BRIMHAM ROCKS

Brimham Rocks, once known as Brimham Crags, is a 183.9-hectare (454-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Geological Conservation Review (GCR) site, 8 miles (13 km) south of Ripon, North Yorkshire on Brimham Moor in the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The site was first notified as SSSI in 1958, and consists of a rocky outcrop of Millstone Grit, some small areas of birch woodland, and a large wet and dry heath.

The site is known for its water- and weather-eroded rocks, which since they were formed over 325 million years ago have assumed fantastic shapes. In the 18th and 19th centuries some antiquarians such as Hayman Rooke wondered whether they could have been at least partly carved by Druids, and this idea ran concurrently with the popularity of James Macpherson's Fragments of Ancient Poetry of 1860, and a developing interest in New-Druidism. Hence, for up to two hundred years, some of the stones have carried fanciful Druidic names, such as Druid's Idol, Druid's Altar and Druid's Writing Desk.

Even so, the site has SSSI status because of the value of the geology for study, and for the upland woodland and the acidic wet and dry heath habitats which support localised and specialised plant forms, such as chickweed wintergreen, cowberry, bog asphodel and three species of heather. The site is managed by the National Trust. There is a visitor's centre, public facilities and a car park, and it is open all year round.