Uncover Northumberland’s Neolithic rock art

Steeped in myths and legends, experts believe the great sweep of the Simonside Hills just above Rothbury in the Northumberland National Park was a sacred place to our ancestors. It is studded with burial grounds, Bronze Age cairns and an Iron Age fort. 

Mysterious prehistoric cup-and-ring carvings some 5,000 years old are etched into huge slabs of rock at Lordenshaw. Varying from simple circular hollows to complex intertwining patterns, these carvings are often found at eye-popping elevated locations with panoramic views.

Shrouded in mystery, the 4,500-year-old Duddo Standing Stones are a strange and beguiling Neolithic monument located at the Ford and Etal Estate two miles north of the Park. Whatever their origin, ancient life feels close in Northumberland.

Content provided by Visit Northumberland