Cairnfield 400m north of Threestoneburn House
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Scheduled Monument
- List Entry Number:
- 1019921
- Date first listed:
- 31-Oct-1972
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Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Scheduled Monument
- List Entry Number:
- 1019921
- Date first listed:
- 31-Oct-1972
- Date of most recent amendment:
- 20-Jul-2001
Location
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Northumberland (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Ilderton
- National Park:
- Northumberland
- National Grid Reference:
- NT 97460 20815
Reasons for Designation
Cairnfields are concentrations of cairns sited in close proximity to one another. They often consist largely of clearance cairns, built with stone cleared from the surrounding landsurface to improve its use for agriculture, and on occasion their distribution pattern can be seen to define field plots. However, funerary cairns are also frequently incorporated, although without excavation it may be impossible to determine which cairns contain burials. Clearance cairns were constructed from the Neolithic period (from c.3400 BC), although the majority of examples appear to be the result of field clearance which began during the earlier Bronze Age and continued into the later Bronze Age (2000-700 BC). The considerable longevity and variation in the size, content and associations of cairnfields provide important information on the development of land use and agricultural practices. Cairnfields also retain information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisation during the prehistoric period.
The cairnfield 400m north of Threestoneburn House is reasonably well-preserved and will retain archaeological deposits relating to their construction and use. The monument additionally will contain evidence within, beneath and between the cairns relating to agricultural and funerary practices. It will therefore contribute to any study of prehistoric land use and burial practice in this area.
Details
The monument includes the remains of a cairnfield of Bronze Age date, situated on gently sloping ground above the Threestone Burn. Before modern afforestation, the situation afforded extensive views in all directions. The cairnfield is visible as the remains of at least 12 round cairns of stone and earth construction. The cairns range in size from 2.5m to 7m in diameter and stand to a maximum height of 1m.
MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 31750
- Legacy System:
- RSM
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 11-Jun-2026 at 01:43:27.
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.