360
degree view beside Ponden Kirk here...
360
degree view on top of Ponden Kirk here...
The word 'kirk' for 'church' is common in the north of England
and Scotland.
There is no evidence for there having been a church on the site,
no one is certain how or why the word Kirk has has been associated
with Ponden.
According to tradition, if a maiden passes through the holed
stone then they shall marry within a year.
The hole created naturally, is approximately 17 inches wide by
24 inches high.
It has been suggested that Ponden Kirk is the Peniston Crag in
Emily Brontes "Wuthering Heights" she writes:
"The abrupt descent of Peniston Crag particularly attracted
her notice; especially when the setting sun shone on it and the
topmost heights, and the whole extent of landscape besides lay
in shadow. I explained that they were bare masses of stone, with
hardly enough earth in their clefts to nourish a stunted tree."
"This bed is the fairy cave under Peniston Crag, and
you are gathering elf-bolts to hurt our heifers; pretending, while
I am near, that they are only locks of wool. That's what you'll
come to fifty years hence: I know you are not so now. I'm not
wandering: you're mistaken, or else I should believe you really
were that withered hag, and I should think I was under Peniston
Crag; and I'm conscious it's night, and there are two candles
on the table making the black press shine like jet."
