Devil's Arrows

These large monoliths stand beside the busy A1(M) motorway just outside Boroughbridge. The top photograph shows the southerly stone which is located in an enclosure by the side of the road. The bottom photograph shows the remaining two stones which are in an arable field on the other side of the road.

The alignment stretches for 174 metres and consists of three stones. A further stone once stood just NW of the existing central stone. The tallest monolith, the southerly one, is around 6.9m tall and is buried 1.8m deep; the middle stone stands 6.7m tall and is buried 1.5m deep, whilst the northerly stone is just 5.5m high and buried 1.4m deep. The stones have been packed into their sockets with cobbles and clay. The fourth stone is believed to have been broken up and part of it used to build a bridge over the River Tutt; the top part is said to have been re-erected in the grounds of Aldborough manor.

The stones are of millstone grit and it is thought they were orginally from an area 15km to the west.

The stones are not in a straight line but probably form the southern part of a prehistoric landscape in the Ure valley which is very rich in archaeological remains.

Alternative name(s)

The Three Sisters, The Three Greyhounds

National monument number

28221