Ring cairn on Askham Fell and four adjacent stones

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.

Despite limited antiquarian investigation at the centre of the monument, the ring cairn on Askham Fell with its associated stones survives well. This investigation located human remains and pottery, and further evidence of interments and grave goods will exist within the cairn and upon the old landsurface beneath. The monument lies within an area of open fell rich in prehistoric monuments, and is situated upon an alignment of funerary monuments stretching for over 1.5km along the natural communication route over a col beteen Lowther and Ullswater valleys. It thus indicates the importance of this area in prehistoric times and will contribute to the study of the ceremonial function of ring cairns and other spatially associated monuments in the area.

Details

The monument is a ring cairn located on Askham Fell together with four adjacent stones a short distance to the south east. It includes a turf-covered mound of stones up to 0.7m high and 10m in diameter. Around the edge of the summit of this cairn are ten large, closely spaced, earthfast boulders up to 0.9m high with smaller stones in between, which form a circle 6m in diameter. The centre of the cairn, within the circle of boulders, contains a hollow 0.4m deep. There are four upright stones 8m south east of the cairn, which are up to 0.2m high set in a rectangular configuration measuring 2.5m by 3m. Limited antiquarian investigation at the centre of the ring cairn located an adult cremation and two sherds of pottery deposited in a hollow 0.6m in diameter and 0.6m deep and covered by a layer of sand. Above the sand was a food vessel identified as a Yorkshire Vase and now deposited in the British Museum.

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:

22530

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Greenwell, W, British Barrows, (1877), 400-1
Quartermaine, J, Askham Fell, (1992), 7
Quartermaine, J, Askham Fell Survey Catalogue, (1992), 21
Quartermaine, J, Askham Fell Survey Catalogue, (1992), 23-4
Quartermaine, J, Askham Fell Survey Catalogue, (1992), 21
Kinnes, I A, Longworth, I H, Catalogue of Excavated Prehistoric and Romano British Material in Greenwell Collection, (1985)

Other
SMR No. 2947, Cumbria SMR, Moor Divock, (1985)

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