Out & About …

… on the North York Moors, or wherever I happen to be.

An eye-level wide shot shows a vast, green, moorland landscape under a blue sky with scattered white clouds. In the middle distance, a cluster of stone ruins with a prominent standing wall and chimney is visible on a slight rise. To the right of the ruins, a large, flat, grey stone slab rests at an angle on the grass. Closer to the foreground, on the left, are more low stone walls and scattered white rocks. In the far distance, low-lying hills frame a body of water on the left, reflecting the sky. The overall impression is one of ancient ruins in a rugged, natural setting.

Departing the Hebrides, Not Quite Yet

That is it. The Hebridean escape has come to an end. But while I drag myself back into a Yorkshire frame of mind, I can still make use of the heap of photos that never made it into the daily posts.

A close-up, eye-level shot focuses on a large, lichen-covered grey boulder in the foreground, filling most of the frame. The boulder's surface is textured with various shades of green, grey, and white lichen, and it has several small, circular indentations on its top with a larger carved arc. In the background, out of focus, lies a vast, rolling landscape of green and brown hills under a cloudy sky.
Cup-markings and arc.

This one shows the summit of Hacklett Uachdar, a rocky rise on the southern side of the Sound of Flodday, Benbecula. We came across this a great stone slab, more than ten feet long, over five feet wide, and a foot thick at the base. It is believed to have been a standing stone, now toppled, resting at a slant on a pile of large stones. The upper surface bears at least eight carved hollows. Five are unmistakably cup-marks, and there is the partial trace of a circle about 1.3 metres across. The best of the cups is two and a half inches across and a quarter inch deep1Burial Cairn (Prehistoric), Cup Marked Stone (Prehistoric), Standing Stone (Prehistoric). Site Name Benbecula, Hacklett. Canmore ID 10203. Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/10203.

Around the site lie other large stones, though any hope of knowing what once stood here has long gone. The remains have been plundered, probably to build that roofless farmstead nearby that was abandoned around 19102Farmstead (Period Unassigned), Field Boundary(S) (Period Unassigned). Site Name Benbecula, Sound Of Flodday. Alternative Name(s) Hacklett Uachdar. Canmore ID 75835. Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/75835.

When the slab was first noted in the 1860s, it formed the roof of a pigsty. At the time, some suggested it had once been a standing stone, though there was just as much chance it had always been a roof. Most likely though, given its setting, it belonged to a burial cairn.

 

  • 1
    Burial Cairn (Prehistoric), Cup Marked Stone (Prehistoric), Standing Stone (Prehistoric). Site Name Benbecula, Hacklett. Canmore ID 10203. Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/10203
  • 2
    Farmstead (Period Unassigned), Field Boundary(S) (Period Unassigned). Site Name Benbecula, Sound Of Flodday. Alternative Name(s) Hacklett Uachdar. Canmore ID 75835. Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/75835

Posted

in

,

by

Fhithich

Tags:

,

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *