Help us unlock the 3,000 year-old religious secrets of this Dales hill

TOURISTS ere being asked to help unlock the secrets of a hill in the Yorkshire Dales which could have a religious history dating back 3,000 years.
By The Newsroom
Published 7th Jun 2016, 08:43 BST
Updated 7th Jun 2016, 09:53 BST
Round houses within the settlement at Ingleborough Hillfort, seen from the south-west, as it may have appeared when in use during the Iron Age.Round houses within the settlement at Ingleborough Hillfort, seen from the south-west, as it may have appeared when in use during the Iron Age.
Round houses within the settlement at Ingleborough Hillfort, seen from the south-west, as it may have appeared when in use during the Iron Age.

The National Heritage List, the official record of England’s 400,000 significant historic places, is being opened up to contributions from the public for the first time to help increase the information it contains.

To start the drive to fill in gaps in information and insights about places on “The List”, Government heritage agency Historic England is asking people to share knowledge, stories and pictures of 21 of the most extraordinary sites.

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Among them is a prehistoric site on Ingleborough Hill, North Yorkshire, originally thought to be a hill fort, but possibly a religious site dating back 3,000 years.

Ingleborough from SoutherscalesIngleborough from Southerscales
Ingleborough from Southerscales

Discover Ingleborough on this circular weekend walk

The selected sites also include tombstones, a missile shelter, a house thought to be England’s first mosque, the world’s first purpose-built motor racing circuit and an anti air war memorial on a site owned by suffragette Sylvia Pankhurst.

Historic England is also asking for information on a murder committed by John Massey in February 1800, commemorated on an old plaque on a gibbet post in Leicestershire, and recorded cases of people punished on a ducking stool in Canterbury.

People are being asked to submit photos of the headstone of Hannah Twynnoy, a servant at the White Lion Inn, Malmesbury, Wiltshire, who was eaten by a tiger, and any information on the incident, the travelling menagerie the animal escaped from, and the inn.

Ingleborough from SoutherscalesIngleborough from Southerscales
Ingleborough from Southerscales
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Historic England is also keen for photos of Number 8 Brougham Terrace in Liverpool, converted to a mosque by local solicitor William Henry Quilliam, a convert to Islam, and more information on the man himself.

People are being asked for stories of experiences at Blackpool Tower, photos of protests at Greenham Common and pictures and theories about the prehistoric site on Ingleborough Hill.

Director of listing at Historic England, Roger Bowdler said: “The history of our land and its people is marked in the fabric of England’s places.

“The List is a free resource holding details of the most significant of these, so they can be understood and protected for the future.

“Many buildings on the list are well-known and even world-famous.

“But in some cases there is much that remains unknown.”

The Historic England website is at www.historicengland.org.uk.

Related topics:Historic EnglandYorkshire DalesEngland