Details

The monument includes a pair of standing stones of local granite located at
the western end of a col north-west of Four Stones Hill. Their setting affords
a dramatic view over the valley now occupied by Haweswater Reservoir. Both
stones are rectangular in section and are set c.2.3m apart. The western stone
measures c.1.3m high, the eastern stone measures c.1.15m high. The eastern
stone tapers towards the top and is leaning towards the north-west. Although
the hill is known as Four Stones Hill there is no evidence for other stones in
this immediate area.

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

Standing stones are prehistoric ritual or ceremonial monuments with dates
ranging from the Late Neolithic to the end of the Bronze Age for the few
excavated examples. They comprise single or paired upright orthostatic slabs,
ranging from under lm to over 6m high where still erect. They are often
conspicuously sited and close to other contemporary monument classes. They can
be accompanied by various features: many occur in or on the edge of round
barrows, and where excavated, associated subsurface features have included
stone cists, stone settings, and various pits and hollows filled in with earth
containing human bone, cremations, charcoal, flints, pots and pot sherds.
Similar deposits have been found in excavated sockets for standing stones,
which range considerably in depth. Several standing stones also bear cup and
ring marks. Standing stones may have functioned as markers for routeways,
territories, graves, or meeting points, but their accompanying features show
they also bore a ritual function and that they form one of several ritual
monument classes of their period that often contain a deposit of cremation and
domestic debris as an integral component. No national survey of standing
stones has been undertaken, and estimates range from 50 to 250 extant
examples, widely distributed throughout England but with concentrations in
Cornwall, the North Yorkshire Moors, Cumbria, Derbyshire and the Cotswolds.
Standing stones are important as nationally rare monuments, with a high
longevity and demonstrating the diversity of ritual practices in the Late
Neolithic and Bronze Age. Consequently all undisturbed standing stones and
those which represent the main range of types and locations would normally be
considered to be of national importance.

The two standing stones north-west of Four Stones Hill survive well and are a
rare survival in Cumbria of a paired example of this class of monument. The
stones lie close to other monuments in the vicinity of Four Stones Hill, and
thus indicate the importance of this area in prehistoric times and the
diversity of monument classes to be found here.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Bowman, A., MPP Single Monument Class Descriptions - Standing Stones, (1990)
SMR No. 1602, Cumbria SMR, Standing Stones on Four Stones Hill, (1985)

Source: Historic England