Old Wives Well

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Old Wives Well would once have stood on open moors, but it now hidden in the woods a short distance from the roadside. The name ‘Old Wife’ may imply a prehistoric origin to the site, a Roman Road also runs nearby.
Old Wives Well
The words “NATTIE FONTEIN” are carved into the well, and there are many suggestions as to its meaning, the most commonly quoted is a corruption of ‘Fons Natalis’ a celtic water nymph.
Old Wives Well
The site clearly still carries meaning for some as there ribbons in the trees all around, making this a Clootie well. Whatever your opinion the site certainly has a lot of history, even if its true origins are unclear.

See The Smell of Water for some more detailed research on the site.

Grey Mare Stone, Glaisdale

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Grey Mare Stone is a natural boulder that has been used as a boundary marker for many centuries. Although I didn’t spot any particular resemblance in shape to a horse.
Grey Mare Stone, Glaisdale
There are a whole series of dates carved into the rock, 1745, 1774, 1735 RC / RG, 1713, 1799, 1821, 1844 and a much more recent 1979.
Grey Mare Stone, Glaisdale
There’s also an “Egton” with a backward N
Grey Mare Stone, Glaisdale

Many of the dates recorded at the same as Swarth Howe Cross which must mark periods of “beating the bounds“

Another Guidestone, Glaisdale Head

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Immediately adjacent to the previous post, this one is a little more eroded.
Guidestones, Glaisdale Head
A Whitby Road side again.
Guidestones, Glaisdale Head
And it looks like another Peckrin (Pickering)
Guidestones, Glaisdale Head
“TH” has also inscribed this one with what looks like a number 73
Guidestones, Glaisdale Head
Ironopolis suggests this is Thomas Harewood of Glaisdale, who inscribed many stones in the area. Some of these are dated in the 1730s, so I suspect this originally carried a date from that decade and the last number has worn away (possibly 1733 if you squint)