This site is easy to get to being between the path and the ring at Beeley Central.
There have been several suggestions as to what it could be....A cairn with a surrounding bank. A ring cairn that had a cairn built into its centre. Or a well robbed round barrow.
The cairn is around 1m high about 15m in diameter. Surrounding the cairn is a low bank, visible really only in the SW.
Indeed, blink and you WILL miss it! Theres a nice wee carpark south of the bump at the southern edge of the virtually absent stone circle, only reeally noticeable by virtue of the levelled platform on which it is built and a large wheelie-bin. From the carpark there is a nature trail into what is currently treeless forestry land in which is the long cairn of Carinish complete with practically prehistoric information sign. Not in the best state with lots of temporary shelters built into it and peat encroaching its tail. Forty odd metres to north of site is peat cuttings where neolithic settlement was found. What more could you ask for – a cairn (a heavily mucked about pile of stones), a stone circle (or whats left of it) and a settlement site (well, some peat cuttings).
Beware – the cairn is off the trail and if you’re walking out to it, as with most sites in the region, weat suitable footwear as its a bit wet even in summer.
J.Barnatt has this down to be a robbed cairn rather than a ring cairn.
It’s quite large still even tho’ it’s been damaged in the NE. By the side of the path and marked ‘enclosure’ on some O.S maps.
Sorting out all the ring cairns is a confusing business on Beeley Moor with it’s NE & NW Warrens, the Souths, the Centrals and more Warrens.
This rubble ring could be a robbed or ring cairn or maybe even a house.
It’s around 8m in diameter and about 20ft from the more visible Beeley North (South 2).
Still tricky to spot as it’s now only a slight raise in the heather.
SE13706,39619
To find this stone take the track that leads south from Dobrudden Farm towards a wall in the distance. When you reach it walk down its right hand side and past an entrance. From here head out diagonally, the stone is fairly visible, but when I was there about a quarter of it was covered with invading undergrowth.
The triangular stone is covered with a complex series of cups (about 50), rings and grooves. One of the most striking things about the stone is the views – down past Shipley Glen and over to Bingley and Saltaire
SE13736,40227 I had difficulty finding this stone even though it is close to a track and a bell pit, as it is fairly small and lower than the surrounding grass. It has around a dozen cups on its top surface, and also has a line of cups along it’s edge
It took me a while to find this one, which lays at SE13768,39899 near a bell pit south-east of the park and fairly close to a track. It has around 25 cups scattered over it with carvings on the west and north side. The first consists of 3 linked cups with an oval groove running around them – it reminded me of ET’s face! The second is a complex and confusing pattern that includes 6 cups, some with rings, some joined, and with a deep groove around it. There is also a deep groove on the southern side of the stone.
This stone is easy to find as it is propped up against the north wall of Dobrudden Farm at SE13720,40098 although exactly where it originally lay is uncertain. The top part of the stone has 8 cups, 2 of which have rings which intersect each other. The bottom half has about 16 cups, the top 3 are in a row with intersecting rings around them. 4 cups on the left have a groove running round them, and there seems to be a groove that continues around the bottom and up the right hand side of the stone. Three sets of cups are also linked.
A couple of metres to the northeast of a small flat stone which has 2 cup and rings and a pair of groves which could be natural.
Baildon Moor is Ilkley Moor’s little sister, a few miles to the south it is both smaller and flatter which certainly makes it easier on the legs. For some reason it seems particularly popular with weekenders out for a stroll and folk walking dogs, but there are around 40 or so marked rocks here, with two third of them north/north-east of Dobrudden Farm caravan park although two of the best examples are to the east and the south of the park.
There are also said to be the remains at least 2 stone circles – one at Windy Hill and one north of the road at Pennythorne Hill but don’t expect to see much, if anything. There are also several badly damaged cairns, a destroyed Bronze Age field system, and quite a few recent bell pits.
Parking is easy at a free carpark north of Bingley Road where there are the remains of ‘Coll’s Burial Mound’ ring cairn, from here walk a short distance west to a track that leads uphill and south to Dobrudden Farm. Many of the stones lie close to this track. In Dyers ‘Discovering Prehistoric England’ he mentions 4 prominent stones and I’ve added these as separate sites and used his numbering system as an aid for those who have the book.
Minehowe is truly one of the gems in Orkney’s archaeological crown. This is a very strange place and, whatever else you do, don’t miss it when you’re on Orkney.
The site was first discovered in 1946 but was quickly closed off to stop farm stock falling into it. Unfortunately, the ‘many stone tools’ discovered have disappeared along with any skeletal remains. It would be nice to think that these might turn up at some stage so that the site could be put into a firmer context.
I live at Fivewells Farm and know how bad the tip smells! The good news is it’s closing soon, possibily by Easter 2003. There will be no more refuse tips in the Peak Park. On quarries, as much as you may not like them, they provide employment for myself and at least 3 generations of my family. Quarrying has existed here since at least Roman times. The quarry in the picture is actually Tunstead Quarry, the largest limestone quarry in Europe. Many others in view have actually closed. These provide valuable wildlife sites which include peregrine falcons.
Five Wells chambered tomb is the highest Megalithic tomb, at 1440ft above sea level. There’s a reconstruction of it in Buxton Museum.
This is a lovely site and very accessible.
The only reference to the place that I can find is by Stanhope White, who places it in the Iron Age but the vibe I get is of a henge albeit an angular henge.
What you’ve got is a square-ish enclosure with rounded corners surrounded by a rounded ditch the a bank with one possibly two entrances.
The dimensions are roughly 55 metres from corner to corner of the enclosure, an 8 metre wide ditch and an 8 metre wide bank with no external ditch.
The setting is a faily flat plain of fertile farmland, the are barrows in the vacinity and a set of double dykes.
I would love to know more about this site.
Conclusion – Well worth a visit, whatever it is.
Check out the multimap aerial view.
23-3-03. Walked up using the recommended route in the Tourist Info leaflet :-) Passed some wild mountain goats & kids (aw!!) and plenty of grouse, none of them famous. Got to the top and met 20 ramblers from Newcastle, which was nice.
After they’d gone, had the place to myself, tried to imagine a community up here. Felt a bit freaked out so instead tried to make out the outlines of the huts which had been here. The ground is so uneven with heather and tuffets of grass they are hard to see now. But it’s easy to see why they chose this place to live.
The local geology is evident: pink granite against black peat soil. No point trying to carve Rock Art here; better going to Doddington / Weetwood / Old Bewick / Routin Linn...all within walking distance of here and made of much softer sandstone...
.o0O0o.
It’s taken me ages to find this scrubby looking Ring Cairn.
It’s roughly 9x8m in diameter and the bank is built of turf and stones, roughly 30-40cm in height.
If your in the area it’s not far from the road, but I wouldn’t make a special journey to see it.
If you’re using the Wraggs Quarry route to get to the Raven Tor Triple Cairn. This cairn is worth finding, just on the edge of the workings.
The disturbed cairn has a visible cist, made up of 5(?) vertical slabs, rectangular in shape. There looks to be a capstone south of the cist.
Not a bad site despite it closeness to the quarrying, and probably one of the better preserved cists of the 12 or so that are visible in the Peak.
Visited 2nd March 2003: We got the farmer’s permission to take a look at Coynant Maenhir and Maen Hir. Coynant Maenhir is easier to get to than it’s neighbour, but although it’s right next to the road, you can’t see it from the road beause of the hedgerow. You need to walk a couple of meters up the footpath towards the farm to see the stone.
Coynant Maenhir is very close to the hedge, so you can’t really get a clear view of it from the south west. From the most other angles the stone looks relatively slender, but from the northeast it suddenly becomes quite fat. I realise this probably sounds strange, but the width of the stone was surprising.
When I visited there were tracks in the mud from tractor tyres, right next to the stone. This is a bit worrying given the damage that the weight of the tractor could do to the packing stones. The farmer is a really nice bloke with an interest in the stones on his land, so I’m surprised he’s driving this close (or letting other people).
This is my first visit to a neolithic site since purchasing The Modern Antiquarian, and being only twenty minutes drive, it seemed the logical place to go. And what a place! So peaceful, and I felt at one with the surroundings...I really can’t describe how I felt. I was just grateful to get out of the Medway Towns in the knowledge that we still have some fantastic heritage nearby.
Hopefully this will be the first of many trips. I didn’t look closely, but it appeared that any graffitti has now gone.
[visited 22/3/3] What a weird & relaxing site. We found three standing stones and many many piles of stones scattered liberally about the fields. The main field is (I presume) used as a showjumping practice ground & I think some of the piles of stones have been cleared off the open spaces. However at least 2 piles looked like they had had a purpose, quite what I have no idea... RE the row, I was disapointed to see the three stones didn’t line up, make of that what you will. They are however beautiful stones, either naturally modified or by hand.
Oh and if you try and find the caves prepare for disapointment, at some point in the last few years someone has put locked railings across the entrance ways. Bah! Another thing to look for is the fort on the golf course, together with small standing stones scattered across it. Unfortunately I was not alone and the cry of beer stopped me finding the stones on the golf course.. next time gadget!!
Passed by this way yesterday, totally unplanned so no camera etc.
I was struck by how different the site looked with the undergrowth at it’s lowest point. Last time I was here, the trees and hedges were in full bloom, and the stones couldn’t be seen from the road at all. Yesterday, the circle could be seen ‘properly’ in its setting. A much more pleasurable experience.
I have visited this area many times but haven’t payed much attention to the beacon until the last couple of years. The Beacon consists of a round barrow which is very prominant as its sited on the crest of a hill. There are a few mentions of a cupmarked boulder here which I have tried, in vain, to find. I was up there today prior to taking my lad down to Port Mulgrave to hunt for fossils. The barrow itself is very significant and has yielded a number of important finds (See Elgee’s description in the Misc.). It is part of a chain of coastal sites with confirmed rock art finds.
The best way to get there is to follow the lane from Hinderwell to Port Mulgrave and then join the Cleveland Way footpath turning left along the field boundary (you can’t miss it!).
This site is visible from the Newton Mulgrave Long Barrow and the famous ‘Wossit’ mortuary structure at Loftus.
Whilst I was on the beach below the barrow I noticed that jet was still being extracted from the cliffs ( small scale), this is an activity that has occurred constantly for the past four thousand years at least.
Continuity or what?
Kit required for this site includes:
Stilts, waders, a hardhat and good sense of balance!
No really, this is a very awkward place to get to! Not recommended in wet weather.
Come off the main road where it says “Morwick Hall Only”
Park in the little village on the corner of the farm track to the rear entrance of the hall (not the passing place)
Walk down north towards the river. When the road starts to go steeper downhill, there is a bank following along the right side with a wooden fence atop. When this fence turns away east, climb onto the bank and in the fence you’ll find a place where you can climb over into the field.
Cross the edge of the field keeping the fence to your left: the rock outcrop is behind it, above the river. Go east right to the corner of the field and carefully climb down the very steep bank to the river bed.
Cling to the river bank like your dryness depends on it: the river looks quite deep here but thankfully I didn’t find out.
The carvings are approx knee-height, and some way above your head right on the edge of the face.
Hope this helps future scramblers.
Oh and if you see a small white piece of tooth thereabouts, it’s mine.
Banana chips. Ow!
.o0O0o.
Laying in a field behind Eldon quarry slag heaps and at the bottom of what must have been the once impressive.... and soon to be no more Eldon Hill.
The long barrow is orientated ENE/WSW and is around 50x25m and over 1m high in places. A round barrow is superimposed on the eastern end.
It’s still well worth a look.
Only a short walk across a field off the B6061 Castleton – Sparrowpit, there’s room for a car on the roadside.
The Barmishaw stone has some of Ilkley’s speciality carvings, the so called ‘ladders’. The patterns on the stone can be difficult to make out but there are said to be 6 of these ladder forms, as well as 24 cups, 9 of which have rings.
To find the stone, walk north from the Badger Stone, continue past the east-west track and continue roughly in the direction of the woods for 2 or 3 minutes. Although it is flat and only very low, the stone is a reasonable size and can be seen to the right in a clearing in the undergrowth.
Like Ironman, I have to admit that I was a little disappointed by the Badger stone, this being my first visit. It was smaller than I had pictured it and due to the position of the sun the famous carvings were very difficult to make out and even more difficult to photograph. I thought the wooden bench next to it detracted from it as well – somehow it forces the modern world on the site – in the hour I was there, apart from a knowledgeable local I met, only 2 people came past on the track.
Definitely a stone to come back to when a more favourable light can do it justice.
It’s only a short walk from Harrod Low up Gautries Hill to the barrow on the top, it’s well hammered now, but it’s so obvious why it’s here. It’s only when you’re fully at the top that the views open up. Mam Tor in the NE and views over Crowden and Hayfield in the West.
OK it’s spoilt a little by Eldon Hill quarry nearby..... but it’s still a top place.
