Devil’s Arrows
Boroughbridge, North Yorkshire
“Reach back in time and wonder at the mysterious Devil’s Arrows, three huge standing stones on the western outskirts of Boroughbridge that cast their shadow over the surrounding landscape” Visit North Yorkshire
In the town of Boroughbridge, 16 miles north-west of York, stands three gigantic standing stones provide us with the earliest evidence of occupation in the area, potentially dating back 4000 years to the early Bronze Age!
Records from early antiquarians suggest there were at least five stones here in centuries gone by, and Yorkshire antiquarian Edmund Bogg told us more than a hundred years ago that:
“Peter Franck, a fisherman who travelled much about the world to enjoy his sport, came to Boroughbridge in 1694 and says he saw seven of these standing stones, Dr Stukeley mentions five, and John Leyland, in his travels, saw ‘four great stones wrought by man’s hands,’ but no inscription upon them.”
Devil’s Arrows from Smith’s ‘Reliquiae’
A few legends have arose from how these stones came to be, but the most often repeated tale of these stones gained them the title ‘The Devil’s Arrows’. The devil, angry at the close-by Roman settlement of Aldborough, threw giant stone ‘arrows’ to attack them. As we’ve seen with many other stories of the Devil’s antics, such as the Devil’s Apronful… he has terrible aim. You’d think with all of these stories of lobbing huge things at targets throughout his time, he’d learn some sense of coordination.
But no, his aim was horribly off and he missed the Roman settlement and these huge ‘arrows’ planted themselves in the ground in Boroughbridge, explaining their random location and mysterious alignment.
Devil’s Arrows, North Yorkshire - picture credit Sydney Tranter.
There is supposedly evidence of two missing stones, and some say one of those was used to form a local bridge. Many a tale sprung from the lack of two stones, the mysterious placement of the rocks, what their purpose might be and who might have put them there.
A recent update, however, emerged! A team of curious scientists announced results of their detailed analysis of the stones. These rocks were transported all the way from Brimham Rocks, in Nidderdale, to their current location in Boroughbridge. By the Devil? The scientists didn’t specify…
