📌 Rock art & hill fort near Rothbury, Northumberland
★★
The contouring earthworks of this iron age hill fort are visible at a distance from the main path onto the east end of the Simonside Hills ridge, but are well worth a closer inspection too. The double ramparts still protrude above the heather, and are easily reached from a nearby car park. Even more interesting, however, is the ancient rock art found on an outcrop just to the west – and possibly on other nearby outcrops too, but I didn’t visit these. The intriguing “cup and ring marks” were carved between 3,500 and 6,000 years ago, and closely resemble their Scottish counterparts such as those in Kilmartin Glen, hundreds of miles away.
🌍 Location
📌 Rock art outcrop is off minor road 1.5 mi south of Rothbury, with the hill fort a few hundred metres to the east
🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: NZ 052992
🛰️ GPS coordinates: 55.286483,-1.919285
❌ No public transport within 1 mi – but there are good footpath links with Rothbury (1.5 mi), which has bus connections
🚗 Car park at 🧭 NZ 053988 / 🛰️ 55.283327,-1.918655
📝 Key info
⌚ Always open
🎫 Free
💬 From the car park it’s a 5-min walk to the best rock carvings, or a little further to the top of the hill fort. Facing away from the road, follow the path uphill from the car park.
