The 100 ton Rocking Stone

The Rocking Stone, on lofty column poised,
Yields to my touch, and at terrific height,
In mid air vibrates.

(James Holme, 1835)

  The Victorian guide books to Brimham Rocks mentions a 100 ton rocking stone sitting on top of a high crag, which was said to be visible from Harrogate, 8 miles away to south-east.

 “Elevated on the southernmost range of crags, is a stupendous Rocking Stone, conjectured to weigh above one hundred tons, and visible even from Harrogate and its surrounding country. On the top are two rock basons, of a circular form.” (Linney, 1838).

  There are no modern references to this rocking stone, and it is not shown on any maps of the site, so for some reason it appears to have been forgotten. Several visits to the crags failed to find the rocking stone, which seemed odd given its supposed size and elevated position.

In search of Saint Winifrid’s Needle

  Even a brief look into the history and folklore of Roseberry Topping reveals a fascinating picture of this impressive local landmark. One interesting source of information is the ‘Chaloner letter’ written in early 1660’s, which mentions Roseberry Topping, and noted that …

 “it hath somtymes had an hermitage on it, and a small smith’s forge cut out of the rocke, together with a clefte or cut in the rocke called St. Winifrid’s Needle, whither blind devotion led many a silly soul, not without hazard of a breaknecke tumblinge caste, while they attempted to put themselves to a needless pain creeping through that needle’s eye.”(Nichols, 1853)

  The presence of a hermitage, and the ‘blind devotion’ of ‘many silly souls’ crawling beneath a rock dedicated to Saint Winifrid, points to this hill top having once being a religious site visited by pilgrims before the Reformation. There are no signs of the hermitage or other features on the hill top today, except perhaps for a rectangular section cut out of the rock near the modern trig point. This appears to be a much worn floor surface, and may be all that survives of the hermitage (or forge?). What became of Saint Winifrid’s Needle is also unknown, it may have been destroyed after the Reformation, or by later quarrying. Another possibility is that the cleft was part of the cliff edge which collapsed after a massive lands slip in 1912. The Chaloner letter notes that there was a danger of people falling to their deaths as they crawled through the ‘Needle’s Eye’, which suggests that it was on the edge of the crag high up on the hill.

Its Christmas ….

These old Christmas cards by the Swedish artist Jenny Nyström feature the Tomten and Julbocken (Yule Goat) of Nordic folklore. The little chaps are likely the origins of the Hobs and Brownies in Britain – so kindrid spirits of sorts.

 The Swedish scholar, Viktor Rydberg wrote a poem called ‘Tomten’ in 1881. Here it is recited in Swedish with English subtitles …

As guardians of the home (Hus-tomten) perhaps we should raise a glass to these wee fellas, that they may never be forgot.

Image credits Jenny Nyström   http://jennynystromsbilder.kalmarlansmuseum.se/

The Brimham Noon Stone – Pillar of the Sun

“The noon-day stone, oldest of dials stands,
On a sweet grassy knoll where Druid priests
Might see the varying shadow, and proclaim
The time of day.”
(James Holme, 1835)

  The Noon Stone is a 4 metre high rectangular block of stone standing on a low hill 1/4 of a mile to the south of Brimham Rocks, and 8 miles to the north west of Harrogate.

  Today the rock stands amongst trees planted on the hill side, but in the past it stood alone on the ridge, and formed a conspicuous local landmark.

  The travel writer Thomas Pennant visited the unusual rock formations at Brimham Rocks in the summer of 1777, and wrote …“On my arrival on the summit of the hill, the seat of wonders, my astonishment was unspeakable ; the whole was new to me; a flat covered with stones of forms the most singular, and many of sizes most stupendous.” (Pennant, 1804).

  After describing several of the oddly shaped outcrops in the main group, he noted … “I finally take leave of these wonderous phenomena by saying, that opposite to a weaver’s-house, beneath the crags, is a round small mount, on which is a rectangular natural stone, quite erect, and, at a distance, taken for a tower ; it is about thirteen feet broad, and about three feet thick. The country people call it the Noon-Stone as the meridian is made known to them by the shining of the sun on it.”

Freda of Wensleydale, and the Fairy Well

  The Fairy Well is located in a field on the west side of Harmby village, 1 mile to the south-east of Leyburn in Wensleydale.

  A strong spring emerges on a grassy hillside in the field, with the water flowing into an old metal trough. Tumbled dry-stone walling partly surrounds the trough, while an old Hawthorn tree over hangs the well – a ‘Fairy Thorn’ perhaps ?