Two round cairns 450m south of Lower Farm
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Scheduled Monument
- List Entry Number:
- 1019779
- Date first listed:
- 09-Oct-1981
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Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2007-08-16
- Reference:
- IOE01/16836/34
- Rights:
- © Lorna Freeman. Source: Historic England Archive
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Scheduled Monument
- List Entry Number:
- 1019779
- Date first listed:
- 09-Oct-1981
- Date of most recent amendment:
- 09-Apr-2001
Location
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- North Yorkshire (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Newton
- National Park:
- North York Moors
- National Grid Reference:
- SE 80808 91660
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.
The two round cairns 450m south of Lower Farm have survived well. Significant information about the original form of the cairns, burials placed within them and the relationship with other monuments in the area will be preserved. Evidence of earlier land use will also survive beneath the mounds.
Details
The monument includes two immediately adjacent round cairns situated on gently sloping ground overlooking Newton Dale on the southern slopes of the North York Moors. It is known from archaeological evidence that the southern flanks of the moors were extensively used in the prehistoric period for agricultural and ritual purposes. Remains of these activities survive today. Each of the cairns has a stony mound. These lie 0.5m apart. The eastern mound is 0.6m high and measures 10m in diameter. The western mound is 4m in diameter and 0.4m 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:
- 34809
- Legacy System:
- RSM
Sources
Books and journals
Spratt, D A, Prehistoric and Roman Archaeology in North East Yorkshire in Prehistoric and Roman Archaeology of North East Yorkshire, (1993), 113-122
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.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 29-Jun-2026 at 11:34:38.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.