Kozmik_Ken

Two huge chunks of millstone grit with a recumbent boulder forming a natural ‘altar’ and enclosing niche. The Thimble Stones lay on the path that runs along the boundary wall between Ashlar Chair and the radio masts at Whetstone Gate. Nearby to the south are the Two Eggs.

It is quite likely that these stones had some relevance to the prehistoric inhabitants of the moor although the ‘cups’ are most likely the result of weather erosion.

I visited the stones on Halloween and was caught in a hailstorm whilst there... the place was just buzzin’!!

Besides the well know carvings at the Hangingstones are two carved bowls set back a little from the main outcrop. They seem just too perfect to be the result of weathering.

Also, if I ever encounter the person who did the knotwork carving on the western rock surface, I’m gonna kick them really hard!

This is a very peculiar site. I’d walked past it a few times before and thought, “gate posts”. As previously described, a partially ruined circle enclosed in drystone walling (possibly a Victorian sheep fold). I really can’t decide if this site is genuinely prehistoric or not.

The long sedge grass and walling makes the site quite difficult to evaluate but from what I could find it seems like there could be a double circle with a central standing stone. However, just when you think you’ve worked it out, you find something that bucks the plan!

The inner circle stones are quite low and in some instances, very square cut. Giving the impression of having been quarried and dressed rather than composed of land-strewn boulders. There is little evidence of weathering on the stones as at the nearby Twelve Apostles circle.

The three larger stones at the back (north west) of the circle are set in a triangle. Two of the stones could possibly form a section of an outer circle, but the third stone appears to be supported by stones similar to those in the drystone walling. One other stone wasn’t even set in the earth, but sat on it’s broad base. The tallest stone appears that have what looks like a figure 8 set on it’s side carved near the top of the stone. This doesn’t appear to have been pecked with stone tools and shows little sign of weathering.

On the southern side of the walling is what could possibly be a ditch and bank, or could equally (or more likely) be a watercourse. This does not surround the site and if the circles were completed to their full circumference, they would cut across the feature.

On the plus side, it commands a wide view over the settlement areas of Backstone Beck and Green Crag. The pointed Idol Rock is clearly visible to the eastern horizon on what could possibly be a Samhien alignment and there would have been good views of sunrises throughout the year, over the cairnfields to the east. Paul Bennett also mentions a fallen monolith to the south at Gill Head (which I didn’t manage to find). He also points out that the Backstone Beck site forms the north western corner of a perfect isosceles triangle with the Twelve Apostles and the Grubstones, with the Lanshaw Lass boundary stone set in the centre of the longest side.

On the question of the Backstone Circle being genuinely prehistoric or not, my inclination is to suspect it as a Victorian Folly. First references to a ‘lost circle beyond White Wells’ come from around this period. However, it is possible that it was constructed on the site of an older monument. Also, medieval masons are known to have erected and moved standing stones around the moor over more recent centuries (Walter Hawksworth of the 14th C in particular) and used the Grubstones and Twelve Apostles for their moots.

I wouldn’t say that I’d rule out the possibility of this being a genuine prehistoric site, but my gut feeling is that what is to be seen there today isn’t entirely prehistoric in origin. The only way to be sure of it’s origins and history is for a full excavation at the site. In the meantime, it’s still a very pleasant spot to visit, so go and make your own mind up.

This heavily weathered rock lays at the meeting point of four moors. Ilkley Moor, Burley Moor, Morton Moor and Bingley Moor (thanks Dave). Cup and ring carvings were recorded in the 19th C, but these have now weathered away and no trace remains.

Paul Bennett describes the rock as an ‘Omphalus’ or a universal centre. It’s name probably comes from it’s use by medieval masons. It was also used as a meeting point for the Pendle Witches.

According to Paul Bennett the inscription reads, “This is Rumbles Law” and was erected by William Hawksworth in the 14/15th C. He originally erected it at the Grubstones which was used as a moot by local masons, but was ordered to remove it to his own land. The Great Skirtful was just inside his boundary.

The earthworks lie either side of Wessenden Head Road between Marsden and Marsden Moor. Maps have variously described the sites as either settlements, homesteads or henges. Both earthworks are on farmland, so permission to visit needs to be requested from the nearby farmhouse.

I last visited the site during the mid 1980’s and only had time to see the Royd Edge earthwork. A roughly circular enclosure about ten yards in diameter, with one entrance and now partitioned by a modern drystone wall.

A magnometer survey bu West Yorkshire Archaeological Services follows.

Magnetometer surveys were undertaken at 2 earthwork enclosure sites, to determine whether gradiometry would identify archaeological features on Millstone Grit geology and to find evidence for other domestic activity or a ditched field system outside the main enclosure. Although outwardly similar in form and function, the magnetic responses from the monuments were markedly different. At Oldfield Hill there was virtually no detectable response from the infilled ditch. It was thought that thisprimarily reflected the high percentage of stone in the fill. At Royd Edge the infill was predominantly silty soil and the ditch gave a strong magnetic signal, demonstrating that features could be identified on Millstone Grit geology under the right conditions. Isolated anomalies thought to have been caused by archaeological activity were identified inside both enclosures. There was no geophysical evidence for the continuation of archaeological activity outside of the enclosure at Royd Edge but isolated responses north of the enclosure at Oldfield Hill could have been indicative of further human activity.

We thought we’d tackle the other side of the valley today and take a trip up to Middleton Moor, as there was a number of cup n’ ring marked stones noted on the OS map. So we descended into Ilkley and spent a little while by the river behind the museum, which stands on the site of the old Roman fort.

Middleton Woods is a bit of an uphill slog and we got lost on the winding paths a couple of times. We eventually found a style over into a field of horses, past Middleton Hall an on to the tarmac road leading up to a farm track and eventually the moor.

Lots of wildlife here (Ilkley Moor can be a little barren besides Grouse and the odd small flock of Sheep), rabbits, lapwings and loads of lambs all frolicking around like some forest scene from Bambi! The view across Wharfedale to the Cow n’ Calf rocks was truly wonderful.

The first carving we found was a beauty! Three cup n’ ring marks on a small boulder, the largest with at least five rings at Dryas Dyke. Nearby on Foldshaw Ridge is the Lattice Rock, another small boulder set in a slight rise under the path. The area a round here has a number of marked rocks, but these are well hidden in heather and bracken and require a bit of searching.

From here take the path west until you reach an old milestone, turn left and follow the hill downwards, over a boggy stream and just beyond are a number of small boulders set low, which bear faint cup, ring and groove marks.

The weather had been fantastic until now. As we reached this cluster of rocks, the heavens opened and we got drenched on the long walk back down to Ilkley. We were forced into a number of pubs to find the warmest place to dry off in!

The next day we took an excursion to Balnakeil Beach, Church and Craft Village. An old army installation that has become an artist’s colony. There is also reputedly to be a stone circle near here, but we didn’t find it.

On the way back, driving along the Kyle of Durness, we spotted a guy at the roadside watching the sky with a pair of binoculars. Scott pulled over and we looked up to see a Golden Eagle cruising the thermals right above us. A fantastic sight. Back in the car, I took a glance at the map and noticed we were right next to a site marked as stone circles on the map. We found the site over a hillock in the field next to the road.

Know locally as The Ord, the site’s entrance appears to be through the remains of three ditches which enclose an area containing groups of stones and a low rubble wall at the rear. The stones appear to be too closely set together to be true stone circles and areas of spoil again seem very small to be the remains of collapsed cairns. I guess their likeliest purpose is hut circles in a settlement site. There is also a low circular, stone enclosure a few yards away, which looks more like a modern sheep pen than anything ancient.

Noting on the map that ancient places were nearby, we headed into the hills. First of all finding a cairn. Nothing spectacular, but the views were magnificent. Occasionally, a window would open in the low cloud and offer us spectacular views onto the loch below, or over to the Kyle of Durness. It felt like we were in the seat of the gods.

We headed off across the blasted plateau in search of a Pictish Wheelhouse marked on the OS map. After much crossing of streams (during which Shaun performed the most spectacular of salmon leaps across a burn to land in a crumple heap half in, half out of the water) and upping and downing, we spied an outcrop. Scott reached the top first and let a loud whoop! Upon reaching the top we found ourselves looking down onto the most perfectly preserved wheelhouse I’ve ever seen. I don’t know if it has been restored at any time, I suspect not. The whole thing seems too jumbled to be reconstructed.

I grew up in sight of this old hillfort from my bedroom window in Crosland Moor.

The history of the site is that it was first occupied during the Bronze Age. It later became an Iron Age Hillfort when much of the earthworks were dug out. The site was suddenly abandoned after an explosion caused by internal combustion in one of the walls, about 400BC . Excavations found vitrification amongst the stonework in part of the walls (this could be the source of the local legend about it being a worm’s lair).

The hill laid abandoned until after the Norman invasion (despite popular belief that the Romans occupied the hill. No evidence has been found to support this) when the De Lacy family built a castle and re-dug and extended the earthworks. It is reported that the castle was still fairly intact (although ruinous) in the 16th Century, but the site was used as a quarry until no stonework remains above ground.

The pub was built in 1812 and it is said that a tunnel was found that led down into the hill. Alas, no one was brave enough to explore it and it was sealed up when the pub was built on top of it. There are a number of local legends about tunnels leading out from the hill. The pub used to be good for lock-ins, and a few of us used to see in the solstice sunrise up there in the 1980’s... but it’s been taken over by a chain now and tries to attract the carvery crowd. You even get your beer on a ****ing serviette!!!

The tower was built to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Silver Jubilee.

Andy H

Try the approach from Hangingstones Road. If you’re in a car, you can park by the Cow & Calf Rocks... if not, it’s a bit of a hike from Ilkley Train Station, and the edge of the moor is very steep, but this route takes you through the amazing prehistoric landscape of Green Crag Slack and Backstone Beck.

Once on the moor, to the west of the Cow & Calf are the Hangingstones – an outcrop down by the Victorian Quarry. This flat outcrop features some of the strangest variations on cup and ring marks you’ll find anywhere.... and an amazing view over Wharfedale.

From the Cow & Calf continue straight forward and up the ridge in front of you. This takes you onto Green Crag Slack where there are hundreds of Cup and Ring marked rocks. The Pancake Stone (that can be seen balancing over the edge of the moor), The Haystack Rock and the Planets all lie along this ridge. The path to the South West takes you to the Idol Stone, Green Crag and the Woofa Bank Cairnfield. To the South East, the path curves round to the Backstone Beck enclosure (a Neolithic & Bronze Age walled settlement area containing a couple of well designed rock carvings).

Continue along the path to the south, up onto the next ridge and bear right until the path joins the boardwalk up to the Twelve Apostles.

Here, break off the main path and follow the small path that leads from the eastern edge of the circle towards an obvious outcrop about 1000 yards away. Here you will find the Grubstones circle (a small circle likely to be the kerbstones of a robbed cairn) in the heather about 10/20 yards south of the gamekeeper’s hut. Watch for the gamekeeper tho’... he’s an arse. You’ll spot him on his quadbike if he’s around!

You can then head back to Ilkley by taking the path around the resevoir dyke, over Lanshaw Delves and Green Crag and back down to the Haystack Rock (look out for the Little Skirtfull of Stones Cairn and the Idol Stone on the way.

Andy H