Round cairn 450m south-east of Castle Folds

Reasons for Designation

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. Often occupying prominent locations, cairns are a major visual element in the modern landscape. 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. They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.

Despite limited antiquarian investigation of the monument's centre, the round cairn 450m south-east of Castle Folds survives reasonably well. It is a rare example in Cumbria of a Bronze Age round cairn re-used in the early medieval period and further evidence of interments and grave goods will exist within the mound and upon the old land surface beneath.

Details

The monument is a round cairn located at the southern edge of limestone upland 450m south-east of Castle Folds. It includes a slightly oval mound of partly turf-covered limestone rubble up to 2.3m high with maximum dimensions of 17.8m by 16.5m. At the monument's centre is an oval hollow created by limited antiquarian investigation. This investigation located a rock-cut grave measuring 2.45m by 1.45m by 0.6m deep containing a male skeleton over 1.8m tall placed on the left side with the hands up to the face. At the crown of the head was a triangular chert implement. Three secondary burials, described by the excavator as Anglian (mid-5th to mid-11th centuries AD), were also located. Two of these burials were in shallow stone-lined graves. An information sign at the monument's centre is excluded from the scheduling but the ground beneath it is included.

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:

23620

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Greenwell, W, British Barrows, (1877), 394

Other
Title: Ordnance Survey 1:25000 Pathfinder Series Tebay and Kirkby Stephen Source Date: Author: Publisher: Surveyor: Sheet NY 60/70 Pathfinder 607
Darvill,T., MPP Single Monument Class Description - Bowl Barrows, (1988)
SMR No. 1969, Cumbria SMR, Cairn 400m SE of Castle Folds, (1985)

End of official list entry

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