Ancient Monuments

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Cairnfield 540m north west of Linglands Farm

A Scheduled Monument in Cloughton, North Yorkshire

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Coordinates

Latitude: 54.3568 / 54°21'24"N

Longitude: -0.4889 / 0°29'19"W

OS Eastings: 498300.407407

OS Northings: 496750.286287

OS Grid: SE983967

Mapcode National: GBR TL01.YZ

Mapcode Global: WHGBL.GRFC

Entry Name: Cairnfield 540m north west of Linglands Farm

Scheduled Date: 5 December 1928

Last Amended: 11 October 2001

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1019800

English Heritage Legacy ID: 34676

County: North Yorkshire

Civil Parish: Cloughton

Traditional County: Yorkshire

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): North Yorkshire

Church of England Parish: Hackness with Harwood Dale

Church of England Diocese: York

Details

The monument includes a cairnfield which is situated on a gentle south facing
slope, on the Middle Jurassic sandstone towards the eastern edge of the North
York Moors.
The cairnfield consists of at least eight cairns which lie between the 190m
and 200m contours. The cairns are generally sub-circular mounds constructed
from small and medium sized stones. Most cairns are between 3m and 5m in
diameter. They stand between 0.3m and 0.6m high. The majority are field
clearance cairns which are the result of clearing the ground to improve it for
agriculture, but some of the larger cairns were also used as burial mounds.
The monument is situated in an area where there are many other prehistoric
monuments, including further cairnfields, burials and ritual sites.
The field boundary wall which runs along the eastern edge of the monument is
excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath it is included.

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

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Cairnfields are concentrations of cairns sited in close proximity to one
another. They often consist largely of clearance cairns, built with stone
cleared from the surrounding landsurface to improve its use for agriculture,
and on occasion their distribution pattern can be seen to define field plots.
However, funerary cairns are also frequently incorporated, although without
excavation it may be impossible to determine which cairns contain burials.
Clearance cairns were constructed from the Neolithic period (from c.3400 BC),
although the majority of examples appear to be the result of field clearance
which began during the earlier Bronze Age and continued into the later Bronze
Age (2000-700 BC). The considerable longevity and variation in the size,
content and associations of cairnfields provide important information on the
development of land use and agricultural practices. Cairnfields also retain
information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisation during the
prehistoric period.

Despite some disturbance from forestry activities, the cairnfield 540m north
west of Linglands Farm has survived well and will preserve significant
information about its form and development. Evidence for the nature of Bronze
Age agriculture will survive in the old ground surface between the cairns and
evidence for earlier land use will be preserved beneath the cairns. The
cairnfield is situated within an area which includes many other prehistoric
monuments. Associations such as this offer important scope for the study of
the distribution of prehistoric activity across the landscape for social,
ritual and agricultural purposes.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Title: 2nd Edition 25" Ordnance Survey sheet 62/10
Source Date: 1928
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:

Title: Forestry Commission Areas North York Moors Archaeological Survey
Source Date: 1992
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:
Sites 5.159-5.164

Source: Historic England

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