Rock Carvings on the North York Moors
Situated on the northern side of the Esk valley (over looking the river Esk), Aislaby Moor is a small isolated area of rough moorland, the surrounding areas having being enclosed for grassland and tree plantations. Despite these activities there are several burial mounds left in the area, with Swarth Howe being the largest. When this mound was excavated in the 19th century a cist was uncovered which contained a cup marked stone.
In 1940 a cup and ring marked stone was found built into a field wall at Galley Hill, 1km east of Aislaby Moor. This carved stone probably came from a burial mound that was destroyed when this area of moorland was brought into cultivation, the stone was then re-used in the walling that enclosed the fields. This carved stone is now in Whitby Museum.
In the early 1970's Mr Stuart Feather reported finding 2 cup marked rocks on Aislaby Moor (YAJ Vol 42). Recent visits have failed to relocate these carvings due to the area been very overgrown, but a previously unrecorded cup and ring marked stone was noted 1km further west along the valley edge (Two views shown on this page).
