Two medieval shielings 60m north of Clough Fold

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

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1012648
Date first listed:: 19-Jun-1995

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1012648
Date first listed:: 19-Jun-1995

Location

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

District:: Cumberland (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: St. John's Castlerigg and Wythburn
National Park:: LAKE DISTRICT
National Grid Reference:: NY 33241 23547

Reasons for Designation

Shielings are small seasonally occupied huts which were built to provide shelter for herdsmen who tended animals grazing summer pasture on upland or marshland. These huts reflect a system called transhumance, whereby stock was moved in spring from lowland pasture around the permanently occupied farms to communal upland grazing during the warmer summer months. Settlement patterns reflecting transhumance are known from the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC) onwards. However, the construction of herdsmen's huts in a form distinctive from the normal dwelling houses of farms, only appears from the early medieval period onwards (from AD 450), when the practice of transhumance is also known from documentary sources and, notably, place-name studies. Their construction appears to cease at the end of the 16th century. Shielings vary in size but are commonly small and may occur singly or in groups. They have a simple sub- rectangular or ovoid plan normally defined by drystone walling, although occasional turf-built structures are known, and the huts are sometimes surrounded by a ditch. Most examples have a single undivided interior but two roomed examples are known. Some examples have adjacent ancillary structures, such as pens, and may be associated with a midden. Some are also contained within a small ovoid enclosure. Shielings are reasonably common in the uplands but frequently represent the only evidence for medieval settlement and farming practice here. Those examples which survive well and which help illustrate medieval land use in an area are considered to be nationally important.

The foundations of the two shielings and the outbuilding 60m north of Clough Fold survive well, allowing the full ground plan of these monuments to be reconstructed. They are part of a group of ten shielings in the vicinity; some of which have different ground plans. Some have external structures, and some are located in pairs. Together they provide evidence of the occupation and exploitation of this upland area during the medieval period. Further analysis of these sites would provide information on any chronological development of the transhumance system to which they relate and also on any differences between the individual shielings.

Details

The monument includes two medieval shielings located on St John's Common 60m north of Clough Fold and immediately south of the Old Coach Road. The eastern shieling is a rectangular single-roomed structure measuring 13.8m by 8.2m externally with drystone walls up to 1m high. Adjacent to the south eastern corner of this shieling are the low stone foundations of an open fronted outbuilding measuring 4.5m by 3m. The western shieling is also a rectangular single-roomed structure but is slightly smaller than the eastern shieling, measuring 12m by 7.3m externally with drystone walls up to 0.6m 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:: 23786
Legacy System:: RSM

Sources

Other
Schofield,A.J., MPP Single Monument Class Descriptions - Shielings, (1989)

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.