Whilst the current church lacks much in the way of indications of ancient origins, it’s entry porch boasts a wealth of 12c carved stones and is definitely worth a visit.
Location: North Yorkshire
St John the Baptist Church, Stanwick
The church at Stanwick sits very close to the original centre of the Iron Age fort. It’s churchyard seems to respect a more ancient ritual use and it’s siting in conjunction with not only Mary Wild Beck but also the Sacred Spring in at the front of this church and it’s 10th century origins indicate this site was a focal point for ritual activity right back to the Iron Age and before.
Brigantia
The name Brigantia represents three separate concepts: a goddess, a people, and a tribal federation. By the Roman period, the name represented a tribal federation compromising all of what would become the Roman province of Britannia Secunda, except for the Parisi territory, east of the River Derwent.
Devil’s Arrows
This Bronze Age site comprises of three large standing stones, it is thought originally there were as many as five stones in this alignment. Being Bronze Age little is known about the origin of the Devil’s Arrows, the name reflecting a more recent myth. The monument is strongly linked with an alignment with several others covering a line of over 50 miles and heading north south through North Yorkshire.
Catterick Henge
The henge at Catterick racecourse is an intriguing prehistoric site. Initially thought to be a Roman amphitheatre, it is now believed to be a henge, a type of Neolithic earthwork. Crop-mark mapping defined the henge, the 1990s rescue dig explained its mixed bank and cairn fabric, Roman-town excavations showed how much of it was levelled in antiquity, and the motorway programme set the site back into a much larger prehistoric landscape.

