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Neglected Panorama
November 29, 2005, 6:39 pm
Just across the road from St. Margaret's church in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, fenced in by tall iron railings, are three broken stones which once formed part of a single large stone called the Panorama Stone.
These remnants are marked with 'cup and ring' carvings which were incised by our prehistoric ancestors. The Panorama Stone originally stood less than a mile away but was moved in about 1890 to make way for urban development. It was cut into four pieces, of which only three remain.
The meaning of these remarkable carvings is now lost to us, but is part of an ancient tradition of engraving patterns into rocks. Many large stones can still be seen in situ on nearby Rombold's Moor with so-called 'rock art' on them. Over the years the carvings on the Panorama Stone have badly deteriorated due to weather and more recently, disgraceful vandalism and sheer neglect.
 
Neglect
Heritage Action member Brian Kerr, who visited the stones last week, said: "They are in a pretty poor state. Their protective railings are rusty and broken and the stones are covered with all sorts of rubbish. Most of all, I'm shocked at the amount of graffiti on stones across the moor. Some of it has been carved in the past 100 years, but there is a lot of spray paint graffiti, too."
Brian also noticed that one of the stones has green paint on it, the same paint used on the railings.
Local stones for local people
Brian contacted Ilkley's St Margaret's Park Restoration Project. Brian Mann from the project has been trying to get the stones moved to a more suitable location where they can be appreciated by local people, many of who probably do not even realise that they have such unusual ancient treasure in their midst. Sadly, so far, his efforts have been unsuccessful.
Brian K says: "The stones have a ladder pattern motif, unique to rock art in this area. It would be such a loss to let these stones go to ruin. I'm sure the people of Ilkley would be proud of their heritage if they knew it was there, and for the many visitors to Ilkley it would add another unique dimension to the town."
Heritage Action has offered to assist Mr Mann in his efforts to get the stones tidied up. The stones also need to be laser scanned to properly record them and to be reset in an archaeologically sensitive way.
We'll keep you posted on what happens.
All photos by Brian Kerr
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