Lordenshaw
Area 3 & 4
Bronze Age Carved Rocks / Rock Art
South of Rothbury, Northumberland General
OS Map Ref NZ05679938
OS Maps - Landranger 81 (Alnwick & Morpeth), Explorer 325 (Morpeth &
Blyth)
Stone 3q at NZ05669936. The most noticeable feature is the large bowl which may have been a natural feature that was enlarged by the carvers, elsewhere are several cups, a couple of which have faint rings as well as a pair that are joined by a groove to form a horseshoe shape. This feature was very difficult to spot and does not show up at all in the photo above. What I found most interesting was the dozens of close-set micro cups some of which are shown in the inset that pepper the upper middle part of the rock above the horizontal groove that seems to split the rock into different zones of carvings. |
Outcrop 4b at NZ05689939. The carvings in area 4 of Lordenshaw (Stan Bekensall's designation in 'Prehistoric Rock Art in Northumberland') occur mainly on eastward facing outcrops that are well illustrated in the photo above. On this slab there are a series of cups at the top of the outcrop that seem to be clustered around the head of a deep long groove that runs across the surface of the rock then down to the edge of the outcrop on lower ground. It could well be that this groove was a natural crack or the result of rainwater runoff that was enhanced by the carvers - this kind of feature is also seen in the next picture. |
Outcrop 4e at NZ05679941. On this outcrop there are fewer cups but a pair of them are surrounded by rings and the whole design seems to be more ordered with cups being linked by grooves. These grooves are also more obviously carved by man rather than being enhanced natural features. |
Outcrop 4d at NZ05719941. A fairly simple carving with a groove bisecting the rock and dividing it into two zones each with a small collection of cups, one of which also has a ring. |
See also: Lordenshaw Main Panel, Lordenshaw Horseshoe Rock. |