Ancient Monuments

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Ring cairn on Gayles Moor

A Scheduled Monument in Gayles, North Yorkshire

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Coordinates

Latitude: 54.4477 / 54°26'51"N

Longitude: -1.8188 / 1°49'7"W

OS Eastings: 411850.188475

OS Northings: 505829.307872

OS Grid: NZ118058

Mapcode National: GBR HKR0.1D

Mapcode Global: WHC65.1G6N

Entry Name: Ring cairn on Gayles Moor

Scheduled Date: 21 August 1995

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1012598

English Heritage Legacy ID: 24549

County: North Yorkshire

Civil Parish: Gayles

Traditional County: Yorkshire

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): North Yorkshire

Church of England Parish: Kirkby Ravensworth

Church of England Diocese: Leeds

Details

The ring cairn is situated on a low knoll on open heather moorland
overlooking the lower reaches of Teesdale. This well defined and preserved
monument includes a stone bank 0.3m high and 2m wide and a diameter of 8m.
Within the immediate vicinity of the ring cairn are cup and ring marked
stones which are the subject of separate schedulings.

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 a well defined and preserved example of the monument type.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Laurie, T, (1994)

Source: Historic England

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