The background to The Cowper Cross on Ilkley Moor
- timbarber
- Aug 4
- 3 min read
If you have ever hiked up on Ilkley Moor near the old Keighley Road, you may have come across an old stone cross by the side of the track. It can be found if walking from Ilkley up to Whetstone Gate if you head up towards a giant TV mast. It is known as The Cowper Cross.
On the North York Moors closer to the Yorkshire coast, there are a number of old Christian preaching crosses and I have blogged about a famous one called Fat Betty previously, but thought it was worth shedding some light on this one which is a bit closer to home.
The Northern Antiquarian website is a great resource for finding more about ancient stones in the North of England and they found the attached postcard from the 1920’s of the original Cowper Cross.
On investigation it turns out what can be seen now is sadly not the original cross due to some more recent vandalization and damage to the stone from a lightning strike. The Cowper Cross we see today is just a re-carved gate post. But it is interesting to consider what and why the cross was here.
Ilkley Moor is famous for its pre-historic cup and ring markings, where circular shapes were carved out of the millstone grit rocks by antler during the Neolithic (New Stone Age). These are believed to possibly neolithic or mirror the constellations. Close to Cowpers Cross is a stone covered in these called the Badger Stone.
There are over 400 cup and ring marked stones across Rombalds and Ilkley Moor, one of the highest concentrations of this Neolithic rock art in Europe.
A bit later on during the Bronze Age, the ancient settlers erected stone monoliths and stone circles such as The Twelve Apostles.
The original cross is believed to have been erected in the 1500 or possibly 1600’s, so is much younger than the crosses on the North York Moors. It is believed to have not been used particularly for worship but more for trade. A medieval trading post seems to be where the clever money is.
This would make sense as many market crosses in towns and villages around Yorkshire and The Dales were used for trade. The cross would also have been situated on what at the time would have been one of the main routes between Airedale and Wharfedale, following an old Roman Road.
Before the cross was erected, trade and meetings would have been held at the previously mentioned Badger Stone.
It is believed that the base is original and that is all that was left of the original cross. It holds the inscription ILB IM 1803, standing for Ilkley Local Board and 1803 was one of the crosses restoration dates.
But the original cross appears to have links to the past. Apparently on the South side of the original before it was destroyed, there were 4 obvious Neolithic cup marks which were carved on the stone possibly 5,000 years before the cross was erected. (Some people believe that these cup markings could also have been added in the 1500’s and are not so old – I guess we will never know).
There is also evidence of an old monolith which had fallen over close by, which would have stood on the site previously as a marker stone. So this also might account for the reason why the cross was located here in the first place. Again the jury is out as some residents believe there was a newly carved obelix here, which superceded the cross and acted as a marker before the cross shaft was added.
Some new carvings of cup marks have been added to the gate post of the new cross to try and replicate the original.
Finally the Cowper Cross gets its name from the local wealthy Cawper family who used to live in Ilkley.
Hope you enjoyed the blog. The earlier one I wrote about Fat Betty can be read here: https://www.realyorkshireblog.com/post/who-was-and-what-is-fat-betty-on-danby-moor
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