Ancient Monuments

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Ring cairn on Fremington Edge Top

A Scheduled Monument in Reeth, Fremington and Healaugh, North Yorkshire

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Coordinates

Latitude: 54.4062 / 54°24'22"N

Longitude: -1.9437 / 1°56'37"W

OS Eastings: 403753.663917

OS Northings: 501198.71098

OS Grid: NZ037011

Mapcode National: GBR GKWH.08

Mapcode Global: WHB55.3HQY

Entry Name: Ring cairn on Fremington Edge Top

Scheduled Date: 18 November 1996

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1012611

English Heritage Legacy ID: 24538

County: North Yorkshire

Civil Parish: Reeth, Fremington and Healaugh

Traditional County: Yorkshire

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): North Yorkshire

Details

The monument is situated on a gentle south west facing slope on the edge
of a long escarpment above the intersection of lower Arkengarthdale and
Swaledale. The monument includes a sub-circular stone ring bank 2.5m wide
which is largely turfed over. The monument has a overall diameter of 13m.

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

A ring cairn is a prehistoric ritual monument comprising a circular bank of
stones up to 20m in diameter surrounding a hollow central area. The bank may
be kerbed on the inside, and sometimes on the outside as well, with small
uprights or laid boulders. Ring cairns are found mainly in upland areas of
England and are mostly discovered and authenticated by fieldwork and ground
level survey, although a few are large enough to be visible on aerial
photographs. They often occur in pairs or small groups of up to four examples.
Occasionally they lie within round barrow cemeteries. Ring cairns are
interpreted as ritual monuments of Early and Middle Bronze Age date. The exact
nature of the rituals concerned is not fully understood, but excavation has
revealed pits, some containing burials and others containing charcoal and
pottery, taken to indicate feasting activities associated with the burial
rituals. Many areas of upland have not yet been surveyed in detail and the
number of ring cairns in England is not accurately known. However, available
evidence indicates a population of between 250 and 500 examples. As a
relatively rare class of monument exhibiting considerable variation in form,
all positively identified examples retaining significant archaeological
deposits are considered worthy of preservation.

This is an undisturbed and therefore well preserved example of this monument
type.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Laurie, T, (1993)
Laurie, T, (1993)

Source: Historic England

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