Details

The monument includes a cairnfield on the eastern flank of Ladhill Gill. The
cairnfield comprises 25 clearance cairns ranging from 3m to 7m in diameter.
The cairns are well preserved stone built mounds, either round or elongated in
shape and standing between 0.3m and 0.9m high.
They are the result of clearing land for agricultural purposes. There are many
similar examples of clearance cairns and field systems on this area of the
Hambleton Hills. They provide evidence of territorial organisation marking the
division and exploitation of land for agricultural and social purposes.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Cairnfields are concentrations of cairns sited in close proximity to one
another. They often consist largely of clearance cairns, built with stone
cleared from the surrounding landsurface to improve its use for agriculture,
and on occasion their distribution pattern can be seen to define field plots.
However, funerary cairns are also frequently incorporated, although without
excavation it may be impossible to determine which cairns contain burials.
Clearance cairns were constructed from the Neolithic period (from c.3400 BC),
although the majority of examples appear to be the result of field clearance
which began during the earlier Bronze Age and continued into the later Bronze
Age (2000-700 BC). The considerable longevity and variation in the size,
content and associations of cairnfields provide important information on the
development of land use and agricultural practices. Cairnfields also retain
information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisation during the
prehistoric period.

This monument has survived well and significant information about the original
formation of the field system and evidence of earlier land use beneath the
cairns will be preserved. This monument is associated with similar field
systems and other monuments of the prehistoric period on this part of the
Hambleton Hills. Similar groups of monuments are also known across the
northern and central areas of the North York Moors providing important insight
into land use, agricultural practices, social structure and the exploitation
of resources during the prehistoric period.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Spratt, D A , 'Prehistoric and Roman Archaeology in North East Yorkshire' in Prehistoric and Roman Archaeology of North East Yorkshire, , Vol. BAR 104, (1993)

Source: Historic England