Old
Bewick
Rock Art
NU 078 215
From just south of Wooperton take the
B6346 to the east and at a junction turn left. Drive on a mile or so to
the village of Old Bewick and just before the last house there is a
turning on the right with space to park. Look for the footpath that leads
to a gate and go through this and walk uphill. When the second group of
trees on the hill above to right have been passed you will come to stone
wall with a gate. The rock art is uphill to the right here but there is
not a public footpath to it. If you are going to the Blawearie Cairn at NU
081 223 continue on the footpath for another mile and you will see it to
the right of the path before the ruined house.
Blawearie
Cairn
NU 081 223
This cairn has been excavated twice, once in 1866 and again in the 1980s. This is a Bronze Age cemetery site and there are many more cairns in the area. This one looks like it has been reconstructed.
Blawearie Cairn and cist
Near the top of the hill are the main sites where the best examples of carvings here are to be found close to the scarp to the east of the hillforts. It is on two large blocks of rock. There is a unique double cup and ring pattern surrounded by more simple cup and ring forms. Lines of cupmarks also mark two of the vertical faces of the outcrop.
Old Bewick main stone with line of cupmarks
This site is located on Bewick Moor beside the scarp slope overlooking the River Till. To the west of the carvings in the highest area of the scarp is an impressive double hillfort from the Iron age shaped like two semi circles and to the NE of the main carved panels there are some burial cairns. Bewick Moor is an important place in the history of British rock art as it was here in the 1820s that the main carved panel was recognised as being of historical importance for the first time.
Top of the main stone
The main stone is a large glacial block and on the top are natural hollows and one deep hollow that has been enhanced by man. The stone is not at the top by the hillfort as it sits where it was deposited, however its viewpoints are only restricted by the hillforts. Long grooves start and end with cups. Several have multiple rings and arcs with grooves that interconnect the designs. A long manmade groove divides the rock art. To the left a pair of cups with multiple rings form an almost interlocked figure of eight design which is unique.
Figure of eight design on the left
What
makes this stone even more interesting is the long line of cups along the
vertical face.
Crossing the fence towards the scarp there is another outcrop, the decorations here are simpler and there are five cup and ring marks, one with a long groove running from it. The rock has a naturally uneven surface. There are more smaller panels around this area.
The outer wall of the hillfort contains several carved stones that may have been moved from their original locations.
A cup and ring on a slab
There are several other rocks with carvings further downhill back towards the track where single cup and rings or plain cups can be found on stones in the grass.
Northumberland sites -