Woofa Bank Enclosure

Nearest town:
Ilkley (4km WNW)
OS reference:
SE139456
OS sheet:
104
Latitude:
53° 54' 21.87 N
Longitude:
1° 47' 18.25 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Woofa Bank Enclosure (Ancient Village / Settlement / Misc. Earthwork) by Kozmik_Ken

This is a strange little spot on the top of Woofa Bank above the enclosure. A rock possibly bearing both natural and designed cup marks (or possibly cup marks that have weathered in). There seemed to be a bit of a small enclosure built around the back of the stone, but not sure if this is a natural jumble of rocks or intended.

Image credit: Andy H
Kozmik_Ken
Kozmik_Ken Nov 10, 2003

Articles

Woofa Bank Enclosure

David Raven
David Raven Nov 13, 2003

In February 2003, myself and a rambling buddy were wandering the moors above Ilkley. We noticed the heather had been recently burned off for the grouse to feast on the young shoots, leaving the huge enclosure at Woofa bank visible. Climbing down, I paced the low rubble walls to be about 50 meters in diameter. The site holds various cup-marked rocks, one of which is actually part of the wall. In fact the plateau contains up to a third of the carved rocks of the moor. An enclosure nearby (at Green Crag Slack) is tentatively dated at Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age (Edwards and Bradley 1999). In the Late Neolithic/Early Bronze age the whole area was covered in light scrub, with hazel, alder, birch and pine covering the plateau, according to pollen analysis. It has also been suggested that a shallow lake may have occured here. Not only were conditions favourable for settling, the area is thought to have been part of a major trade route across the Pennines.

Did you find the little well that lies roughly north, Ken? Dunno how old it is but it’s very ‘well’ preserved!

Woofa Bank Enclosure

Kozmik_Ken
Kozmik_Ken Nov 6, 2003

This is a fantastic prehistoric walled enclosure, lying below Woofa Bank containing a number of cup and ring marked rocks. The curve of the wall is plainly visible from the hillside above.

Sites within 20km of Woofa Bank Enclosure

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