Group of round cairns, 40m east of Hob's Nick

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

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1011099
Date first listed:: 04-Feb-1994

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1011099
Date first listed:: 04-Feb-1994

Location

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

District:: Northumberland (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Callaly
National Grid Reference:: NU 05965 09107

Reasons for Designation

Round cairn cemeteries date to the Bronze Age. They comprise groups of cairns sited in close proximity to one another and take the form of stone mounds constructed to cover single or multiple burials. Contemporary or later `flat' graves may lie between individual cairns. Most cemeteries developed over a considerable period of time and they can exhibit considerable diversity of burial rite, plan and form. Occasionally they are associated with earlier long cairns. They may also be associated with clearance cairns - heaps of stones cleared from the adjacent ground surface to improve its quality for agricultural activities; these were also being constructed during the Bronze Age, although some examples are of later date. It may be impossible without excavation to distinguish between some burial and clearance cairns. Round cairn cemeteries occur throughout most of upland Britain; their distribution pattern complements that of contemporary lowland earthen round barrows. Often occupying prominent locations they are a major historic element in the modern landscape. Their diversity and longevity as a monument type provide important information on the variety of beliefs and social organisation amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving or partly-surviving examples are considered worthy of preservation.

The group of round cairns near Hob's Nick are well preserved and a good example of a small cairn cemetery. The importance of the monument is enhanced by the survival of further Bronze Age settlement and funerary remains in the vicinity.

Details

The monument includes a group of Bronze Age cairns situated on the southern edge of a spur immediately above steep west facing slopes. There are at least five cairns in a line orientated south-east to north-west. The central cairn, which is the most visible cairn in the group, is 8m in diameter and 0.8m high; to the east of it there is a second cairn 9m in diameter and 0.5m high. Between these cairns there is a small cairn measuring 4.5m in diamater by 0.3m high. This last cairn has a peripheral stone kerb formed of large boulders. Immediately to the west of the central cairn there are a further two cairns, heavily obscured by heather; these are both are 8m in diameter and 0.8m high.

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:: 20996
Legacy System:: RSM

Sources

Other
2662,

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.