Heritage Walks- Cup & Ring Stones GPS Trail
There are over 400 known Cup & Ring Stones on Rombalds Moor which includes Ilkley Moor. The stones were carved during the Neolithic-Bronze Age period around 4,000 years ago. These designs of cups, rings and lines are intriguing and enigmatic. The reason they were carved is unknown, but they are fascinating.
This is the first of a series of walks, navigated by the use of GPS references, which are also the National Grid references for those who want to use OS maps. They will take you to some of the stones to see for yourself and test your GPS/map reading skills.
The walk takes about 2 hours, starting and ending at White Wells car park on Ilkley Moor. This diagram should help with stone recognition and the list, below, shows the coordinates for the Trail including 8 stones.
| Location | Notes | GPS Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Car Park | Leave by main path | SE11515-46995 |
| White Wells | Leave by path at rear | SE11812-46776 |
| Pepperpot | Return to path to north | SE11812-46549 |
| Willie Hall | Stone in wood | SE11584-46592 |
| Pitchfork | Take path from SW corner of wood to four-way junction. Turn left to crest of hill to stone with painted yellow line. Turn left on narrow path, turn south at narrow grass corridor through extensive bracken | SE11495-46039 |
| STONE 103/257 | Classic cup and ring | SE11499-46051 |
| Four Sided Stone | SE11417-46043 | |
| Badgeer Stone | large stone with many carvings | SE11073-46053 |
| STONE 85/249 | SE11006-46452 | |
| BARMISHAW STONE | outstanding carvings | SE11194-46419 |
| Return to White Wells Car Park | Take track to wood – keep to extreme edge of wood on path – take care of steep slope slippery when wet. At bottom turn right along path then left at junction – car park is visible from this point. | SE11515-46995 |
PLEASE NOTE that this walk is graded as Moderate, and,
-
- Wear appropriate footwear and clothing – remember the moor can be quite rough and wet underfoot and the weather changeable at short notice.
- Follow pathways wherever possible.
- Remember ALL carved stones are scheduled ancient monuments – to damage, deface or even to stand upon them is illegal.
- Because of ground nesting birds we advise not to go on this walk during March to July.
- Enter the Grid references into your GPS carefully.
- Please note that you do these walks entirely at your own risk.
- We have included rough sketches of the carvings on the stones – but in no particular order – to help you identify them.
- If the flags are flying at the White Wells Café then it is open, if not then it is closed.
Good Luck – have fun. We would be interested in any feed back after completing “The Trail”. Please e-mail barry@ilkleymoor.org
