Whitelow

Nearest town:
Ramsbottom (2km W)
OS reference:
SD805162
OS sheet:
109
Latitude:
53° 38' 29.85 N
Longitude:
2° 17' 41.95 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Whitelow (Cairn(s)) by baza

The approach to Whitelow Hill from the west along Whitelow Road. The cairn forms the top of the hill.

baza
baza Jul 10, 2005
Image of Whitelow (Cairn(s)) by baza

The central cairn, looking WSW over Ramsbottom, with the Peel Tower on Holcombe Hill to the right

baza
baza Jul 10, 2005
Image of Whitelow (Cairn(s)) by baza

Part of the outer stone wall looking towards the central cairn

baza
baza Jul 10, 2005
Image of Whitelow (Cairn(s)) by baza

A large funerary urn excavated from Whitelow cairn on display (upside down) in Bury Museum.

baza
baza Jul 5, 2005
Image of Whitelow (Cairn(s)) by baza

Another funerary urn from Whitelow cairn in Bury Museum.

baza
baza Jul 5, 2005

Articles

Whitelow

S
Saban-of-Stonehenge Jan 22, 2012

Whitelow is easy to find and despite living only a 15 min walk away it has taken me ages to visit here. I will definitely be going back. It is a good sight with good views over to the west and the cairn is in decent condition. It also looks like there might be the remnants of a stone circle around the cairn too but I am not 100% sure.

Whitelow

baza
baza Jul 10, 2005

Although Whitelow cairn is more easily approached from the Bury Old Road to the east, I chose to walk up Whitelow Road from the north west.
Driving up the A56 from Bury, where I’d visited the museum to see the urns excavated from the cairn, at the traffic lights where the left turn takes you into Ramsbottom, I turned right into Whitelow Road, immediately parking up as the road is only suitable for off-road vehicles.
The road rises gently and skirts the southern side of Whitelow Hill, where I had to jump over a drystone wall to climb up to the cairn, which forms the top of the hill.
If it wasn’t for the copious amounts of stone which formed an outer wall, it wouldnt be possible to see where the hill ends and the cairn begins.
The view is only to the west because of higher ground on the other sides.

Miscellaneous

Whitelow
Cairn(s)
baza
baza Jul 10, 2005

Although situated on the top of Whitelow Hill (I’d have thought there was a clue there), this large cairn was only re-discovered in 1960. Sadly, that seems indicative of the sorry state of affairs with regard to the recording of Lancashire’s prehistoric sites which seems to continue to this day.
The cairn was excavated between 1960 and 1962, finding eight cremation burials, four within urns, dating from the early to middle Bronze Age.

Sites within 20km of Whitelow

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