Close up of hole feature. This is almost identical to hole at the beanley plantation site, again cut into a west facing rock outcrop. Judging by the droppings this one was used by quite a large mammal at times!
Image credit: Mascot 2009
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Seemingly, these natural 'karst' features are a peculiarity of the Fell sandstone, they normally occur in limestone, but for some geological reason the rock in Northumberland does it too.
There's a whooper of a one just down from the carved outcrop at Roughting Linn. From what I've observed, there's usually a whaleback somewhere above the hole. In the case of Roughting Linn, it's the whaleback that's carved. I've seen similar features from Queen's Crags, down Sewingshields way, up to the Bowden Doors. Not always rock art in the vicinity, but it's worth checking them out, just in case.