Devil's Arrows

The Devil’s Arrows are three tall standing stones standing in a straight line beside the River Ure near Boroughbridge in North Yorkshire. The site lies in lowland fields just west of the A168 road, where the river crosses beneath. The tallest stone reaches 22.5 feet, making it the second tallest menhir in the United Kingdom. Two smaller stones stand 360 and 200 feet from the central one, forming an almost perfect north–north-west to south–south-east alignment. Archaeologists believe the original row contained at least five stones before treasure hunters removed two during the 18th century. William Camden recorded four stones in the early 18th century, noting one had recently been pulled down in a futile search for gold. The English antiquarian John Aubrey visited in 1687 and left the earliest known drawing of the monument. Modern geologists traced the stones to Brimham Rocks eighteen kilometres away, using isotopic fingerprinting. A nearby Battle Cross at Aldborough shares the same geological signature, suggesting it once stood among the Arrows. Local legend claims the Devil hurled the stones from Howe Hill, aiming for Aldborough but falling short. The stones sit within a wider prehistoric landscape of henges and burial mounds along the River Ure. They may once have aligned with the southernmost summer moonrise, marking an important seasonal event. The surrounding fields still hold traces of the construction pits used to raise the stones millennia ago. A displaced stone was later used as the base for a small river bridge after the failed treasure hunt. Visitors today see three weathered gritstone pillars standing in open farmland, silent witnesses to Stone Age ritual and legend.