Two cairns on Hawksworth Moor, one with an internal cist

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1010353
Date first listed:: 01-May-1995

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Location

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1010353
Date first listed:: 01-May-1995

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

District:: Leeds (Metropolitan Authority)
Parish:: Non Civil Parish
National Grid Reference:: SE 14266 43858

Reasons for Designation

Rombalds Moor is an eastern outlier of the main Pennine range lying between the valleys of the Wharfe and the Aire. The bulk of this area of 90 sq km of rough moorland lies over 200m above sea level. The moor is particularly rich in remains of prehistoric activity. The most numerous relics are the rock carvings which can be found on many of the boulders and outcrops scattered across the moor. Burial monuments, stone circles and a range of enclosed settlements are also known. 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. 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. A substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.

Although disturbed, these cairns still retain important archaeological evidence of their original form and of the burials placed within them.

Details

This monument includes two stone cairns with central hollows, only 8.6m apart from centre to centre, situated on Hawksworth Moor. The more westerly of the two has a diameter of 5.6m, and is 0.7m high, and has two upright stones in its centre forming part of a burial cist. The other cairn has a diameter of 7.8m and is 0.7m high, with no visible cist. By analogy with the adjacent example there is a strong probability that it too had a cist.

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:: 25281
Legacy System:: RSM

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.