rockandy

Another possibly cup-marked boulder on S side of Fallowlees Burn, I think nearer to the wall than the one described by Hob, but I failed to get an exact location.

Fontburn a (v); cup-marked boulder (150 x 100 cm), N side of Fallowlees Burn.

The four-poster stone circle from the W, well described by Hob’s field-note. Two stones have cup marks corresponding to Fontburn c of the Beckensall archive.

Fontburn c (ii); the N’most boulder of the stone circle, taken from above, showing the large cup. The Beckensall archive records and illustrates 6 cups on the top and a  double-ringed motif on the inner, vertical face.

Cup-marked rock, Longstone Hill, Lucker Moor.

The rock with a large basin-like cup is approximately 60m NW of the Long Stone just below the edge of the escarpment (NU 1185 2706). Is it a natural erosion feature or man-made?

Although no marked rocks are recorded in this position in the Beckensall archive many are recorded from S of the Lucker Moor cairns and W of Lucker Moor at Chatton Sandyfords.

Most rock on the moors may have been moved into field-clearance or the many burial cairns at different stages in the history of man’s use of the area.

The Long Stone standing stone, Longstone Hill, Lucker Moor; view NE towards the coast. I have not been able to find out the age of this stone and it is now set in concrete. It is present on OS maps from 1856-1865. The 2.5m tall stone is NE of the Three Cairns of the Longstone Hill Bonze Age Cairn Cemetery and commands a fine view.

Two of the three large cairns on Longstone Hill, Lucker Moor. These cairns are part of about 40 round cairns, making up an extensive Bronze Age cemetery. The large cairns are approximately 20m in diameter and 2m high but much stone has been removed from their centres.

Possible new cup-marked stone, S of the Wandylaw cluster. This slab appears to have a large cup near to one edge and the eroded remains of an OS bench mark on the surface. Is this a prehistoric carving or something more recent?

The portable slab lies next to the Parish Boundary fence close to a Boundary Stone and footpath (NU 1376 2434). Old maps (1856-1865) show the presence of a Sharplaw Cairn near to this site and also the OS survey point of 600ft.

Wandylaw a; large sandstone boulder with cups and grooves on the top surface. The stone has probably been quarried and may not be in its original position.

Wandylaw a; view NE towards Bamburgh castle and the coast.

Wandylaw a; top surface of boulder.

Rock close-up showing cups, partial rings and the ‘paw print’.

Simply stunning!

Tod Crag from the SW showing its position on the edge of the (now felled) plantation. The N part is heavily quarried but the single panel of rock art is simply stunning.

View S from the dome-shaped rock panel to the track and trees at the W end of North Plantation, site of the excavated Fowberry Moor barrow. This photgraph is in the same orientation as that illustrated in Beckensall (2001) p.61 but there is now much more rock surface exposed on the foreground slab. The large cup with four rings (shown in detail in a separate photograph) is on the S’most slab and the Weetwood Cairn-like motif with three radial grooves left of centre.

Fowberry Mains/Park (b) (Beckensall 2001) rock with linked cup-motif. View W towards North Plantation (site of the Fowberry Excavation Site) and Whitsunbank.

Fowberry Mains/Park (e) (Beckensall 2001: 65) but now heavily encrusted with lichen and difficult to see the motifs clearly. View to the SW towards Chillingham and Ross Castle.

Nicely made cup with four rings and other scattered cups.

This is the same rock described by Hob on the S side of Fallowlees Burn showing the view E towards Fontburn Reservoir and the site of Fontburn (b) (Greenleighton Hill). Several rocks in this area of ancient enclosures have interesting markings but it is hard to tell that they are not natural. This rock lies further E of the location given by Hob, within the enclosure that meets the wall (the gate can just be seen to the right) at approximate grid reference NZ 027 936.

View of the site from the SW towards trees surrounding Fontburn Reservoir. The sheepfold with the tree in the middle (not shown on the OS map), described by Hob’s fieldnote is in the centre. The boulder with the single cup lies in bracken just to the left while the main rock can be seen over to the right next to the plantation.

This earth-fast boulder lies close to the Fallowlees fam-buildings. If it had been on the moor I would have been more confident about the single large cup in the top surface. Is it a cup-marked rock or something more recent?

Fontburn a (vi); view E from the rock, down the Fallowlees valley towards Fontburn Reservoir. The rock with three deep and one shallow cup is in the foreground with the Settlement adjacent to the forest on the left.

Fontburn a (vi); a deeply cup-marked rock to the west of the site marked on the OS sheet. Approximate Grid Reference: NZ018936.
The rock lies in among many (apparently unmarked) rocks just W of the Settlement between the forest and Fallowleas Burn. The rock is approx. 60 x 30 cm and has three deep cups and one shallow laid out in a shallow arc.

Fontburn a (i) in the Beckensall archive; this boulder is close to the site marked on the OS 1:25,000 map, SE of Fallowlees Farm, just E of the bridle-path and N of the Burn. It appears to be cup-marked but has a heavy covering of lichen.

Hob’s cup-marked boulder looking towards the main rock on the edge of the plantation. Grooves and other possible carvings show up in the oblique winter sun.

View towards Simonside; main rock under trees to the right.

Upper surface of main rock (Fontburn b). The crack in the rock is shown in the Beckensall (2001) drawing (page 117) running from bottom left to top right. In this photograph, two cups with partial rings are to the right of the crack, the leftmost with an arc above of three cups. This same motif is repeated in the right hand ‘paw print’. The Beckensall archive records 79 cups, some with arcs or single rings.