Cairn up on Rombald’s Moor.
Image credit: Layla Bert Smith
Sites on Rombald’s Moor
Images
From ‘The Cup and Ring Stones on the Panorama Rocks, near Rombald’s Moor, Ilkley, Yorkshire’ by Nathan Heywood. In ‘Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society’ v6, 1889.
Carved rock at SE 123 460 in its landscape 12 Mar 11ce.
Image credit: Tony Morley
This is how the carving in the image posted by Chris Collyer on 04 Aug 06ce looked as of 12 Mar 11ce.
It is located right in the middle of the main path from White Wells to the Twelve Apostles at SE 123 460. The cup and ring appear to have weathered-in somewhat over the period since Chris’s image was taken, but are still remarkably smooth and shiny.
Image credit: Tony Morley
From
Find the Past on Ilkley Moor ( A Guide for walkers)
Pamphlet published by City of Bradford Metropolitan Council
Image credit: City of Bradford Metropolitan Council
I came across this carving on the way back from the Twelve Apostles to the Cow and Calf and haven’t got an exact position for it, but it would be interesting to see what condition it is in now as this picture was taken in Feb 2004. Not sure how fresh the carving was or who did it (Ray Mears maybe??) but it struck me how much contrast there was between the carved area and the surrounding stone and made me think again about how the stones on the moor would have looked when their cups, rings and ladders were first pecked out.
There is another strange modern carving near the stream below Ilkley Craggs (somewhere near SE120460 I think).
(See themodernantiquarian.com/post/21127 for other carving)
Access is difficult since its on the steep sloped banks of the stream.
Not sure about this, I found it in a stream bed on the ilkley edge of the moor.
A curious little standing stone on the path between the Grubstones and the Twelve Apostles, bearing what looks to be a Masonic emblem.
Maybe a prehistoric standing stone, or maybe the work of the 16th C Walter Hawksworth, known to be a mason and erecter of stones around these parts??
Image credit: Andy H
Close-up of the grooves on an unusual rock.
An interesting grooved stone.
Art based on the Panorama Stone.
Image credit: Andy H
The Thimble Stones... throbbing away ‘In Search of Ancient Astronomies’!
Image credit: Andy H
Based on Hangingstones carvings
Image credit: Andy H
Barmishaw Stone
Image credit: Andy H
This strange little carving sits on a rock at Gill Head. The crossing at the top of Backstone Beck. Possibly carved by Victorian Quarrymen... looks like a cheeky little water sprite!!
Image credit: Andy H
Art inspired by the Swastika Stone
Image credit: Andy H
Art inspired by the Swastika Stone
Image credit: Andy H
Art inspired by the Barmishaw Stone
Image credit: Andy H
Art inspired by Barmishaw Stone
Image credit: Andy H
Carved rock on the western side of Backstone Beck
Image credit: Andy H
I finally re-found this stone although I still don’t know if it has a name – for convenience I’ve decided to call it the Goth Stone (don’t ask!). It is at SE12734625 and stands on the same track that leads southwest across the moor north of Backstone Beck and passes Backstone Circle. It measures 120x110cm and has around 45 cups, a ring and several deep grooves. One of these grooves runs along the line of a natural fault in the stone.
These is another carved stone just to the northwest (I’ve called it the Second Goth Stone)
Second Goth Stone. SE12724628 180x120cm
This stone is to the northwest of the ‘Goth Stone’ (a made up name) and took some finding even though it is not that far from a rarely used track. As the light was getting poor with very little shadow it was difficult to accurately make out all of the designs carved onto its surface but I counted over 30 cups, 3 rings, 6 or more penannulars or unfinished/eroded rings and a couple of possible grooves – although these grooves could be natural.
Gatepost SE09496, 46971
Just next to the track about 50 metres to the west of the Swastika Stone is a pair of fallen gateposts. One of them has a pair of cup and ring carvings. I don’t know whether the post was quarried out of a larger expanse of rock in recent times or if it was originally a carved standing stone....
Cups on The Sepulchre SE09070, 47006. The large one may be natural.
The Sepulchre SE09070, 47006
A large freestanding chunk of rock that has some interesting geological folds in it as well as some cups, one with a ring, on it top surface.
Cups on The Anvil at SE09285, 47001
The Anvil
SE09285, 47001
There are some worn cups on top of this flat stone which is perched on top of a pile of rocks
SE10770, 46499
This is a small stone on the opposite side of Keighley Road from the Weary Hill Stone and is quite difficult to spot in the undergrowth. It has around ten cups, three of which have rings, two others have possible rings.
I don’t know the name of this stone, or even if it has one. I’m not even sure where it is – only that it is somewhere south-west of the Cow and Calf on an obscure track that leads to the Twelve Apostles.
Whilst showing a friend around a few sites on Rombald’s Moor we came across this interesting stone, which I haven’t noticed before. So far I haven’t been able to find out anything about it.
The huge noon stone, on the path leading from The Swastika Stone to the Doubler Stones.
Marks in a triangular formation (probably upside down in this shot!), similar to the ones found on the smaller stone at Giant’s Grave (Black Combe) Cumbria.
There is, sadly, a load of modern graffiti on Rombald’s Moor that often defaces ancient rocks. Happily, one guy has been busy carving beautiful designs on non-monumental rocks in hidden-away places across the moor. This one’s from between White Wells and Cow & Calf. Search for more!
Articles
Prehistoric carvings will feature in a free guided walk to uncover some of the history of Rombalds Moor.
As part of the Festival of British Archaeology on Sunday, July 22, volunteers from the CSI (Carved Stones Investigation) project will lead the walk to explore the mysterious carved rocks scattered across Rombalds Moor, above Ilkley and will explain how they are making detailed recordings of the stones.
Louise Brown, archaeologist with rural regeneration company, Pennine Prospects, said the walk would explain the project.
“This walk will give people a behind-the-scenes look at how the recording is being done,” she said.
The walk will set off from the Cow and Calf car park, Ilkley, at 10am and will take approximately two hours. Booking is required.
Details of the event can be found on the Watershed Landscape ......
Investigators made their first expedition onto a wild and windy Rombalds Moor in a project to capture the images from hundreds of ancient carved stones.
The 30-plus CSI – or Carved Stone Investigation – volunteers began their first practical day of training on Saturday for a survey aiming to record prehistoric rock carvings for posterity.
Volunteers will spend the next three years investigating more than 300 carved stones scattered across Rombalds Moor.
As well as detailed written records of the ancient carvings, the teams of five will use photogrammetry techniques to create 3D computerised images of each stone.
The aim is to record the carvings before the destructive power of wind, rain, and growing vegetation erases them permanently.
The intensive survey is taking place with the help of cash from Pennine Prospects’ £1.9million Heritage Lottery Fund grant.
Community Archaeologist Gavin Edwards, said: “The survey on Rombalds Moor will be the most comprehensive undertaken in over two decades, and with the help of the volunteers, we will have gathered very valuable information.
“Prehistoric carvings are a unique and valuable part of our heritage, providing a direct link with the people who lived here over 5,000 years ago.
” It is important to try and capture a detailed record of the carved stones and their surrounding landscape both for current studies and to guide conservation management, so we can protect them for future generations. Existing records indicate that over 300 carved panels lie on the moors between the rivers Wharfe and Aire.”
Overseeing the volunteers are Tertia Barnett, who has worked on a range of international archaeological projects, rock art expert Kate Sharpe, and rock art researcher Richard Stroud.
Ilkley Gazette 11/02/11
gazetteandobserver.co.uk/news/news_local/8845120.Volunteers_gearing_up_for_carved_stone_survey/
Telegraph & Argus 11/02/11
thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/archive/2011/02/11/Ilkley+%26+Wharfedale+News+%28ilkwharfe_news%29/8845120.Volunteers_gearing_up_for_carved_stone_survey/
When Warwick Peirson stumbled on markings on a stone highlighted by snow little did he know it was to spark a passion which would span more than 30 years.
A winter walk with his young son on Ilkley Moor drew his attention to one of the hundreds of carved rocks which have occupied a swathe of West Yorkshire upland for thousands of years.
Efforts to find out more about the curious carvings – which date back to the Bronze Age – led to a quest he is still pursuing more than three decades later.
“I always knew about the stones but about 30 years ago I noticed a stone on Ilkley Moor and the carvings stood out with the snow,” said Mr Peirson, who lives in Menston.
“I went down to the museum in Ilkley to try to try to find out more and I realised there was very little information about them.”
The novice began his own survey mapping out the carved stones and has continued to study the artefacts ever since.
Mr Peirson, 68, said: “I realised that they must be one of the earliest forms of communication of writing, being about 4.000 years old. That fascinated me.
“I have found them addictive. I wrote a letter to the Ilkley Archaeology Group asking for information and wrote, PS, didn’t they think that all the stones should bear a government health warning because they were extremely addictive.”
So when a call was put out for volunteers to help with a survey to investigate the hundreds of carved stones on Rombalds Moor, Mr Peirson leapt at the opportunity.
He is among a group of more than 30 volunteers who are spending three years surveying the stones on the upland that lies between the River Wharfe and the River Aire – collectively known as Rombalds Moor.
Last year Pennine Prospects was awarded a Heritage Lottery Fund grant and South Pennine Leader funding to run the Watershed Landscape Project which covers a range of smaller projects, including Carved Stone Investigation Rombalds Moor.
Gavin Edwards, community archaeologist for the Watershed Landscape Project, said: “The survey on Rombalds Moor will be the most comprehensive undertaken in over two decades, and at the end of the 36 months, with the help of the volunteers, we will have gathered very valuable information.
“Prehistoric carvings are a unique and valuable part of our heritage, providing a direct link with the people who lived here over 5,000 years ago. Although stone is a long lasting medium, it is, nevertheless, subject to erosion by wind and rain and the destructive effects of vegetation.
“It is important to try and capture a detailed record of the carved stones and their surrounding landscape both for current studies and to guide conservation management, so we can protect them for future generations.
Existing records indicate that more than 300 carved panels lie on the moors between the rivers Wharfe and Aire.”
Ilkley Moor has the highest number of carved rocks but they are also to be found at Bingley Moor, Addingham, Baildon and Burley In Wharfedale.
Varying from simple marks to elaborate patterns, the carvings have baffled people for generations and it is still not clear why so many occupy Rombalds Moor.
“They do cluster in different parts of the country but why that should be, we do not yet understand,” said Mr Edwards. “Clearly Rombalds Moor was treated differently to everywhere else. It must have been a special landscape in which these were made but what made it special we just do not know.
“These are marks that were made by the same people who were working that landscape all those thousands of years ago and it is a really tangible connection we have with the past.”
The work is initially focusing on Ilkley Moor where people can learn the craft of recording the stones. Volunteers will record those which are already scheduled monuments, which protects them by law.
Mr Edwards said: “Although they are already known, what we are concerned about is whether they are deteriorating. The survey is to get a detailed record of them as they are today so that we can then see just how much weathering and damage is being caused to them in the future.”
It is hoped that the work will not only record the rate of deterioration but also throw light on what can be done to slow it down – hence preserving the historic stones for generations to come.
The survey will also photograph the carved rocks with a technique called photogrammetry, which creates three-dimensional images that will help researchers in their studies.
Prehistoric carvings on Ilkley Moor are to be preserved with help from the latest technology so future generations will be able to enjoy and study them.
Archaeologists hope to create digital 3D models of the carvings amid fears the originals could be eroded away.
Community archaeologist Gavin Edwards said this was an important development.
He said: “We have the opportunity to create three-dimensional models so they can be studied in the future as they exist in the landscape itself.”
Up until now the only way we have been able to represent them is in two dimensions.
It is thought they were made by some of the first hunter-gatherers to reach what is now Ilkley Moor – an area which now has the highest concentration of Mesolithic sites in the world.
Gavin Edwards explained: “What we have is a dense concentration of evidence telling us about how the very first people who moved back into this area were exploiting the landscape and how they were surviving.
“They are part of the story of how human interaction with their surroundings started to change the very appearance of the landscape.”
The Prehistoric Carved Rocks project has been launched by Pennine Prospects, an organisation dedicated to the regeneration of the South Pennines.
The project’s aim is to ensure that even if the original carvings erode away due to the effects of the weather they will still available for study in centuries to come.
Gavin Edwards said it was all down to the latest technology that the project could be launched.
He said: “Up until now the only way we have been able to represent them is in two dimensions.
“But a new technique has become available to us whereby we can photograph them with digital images.
“Then, then there is a very complicated piece of software which can combine the images to produce a three-dimensional model of the actual carvings.”
The ancient carvings can be seen in a number of places on Ilkley Moor
Volunteers are now being urged to come forward to join in the Prehistoric Carved Rocks project in Ilkley.
They will be given the chance to find out more about the project and register their interest.
Training sessions
In the coming months, training sessions covering surveying, recording and photographic techniques will take place.
It it is hoped volunteers will then be able to put all these skills into action on Ilkley Moor over the next three years.
Volunteer Eddie Nash said he thought it was well worth getting involved for a number of reasons.
He explained: “It is an interest I have. I find it fascinating looking back and trying to understand how our ancestors lived and developed and gave us what we have today.
“It is the usual situation where people do not understand and use what they have on their own doorstep.
“Once you start to make them aware of things, they are very surprised about what is to be found.”
news.bbc.co.uk/local/bradford/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_9167000/9167130.stm
To add to Rockrich’s news........
Experts are hoping to set up a community team to help investigate ancient rock carvings.
The ‘CSI: Rombalds Moor’ project will look at the moor’s stone remains including the Twelve Apostles Stone Circle, the Swastika Stone and the cup-and-ring carvings known to archaeologists worldwide and the many walkers who visit the area each year.
But now the experts want to train a group of volunteers to take part in crucial work in recording vital information about the ancient sites.
The project is managed by rural regeneration enterprise Pennine Prospects. It is part of a wider Watershed Landscape scheme, which won almost £2million of lottery funding earlier this year to restore the landscape of the South Pennines uplands Next month the CSI: Rombalds Moor project will be launched in Ilkley, with workshops by experts and a guided walk to the archaeological sites.
Among the speakers on Saturday, November 6, will be community archaeologist Gavin Edwards who is known to many Ilkley people for his work at the town’s Manor House Museum and Art Gallery, and English Heritage’s head of metric survey Paul Bryan.
A team of consultants has been selected to lead the prehistoric carved-rocks project on the moor. In addition to making written records, it will involve photographing the rocks to create 3D images through the ‘photogrammetry’ process. The workshop will give more local people a chance to learn about the project and register their interest.
A spokesman for Pennine Prospects said: “Over the coming months a series of training sessions covering surveying, recording and photographic techniques will be organised for community volunteers to learn how best they can help undertake the work over the next three years.
“The project will also aim to ensure that the skills and knowledge gained during this time will then allow the work to continue and develop after the project has come to an end.”
The project launch and workshop will take place at Church House, next to All Saints Parish Church, in Church Street. The event will be open for registration and refreshments between 9am and 9.45am.
Anyone interested in taking part is asked to contact Gavin Edwards in advance at [email protected], leave a message at the Manor House Museum, Castle Yard, Ilkley, or telephone (01943) 600066.
thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/local/localbrad/8475971.CSI__Rombalds_Moor_project_launched/?ref=rss
A new volunteer led project which aims to record all the rock art on Rombalds Moor will launch with a public event on Saturday 6th November 2010. The full day event will include a morning of presentations covering rock art, the project background, recording methodologies and a guided walk in the afternoon. There will also be opportunity for volunteers to register their interest in taking part in the project.
Venue: 9am in Church House, Church St, Ilkley.
pennineprospects.co.uk/watershed-landscape/community-archaeology-in-the-south-pennines
As from 28 May 2005 Rombalds/Ilkley Moor is covered by the Open Access Legislation, cms.countrysideaccess.gov.uk/places_to_go/open_access/ . So you do not *have* to keep to the paths. The northern part of the moor has been Open Access for some years. A new issue of the OS Explorer map 297 Lower Wharfedale & Washburn Valley showing the Open Access areas covered is on sale. Ensure that you get one with the gray patch on the spine and front. Be aware that there are restrictions (people with dogs) on the use of some of this land, and “Exclude people altogether” restrictions on some days, as listed on the web site above. The legislation will become effective throughout England by the end of 2005.
The usual warnings. Anyone who goes off the paths should treat the Moor with respect, boots, food, walking gear, wet weather gear etc. The going underfoot varies from easy grass, to knee deep heather or reeds, knee deep bog, or waist high bracken. These often hide dry or water filled deep holes, not to mention disused quarries.
Rombalds Moor contains some 350 Cup & Ring stones and other neolithic sites. A few dozen of these are well known and were discovered and described in Victorian times: Cow and Calf Rocks, Swastika Stone, Pancake Stone etc. and these are easily found and close to existing paths. But many more have now been listed in Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding (PRAWR) K.J.S Boughey and E.A. Vickerman, ISBN 1 870453 32 8 alkelda.f9.co.uk/wybook1.htm, which includes an order form.
PRAWR lists in all some 653 cup and ring stones and other sites within the West Riding, only a few of which are listed on this web site. Previously unknown examples are found regularly in the area.
An advantage of PRAWR is that it gives the usual lengthy discussion. Plus for each site, not only a description, position and often a photograph and/or sketch. But also 10 figure (1 meter) OS National Grid References for each rock, which means the a person with a hand held Global Positioning System receiver (GPS) can walk to within a few meters of a rock. Hopefully in 2006, EGNOS esa.int/esaNA/GGG63950NDC_index_0.html, which is much behind schedule, will at last become operational. This is similar to WAAS, but for Europe. Then it well be possible for a hand held GPS user to walk to within 2-3 meters of a rock. Without a GPS, and some description of the rock, finding a single boulder in Bracken/Heather is shall we say difficult.
Mindless vandals have scrawled graffiti over one of Yorkshire’s best loved beauty spots.
Shocked walkers on Ilkley Moor have discovered that ancient rocks have been defaced by louts.
The hooligans have used white gloss paint to leave their mark between the Cow and Calf and the White Wells.
And they have defaced an earlier carving of a deer on one specimen.
Local councillors and walkers have expressed their disgust at the senseless vandalism.
Coun Brian Mann said he had not personally seen the graffiti but would be raising the issue with his colleagues on the council, and he urged everyone to be vigilant.
He said: “It is nasty and cowardly. What do they hope to achieve?”
He said graffiti on the moor would have a massive impact, and he stressed: “It is something we are going to stamp down on.”
Coun Mann said thankfully vandalism did not appear to be a persistent problem.
He added: “I think more people should report these kinds of things if they see them happening – and certainly they should bring it to our attention.”
Coun Anne Hawkesworth said the graffiti had not been brought to her attention but she was planning to look into it.
She said people tended to respect the area, and but added: “Obviously it would be quite disturbing if the vandalism got too much.
“It is quite incredible that someone had trailed white paint up there.”
Richard Perhim, a spokesman for Bradford Council’s countryside department said the reports of graffiti would be investigated.
He said: “It comes round every now and again but it is usually not too bad up there.”
He said masonry paint would be used to cover the graffiti.
“We have tried using removal stuff in the past – but it doesn’t work particularly well,” he said.
“The rock is quite coarse so it is easier to paint over it.”
Source: Ilkley Gazette – Thursday 01 July 2004
thisisbradford.co.uk/bradford__district/archive/2004/07/01/otle_spor22.int.html
A GROUP set up to protect and improve areas such as Ilkley Moor in the South Pennines has won a grant of nearly £1 million from the European Union.
The Standing Conference of Southern Pennine Authorities (SCOSPA) has picked up a grant of £850,000 after joining forces with partners from four other European countries.
But major improvements to Ilkley Moor will have to wait until the next round of grant awards, according to the town’s countryside boss.
SCOSPA is made up of nine local authorities in Yorkshire and Lancashire which have areas of South Pennine moorland within their boundary.
The group, which is chaired by Bradford environmental boss and Ilkley district and parish councillor Anne Hawkesworth, bid for the cash with 15 other groups from Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands.
One of the main projects will be to launch SCOSPA as a rural regeneration company next year so that it can attract a wider membership, which should make it easier to bid for extra funding.
If the expected new funding comes on-stream, a wide range of improvements on Ilkley Moor could result, according to Danny Jackson, Bradford Council’s countryside officer for Ilkley.
Mr Jackson said: “In the future, the fact that this company has been set up will allow it to get money for the Ilkley Moor management plan.”
That could mean more stone slabs being laid to prevent footpath erosion on the path across the moor to Bingley, the cutting back of bracken and surveys of wildlife to make sure that the moor was being managed efficiently. Bradford Council manages Ilkley Moor as a traditional grouse shooting area but without issuing licences.
There could also be more education work done to make sure locals and visitors appreciated the significance of archaeological sites on the moor such as the Twelve Apostles stone circle or the Swastika stone.
Countryside officers would like to see more interpretation boards in areas such as the Cow and Calf rocks car park.
Mr Jackson said: “We have a management plan to cover the next ten years but we can only do a certain amount with existing resources.”
The bid for European funding was made by the Netherlands for the whole of the group and the grant was formally accepted earlier this month.
As well as conservation work, the grant will also help a project to enhance economic activity in Southern Pennine areas by promoting markets for local produce.
Councillor Hawkesworth said: “I am thrilled that we have managed to secure this money to help protect some of the most wonderful open spaces in the country and I am also honoured to be representing SCOSPA.
“This is a very good example of what people with shared interests can achieve when they work closely together, pool their resources and share their experiences and expertise.”
SCOSPA was set up in 1974 as a Southern Pennine conservation body and as well as Bradford, its members include Calderdale, Kirklees, Rochdale, Oldham, Rossendale, Burnley, Pendle, Lancashire County Council, United Utilities, the Southern Pennine Association and Pennine Heritage.
Source: thisisbradford.co.uk/bradford__district/ilkley/news/ILKL_NEWS4.html
Posted Thursday 20 November 2003
Armed with my new copy of “Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding” (PRAWR), the plan was to do all the interesting-looking sites in the book over the space of a few days.
The forward planning was extensive. Said sites had their 10-figure grid references plotted onto Fugawi, printed off and downloaded onto the GPS.
The plan was to start with North Rombalds Moor. What I had not bargained for was the time it would take to get round just these sites. Two days to get round these alone.
No problem with finding the sites at all. This was the first time I’d used a GPS for rock art and it’s difficult to see how I managed without it beforehand. Straight to within sighting distance of the stone every time.
The problem was just the sheer number of sites combined with their spectacular location which meant we spent time just soaking up the landscape.
Must have stayed at The Badger Stone for the best part of an hour. Nice of them to provide a seat.
So N Rombalds Moor was all that was covered and the rest will have to wait.
Back home the task is now matching up the sites with what is already on TMA – not easy with so many sites on Rombalds Moor alone. Some are already here under their own name and some are part of a group.
Where the site does not appear to have an entry already, there is the fun of choosing a name. Of course, you could just name them after the PRAWR classification numbers but that would be unromantic. However, as that publication is one which I expect future visitors will use a lot, I have cross-referenced to their numbers.
Visited 11 & 13 April 2004
I visited Rombald’s Moor as a result of finding this web-site. I saw lots of stuff up there but could not nail down Ashlar’s Chair, and the pancake stone. I saw the stone that Chris calls the Goth Stone. Not having a camera on me, I did not remember it until now. I have never seen anything like it before. I was surprised by the amount of 18th and 19th century carved graffiti up there.
What can I say about Rombald’s Moor. I’ve only been a couple of times, both in the last couple of weeks. I don’t know why ‘cause it’s probably the closest major site to my home. On the first visit I headed straight for the Twelve Apostles. It was getting late, and I was stuck for time. So for my latest visit (9/2/2) I got there nice and early in the morning, and spent a full day. I ended up spending a lot of my time huddled over the sexy Badger Stone, with a tour of some of the other attractions to follow.
All I can say is this has made my love of all things megalithic even more intense. The whole moor is like a playground for the imagination. A dreamlike quality pervades as you travel from stone to stone. After a while I found myself putting my map and list of grid refs away and just looking, the place is literally full of rock art.
It is a very powerful place.
On the downside a lot of the stones are vandalised. I can understand a need to leave a mark behind, almost in the tradition of these stones themselves – but there are plenty of unmarked rocks scattered across the moor. It just seems like people want to destroy this wonder on their doorstep. Perhaps if folk were educated correctly, and taught to have a sense of pride in this, their true heritage, then maybe it wouldn’t happen, who knows.
A word of warning: Be prepared for strange looks from the runners and walkers... :)
This moor, sandwiched between the beautiful Wharfedale valley to the north and Bradford city to the south, is one of the most inspiring, mystery-riddled places I know of. The famous Ilkley Moor is merely a part of it – although it is this particular area, to the north near Ilkley town and the River Wharfe (sacred to the snake goddess Verbeia) that is most densely populated with fabulous cup-and-ring carvings and strange, strange tales both old and new. The best I can do here is recommend a few spots (get OS Sheet SE 04/14 Pathfinder 671 of Keighley & Ilkley):
- Up Backstone Beck, opposite the dishevelled but still-buzzing Backstone Circle (OS 1261 4613), are the remains of a Bronze Age dwelling (OS 1310 4590). It goes much further back than that, though – archaeologists have found evidence of Mesolithic dwellings here, perhaps 10,000 years old or more.
- As you approach the more from Ilkley town, the White Wells (old spa bath, presently a tea-and-cakes place) become obvious. To the west is a clump of trees with a waterfall beneath it flowing onto a ford (OS 1155 4660). This mound is a really special place. Local people leave wreaths to dead loved ones here. At the top of the mound is a massive carved boulder, too. When looking at the mound from below, I imagine the waterfall to be sacred fluids flowing from a cunt, and the mound to be the prone form of the local goddess Verbeia. The two stream either side even correspond to the image on her altar (which you can still see in All Saints’ Church in Ilkley town, next to the bridge over the Wharfe – well worth a peek).
- The Badger Stone (OS 1108 4605) is fantastic, such a seductive curve to the boulder – though sadly the prolific carvings are fast fading. A very powerful place, I’ve found – treat it with respect.
- The Swastika Stone (OS 0956 4695) is a must – a wonderful curvy armed cross carved at least 3000 years before the Nazi’s decided they had a monopoly on this ancient symbol. Extreme right-wing graffiti and stickers have been spotted up here – but their attempts to associate themselves with the archaic petroglyph merely underlines their simple-minded dumbfuckness. Sadly enclose by railings due to graffiti – be sure to look past the Victorian copy at the front to the fainter original.
- The Doubler Stones (OS 0722 4649) are great. Totally natural (apart from the basins and cups on top), they basically look like two ginormous mushies. Watch out for the close-by farmer, especially if you’re looking for the smaller organic cousins of the stones...
- The Buck Stones (OS 0920 4560) are again a natural formation, and again are great. A bit of a mess compared to the beautifully sculpted Doubler Stones, but there’s the power – a very primal, raggedy place.
There’s much more to discover, and I’ll leave my review brief so that you have fun exploring for yourselves. And remember to take more litter away than you bring!
“This moor, according to legend, took it’s name from a giant Rombald, who favoured it a good deal. The large block of sandstone at it’s eastern end, known as the calf, which lies at the foot of the mass of rock called the Cow, bears an indentation which is said to be the imprint of the foot of the giant, who, in taking a stride from the Cow to Great Alms’ Cliff, several miles away, broke the calf off and sent it rolling down the hillside.”
The Enchanting North
J.S. Fletcher
Pub. Eveleigh Nash
1908
More info, fieldnotes, folklore, sites etc. can be found as Paul Bennett’s comment on Grubstones PID 2566 over on The Megalithic Portal as of yesterday.
norlonto.net/index.cfm/action/articles.view/itemID/66
The Goddess in Wharfedale by Gyrus.
Well worth a read.
‘The Prehistoric Rock Sculptures of Ilkley” by J Romilly Allen – in the Journal of the British Archaeological Association v35 (1879).
Review and order form for Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding. Keith Boughey and Edward Vickerman. ISBN 1 870453 32 8. Price £14.00 plus £4.50 postage and packing.
A transcript of J. Horsfall Turner’s “Ancient Bingley” published in 1897. Only the first 20-30 pages of this .pdf document are relevant, the rest is more recent stuff.
Ilkley Moor photographs.
Ilkley Moor walking routes and local info
Pics of Twelve Apostles before a couple of stone-falls
The words to Ilkley Moor Baht ‘at
A few nice pics
Ilkley Moor walking guides
David Raven’s Ilkley Moor page
Graeme Chappel’s Yorkshire Rock Art
History of Verbeia: Goddess of Wharfedale by Gyrus (including theories on the Sawstika Stone)
List of the scheduled monuments around Bradford including most of the sites on Rombald’s Moor
Directions for walks including the Panorama Stone, the Badger Stone, and general information about the prehistory of the area.
Graeme C’s great northern rock art site. Nice photos and ting.
