Details

The monument includes a `D'-shaped late prehistoric enclosed settlement,
situated on Ovenden Moor, at the Carrs, 500m north west of Goose Clough on
Ovenden Moor.
The enclosure is approximately 88m long and 80m wide, and is formed by a ditch
with both internal and external banks. The ditch is about 4m wide and 0.5m
deep. The inner bank is approximately 3m wide and 0.5m high. The outer bank is
about 4m wide and attains a maximum height of 1m. A natural drainage channel
interrupts the ditch and banks on the west side of the enclosure. On the south
and east sides, parts of the ditch and banks have been removed by stone
quarrying, and part is obscured by a track to a small building. The inside of
the enclosure is partly subdivided by a bank and ditch running part way across
the enclosure from the north edge. There is a small earth mound in the
approximate centre of the enclosure, and a small rectangular depression close
by. These features may result from excavations in 1951 which recovered
prehistoric pottery.

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.

The late prehistoric enclosed settlement 500m north west of Goose Clough
survives well and contributes to the understanding of late prehistoric
settlement and land use in northern England.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Watson, G , 'Summary of Halifax Ant. Society Excavations' in Summary of Halifax Ant. Society Excavations, ()

Source: Historic England