southwestern side they discovered “a small cup marked stone.” (Longworth 1962)  It hasn’t been seen since.  And whether it was in the walling of the fort, or was a carved earthfast rock, they neglected to tell.  When I visited here several years ago I couldn’t find the damn thing and presume that it’s simply been overgrown by the vegetation.  In the event that you manage to rediscover the carving, see if you can catch us a good photo or two and stick ’em on our Facebook group.

References:

  1. Longworth, Ian, “Dundee, Angus,” in Discovery & Excavation, Scotland, 1962.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Connachan (4), Crieff, Perthshire

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Cup-and-Ring Stone:  OS Grid Reference – NN 88028 27394

Getting Here

Connachan (4) looking NW

A couple of miles east of Crieff, take the A822 road from the Gilmerton junction and head up towards the Sma’ Glen.  After literally 1¾ miles (2.8km), on the right-side of the road, you can park-up right opposite the dirt-track that leads up to Connachan Farm a half-mile away.  Keep walking up past the farm to the Connachan (2) petroglyph, and keep to the track uphill for another 600 yards keeping your eyes peeled for a notable singular rock on your left, about 10 yards into the heather.  It’s pretty easy to see.  If the track’s levelled out, you’ve gone too far!

Archaeology & History

Perhaps the most attractive of the Connachan petroglyphs is this curvaceous stone with its archetypal double-ringed motif.  It seems to have been described firstly by Margaret Stewart (1967), whose description (to me at least) doesn’t quite do it justice; but then, they are somewhat troublesome abstract creations most of the time.  She told it to it be,

“a boulder 4’10” x 3’10 x 2′ in height with 6 cups and a grooved circle, which incorporates two more cup marks on its outline.  The grooved circle encloses a gapped circle with another cup mark at its centre.”

Connachan (4), looking N
Main face of the carving

So, nine cups in all: one with the double-ring around it, and two of the cups touching the outer ring.  The cup-marks are ostensibly as Stewart described them, but there are another two or three which I was unable to capture in the photos, as the daylight wasn’t good when we came here.  They’re shallow but very distinct when you see and feel them in the flesh, so to speak, and are closer to the top- and bottom-centre of the stone in the photos here.  Well worth checking out if you’re in the area!

References:

  1. Stewart, Margaret E.C., “Connachan, Crieff – Cup Marks and Hut Circle,” in Discovery & Excavation, Scotland, 1967.

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

Rivock Nose (1), Keighley, West Yorkshire

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Cup-Marked Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SE 07355 44628

Also Known as:

  1. Carving no.12 (Hedges)
  2. Carving no.45 (Boughey & Vickerman)

Getting Here

Rivock Nose (1) stone

Follow the directions as if you’re visiting the fascinating Wondjina Stone and its companion. From here look at the large rocks on the edge of the drop a few yards away (west) and you’re looking for the flattest rectangular rock jutting out over the edge of the slope, about 15 yards from the walling.  The carvings of Rivock (2) and (3) are on the adjacent rocks.

Archaeology & History

The southernmost of (at least) three cup-marked rocks on the edge of this outcrop, it isn’t a carving I’d necessarily include in my own surveys nowadays.  It’s a dubious one to say the least.  Nonetheless, earlier surveyors added it in their catalogues.

Lichen-covered “cups”

First mentioned in John Hedges’ (1986) survey, this large and roughly flat rectangular boulder possesses three or four questionable cups close to the edge of the stone. Boughey & Vickerman (2003) subsequently included it in their own work—copying Hedges’ notes—and told it to be a “large rock. About three cups on NW side.”  Have a look at it when you visit the other more impressive Rivock carvings nearby and see what you think…

References:

  1. Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS 2003.
  2. Hedges, John (ed.), The Carved Rocks on Rombald’s Moor, WYMCC: Wakefield 1986.
  3. 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

Rivock Nose (3), Keighley, West Yorkshire

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Cup-Marked Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SE 07359 44636

Also Known as:

  1. Carving no.13 (Hedges)
  2. Carving no.47 (Boughey & Vickerman)
Rivock Nose (3) stone

Getting Here

Take the same directions as if you’re visiting the fascinating Wondjina Stone and its companion.  From here, just a few yards to the west, are the large rocks overhanging the steep hill, several of which have cup-markings on them (including the carvings Rivock Nose [1] and [2]).  This particular carving is the one closest to the wall.  You can’t really miss it!

Archaeology & History

Line of 3 cups

A simplistic design that’ll only be of interest to the real geeks amongst you; but you might as well give it your attention when you’re looking at the adjacent Wondjina Stone.   On its large surface, the most notable ingredients are the three large cups that run (roughly) in a straight line from the middle of the stone to its outer pointy edge.  You can see them pretty clearly in the photo.  Several other cup-marks can be seen on the more northwesterly side of the stone.

It was first described in John Hedges (1986) survey, whose notes were simply copied in the subsequent survey of Boughey & Vickerman (2003) where, in their traditional way, gave a very basic description, saying, “Large gritstone outcrop: 3m x 2m. Five cups towards NW edge.”

References:

  1. Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS 2003.
  2. Hedges, John (ed.), The Carved Rocks on Rombald’s Moor, WYMCC: Wakefield 1986.
  3. 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

Brass Castle (1), West Morton, West Yorkshire

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Cup-and-Ring Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SE 08119 44111

Also Known as:

  1. Carving no. 40 (Hedges)
  2. Carving no. 81 (Boughey & Vickerman)

Getting Here

Brass Castle (1) Cup&Ring

From East Morton, head up the winding Street Lane for just over a mile until, on your right-hand side, you hit the long straight Roman Road, or Ilkley Road as it’s known.  Literally 690 yards (0.63km) up, on your left a footpath is signposted.  Take the path alongside the wall, through the first gate (note the pile of stones at this gate, which are the remains of the destroyed Bradup stone circle) then keeping on for ⅓-mile till you reach another gate, then 200 yards to the next one where you reach the moorland proper.  From here you need to walk through the heather, just over 300 yards southwest where you’ll reach this large rock. Y’ can’t miss it!

Archaeology & History

Looking down at the CnR

Considering the size of this stone, visitors might expect there to be more on it than there actually is; although a large section of it has been quarried off and there might have been more to it in earlier times.  A basic cup-and-ring with one or two single cup-marks elsewhere on its surface, the carving was first described by Stuart Feather (1964) following one of his many rambles hereby, when he was checking out the Rivock carvings a short distance to the west (calling it the Rivock 18 stone).  He wrote:

S. Feather’s 1964 sketch

“On the eastern edge of the Rivock plateau, about half-a-mile west of the stone circle at Bradup Bridge, is a cup-and-ring marked rock of a pronounced triangular shape.  This at present measures 10ft by 8ft and is 3ft high at its western side… At some time in the past it has been quarried, probably to build part of the adjacent gritstone walls.  The 8ft side of the rock has quite distinct drill marks visible…

Close-up of the CnR

The rock has…on its sloping surface a very fine cup-and-ring mark, the ring 6in in diameter around a cup 2in deep, all finely executed and well preserved.  Running south from this cup-and-ring mark is a level area 3ft long and 5in wide, which ends alongside the ring at one end and at the quarried edge of the rock at the other.  This is probably the former position of a fossil which has weathered out and its alignment onto the cup-and-ring may be due to the carving having been deliberately sited in juxtaposition to this very distinct natural feature.  Only one other 2in deep cup remains on the surviving original portion of the rock; others may have been quarried away.”

References:

  1. Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS: Wakefield 2003.
  2. Feather, Stuart, “Mid-Wharfedale Cup-and-Ring Markings – no.18, Rivock”,  in Bradford Cartwright Hall Archaeology Bulletin, 9:2, 1964.
  3. Hedges, John (ed.), The Carved Rocks on Rombalds Moor, WYMCC: Wakefield 1986.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Bucking Hill (03), High Moor, Brunthwaite, West Yorkshire

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Cup-and-Ring Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SE 0845 4529

Archaeology & History

Discovered by Stuart Feather in the late 1950s, this was one of two carvings found very close to each other (see Bucking Hill 2) whose exact location are unknown (the grid-reference cited here is a reasonably accurate approximation).  In his short article where he mentions the Bucking Hill 2 carving, he then told of,

Sid Jackson’s vague drawing of the carving

“the discovery a few yards away of a small stone bearing a cup-and-ring mark providing evidence for at least one other symbol from this small hill.  This stone, only 14in long, 8in wide, and 6½in thick, has a cup 1¾in in diameter, ⅞in deep with a shallow channel 1½ long running from it.

“Round the cup, which is very symmetrical and has the pecking clearly defined, is part of a concentric channel which, if it were a complete circle, would have a diameter of 4in.  The channel, which starts near to the small channel that runs from the cup, goes only halfway round the cup and is obviously unfinished.  It is irregular in width and depth and in marked contrast to the workmanship of the cup.”

He then queries as to whether this small carved stone could have come off the larger cup-marked Bucking Hill (02) boulder close by.  We may never know, but when we consider the lack of general erosion on this cup-and-ring (the pecking was still visible), it would obviously have remained upside-down in the peat for a few thousand years!  There was an old cairn a short distance away on the top of Bucking Hill and it may have come from there.  Anyhow, Mr Feather subsequenly took this portable carving home with him and it’s subsequently been donated to the Ilkley Manor House Museum where it should be visible. (can someone send us a photo so we can add it to the site profile?)

References:

  1. Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS 2003.
  2. Feather, Stuart, “Mid-Wharfedale Cup-and-Ring Markings – Nos 21 and 22: Bucking Hill, High Moor, Rombald’s Moor,” in Bradford Cartwright Hall Archaeology Group Bulletin, 9:5, 1964.
  3. Hedges, John (ed.), The Carved Rocks on Rombalds Moor, WYMCC: Wakefield 1986.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Bucking Hill (02), High Moor, Brunthwaite, West Yorkshire

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Cup-Marked Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SE 0844 4529

Archaeology & History

This was one of two carvings reported by Stuart Feather (1964) that were very close to each other (see Bucking Hill 3), both of which consisted of simplistic designs but which, he thought, may once have been part of the same rock.  Its precise whereabouts are not known (the grid-ref is an approximation).  He wrote:

“On the southern slopes of Bucking Hill, a fine gritstone rock 5ft 6in by 4ft 6in by 1ft 6in high, has a very clear cup-mark 2in in diameter and ½in deep carved 8in from the straight eastern edge of the rock.”

Feather thought that the edge of the rock had been cut and quarried for use in the boundary wall to the east.  He may have been right.

References:

  1. Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS 2003.
  2. Feather, Stuart, “Mid-Wharfedale Cup-and-Ring Markings – Nos 21 and 22: Bucking Hill, High Moor, Rombald’s Moor,” in Bradford Cartwright Hall Archaeology Group Bulletin, 9:5, 1964.
  3. Hedges, John (ed.), The Carved Rocks on Rombalds Moor, WYMCC: Wakefield 1986.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Bucking Hill (01), High Moor, Brunthwaite, West Yorkshire

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Cup-and-Ring Stone (lost):  OS Grid Reference – SE 0828 4507

Archaeology & History

Described by Boughey & Vickerman (2003) as being located somewhere “below Dirk Hill Sike” in the Rivock woods plantation, this is (or was) a “medium, upstanding rock lying NW-SE (with) one possible heavily weathered large cup-and-ring: cup 75mm diam. and ring 200mm diam.”  However, the authors give no references to this site, nor images, or notes as to who rediscovered this stone.  In their survey they also included one of the Bucking Hill carvings twice, giving the impression that there was more here than had previously been reported.  These errors have subsequently been repeated elsewhere on-line.  In saying this, there are a number of rocks scattered in this area which may have had carvings on them, but it’s been heavily forested and, recently, the trees have been felled and so many of them will have been damaged, turned over, or simply destroyed as a result of the forestry shennanigans.

References:

  1. Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS 2003.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian