But the most fascinating artifacts left behind are the cup and ring stones
they are thought to have been carved during a fifteen hundred year period to
800 BC
There are over 300 such markings
and none of them are identical. The cups are typically over an inch deep
and two inches in diameter. They were made by using simple instrument such as
stone or antler to gorge and smooth the stone.
Concentric circles usually surround them.
Some have ladder type markings
which a wholly unique to this moor.
This area has one of the highest concentrations in the world
Similar designs have been found as far away as Spain and Sweden
leading to speculation that overseas traders might have introduced them.
There are many theories about them
but no one really knows what they mean.
They are not on the moor top
but around the one thousand foot contour.
The most remarkable is the swastika stone.
The carving is protected by readings.
The original lies close to the edge as a replica has been carved nearer the
railings for ease of viewing.
It has four curved arms
with the cup on the inside and outside of each loop.
Although we now associate the swastika with the Nazi regime,
in fact it was a symbol for good fortune.
All the cup and ring stones are scheduled ancient monuments and you can be imprisoned for
defacing them.
They are spread over a wide area from Skipton to Horsforth.
Some have been relocated.
The Panorama Stones were bought for £10 pounds
in Victorian times.
And are on display in woodland off Queens Road.
Unfortunately the rock cracked in two whilst being transported
and has suffered badly from pollution
from being near the town centre.
The Hanging Stones carvings with nearly lost to quarrying
if it hadn't been for a visitor to the town in 1865.
Mr Terry, who saw the importance of them,
which led to Squire Middleton to hold quarrying in this particular area.
Quarrying eventually ceased here in 1894.
This is the Badger Stone.
The one nearest to the summit of the moor.
It has the most markings on it: 95 cups, five with two rings
and 14 with one.
As well as many other markings.
Some have been reutilised.
This was once a field gate post.
What else is baffling on the moor, are the three, possibly four stone circles,
The most well known is the Twelve Apostles, largely because it lies on the
path from Ilkley to Dick Hudsons [pub on adjacent Bingley Moor]
It is 58 feet in diameter
and, not surprisingly, has twelve stones around it.
Was this a site for pagan rituals? As it's aligned with both the Summer and
Winter Solstices.
Or, a neutral meeting point for tribes?
It sits close to the summit of the moor
insight of another.
The Grubstobes stone circle.
With a diameter of 35 feet
it's not as obvious as the Twelve Apostles.
The Horncliff circle on Hawksworth Moor
is about a mile away and looks over to the [Otley] Chevin.
Is this a stone circle?
It has been much debated.
The stones here line on the other side of Backstone Beck from the enclosure.
Was that of some significance?
The Skirtful of stones
are in fact burial mounds.
The Great Skirtful was much higher
But stones have been taken for road building and walling.
Today, it stands eight feet high and is 90 feet in diameter.