Botley Stone, a ring cairn on Churchmoor Hill, 600m north-west of Churchmoor Farm.

Reasons for Designation

A ring cairn is a prehistoric ritual monument comprising a circular bank of stones up to 20m in diameter surrounding a hollow central area. The bank may be kerbed on the inside, and sometimes on the outside as well, with small uprights or laid boulders. Ring cairns are found mainly in upland areas of England and are mostly discovered and authenticated by fieldwork and ground level survey, although a few are large enough to be visible on aerial photographs. They often occur in pairs or small groups of up to four examples. Occasionally they lie within round barrow cemeteries. Ring cairns are interpreted as ritual monuments of Early and Middle Bronze Age date. The exact nature of the rituals concerned is not fully understood, but excavation has revealed pits, some containing burials and others containing charcoal and pottery, taken to indicate feasting activities associated with the burial rituals. Many areas of upland have not yet been surveyed in detail and the number of ring cairns in England is not accurately known. However, available evidence indicates a population of between 250 and 500 examples. As a relatively rare class of monument exhibiting considerable variation in form, all positively identified examples retaining significant archaeological deposits are considered worthy of preservation.

Botley Stone ring cairn survives well and is a good example of this class of unusual monument. It is largely undisturbed and will retain primary archaeological deposits and environmental evidence relating to the landscape in which the monument was constructed. It is one of a group of monuments of similar age and function which occur on The Long Mynd and, as such, contributes information relating to the intensity of settlement and type of land-use occuring on this area of upland during the Bronze Age.

Details

The monument includes the remains of a small ring cairn situated on the summit of Churchmoor Hill. The monument is visible as a well defined, doughnut shaped mound 9m in diameter, comprising a turf covered circular bank 2.5m wide and 0.5m high surrounding a central hollow 4m in diameter and 0.4m deep. Although no longer visible at ground level, a ditch, from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument, surrounds the bank. This has become infilled with the passage of time but survives as a buried feature some 1.5m wide.

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.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

19107

Legacy System:

RSM

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