Roseberry Topping – Odin vs Saint Oswald

  A previous post noted that the impressive peak of Roseberry Topping seems to have been regarded as a holy hill in the past.

  Anciently known as Othenesberg or Odin’s Hill, this dedication, along with the possible lost shrine altars at Airy Holme, and a nearby placename suggesting a Danelaw Thing gathering location, could point to the hill being one of the main Anglo-Scandinavian religious sites in the region. The hill’s dedication to Odin and the old religion, might also explain the later reference to a hermitage being located on the hill top. Perhaps the past history of the hill warranted the presence and prayers of a holy man, and yet a hermitage could also be seen as providing a continuity of religious practice on the hill.

Return to Elbolton Hill – The burial cave

  A previous post highlighted the Faerie folklore connected with Elbolton Hill, near Grassington in the Yorkshire Dales. The hill is also significant in archaeological terms as it is the location of a Neolithic burial cave. The modern OS maps mark it as Elbolton Cave, but in the past it was called the Knave Knoll Cave. The local Dales accent must have baffled the OS map surveyors in the 1840’s, who recorded it as “Navvy Noddle Hole”.

  A visit in August 2021 found the entrance to the cave just below a limestone outcrop high up on the east side of the hill. Unfortunately there is a 8m vertical drop down into the actual burial cave, which means that today it is only really visited by cavers with climbing gear. This was a little frustrating as the excavation of the cave had revealed a group of rather unique burials, carbon dated to the early Neolithic (3900BC), and so it would have been interesting to look inside the cave.

The Barden Fell Rocking Stone

  Barden Fell is an area of high moorland 2 miles to the north of Bolton Abbey, and 14 miles to the west of Harrogate.

  After the disappointment of finding the Thornthwaite Rocking Stone had been destroyed by Victorian quarrymen, a visit to Barden Fell also failed to identify the rocking stone marked there on the old OS map. A couple of large rocks at the location seemed likely candidates, but no amount of pushing and shoving could get either rock to move. On that occasion it was suspected that the rocking stone was the longer of the two rocks, and that it had been pushed off its pivot point. However, a return visit in October 2022 had more success, and identified the adjacent 3 metre long ‘anvil’ shaped boulder as the rocking stone (SE 08055 58520). Standing on top of this rock at its highest point, and using body weight, it was quite easy to set the boulder in motion. As with other rocking stones in this region the movement is not particularly dramatic – but this is still moving a rock weighing several tons. It is possible that pushing the ‘nose’ end of the rock may also set it moving, but this was not tried on that occasion.

Somewhere a little different – the Lycian Way

  The royal tombs in the hill top necropolis at Simena in southern Turkey date to around 500 bc. From these raised up sarcophagi, winged spirits carried souls to the afterlife.
The archaeological remains in this region really are a wonder to behold.

Return to Hood Hill – another Hill of Odin?

  A previous post described the Altar Stone which used to stand on the top of Hood Hill near Sutton Bank, 5 miles to the east of Thirsk.

  Local folklore records that the large block of stone was originally a Druid altar, which was dropped on the hill by the Devil, but unfortunately the rock was totally destroyed in the 1950’s when a jet aircraft crashed into it.

  In the early 1900’s, Edmund Bogg noted another piece of folklore connected with the rock …
“when the dinner-bell rang at Osgodby Hall the stone rolled down for its repast, and regularly returned to the crest after the meal.” (Bogg, 1906).