Lath Rigg prehistoric cairnfield, hut circle and field system on Thwaites Fell 600m NNW of Thwaite Yeat

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.

Lath Rigg prehistoric cairnfield, hut circle and field system on Thwaites Fell 600m NNW of Thwaite Yeat survives well. It forms part of a well-preserved prehistoric landscape extending along the fellsides of south west Cumbria which together represent evidence of long-term management and exploitation of this area in prehistoric times.

Details

The monument includes Lath Rigg prehistoric cairnfield, hut circle and associated field system on Thwaites Fell 600m NNW of Thwaite Yeat. It is located on gently-sloping fellside south and east of minor roads crossing Corney Fell and represents Bronze Age exploitation of this landscape. The cairnfield consists of over 100 round and oval-shaped clearance cairns up to 0.6m high; the round cairns measuring between 1.8m-7.9m in diameter, the oval-shaped cairns measuring between 2.4m-9.5m long by 1.5m-6m wide. At SD18068906, on a plateau above the confluence of two streams, there are the remains of a stone hut circle measuring approximately 13m in diameter. Associated with the cairnfield and hut circle are faint traces of a field system formed by fragments of enclosures defined by stone banks or walls. There are two enclosures, both situated towards the northern end of the monument. The larger enclosure comprises a stone bank extending for approximately 100m as two separate lengths of bank flanked by cairn-free areas on either side. The smaller enclosure is represented by two separate lengths of wall set at right angles to each other thus appearing to form the north and west sides with an entrance at the north west corner.

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:

35014

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Quartermaine, J, Leech, R H, Upland Settlement of the Lake District: Result of Recent Surveys, (1997)
Leech, R H, Thwaites Fell LDNPS Survey Catalogue, (1984)
Leech, R H, Thwaites Fell LDNPS Survey Catalogue, (1984)
Leech, R H, Thwaites Fell LDNPS Survey Catalogue, (1984)

End of official list entry

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