Standing stone 550m north-east of Old Rothbury hillfort

Reasons for Designation

Standing stones are prehistoric ritual or ceremonial monuments with dates ranging from the Late Neolithic to the end of the Bronze Age for the few excavated examples. They comprise single or paired upright orthostatic slabs, ranging from under lm to over 6m high where still erect. They are often conspicuously sited and close to other contemporary monument classes. They can be accompanied by various features: many occur in or on the edge of round barrows, and where excavated, associated subsurface features have included stone cists, stone settings, and various pits and hollows filled in with earth containing human bone, cremations, charcoal, flints, pots and pot sherds. Similar deposits have been found in excavated sockets for standing stones, which range considerably in depth. Several standing stones also bear cup and ring marks. Standing stones may have functioned as markers for routeways, territories, graves, or meeting points, but their accompanying features show they also bore a ritual function and that they form one of several ritual monument classes of their period that often contain a deposit of cremation and domestic debris as an integral component. No national survey of standing stones has been undertaken, and estimates range from 50 to 250 extant examples, widely distributed throughout England but with concentrations in Cornwall, the North Yorkshire Moors, Cumbria, Derbyshire and the Cotswolds. Standing stones are important as nationally rare monuments, with a high longevity and demonstrating the diversity of ritual practices in the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age. Consequently all undisturbed standing stones and those which represent the main range of types and locations would normally be considered to be of national importance.

The standing stone above Old Rothbury is an undisturbed example of an uncommon feature of the Northumberland landscape. Its importance is enhanced by the survival of other ritual monuments of a similar date in the vicinity, including cup and ring marked rocks and cairns.

Details

The monument includes a standing stone of Late Neolithic/Bronze Age date. Situated at the eastern end of a ridge in an area of naturally outcropping rock, the location has extensive views over the Coquet Valley to the south and west. The stone, almost square in section, measures 0.7m across with 0.8m of its height above ground. The top is pitted and gullied, some of the gullies extend down the sides. These gullies are the result of weathering by natural processes.

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:

20888

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Hope-Dodds, M, The Victoria History of the County of Northumberland: Volume XV, (1940)

Other
NU 00 SE 21,

End of official list entry

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