Cup marked rock and small cairn between Dryas Dike and Foldshaw Ridge 730m ESE of Wards End, Middleton Moor

Scheduled area

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History & significance

Cup marked rock and small cairn between Dryas Dike and Foldshaw Ridge 730m ESE of Wards End, Middleton Moor is a Bronze Age ritual monument consisting of a cup-marked rock and associated cairn situated on the upland moorland of the Pennines. The cup marks, shallow cupules pecked into the rock surface, are characteristic of prehistoric ritual or ceremonial activity, likely dating to the Bronze Age when such marked stones served purposes connected to ritual practice, boundary marking, or territorial significance. The small cairn adjacent to the marked rock represents a typical Bronze Age burial or ceremonial structure, common across the high moorland landscapes of northern England. Together, these features form part of the broader Bronze Age archaeological landscape of Middleton Moor, contributing evidence of prehistoric settlement patterns and ritual behaviour in the upland zones of Yorkshire.

Cup marked rock and small cairn between Dryas Dike and Foldshaw Ridge 730m ESE of Wards End, Middleton Moor is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1014151. View the official record →

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