Ring cairn 120m north-west of Raisgill Hall

Reasons for Designation

A ring cairn is a prehistoric ritual monument comprising a circular bank of stones up to 20m in diameter surrounding a hollow central area. The bank may be kerbed on the inside, and sometimes on the outside as well, with small uprights or laid boulders. Ring cairns are found mainly in upland areas of England and are mostly discovered and authenticated by fieldwork and ground level survey, although a few are large enough to be visible on aerial photographs. They often occur in pairs or small groups of up to four examples. Occasionally they lie within round barrow cemeteries. Ring cairns are interpreted as ritual monuments of Early and Middle Bronze Age date. The exact nature of the rituals concerned is not fully understood, but excavation has revealed pits, some containing burials and others containing charcoal and pottery, taken to indicate feasting activities associated with the burial rituals. Many areas of upland have not yet been surveyed in detail and the number of ring cairns in England is not accurately known. However, available evidence indicates a population of between 250 and 500 examples. As a relatively rare class of monument exhibiting considerable variation in form, all positively identified examples retaining significant archaeological deposits are considered worthy of preservation.

The ring cairn 120m north-west of Raisgill Hall is one of the larger examples of this monument class and, despite some mutilation of its interior by 19th- century quarrying, it survives reasonably well. This quarrying revealed human remains and further evidence of interments and the rituals undertaken at this type of monument will exist within the cairn's interior.

Details

The monument is a ring cairn located 120m north-west of Raisgill Hall on the shelf of a hillslope overlooking the Lune valley. It includes a ring bank of turf-covered limestone rubble, between 4m and 6m wide and up to 1.2m high, with external measurements of 31m by 28m. It encloses a slightly oval internal area measuring approximately 21m by 18m. There is an entrance 5.5m wide on the bank's north side. Nineteenth-century quarrying within the ring cairn revealed a cist containing a skeleton together with bones associated with several secondary interments in close proximity.

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:

23618

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
AM County Index, (1983)
Nicholson, , Burn, , History of Westmorland in History of Westmorland, Vol. 1, (), 491

Other
Darvill, T., MPP Single Monument Class Descriptions - Ring Cairns, (1989)
To Robinson,K.D. MPPFW, Mr Dunning (site owner), (1993)
SMR No 1977, Cumbria SMR, Ring Mound 500ft NW of Raisgill Hall, (1985)

End of official list entry

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