Prehistoric cairnfield, associated field system and a funerary cairn 520m south of Barnscar settlement

Reasons for Designation

The Cumbrian uplands comprise large areas of remote mountainous terrain, much of which is largely open fellside. As a result of archaeological surveys between 1980 and 1990 within the Lake District National Park, these fells have become one of the best recorded upland areas in England. On the open fells there is sufficient well preserved and understood evidence over extensive areas for human exploitation of these uplands from the Neolithic to the post- medieval period. On the enclosed land and within forestry the archaeological remains are fragmentary, but they survive sufficiently well to show that human activity extended beyond the confines of the open fells. Bronze Age activity accounts for the most extensive use of the area, and evidence for it includes some of the largest and best preserved field systems and cairn fields in England, as well as settlement sites, numerous burial monuments, stone circles and other ceremonial remains. Taken together, their remains can provide a detailed insight into life in the later prehistoric period. Of additional importance is the well-preserved and often visible relationship between the remains of earlier and later periods, since this provides an understanding of changes in land use through time. Because of their rarity in a national context, excellent state of preservation and inter-connections, most prehistoric monuments on the Lake District fells will be identified as nationally important.

The prehistoric cairnfield, associated field system and funerary cairn 520m south of Barnscar settlement survives well and forms part of a large area of well-preserved prehistoric landscape extending along the fellsides of south west Cumbria. In conjunction with a wide range of other prehistoric remains in the vicinity it represents evidence of long term management and exploitation of this area in prehistoric times.

Details

The monument includes a prehistoric cairnfield, an associated field system and a funerary cairn located on partly-enclosed gently-sloping land 520m south of Barnscar settlement. It represents Bronze Age exploitation of this landscape and includes a number of short lengths of stone bank and over 60 oval-shaped clearance cairns measuring between 2m to 7m long by 1.1m to 5.2m wide and up to 0.6m high. The cairns are divided into two groups separated by a 35m gap and are distinct in cairn size and concentration suggesting that they may be a product of different episodes of stone clearance. One group is located in the enclosed fields on the cairnfield's western side, the other group is located on the open fell on the cairnfield's eastern side. The associated prehistoric field system consists of two fields or plots, one being located in each of the two groups of clearance cairns. The fields are bounded by stone banks or cairn alignments which are interpreted as representing the line of old field boundaries in which sporadic patches of stone clearance were piled against a fence or hedge. Both fields are relatively stone-free, flat and well-drained, and are interpreted as prehistoric fields which were deliberately cleared of stone in order to render the ground usable for agricultural cultivation. The prehistoric funerary cairn is located at SD13349549 and consists of a turf-covered oval-shaped mound of stones measuring 11.1m long by 10.7m wide and up to 0.4m high. Pollen cores taken from the sediments of nearby Devoke Water have revealed the changing vegetational history of this area over the last 5000 years and show episodes of forest clearance and a development of grassland during the prehistoric period. During one of these episodes most trees were cut down and were soon replaced by extensive grassland. This clearance is associated with the Bronze Age on the basis of its similarity to a clearance episode from Seathwaite Tarn 9km to the east, which has been scientifically dated to around 1000 BC. All modern field boundaries are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath them 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:

32860

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Quartermaine, J, Leech, R H, Upland Settlement of the Lake District: Result of Recent Surveys, (1997), 32-50
Quartermaine, J, Barnscar Survey Catalogue, (1988)
Quartermaine, J, Barnscar Survey Catalogue, (1988)
Quartermaine, J, Barnscar Survey Catalogue, (1988)

End of official list entry

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