The Idol Rock

Nearest town:
Ilkley (3km WNW)
OS reference:
SE133458
OS sheet:
104
Latitude:
53° 54' 28.39 N
Longitude:
1° 47' 51.1 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of The Idol Rock (Natural Rock Feature) by markj99

A large enigmatic carving on the Idol Rock.

Image credit: Mark Johnstone
markj99
markj99 Nov 13, 2020
Image of The Idol Rock (Natural Rock Feature) by markj99

A graffito, possibly a Masonic Blazing Star, on the Idol Rock

Image credit: Mark Johnstone
markj99
markj99 Nov 13, 2020
Image of The Idol Rock (Natural Rock Feature) by jones-y-gog

Looking to the SE.

[hopefully you can’t make out the vandalism by latter-day idiots]

Image credit: JBJ
jones-y-gog
jones-y-gog Nov 8, 2012

Articles

The Idol Rock

Kozmik_Ken
Kozmik_Ken Nov 6, 2003

The Idol Rock is a natural boulder that lies just south of the cup and ring marked Idol Stone and is a prominent marker visible from many of the other prehistoric sites on this part of the moor.

The rock itself bears no prehistoric markings, although it does seem to bear something akin to a masonic symbol which someone appears to have attempted to grub out at some point (these symbols appear on other rocks elsewhere on the moor).

Nearby prehistoric walling seems to point to this rock being used as a boundary marker and it is clearly visible from the Backstone Circle. West of this point are the living areas of Green Crag and the Backstone Beck Enclosure. East lie the cairns. Maybe this was a division between the lands of the living and the lands of the dead?

Sites within 20km of The Idol Rock

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