Details

The monument includes a late prehistoric enclosed settlement known as
Catstones Ring, situated on the south west flank of Catstones Hill.
The enclosure is subrectangular, about 300m long and 225m wide. It comprises a
bank with an external ditch. The bank is typically 3m wide and 0.5m high. The
ditch is about 3m wide and up to 0.5m deep.
For most of their length, the bank and ditch are on heather moorland and are
sharply defined, but at its north west corner, the enclosure extends into
pasture fields. Here the bank is more spread, becoming approximately 6m wide
and 0.1m high. The ditch is about 3m wide and 0.5m deep. The ditch here may
have been enhanced in recent times for drainage or water collection. A stone-
built well or tank has been inserted in the ditch.
As the bank and ditch turn south at the north west corner of the enclosure,
there is an additional bank 9m wide outside the ditch. The banks and ditch are
poorly defined at this point. On the south side, the enclosure bank and ditch
are interrupted by Catstones Quarry, but are visible at each side of the
quarry. On the west side of the quarry is a large field which was formerly
allotments. The allotment boundaries are clearly visible, but most of the west
side and part of the south edge of the enclosure have been destroyed.
The interior of the enclosure is subdivided by a low bank which runs to the
quarry, from the point where a public footpath crosses the east edge of the
enclosure. The monument is crossed by a wall dividing the heather moor from
the pasture fields. A Roman road runs north-south less than 100m west of this
earthwork.
An excavation of 1962 produced few datable finds. Despite this, the form of
the site and comparison with similar sites nearby confirms its date and likely
function.
The wall which crosses the monument is excluded from the scheduling, although
the ground beneath 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

The Pennine uplands of northern England contain a wide variety of prehistoric
remains, including cairns, enclosures, carved rocks, settlements and field
systems. These are evidence of the widespread exploitation of these uplands
throughout later prehistory. During the last millennium BC a variety of
different types of enclosed settlements developed. These include hillforts,
which have substantial earthworks and are usually located on hilltops. Other
types of enclosed settlement of this period are less obviously defensive, as
they have less substantial earthworks and are usually in less prominent
positions. In the Pennines a number of late prehistoric enclosed settlements
survive as upstanding monuments. Where upstanding earthworks survive, the
settlements are between 0.4ha and 10ha in area, and are usually located on
ridges or hillside terraces. The enclosing earthworks are usually slight, most
consisting of a ditch with an internal bank, or with an internal and external
bank, but examples with an internal ditch and with no ditch are known. They
are sub-circular, sub-rectangular, or oval in shape. Few of these enclosed
settlements have been subject to systematic excavation, but they are thought
to date from between the Late Bronze Age to the Romano-British period (c.1000
BC-AD 400). Examples which have been excavated have presented evidence of
settlement. Some appear to have developed from earlier palisaded enclosures.
Unexcavated examples occasionally have levelled areas which may have contained
buildings, but a proportion may have functioned primarily as stock enclosures.
Enclosed settlements are a distinctive feature of the late prehistory of the
Pennine uplands, and are important in illustrating the variety of enclosed
settlement types which developed in many areas of Britain at this time.
Examples where a substantial proportion of the enclosed settlement survives
are considered to be nationally important.

Catstones Ring late prehistoric enclosed settlement survives well, and
contributes to the body of knowledge relating to late prehistoric settlement
and land use in northern England.

Source: Historic England