Lordenshaws Cairns Cist View all content for Lordenshaws Cairns

Details of Barrows on Pastscape The remains of a round cairn cemetery of Bronze Age date are visible on Carleigh Moor. Seven of the round cairns lie immediately north east of the nearby hillfort (NZ 09 NE 2) on sloping ground. These cairns measure 7 metres to 8 metres in diameter and stand between 0.3 metres and 1 metre high. Two of the cairns have the remains of a retaining circle. Two of the other cairns were excavated during the 19th century; a cist and its cover slab lie at the centre of one of the cairns and the second is visible as a scatter of stones with a second cist at its centre. The cemetery extends onto the lower lying ground east of the hillfort where four round cairns are visible. Three of these form a compact group known as the 'Warrior Graves'. The three cairns are between 5 metres and 6 metres in diameter and range from 0.4 metres to 1 metre high. The fourth cairn lies 120 metres south east of this group and is 5 metres in diameter and 0.3 metres high. Scheduled. On the north-east side of the hill, on which the camp is (NZ 09 NE 2) are some grave-mounds. Two of the largest have been excavated. The first was 32 feet in diameter and 5 feet high. A cist was found in the centre lying east-west and measuring 3' 8" by 1' 10" by 2' 3" deep. There was no trace of a burial. This cist can yet been seen with its covering slab lying nearby, on the lower ridge of the hill on the way to the camp, after the last stile on the footpath from Rothbury to Lordenshaws. The second, 20 yards away, was 26 feet in diameter, 4 feet high, and a cist found in the centre completely filled with sand with no trace of bone, measured 2' 8" by 1' 8" by 1' 6" deep. There was a little charcoal together with two small pieces of pottery. A line of small stones may be traced from these burials leading up to the ridge towards the camp. (1) (NZ 05749958) Cist (TI) (2) Excavation report: Source of information in authority (1). (3) Two small pieces of pottery in a barrow.(Present location not given. Listed under "Urns known from literature only"). At Lordenshaws a burial mound approx 300 yards NE of the camp has on its margin a carefully packed standing stone 2' 6" high by 2' 0" by 1'6", deeply weathered. (4) NZ 056993. Six cairns were definitely located on the NE slopes of the hill. Other vague mounds in the region appear to be heather-covered outcrop. 'A' NZ 05749958. The remains of a cairn with an apparent diameter of 7.5m and maximum height of 0.3m. In the centre is the cist mentioned by authorities 1 and 2. It measures 1.3m x 0.65m x 0.5m deep. The N, S and E sides are constructed of a single stone slab but the west end is of small stones packed together. The cover slab of the cist lies to the immediate south. 'B' NZ 05739959. About 15.0m NW of 'A' a scatter of stones on a slight natural rise is probably the remains of the second cairn referred to by authority 1. Insufficient remains for dimensions to be given. On the south side of this scatter is a three-sided cavity in the rocks measuring 0.8m x 0.5m x 0.5m deep. This may be the second cist described by authority 1, the dimensions being approximately the same. The present location of the two pieces of pottery mentioned as being found therein was not ascertained. 'C' NZ 05589942. The cairn refered to by authority 4 is 7.0m in diameter and 0.5m high with a hollow in centre. At least three stones of a retaining circle are still in situ. The standing stone is in the SW quadrant and appears to be merely an extension of a line of stones, 20.0m to the south, evidently the remains of an old field boundary. This boundary has similarities of construction with an enclosure approx 900.0m to the NNE which is mentioned in the 13th century. 'D' NZ 05639940. A cairn 8.0m in diameter and 0.5m high with a hollow in centre. At least five stones of a retaining circle are still in situ. 'E' NZ 05689929. An oval cairn measuring 7.0m x 5.0m x 1.0m high and oriented E-W. It appears to be intact. 'F' NZ 05889935. Cairn 5.0m diameter and 0.4m high. None of the cairns have any traces of a ditch and only 'C' and 'D' the remains of a retaining circle. NZ 05739955 to NZ 05609939. The line of stones referred to by authority 1 can be traced for 200.0m. The stones are small (max ht above ground level 0.4m) and irregularly spaced and appear to demarcate the east side of an old trackway which appears in places as a slight hollow way. No evidence for dating. (5) Cairns 'C' and 'D' by virtue of their proportions (see photographs), and the evidence of eristaliths must be classed with 'A' and 'B' as sepulchral, although all four fall in an area that shows signs of having been cleared for cultivation (see NZ 09 NE 9). Similarly 'E' is a substantial and isolated cairn in a modern enclosure. 'F' is smaller than the other five, and its position on the fringe of stone clearance is suspect, but again it is a single cairn in an area otherwise devoid of stone heaps. Surveyed at 1/2500. (For 1/2500 illust see NZ 09 NE 2). (6) NZ 058 992 etc. Cup and ring marked rocks, stone rows, tumuli, cairns and Garleigh Hill stone circles and Lordenshaws camp, Hesleyhurst. Scheduled No ND/86. (7) Authority 5's cairn C lies within the area surveyed by RCHME in December 1990 and is briefly described in the published account, where it is noted that it is in a conspicuous position when seen from the lower ground to the east. (8)

Posted by Chance 19th December 2012ce

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