The Bishop’s Stones

Up on the bleak moorlands of the North Pennines today, straddling the borders of Durham, Cumbria, and Northumberland. A landscape of peat groughs and bogs thick with sphagnum moss, stirring memories—not necessarily unpleasant, just good times when I was fit enough to fly over this stuff without hesitating. Judging by the abundance of medicated grit trays and “vermin” traps, this is grouse shooting country, though the heather cover is patchy, and the grand total of birds spotted was a rather unimpressive seven. Even they seemed oddly subdued, as if aware of their dwindling numbers.

These are the Bishop’s Stones: three post-Conquest cross-shafts standing in a single base. A vicar from Nenthead once restored the cross-heads, but now only one remains. The stones supposedly mark the division between the Bishopric’s land and that of Hexham Priory. Historical records suggest they were moved from a nearby boundary and set up beside the road as a guide for travellers—a claim that is difficult to take seriously, given that they stand in the middle of the moor, with no road, track, or even the faintest geographical reason for their placement, even on the oldest maps¹Historic England Research Records Monument Number/Hob Uid 15083 https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=64ccdd82-9045-44f1-9a07-72198832acf7&resourceID=19191.

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  Historic England Research Records Monument Number/Hob Uid 15083 https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=64ccdd82-9045-44f1-9a07-72198832acf7&resourceID=19191