Bull Stone. Carlton Moor. 1977

Six foot high and standing between Carlton and Otley Chevin.

There are various theories about this monolith, could it be a Roman milestone as it stands in near proximity to the Roman Road?

Philomen Slater gives this explanation from folklore "Fastening bulls to it when they were baited by dogs, a custom still known to Carlton farmers".

A more prosaic thought is that the word bull derives from an obsolete Yorkshire word "bull-steann" , meaning a stone used as a whetstone for sharpening knives and tools.

It is also thought that the bull stone didn't stand in isolation and could have been part of a line of stones.