The Great Stone in Deepdale Woods

Barnard Castle

Tucked away in Barnard Castle, Deepdale Woods is one of Teesdale’s most peaceful woodland escapes, a place where the sound of the beck follows you through the trees, moss covers old stone walls, and wooden bridges lead you deeper into nature. This ancient woodland is filled with history and hidden details, from twisting paths beside the water to glimpses of an old rifle range and wildlife among the branches.
But perhaps its most remarkable feature is the Great Stone, a huge pink granite boulder that seems out of place among Teesdale’s grey rocks. Carried here by Ice Age glaciers thousands of years ago, it now rests quietly beside the beck, a perfect stop on your walk to pause, wonder, and feel just how old this landscape really is.

The Great Stone on Deepdale Beck

What Is the Great Stone?

Hidden among the trees of Deepdale Woods, the Great Stone looks like it’s been dropped straight from the sky, a giant lump of pink rock sitting beside the beck. It’s not just any rock though. This enormous boulder is a glacial erratic, which means it’s a traveller! The stone isn’t from Teesdale at all, its “home” is over 30 miles away in the Shap Fells of Cumbria.

You can spot it instantly by its colour. Most of Teesdale’s rocks are grey limestone or dark dolerite, but the Great Stone is a rosy pink granite, sprinkled with shiny crystals of feldspar that glint in the light. It’s so different that geologists recognised it straight away as Shap granite, a type of rock formed about 400 million years ago deep inside the Earth, when molten magma cooled slowly under huge pressure.

So when you see the Great Stone on your walk, you’re not just looking at a big boulder,  you’re looking at a tiny piece of a mountain from another county that’s older than the dinosaurs!

How Did the Great Stone Get Here?

To understand how it ended up in Deepdale, you have to imagine Teesdale 20 000 years ago, during the last Ice Age. Back then, this peaceful woodland was buried under a massive sheet of ice hundreds of metres thick, like a frozen blanket covering the whole of northern England.

As the ice slowly crept east from the Lake District, it picked up chunks of rock along the way, dragging and carrying them for miles. One of those chunks was our pink granite boulder from Shap Fell.

As the glacier moved, the rock was pushed, rolled and scraped along the ground. Over thousands of years, that constant grinding smoothed its rough edges, turning it into the rounded shape we see today, almost like nature’s own giant rock tumbler!

When the great thaw came, the ice melted and dropped the Great Stone right here in Deepdale. It’s been sitting peacefully by the beck ever since, probably for around 11000 to 12000 years.

So next time you visit, put your hand on the stone and think about its incredible journey. It’s travelled across mountains, been rolled and polished by ice, survived an Ice Age, and now rests in one of Teesdale’s most tranquil spots, a reminder that even the biggest travellers eventually find a place to stay.

How to Find the Great Stone in Deepdale Woods

You’ll find the Great Stone hidden deep within the woodland, about 1.6 miles along the main path through Deepdale Woods Nature Reserve in Barnard Castle.

Start from the small Deepdale Nature Reserve car park (DL12 9AZ)  it only fits around five to six cars, so it’s best to visit early or on a quiet day. From the car park, head through the gate and stay on the right-hand side of Deepdale Beck. The path winds gently through the trees and over a wooden bridge, following the sound of the beck upstream.

Keep going and you’ll soon spot the Great Stone beside the water a huge pink boulder resting peacefully in the middle of this ancient woodland.

📍 Coordinates: 54.543, -1.954
👉 Distance: approx. 1.6 miles through the woods
🅿️ Parking: Deepdale Nature Reserve car park (DL12 9AZ)

You can also follow our digital walking route to make sure you’re on the right path.

Take a Moment by the Stone

Deepdale Woods has a special kind of quiet, the steady flow of the beck, the rustle of leaves, and the feeling that time moves a little slower here. When you reach the Great Stone, pause for a moment. This single boulder has been here for thousands of years, ever since the Ice Age left it resting gently beside the water.

Place your hand on its cool surface and think about everything it’s seen from glaciers melting, woodlands growing, people passing by on woodland walks. It’s a small reminder that nature moves at its own pace, and that slowing down with it can do wonders for your mind.

Take a deep breath, listen to the water, and let the calm of Deepdale sink in because sometimes, it’s the quietest places that help us feel most alive.

Deepdale Nature Reserve

Other Things to Discover in Deepdale Woods

There’s more to Deepdale than the Great Stone, the woods are full of history and hidden surprises waiting to be found. If you explore a little further, you’ll spot clues from the past tucked between the trees.

The remains of the old rifle range, a reminder of when this peaceful valley was once used for army training. You might still notice the shape of the old butts and earth mounds hidden in the undergrowth.

Further along the beck are the pillars of the old railway viaduct, once part of the Stainmore line that carried trains across Teesdale. Today, only the stone bases remain, nature has reclaimed the rest, but it’s easy to imagine the sound of steam engines echoing through the dale.

And if you keep your eyes open, you might even find the mysterious stone face carved into the rock, a weathered, moss-covered figure that’s become a bit of a local legend. Nobody knows who carved it or when, but it adds a hint of mystery to the walk.

👉 Learn more: Visit our main Deepdale Woods page
for the full story and routes to each of these hidden spots.

Discover More in Teesdale

If you’ve enjoyed exploring Deepdale Woods, there’s so much more to see nearby. From spectacular waterfall walks and peaceful reservoirs to Teesdale’s fascinating history and geology, every corner of the Teesdale has its own story to tell.

👉 Discover Teesdale
our personal guide to the walks, waterfalls, history and peaceful places that make this valley special.