Fairy Bank - Fell Beck

  The Fairy Bank is a section of the Fell Beck stream valley, located two miles to east of Pateley Bridge in the Yorkshire Dales.

 Like the Fairy Table at Kilburn, the only record of this fairy site appears to be on the first edition OS map (1854). The name was noted down several years ago, but for some reason it remained on the 'to do' list, even after visiting the nearby sites at Brimham Rocks and Boggart Crag. The Fairy Bank came back into focus after visiting the Fairy Table outcrop at Kilburn (on the edge of North York Moors) which led to an interesting quote from a German website, translated as ......

"Where mighty masses of stone stare down,
there they have their 'fairy houses'.
There they eat at the 'fairy table'."

 This quote seemed to encapsulate a folklore pattern which had been noted at several Faerie and Hob sites in this region. These usually feature prominent rock outcrops, crags, or cliffs, perhaps with a cave, and a nearby source of water. With this is mind it was decided to visit the Fairy Bank site as a sort of 'test case'. Having never seen the location, and with no details available, it would be interesting to see if the Fairy Bank would fit the pattern.

The Fairy Table - Kilburn

"Where mighty masses of stone stare down,
there they have their Fairy houses.
There they eat at the Fairy Table."

The Fairy Table outcrop

 The Fairy Table is a rock outcrop located on a wooded hillside, one mile to the north-east of Kilburn village on the edge of the North York Moors.

 The outcrop is marked on the first edition OS map (1856), so it had  some local significance before this date, but there appears to be nothing on record to explain the interesting name.

 There is another rock outcrop called the 'Fairies Table' located on the wooded slopes leading down to the river Lyne, to the north of Carlisle in Cumbria. This is described as a large flat topped rock on which the fairies would dance on moonlit nights. The fairies were also said to live in a cave nearby.