Details

The monument includes a round cairn which occupies a prominent position at
the top of the steep slope into Wheeldale. It is situated on Middle
Jurassic sandstone on the North York Moors.

The cairn has a sub-circular mound constructed from stone rubble, which
measures up to 8m in diameter and stands up to 0.5m high. The mound was
originally surrounded by a kerb of boulders, but over the years this has
become buried by soil and vegetation and now is only visible on the north
eastern edge of the cairn. On the south west side of the mound there is a
modern walkers' cairn with an adjacent hollow in the mound surface to the
north east.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Round cairns are prehistoric funerary monuments dating to the Bronze Age
(c.2000-700 BC). They were constructed as stone mounds covering single or
multiple burials. These burials may be placed within the mound in stone-lined
compartments called cists. In some cases the cairn was surrounded by a ditch.
Often occupying prominent locations, cairns are a major visual element in the
modern landscape. They are a relatively common feature of the uplands and are
the stone equivalent of the earthen round barrows of the lowlands. Their
considerable variation in form and longevity as a monument type provide
important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisation
amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of
their period and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered
worthy of protection.

Despite limited disturbance, the round cairn on Skivick Crag, 380m south
west of Wheeldale Lodge has survived well. Significant information about
the original form of the cairn and the burials placed within it will be
preserved. Evidence for earlier land use and the contemporary environment
will also survive beneath the mound.

The cairn lies close to a number of other prehistoric monuments.
Associated groups of monuments such as this offer important scope for the
study of the distribution of prehistoric activity across the landscape.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Hayes, R H, Rutter, J G , 'Scarborough District Archaeological Society Research Report' in Wade's Causeway. A Roman Road in North East Yorkshire, , Vol. 4, (1964), 54

Source: Historic England