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.
Details
The monument includes a prehistoric cairnfield located on the undulating,
moderate slope of a small spur on unenclosed land 660m north east of Barnscar
settlement. It represents Bronze Age exploitation of this landscape and
includes a small number of stone banks and approximately 40 oval-shaped
clearance cairns measuring between 2m to 8m long by 1m to 5.6m wide and up to
0.5m high. Towards the south eastern side of the cairnfield there is a stone
bank aligned north east-south west; the cairns on the south east side of
this bank are generally smaller than those on the north west side of the bank,
suggesting that this bank may once have formed a boundary.
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 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
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
32866
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Books and journals
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.
End of official list entry
