Round cairn on Shillhope Law
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Scheduled Monument
- List Entry Number:
- 1008434
- Date first listed:
- 18-Jul-2000
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Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Scheduled Monument
- List Entry Number:
- 1008434
- Date first listed:
- 18-Jul-2000
Location
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Northumberland (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Alwinton
- National Park:
- Northumberland
- National Grid Reference:
- NT 87310 09677
Reasons for Designation
Round cairns are prehistoric funerary monuments dating to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They were constructed as stone mounds covering single or multiple burials. These burials may be placed within the mound in stone-lined compartments called cists. In some cases the cairn was surrounded by a ditch. Often occupying prominent locations, cairns are a major visual element in the modern landscape. They are a relatively common feature of the uplands and are the stone equivalent of the earthen round barrows of the lowlands. Their considerable variation in form and longevity as a monument type provide important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisation amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.
The round cairn on Shillhope Law is well preserved and contains significant archaeological deposits. Evidence of the manner of construction, and the nature and duration of its use will be preserved within and beneath the mound.
Details
The monument includes the remains of a substantial round cairn of prehistoric date situated on the summit of Shillhope Law. The cairn, composed of loose angular stones, measures 16m east-west by 20m north-south and stands to a maximum height of 1m. There is an Ordnance Survey triangulation pillar on the top of the cairn, surrounded by a modern cairn of stones and a stone wall. The surrounding stone wall 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. 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:
- 25053
- Legacy System:
- RSM
Sources
Other
NT 80 NE 06,
Legal
This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 04-Jun-2026 at 14:06:25.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.