Prehistoric rock art at Place Fell Cottage, 370m north east of Goldrill Bridge

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 (c.2800-500 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 prehistoric rock art at Place Fell Cottage, 370m north east of Goldrill Bridge survives well and is a good example of this class of monument. It is one of four recently discovered prehistoric rock art sites in Patterdale which together will contribute greatly to further study and understanding of prehistoric rock art sites in the region.

Details

The monument includes a prehistoric rock art site located in Patterdale on an exposure of granite bedrock in the garden of Place Fell Cottage to the south of the house. The rock carvings are situated on the upper face of the bedrock which is angled slightly upwards from the horizontal, and consist of a small number of linear grooves, `cup' marks, ie small circular hollows in the rock, ovals and rectangular hollows with rounded ends.

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:

32875

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Beckensall, S, New Discoveries, (1999)

End of official list entry

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