Ramshaw Rocks are a rocky gritstone escarpment similar to the Roaches which can be found in the county of Staffordshire, U.K. along side the A53 Leek to Buxton road. There are some interesting features which are worthy of mentioning.

This is a view from Ramshaw Rocks with the A53 in the distance, this follows the course of an ancient Roman road. Photo by Gary Tacagni.

Probably the easiest and most prominent feature that can be seen from the A53 as you drive past Ramshaw Rocks is a rock formation which is known as the “Winking Man”, in fact there is a pub close by named after this anomaly. The Winking Man is a rock formation about 10ft in height which looks like a mans face in profile, with a forehead, eyes, nose and mouth, the nose had used to be more prominent but it was broken off in the 70s by some vandals.

A view of the Winking Man. Photo by Gary Tacagni.

A traveller in the past and even today as he travels along the A53 which is built upon a Roman road would have been aware of the face, and as they would have passed, so would their viewing angle have changed which would have resulted in the eye appearing to wink! In the past the face was regarded as something supernatural and was thought to be a God, possibly Thor or Odin.

Another strange rock which can be found on Ramshaw rocks is known as the “Serpent Stone”, there seems to be very little information regarding this curious shaped stone, apart from the obvious name it has been given, even the tourist centre in the nearby town of Leek were unaware of its existence. I do know that it forms an alignment with the Bawdstone which can be found on the slopes of Hen Cloud about a mile and a half away during the Spring Equinox. I have yet to check whether there is a Ley-line running through it as can be found with the Bawdstone.

The Serpent Stone. Photo by Gary Tacagni.

High up on Ramshaw Rocks can be found unusual carvings in one of the rocks, some people have speculated that it represents a Christian Cross and Thor’s Hammer, these carvings are found to have small chiselled holes surrounding them which suggests an astronomical pattern. In 1953 a Mr R.J.C. Atkinson found thirty similar symbols at Stonehenge which he described as Daggers and Axes and claimed they were Mycenaen or Minoan in origin. Today archaeologists are still not in agreement over their true origin, so maybe they will never be sure who carved them, but one thing they can be sure of is that they are probably thousands of years old. The photograph below shows the carvings, I have had to smear peat on them to highlight them so they show up more clearly.

The Dagger and Axe carving on Ramshaw Rocks. Photo by Gary Tacagni.

There are many strange shaped rocks and carvings that can be found on Ramshaw Rocks, another rock carving is a face that is believed to date back to Celtic times and can be found about 10 metres off the main path which runs along the top of Ramshaw rocks.

The Celtic face carving. Photo by Gary Tacagni.

I have listed below some of the photographs which I have taken of unusual shaped rocks which can be found on Ramshaw rocks, these have been worn down over countless years from the wind and the rain producing unusual shapes.

I found this ancient rock on Hen Cloud, I think the hole has been man made and forms an alignment with the Serpent Stone. Photo by Gary Tacagni.

Strange face on Ramshaw rocks. Photo by Gary Tacagni.

Giants washbasin? Photo by Gary Tacagni.

Ogham boulder with flower offering? Photo by Gary Tacagni.

Baby Whale? Photo by Gary Tacagni.