Ilkley Moor – Green Gates 06 rock art

Summary: Green Gates 06 is a rock art site on Ilkley Moor which features a prominent Cup and Ring motif.

  • Site type: Rock engraving
  • Number of motifs: 3
  • Motif/s: Cup-and-Ring
  • Quality: 3.5/5
  • Condition of site: Good
  • K.S.J. Boughey and E.A. Vickerman, Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding (2003)
  • John Hedges (ed.), The Carved Rocks on Rombalds Moor (1986)

Situated to the direct east of the impressive Badger Stone on Ilkley Moor is Green Gates 06, one of six rock art sites collectively referred to as the Green Gates stones. (OS Grid Reference SE 11499 46049 / 53.91047, -1.82644).

Green Gates 06 rock art

The small boulder has a very prominent Cup and Ring motif, as well as some less obvious motifs:

This is an excellent, archetypal cup-and-ring stone carving and is in a very good state of preservation. Found just a few yards away from the aptly-named Pitchfork Stone, the carving here on a large single stone mainly comprises of a double cup-and-ring. A couple of other possible outlying cup-marks can be seen: one just below the double-ring, and the other towards the top-end of the rock. It was first reported by Stuart Feather in the Bradford Archaeology Group’s journal in 1961, then listed in the surveys of Hedges (1986) and his followers.

The Northern Antiquarian
IMG 9527 LR Ilkley Moor - Green Gates 06 rock art

Green Gates 06 is also known as:

  • Carving no. 103 (Hedges)
  • Carving no. 257 (Boughey & Vickerman) / PRAWR 257
  • ERA-2342
  • SAM 25372
  • PRN195

Getting to Green Gates 06

Take any of the trails that converge on the Badger Stone – the most straightforward route being via Keighley Road from Ilkley. From the carpark continue up the gravel 4WD road on foot for about 500m, before turning left (east) onto a walking path that heads across the moor and continuing along this for about 600m. From the Badger Stone continue another 400m along the trail that heads to the east. The Ilkley Moor loop hike passes this site and a number of others on the moor.

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