Carved rock on bank at side of track opposite Garth House, 60m south west of Snaygill Farm

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 carvings on this rock survive well and are numerous and unusual in their layout and while not in its original position, the rock is thought not to have been moved far. It is one of a number of carved rocks in the Skipton area and will contribute to their study.

Details

The monument includes a carved gritstone rock, 1.2m by 1.6m by 0.5m. It is situated at Snaygill, at the side of a track, in a grassy bank, opposite Garth House. It is 4.7m away from Garth House, and 1.2m along the housewall if measured from the south east corner of the house. An accurate National Grid Reference is SD 99399 49729. This is not the rock's original position, but it is not thought to have been moved far. The carving consists of around eleven cups, a circle of nine very small cups at the north end of the rock, and a groove running approximately north-south. Another groove on the rock is probably natural.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 1 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:

29110

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Hedges, J D (ed), The Carved Rocks on Rombalds Moor, (1986), 53

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.

Print the official list entry