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Rock with cup, ring and groove marks in the west side of Guisecliff Wood, 420m south east of Far High Westcliff

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1014976
Date first listed:: 17-Sep-1996

User submitted image — Uploaded by AJ Murtha This photo may not represent the current condition of the site
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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1014976
Date first listed:: 17-Sep-1996

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County:: North Yorkshire
District:: Harrogate (District Authority)
Parish:: Bewerley
National Grid Reference:: SE 16415 63565

Reasons for Designation

Prehistoric rock art is found on natural rock outcrops in many areas of upland Britain. It is especially common in the north of England in Northumberland, Durham and North and West Yorkshire. The most common form of decoration is the `cup and ring' marking where expanses of small cup-like hollows are pecked into the surface of the rock. These cups may be surrounded by one or more `rings'. Single pecked lines extending from the cup through the `rings' may also exist, providing the design with a `tail'. Pecked lines or grooves can also exist in isolation from cup and ring decoration. Other shapes and patterns also occur, but are less frequent. Carvings may occur singly, in small groups, or may cover extensive areas of rock surface. They date to the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age periods (2800-c.500 BC) and provide one of our most important insights into prehistoric `art'. The exact meaning of the designs remains unknown, but they may be interpreted as sacred or religious symbols. Frequently they are found close to contemporary burial monuments and the symbols are also found on portable stones placed directly next to burials or incorporated in burial mounds. Around 800 examples of prehistoric rock-art have been recorded in England. This is unlikely to be a realistic reflection of the number carved in prehistory. Many will have been overgrown or destroyed in activities such as quarrying. All positively identified prehistoric rock art sites exhibiting a significant group of designs will normally be identified as nationally important.

The carving on this rock survives well and the rock is one of a number of carved rocks south of the River Nidd between Bewerley and Glasshouses.

Details

The monument includes a carved gritstone rock, with a flat, slightly tilting top. It measures 4.2m x 2.6m x 1.6m, and is situated in Bewerley, in Guisecliff Wood. It is in the west side of the wood, in the angle between a path and a track leading to Guisecliff Tarn. The rock is 12m north of the path, and 28m along the footpath from the junction with the track. An accurate National Grid Reference is SE 16415 63565. The carving consists of a complex pattern of cups, rings and grooves. A particularly distinctive carving is located just east of the centre of the rock; this consists of a number of grooves forming a tree-like shape. The branches of this end in cups, and the design is enclosed by a rectangular groove.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:: 29106
Legacy System:: RSM

Legal

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.