# The Hitching Stone
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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox historic site|name=The Hitching Stone|native_name=|native_language=|native_name2=|native_language2=|native_name3=|native_language3=|image=File:The Hitching Stone - geograph.org.uk - 1848712.jpg|image_size=|caption=The Hitching Stone, showing the fissure and rectangular hole known as the druid’s chair|alt=|locmapin=North Yorkshire|map_relief=|map_width=|map_caption=|coordinates={{coord|53.871513|-2.021789|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline-title}}|gbgridref=SD9841|location=Earl Crag, Yorkshire|area=|elevation={{cvt|1200|ft|m}}|height={{cvt|21|ft|m}}|beginning_label=|beginning_date=|formed=|founded=|built=|built_for=|demolished=|rebuilt=|restored=|restored_by=|architect=|architecture=|visitors_num=|visitors_year=|governing_body=|owner=|designation1=|designation1_offname=|designation1_type=|designation1_criteria=|designation1_date=|delisted1_date=|designation1_partof=|designation1_number=|designation1_free1name=|designation1_free1value=|designation1_free2name=|designation1_free2value=|designation1_free3name=|designation1_free3value=|designation2=|designation2_offname=|designation2_type=|designation2_criteria=|designation2_date=|delisted2_date=|designation2_partof=|designation2_number=|designation2_free1name=|designation2_free1value=|designation2_free2name=|designation2_free2value=|designation2_free3name=|designation2_free3value=|designation3=|designation3_offname=|designation3_type=|designation3_criteria=|designation3_date=|delisted3_date=|designation3_partof=|designation3_number=|designation3_free1name=|designation3_free1value=|designation3_free2name=|designation3_free2value=|designation3_free3name=|designation3_free3value=|designation4=|designation4_offname=|designation4_type=|designation4_criteria=|designation4_date=|delisted4_date=|designation4_partof=|designation4_number=|designation4_free1name=|designation4_free1value=|designation4_free2name=|designation4_free2value=|designation4_free3name=|designation4_free3value=|designation5=|designation5_offname=|designation5_type=|designation5_criteria=|designation5_date=|delisted5_date=|designation5_partof=|designation5_number=|designation5_free1name=|designation5_free1value=|designation5_free2name=|designation5_free2value=|designation5_free3name=|designation5_free3value=|other_name=|map_dot_mark=|type=|etymology=|nearest_city=Bradford|founder=|original_use=|current_use=|sculptor=|visitors_ref=|website=}}'''The Hitching Stone''' is a [gritstone](/source/gritstone) [erratic block](/source/erratic_block) on [Keighley](/source/Keighley) Moor, [North Yorkshire](/source/North_Yorkshire), near [Earl Crag](/source/Earl_Crag) and the village of [Cowling](/source/Cowling%2C_Craven).[{{Cite web|url=https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crag.php?id=19919|title=The Hitching Stone|website=www.ukclimbing.com|language=en|access-date=2018-06-02}}][{{Cite web|url=http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=10059|title=Hitching Stone|last=Map|first=The Megalithic Portal and Megalith|website=The Megalithic Portal|access-date=2018-06-02}}][{{Cite news|url=https://thejournalofantiquities.com/2016/06/07/hitching-stone-near-cowling-west-yorkshire/|title=Hitching Stone, Near Cowling, West Yorkshire|date=2016-06-07|work=The Journal Of Antiquities|access-date=2018-06-03|language=en-US}}][{{Cite web|url=http://jimjarratt.co.uk/follies/page21.html|title=The Earl Crag Monuments|last=Jarratt|first=Jim|website=Ivory Towers and Dressed Stones}}] It is very close to the border between North Yorkshire and [West Yorkshire](/source/West_Yorkshire) and the border between [Yorkshire](/source/Yorkshire) and [Lancashire](/source/Lancashire).[{{Cite news|url=https://thejournalofantiquities.com/2014/09/14/winter-hill-stone-keighley-moor-west-yorkshire/|title=Winter Hill Stone, Keighley Moor, West Yorkshire|date=2014-09-14|work=The Journal Of Antiquities|access-date=2018-06-03|language=en-US}}]
It is said to be the largest [boulder](/source/boulder) in Yorkshire at {{convert|29|ft|m|abbr=off|1}} long, {{convert|25|ft|m|abbr=off|1}} wide and {{convert|21|ft|m|abbr=off|1}} high.[{{Cite web|url=http://www.bradfordhistorical.org.uk/boundary.html|title=On the Bradford District's Western Boundary|website=www.bradfordhistorical.org.uk|access-date=2018-06-02}}] It is also said to weigh a lot more than 1000 tonnes.[{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ebYHAAAAQAAJ&dq=the+hitching+stone&pg=PA127|title=Keighley, past and present: or, An historical, topographical and statistical sketch of the town, parish and environs of Keighley, including Riddlesden, Marley, Hainworth, and some other places in the contiguous parish of Bingley; likewise an account of the ancient families which have flourished therein, with a brief memoir of the Rev. Theodore Dury, M.A., late rector of Keighley.|last1=Keighley|first1=William|last2=Holmes|first2=Robert|publisher=Arthur Hall, Virtue & Company|year=1858|location=Keighley (England)|pages=127|quote=at an elevation of 1,200 feet, and upwards of five miles from the town, stands an isolated and ponderous mass of coarse grit, called the ‘Hitching Stone,’}}]
== History ==
The Hitching Stone and all the other erratic boulders on Keighley Moor were put in place thousands to possibly millions of [year](/source/year)s ago during the [Pleistocene Epoch](/source/Pleistocene_Epoch).[{{Cite web|url=http://www.dandebat.dk/eng-klima5.htm|title=Pleistocene - History of Earth's climate|last=Hansen|first=Bent|website=www.dandebat.dk|access-date=2018-06-03}}] The Hitching Stone most likely originally came from Earl Crag during this time.[{{Cite book|title=The old stones of Elmet|last=Paul.|first=Bennett|date=2003|publisher=Capall Bann Publishing|isbn=9781861631343|location=Somerset|oclc=961022287}}]
== Features ==
On the southern side of the boulder a large bath-like recess is found, that fills with rain water. A large recess in the western side of the stone is still known today as the Priests Chair. There is some speculation that the stone was used for religious rituals.
== Gallery ==
File:The Hitching Stone, Keighley Moor - geograph.org.uk - 127023.jpg|The Hitching Stone
File:The Hitching Stone with people around it.jpg|People visiting the Hitching Stone
File:Hitching Stone (south side) - geograph.org.uk - 427679.jpg|The south side of the Hitching Stone
File:The Hitching Stone from the east - geograph.org.uk - 1662102.jpg|The Hitching Stone from the east
File:Hitching Stone (pool) - geograph.org.uk - 427687.jpg|The pool of water in the Hitching Stone
== See also ==
* [List of individual rocks](/source/List_of_individual_rocks)
* [Lund’s Tower](/source/Lund's_Tower)
* [Wainman’s Pinnacle](/source/Wainman's_Pinnacle)
== References ==
== Further reading ==
* T. Sharpe, ''The Pendle Zodiac'', Thomas Sharpe, February 20, 2012. Exploring the Sacred Geometry, Ley alignments and recent Landscape Zodiac discoveries of Pendle - in the Rose County of Lancashire - from the perspective of Spiritual Science.
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Category:Stones
Category:Sandstone formations
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [The Hitching Stone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hitching_Stone) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hitching_Stone?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.