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Cup, ring and groove marked rock known as the Fertility Stone in wall 110m north of Eastwoods Farm, Dacre Banks

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

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1014979
Date first listed:: 17-Sep-1996

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1014979
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:: Dacre
National Grid Reference:: SE 18555 62224

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'. 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, partly obscured by tree roots and a wall. The visible part measures 1.2m x 0.9m x 0.3m. It is situated at Dacre Banks, north of Eastwoods Farm. It is in a gap in a field wall which runs approximately south west-north east. It is 40m along the wall from the west corner of the field. An accurate National Grid Reference is SE 18552 62228. The carving consists of cups, rings and grooves. The rings and grooves are mostly shallow and indistinct. The carvings on the exposed west side of the rock are less distinct than those on the east side, which are protected by the wall and the tree roots.

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:: 29109
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.