Bull Stone

Nearest town:
Otley (2km NW)
OS reference:
SE206436
OS sheet:
104
Latitude:
53° 53' 16.35 N
Longitude:
1° 41' 11.56 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Bull Stone (Standing Stone / Menhir) by MarionBenham

Another pic of the ‘possible lost twin’ to the Bull stone. This image shows the stone to be seperate from the wall and boulder behind the wall.
SE 206 436

Image credit: Marion Benham
MarionBenham
MarionBenham Jun 24, 2004
Image of Bull Stone (Standing Stone / Menhir) by David Raven

The ‘forgotten’ Bull Stone? Found in a field adjacent to the Bull Stone. See Fieldnotes.

Image credit: David Raven
David Raven
David Raven Jun 23, 2004
Image of Bull Stone (Standing Stone / Menhir) by David Raven

The Bull Stone, Otley Chevin. Dawn on Midsummer Solstice, 2004.

Image credit: David Raven
David Raven
David Raven Jun 23, 2004

Articles

Bull Stone

Red Dog
Red Dog Oct 5, 2024

Be warned that whilst some descriptions of how to get to the Bull Stone talk about taking the footpath out of the beer garden/car park of The Royalty pub, this is the path less traveled, and as such can be pretty overgrown with raspberry brambles. And if you are of a nervous disposition, note that you might not enjoy the neighboring Yorkgate Clay Pigeon Shooting Club when they are in full flow (specifically at the weekends). Finally, the passage of time has meant that such descriptions as this – “once into the second field, head diagonally down to the far-left corner. From here, look over the wall — you can’t really miss it!” (thenorthernantiquarian.org/2009/12/22/bull-stone-guiseley/) – are no longer relevant, since a huge bush and pile of brambly waste now sits in the corner of the field, obscuring the view. You have to clamber a fence to the east and go round before you can get a clear view of the stone.

Bull Stone

David Raven
David Raven Jun 23, 2004

After visiting the Bull Stone near Otley Chevin for the Midsummer Solstice, we made our way back to the car park at the Royalty pub. The footpath crossed a field holding a pair of frisky horses, so we decided to take a slight detour.

Spotting what we thought was a boulder, we headed for that to make the dry-stone wall easier to climb. Upon closer inspection we noticed that the boulder was one of a pair, and the one on the other side of the wall appeared much longer and narrower than the first, reminiscent of the nearby Bull Stone. In fact, it was positively ‘menhir-like’!

Could this one of the ‘lost’ stones described by Paulus?

Bull Stone

Chris Collyer
Chris Collyer Jun 16, 2002

The grid reference given here is only a rough guide as it is several years since I visited the stone and I don’t remember where I heard about it, it certainly isn’t marked on the OS map. Use the map to find the road that runs south of The Chevin (I think the road is also known as The Chevin). Park in the pub west of the Chevin Lodge Hotel and follow a footpath behind the pub and head south. Pass through a gate and turn left then continue south alongside a drystone wall. At some point further along you will see the six foot high highly weathered Bull Stone on the other side of this wall.

Folklore

Bull Stone
Standing Stone / Menhir
Rhiannon
Rhiannon Oct 5, 2024

An interesting standing stone is to be seen on the southern slope of the Chevin above the town of Guiseley in the valley of the Aire (...). This stone is well-known to the small number of people who live near at hand. A similar stone is said to have stood at the head of Occupation Lane on the western end of the Chevin, and to have been broken up when the cottage was erected at that place. It is always called the “Bull Stone” and is said to be “lucky.”

Editorial Notes in the Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, volume 34 (1938).

Also, I read in ‘The English Dialect Dictionary’ (Joseph Wright, 1898) that a bullstone is a West Yorkshire word for a whetstone – which makes sense maybe as an explanation for (or even genuine use of) the grooves?

Topics

The 'lost twin' of the Bull Stone?! 5
David Raven
David Raven
Jun 2004

Sites within 20km of Bull Stone

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