Reasons for Designation
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.
Details
The monument includes a group of at least seventy field clearance cairns and
several funerary cairns situated on the spur of a hill at Whitefield Edge.
The clearance cairns are heather covered mounds ranging in size from 3m to 8m
in diameter and standing to a maximum height of 1m. There are two larger
mounds measuring 10m in diameter and up to 0.8m high; the more northerly mound
has been disturbed by the former existence of an Ordnance Survey Trig point
erected at its centre. The cairnfield represents an area of clearance for
agricultural purposes during the Bronze Age. Although no definite fields can
now be distinguished, traces of field walls and small lynchets were reported
by field inspection in 1976. The latter, appearing as low banks, represent an
accumulation of soil caused by continuous cultivation.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
20915
Legacy System:
RSM
End of official list entry
