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<< Our Photo Pages >> Snowden Crags Cairn Circle - Cairn in England in Yorkshire (North)

Submitted by Runemage on Saturday, 07 August 2010  Page Views: 6544

Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Snowden Crags Cairn Circle
Country: England County: Yorkshire (North) Type: Cairn
Nearest Town: Otley  Nearest Village: Askwith
Map Ref: SE17705136
Latitude: 53.958030N  Longitude: 1.731742W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
2 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
3 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
3 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
4

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Snowden Crags Cairn Circle
Snowden Crags Cairn Circle submitted by Runemage : Image by Geoff Watson (Vote or comment on this photo)
Ring cairn in North Yorkshire

On Thurs 20 May 2010, Paul Bennett and a group of friends re-discovered this site on Askwith Moor and made several visits to determine exactly what lies there. It's not just a circle of stones, there are a couple of things that make it an intriguing find, not only its comparatively large size but also a possible ancient excavation.

Directions - "From the Askwith Moor Road parking spot, walk up the road for about 500 yards and head to your right (east) onto the moor. Walk past the upper side of the disused quarry and through the heather for about 200 yards until the moorland slopes down and you’re on another flat moorland ridge. There’s a large patch of bracken near the top of Snowden Crags. "

Apart from this small mention "A large circle of heavy material, some thirty feet in diameter, is isolated on the shelf above Snowden Crags to the west." in Eric T Cowling's Rombald’s Way: A Prehistory of mid-Wharfedale, ( William Walker: Otley 1946) no-one has seen this site in several decades.

Paul writes: "So what we have so far is this: a large flattened circle consisting of at least a dozen upright stones that define the edges. Between these uprights are hundreds, perhaps thousands of smaller stones, making a rubble bank of a near unbroken circle, apart from where there seems a small entrance on its southern side. Inside the circle is a scattered mass of many small stones, typical of cairn material, filling the entirety of the monument; but the central region has been dug into at some time in the past, by persons unknown. It sits on a flat plain of moorland amidst the Snowden Crags Necropolis with around 30 other small cairns. But this particular site is several times larger than all the others, probably indicating that whoever was buried/cremated here was of some considerable importance in the tribal group: a local king, queen, tribal elder or shaman. Whoever it was that this monument was made for, the landscape reaching northwards from here looks across to the giant morphic temples of Brimham Rocks and the heavenly landscape beyond and above them. It is very likely that the Lands of the Ancestors this way beckoned…"

For the full story, see the Northern Antiquarian. Also see the generic scheduling information for this area on Historic England List ID 1014304, which covers "Cairnfield, enclosures, boulder walling, hollow way and carved rocks towards edge of Snowden Carr centred at 370m south east of Crag House."
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Snowden Crags Cairn Circle
Snowden Crags Cairn Circle submitted by Runemage : Image by Geoff Watson (Vote or comment on this photo)

Snowden Crags Cairn Circle
Snowden Crags Cairn Circle submitted by Runemage (Vote or comment on this photo)

Do not use the above information on other web sites or publications without permission of the contributor.

Nearby Images from Geograph Britain and Ireland:
SE1751 : Eastern end of Snowden Crags by Christine Johnstone
by Christine Johnstone
©2015(licence)
SE1751 : Snowden Crags, Timble by John Sparshatt
by John Sparshatt
©2012(licence)
SE1751 : Snowden Crags by David Spencer
by David Spencer
©2005(licence)
SE1751 : Turning for Crag House Farm by Gordon Hatton
by Gordon Hatton
©2023(licence)
SE1751 : Line of grouse butts, Askwith Moor by Christine Johnstone
by Christine Johnstone
©2015(licence)

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 60m S 180° Snowden Moor* Ancient Village or Settlement (SE177513)
 92m SE 135° Snowden Carr (570) Rock Art (SE1776651295)
 101m SE 132° Snowden Carr (571) Rock Art (SE1777651293)
 107m WNW 292° Snowden Crags Necropolis Barrow Cemetery (SE176514)
 149m SE 136° Snowdon Half Moon Stone* Rock Art (SE1780551254)
 157m SE 143° Death's Head Carving (Askwith Moor)* Rock Art (SE1779551235)
 169m S 185° Snowden Carr 01 Rock Art (SE1768651191)
 223m ESE 115° Snowden Carr (594)* Rock Art (SE1790351266)
 333m SE 128° Snowden Carr (597) Rock Art (SE1796551158)
 340m SE 126° Tree of Life Stone* Rock Art (SE1797851163)
 348m SE 125° Snowden Carr (600) Rock Art (SE1798751162)
 359m S 174° Askwith Moor (567) Rock Art (SE1773851003)
 363m SSE 164° Snowden Carr (582) Rock Art (SE1780351012)
 366m SSE 165° Snowden Carr (579) & (580) Rock Art (SE1779851007)
 368m SSE 165° Snowden Carr (581) Rock Art (SE1779951005)
 381m ESE 107° Snowden Carr (605) Rock Art (SE1806651251)
 383m SE 131° Snowden Carr (603) Rock Art (SE1799351112)
 448m ESE 111° Snowden Carr (612) Rock Art (SE1812051201)
 460m ESE 105° Snowden Carr (613) Rock Art (SE1814651242)
 492m SW 226° Askwith Moor (528) Rock Art (SE1734551018)
 497m SW 227° Askwith Moor (527) Rock Art (SE1733651020)
 518m SW 233° Askwith Moor (526)* Rock Art (SE1728551048)
 529m SW 233° Askwith Moor (525)* Rock Art (SE1727851040)
 659m SSW 205° Askwith Moor (533)* Rock Art (SE1742150762)
 660m SSW 206° Askwith Moor (U/R 3)* Rock Art (SE1741650763)
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"Snowden Crags Cairn Circle" | Login/Create an Account | 1 comment
  
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Archaeologists find ‘tomb of tribal king’ hidden on moor by Andy B on Tuesday, 28 September 2010
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A prehistoric cairn circle which may have been the tomb of a tribal king has been identified on Askwith Moor.

The discovery at Snowden Crags was made by the same group of antiquarians who uncovered evidence of several other cairns, or ancient graveyards, on the moor earlier this year.

Antiquarian Paul Bennett – aided by friends Michala Douglas, Dave Hazell, Robert Hopkins, Paul Hornby and Geoff Watson in finding and examining the spot – is convinced the large circle is an important find.

He said: “The circle is still pretty much overgrown and requires a decent excavation. But it is, without doubt, a prehistoric cairn circle, probably Bronze Age, and appears to be the centre-piece in the middle of the Snowden Crags necropolis.

“For years, several of us have wondered whether or not a stone circle was the antiquity that was being described in the only singular reference of the place, mentioned almost in passing in Eric Cowling’s fine survey of this area – Rombald’s Way, 1946 – more than 50 years back. But despite various explorations on these moors over the last 20 to 30 years, Cowling’s curious singular reference has remained a mystery – until now.

“Thankfully now we have a good view of the place. The site was relocated during one of our exploratory walks assessing the extensive walling, settlement pattern and prehistoric graveyard that scatters the central and north-western section of the moors here.

“Michala had stumbled upon an average-sized ring of stones, between one and three feet tall, and about 13 yards across, with what seemed like an entrance on its southern side, seemingly untouched in the middle of the mass of decaying bracken.

“It took longer than expected to shift all the bracken, but eventually, once we’d done it, we were looking at a very distinct man-made circular monument, measuring 13 yards by 12 yards across and, at its highest point, not even three feet above the present ground level.

“But today’s ground level is certainly much higher than it was when these stones were first placed here.”

Mr Bennett, from Oakworth, now hopes someone will fund a proper archaeological dig at the site although, with a long waiting list and limited money available for such endeavours, he is not holding his breath.

He said: “What we have so far is this: a large flattened circle consisting of at least a dozen upright stones that define the edges. Between these are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of smaller stones.

“Inside the circle is a scattered mass of many small stones, typical of cairn material, filling the entirety of the monument, but the central region has been dug into at some time in the past.

“It sits on a flat plain of moorland amidst the Snowden Crags necropolis with around 30 other small cairns. But this particular site is several times larger than all the others, probably indicating that whoever was buried or cremated here was of some considerable importance in the tribal group – a local king, queen, tribal elder or shaman.”

Source:
http://www.wharfedaleobserver.co.uk/news/8410078.Archaeologists_find____tomb_of_tribal_king____hidden_on_moor/
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