Dod
Law
Rock Art
NU 004 317
Take
the B6525 to Doddington. At Doddington village park and walk up the
turning signed to the golf club. Walk a short distance up this lane and
just beyond the first house is a footpath sign on the right. Go over the
stile and head uphill through the gorse. It is a steep climb but worth it
as both the views and carvings are excellent. Just above the second clumps
of gorse at NU 001 323 is a carved stone. (This is marked on the OS map).
There are two very clear cups with three rings and it makes a good place for a rest on the way uphill.
Dod Law is on Doddington Moor, nearby are the remains of a stone circle. The views from the carved rocks are impressive with the Cheviot Hills to the southwest. The carvings are to be found on several sandstone outcrops.
View from Dod Law
Follow the path up along the line of old hawthorn trees and at the top you will come to the first hillfort. The main rock art panel is to be found just beyond this hillfort towards the golf course before you reach the second hillfort. It is a large flat slab and is considered to be one of the most impressive panels of rock art in Europe.
The main outcrop
The main rock has some unusual motifs, a number of almost square or rectangular ring shapes, one having multiple rings and the larger ones each containing several cupmarks. These are interconnected with long grooves, one of which seems to split into two inside the square and has cups on either side.
Details of the motifs
Part
of it has been removed but what remains is unique. The carvings are deeply
cut and very clear and well preserved. The carvings are in a place that
has all round views of the landscape.
View towards the golf course
There is another small carved outcrop with an unusual design a few metres away.
Further on along the path beyond the second hillfort and the trig point is a small cairn close to the path on the left. This cairn still has a few small stones surrounding it. What makes it important is the central carved stone. This is at NU 007 316. There are multiple cupmarks and beneath them are two grooves in a cross form and a ring with two outwardly angled grooves beneath it.
The cairn and carved central stone
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