Details

The monument includes a cairn of Bronze Age date situated at the eastern end
of a low ridge in an area of open moorland. The cairn is 9m in diameter and
0.5m high. The earth and stone mound has a circular hollow 3.5m in diameter at
its centre, the result of partial excavation in the nineteenth century by
Canon Greenwell. The cairn was opened in 1870 when it is reported that Bronze
Age pots and several unspecified items were discovered.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Round cairns are prehistoric funerary monuments dating to the Bronze Age
(c.2000-700 BC). They were constructed as stone mounds covering single or
multiple burials. These burials may be placed within the mound in stone-lined
compartments called cists. In some cases the cairn was surrounded by a ditch.
Often occupying prominent locations, cairns are a major visual element in the
modern landscape. They are a relatively common feature of the uplands and are
the stone equivalent of the earthen round barrows of the lowlands. Their
considerable variation in form and longevity as a monument type provide
important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisation
amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of
their period and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered
worthy of protection.

Although the cairn 530m west of Holystone Grange has been subject to partial
exavation in the past, the extent of disturbance is limited and archaeological
deposits survive well. Evidence of the manner of construction and the nature
and duration of use will be preserved within and beneath the mound.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Tomlinson, W W, Comprehensive Guide to Northumberland, (1916), 345
Other
No. 648,

Source: Historic England