Roseberry Topping – the high altar of Odin ?

Beneath the shade the Northmen came,
Fix’d on each vale a Runic name,
Rear’d high their altar’s rugged stone,
And gave their Gods the land they won.

  The mountain like peak of Roseberry Topping is located 5 miles to the south east of Middlesborough, and forms part of the Cleveland Hills range running along the northern edge of the North York Moors.

  At over 1000 feet in height Roseberry can be classed as a mountain, and its distinctive shape has seen it referred to as the Yorkshire Matterhorn. Being such an imposing landmark, it is no surprise to find this hill features in the folklore, and even the ancient mythology of the region.

  When the hill starts to appear in land documents during the 12th century its name is recorded as Othenesburg, meaning ‘Odin’s Hill’. This name points to the early Anglo-Scandinavian settlers in this area having dedicated the mountain to their chief god Odin. Some confirmation of this being a holy hill may also come from the Airy-Holme placename, which is marked on the first edition OS map (1856) as a location on the east side of the hill, and half a mile to the north of Airy Holme farm.

Airyholme – the Hovingham Horg?

  Airyholme is located on the Howardian Hills, 1.5 miles to the south of Hovingham, and 6 miles west of Malton.

  “Airyholme with Howthorpe and Baxton Howe” is the rather long winded name of a township in the Hovingham parish. The township consists of just 4 farms, and its name appears to be derived from the ancient burial mounds in this area. In the early 1900’s, the author Rev. Arthur St Clair Brooke described the Hovingham parish, and specifically mentions Airyholme …
“Airyholme. This last is an interesting word. It is written Ergunholme in Domesday, and is derived from Horgum, plaural of Horg, old Norse for a sacrificial stone. The word is seen in transition in Dodsworth’s Notes where it is written Arg-holme. Airyholme is therefore the holme near the sacrificial stones. Opposite the place, to the north, is a knoll of green grass, called Hollin Hill, on the side of which are some huge flat stones, the upper- most resting on a roller of old oak. They have all the appearance of having once formed a heathen altar, and the fine old oaks which grow on the hillside help to confirm the impression. “ (Brooke,1904).

The Devil’s Stride – Roulston Scar

“Ye see, as our foore olders hev alous sed,
the giants yance wer maisters of all this hill country”

  A previous post peered into the Devil’s Parlour Cave near Sutton Bank, 5 miles east of Thirsk. The cave is located in the rock face below Roulston Scar – an exposed section of high cliffs on the western edge of the Hambleton Hills. A wooded valley below the cliffs separates Roulston Scar from an outlying ridge called Hood Hill, with the gap between the cliff tops and Hood Hill being known as the Devil’s Leap or the Devil’s Stride.

  Writing in the mid 1800’s, Thomas Gill noted that the Devil’s Leap name came from a local story about the Devil flying from Roulston Scar and dropping a large rock on top of Hood Hill (see the Hood Hill Altar Stone page) (Gill, 1852). An alternative explanation for the name is said to be that the Devil once leapt or strode across the gap to show off his strength and abilities. These are not uncommon folklore themes, however there are hints that the legends may not have originally been about the Devil.

The Hell Hole Rock – Crosper

  Crosper is located three miles to the south east of Harrogate.

  The Crosper place name survives today as Crosper Farm, on the road between Harrogate and the village of Spofforth. Crosper is thought to mean ‘cross hill’, perhaps from a cross having stood there in the past, although no cross exists today. In the fields around Crosper farm there are several large rock outcrops – part of the nearby Plumpton rocks group, which are thought to be the source of the Devil’s Arrows standing stones at Boroughbridge, nine miles to the north. One of these outcrops on the east side of the farm is known as the Hell Hole rock, probably from the large cavity passing through one side of it.

The lost Rocking stone of Thornthwaite

  Thornthwaite township is a scattered community spread along the Padside Beck valley, 8 miles to the west of Harrogate.

  The first edition OS map (1854) marks a Rocking Stone at Rowantree Crags on the high ground to the south west of Thornthwaite. The Rocking Stone does not appear on later edition maps, which ominously mark a quarry at the same location. However, overlaying the old OS map onto a modern satellite image seemed to show that a large rock still existed at the location marked for the Rocking Stone. Was it possible that the Rocking Stone had survived?

  Unfortunately, a visit to the site in Sept 2021 found no sign of the Rocking Stone, and very little sign of the Rowantree Crags, which appear to have been totally quarried away. The piece of rock visible on the satellite image turned out to be an exposed section of bed rock, which for some reason had not been quarried, and curiously, is very close to where the Rocking Stone was located. It is likely that the Rocking Stone sat on a similar section of rock within a few metres of this location.