Ancient Monuments

History on the Ground

This site is entirely user-supported. See how you can help.

Round cairn on Heughscar Hill

A Scheduled Monument in Barton, Cumbria

We don't have any photos of this monument yet. Why don't you be the first to send us one?

Upload Photo »

Approximate Location Map
Large Map »

If Google Street View is available, the image is from the best available vantage point looking, if possible, towards the location of the monument. Where it is not available, the satellite view is shown instead.

Coordinates

Latitude: 54.6012 / 54°36'4"N

Longitude: -2.7928 / 2°47'34"W

OS Eastings: 348879.012605

OS Northings: 523177.411961

OS Grid: NY488231

Mapcode National: GBR 8HY7.5D

Mapcode Global: WH81J.2MC1

Entry Name: Round cairn on Heughscar Hill

Scheduled Date: 1 September 1993

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1011589

English Heritage Legacy ID: 22542

County: Cumbria

Civil Parish: Barton

Traditional County: Westmorland

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Cumbria

Church of England Parish: Askham with Lowther

Church of England Diocese: Carlisle

Details

The monument is a round cairn located in a prominent position close to the
summit of Heughscar Hill. It includes an oval mound of largely turf-covered
stones up to 0.8m high with maximum dimensions of 18.6m by 8.7m. On top of the
cairn is a mound of stones around the base of a boundary post that has been
inserted into the earlier cairn.
The boundary post is excluded from the scheduling but the ground beneath it is
included.

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

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.

Despite the insertion of a boundary post into the monument's summit, the round
cairn on Heughscar Hill survives reasonably well. It lies within an area of
open fell rich in prehistoric monuments and will contain undisturbed
archaeological deposits within the mound and upon the old landsurface beneath.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Quartermaine, J, Askham Fell Survey Catalogue, (1992), 42
Other
Darvill,T., MPP Single Monument Class Description - Bowl Barrows, (1988)

Source: Historic England

Other nearby scheduled monuments

AncientMonuments.uk is an independent online resource and is not associated with any government department. All government data published here is used under licence. Please do not contact AncientMonuments.uk for any queries related to any individual ancient or schedued monument, planning permission related to scheduled monuments or the scheduling process itself.

AncientMonuments.uk is a Good Stuff website.