<< Our Photo Pages >> Bolam Round Cairn (Northumberland) - Round Cairn in England in Northumberland
Submitted by Anne T on Sunday, 26 November 2017 Page Views: 1477
Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Bolam Round Cairn (Northumberland)Country: England County: Northumberland Type: Round Cairn
Nearest Town: Morpeth / Ponteland Nearest Village: Bolam
Map Ref: NZ0940082226
Latitude: 55.134312N Longitude: 1.854103W
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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Anne T visited on 26th Nov 2017 - their rating: Cond: 2 Amb: 4 Access: 4 Bolam Bronze Age Round Cairn, near Belsay, Northumberland: Although the sun was shining and the photos largely make this site look like we’ve seen it on a summer’s day, the temperature was 2 degrees C and removing my glove for a few minutes to take photographs made my normally very warm hands icy cold.
Walking along the footpath (which a notice at the field gate said was blocked at Foulmartlaw), the first thing we noticed was the very prominent ridge and furrow ploughing, which seemed to be the same in all the other fields around the estate.
Approaching the cairn from its eastern side, it seemed like a large bite had been taken out of the middle. A stone was standing in the middle of the ‘bite’. Pastscape and Historic England say this is a gatepost. BUT - if this was a gatepost, there was no evidence of a field system or boundary matching this. And where was it’s matching stone?
There was a second stone at NZ 09356 82201, some 50 metres away, which was lying with its base in a hollow with some packing stones, which indicated it had stood upright at some point. It is not mentioned on either Pastscape or Historic England entries.
A third, smaller boulder, poked its way out of the ground half way between the cairn and this stone. I photographed it just in case it was associated with the cairn.
This Bronze Age cairn is recorded as Pastscape Monument No. 21065 and scheduled as Historic England List ID 1011837.
Both Pastscape and Historic England tell us this cairn is 11metres in diameter, 1.5 metres high and is situated on a low east-west ridge. "A large hole in the centre of the cairn is the remains of a partial antiquarian excavation. An upright gatepost projects from the centre of the mound clearly indicating the cairn's subsequent reuse."
If this stone is a gate post, there is no corresponding second post nearby, and no older field boundary in which a gate might have been inserted. The top of the post corresponds with the maximum height of the centre of the cairn, so might have formed part of the cairn when earth-covered; or it might have been used as a rubbing post, judging by the cattle footprints around it.
A second, now recumbent stone, lies some 50 metres to the west of the cairn, lying in a slight hollow with packing stones around what would have been its base when stood upright. This stone is finer grained than the stone in the centre of the cairn and not as worn. A third boulder, sited between the cairn and the recumbent stone, protrudes from the ground, as if there might be a small row associated with the cairn.
The cairn lies some 400 metres south south west of St. Andrew's Church in Bolam. Parking is available either at the church or in a small layby just past an old sheepfold by the northern side of the road which runs from Bolam to Galloway, just south of the church. A footpath runs along the eastern side of the field, just to the west of a ha-ha.
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